Laundry basket weaving

It's no secret that I'm a daredevil, so I was thrilled when Dad took me and Julia on my first "ride": the laundry basket. Who knew that laundry could be so exciting? Take a look at all the fun we had:





And there's video, too:



What was this Sesame Place thing that Julia mentioned? If it's half as fun as that laundry basket ride was, I want to go there now!

Fort Julia

So we have yet another blizzard on the way — all the more reason for me to wait out the storm in my own little fort. I've got food, books, dolls...I'm all set.

But wait a minute, I think I have an unwanted visitor...




Did you see how Henry grinned every time I screamed? It's almost as if he likes getting under my skin! And by the way, I'm not the only sibling who can make that piercing scream. The difference is that Henry saves his for the middle of the night!

Oh well...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Whose birthday is it anyway?

Mom's birthday was Friday, which means only one thing: CAAAAAAAKE!



I made sure to thank everyone for getting me "my" birthday cards and "my" cake. You heard me: mine. Who else would they have been for...Mom?

To the nines

In honor of my nine-month birthday - I made it through my third trimester! - I'm enjoying a celebratory chicken leg! Okay, maybe this one is fake, but I did start eating meats (the baby food version, that is) for the first time last week and so far have really enjoyed it.


And it's not just the chicken that interests me. Over the past week, I've been feasting on the all the food I can find in Julia's kitchen. I just need to get a couple more teeth and I can start munching on the real thing!

Pirate's booty

First off: happy birthday Mom! She's taking off work to spend the day with me and Julia. Can you think of a better birthday present than a whole day of yours truly?

And speaking of presents...I got a great one from Julia for Valentine's Day (two in fact: the actual gift and the wrapping paper). Take a look:



Of course, since I opened the pirate ship, I've barely seen it, as Julia has been playing with "my" gift almost nonstop. Can I have the wrapping paper back instead?

Don't you forget about me

Remember me? It seems like it's been all Henry, all the time on the blog over the past couple weeks, so I just wanted to pop in and say, yes, I'm still here. I'm just letting Henry enjoy the spotlight since he's been enjoying so many big accomplishments over the past month. But at the same time, I'm ready to get back on here, so how about sending some questions my way?

You sleigh me

Whenever it snowed last December, I was always too sick to go outside — so I missed my opportunity to go sledding for the first time. I was much healthier in January, but there was no snow! It's been snowing nonstop this month...just as I got sick again. But over the weekend, I was feeling well enough to finally venture out into the snow.

And the results were...well, not quite what any of us expected. Yes, I did have a bit of fun...


But before long, I started looking like I was about to keel over. I think I was a bit overwhelmed by all the snow...and still wasn't feeling my best.


However, I did still manage to enjoy myself a bit...and Julia loved playing outside with me!



And I'm sure I'll really love the snow the next time I go out there!

Balloon man

Want to completely distract me? Just bring me a balloon. All I want to do is touch it and play with it — even though often just end up hitting myself with it.

Last week, Julia brought him a balloon from Red Robin, and when she went up for her nap, I grabbed my chance to play with it myself. And the static electricity from the balloon made my hair stick up even more!



Speaking of Red Robin, I finally went there myself over the weekend when Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit. It was the most exciting place I've ever been to! Everywhere I looked (and I looked everywhere), there were tons of exciting things to see. I can't wait to go back.

Love's first kiss

For several weeks now, Julia has been watching Disney movies where the characters always need to be awakened by "love's first kiss." I never knew what they were talking about...until I met my own special someone, just in time for Valentine's Day. Things are already getting pretty serious; in fact, here's a look at my own experience with "love's first kiss":



Isn't she terrific? She smells like vanilla, which keeps me coming back for more. I just know we're going to live happily ever af...wait a minute, I was just looking through some of Julia's baby videos and found THIS:



I don't believe it! I thought she only had eyes for me! Good thing this happened while my attention span is about 10 seconds max, so I've already forgotten about...wait, what were were talking about again?

Anyway, I hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Revenge is a dish best served with drool

For eight months, Julia had her way with me: snatching toys out of my hands as I was helpless to do anything about it. I've been biding my time, waiting for the moment when revenge would be mine, and I would be the one going after her stuff.

Now that I can crawl, that moment has finally arrived. And as you can see, Julia doesn't like having the tables turned one bit!



I love the smell of payback in the morning! Now if I could just stop being distracted so easily by other shiny objects...

Piano man

Mom and Dad are working from home today because of all of the snow, so I'm going to serenade them on the piano. I've become quite the pianist since I discovered our toy piano!





Unfortunately, I'm back under the weather again (the doctor says it's just a virus), so I'll miss all the snowy fun yet again! Darn!

Thar she blow-dries!

How about this crazy look, huh? I look like I'm a member of an '80s hair band!

Speaking of hair, I like to do everything Mom does, and after watching her blow dry her hair every day of my life, I wanted to try that too. Take a look, and as an added bonus, there are shout-outs to some of the blog's most loyal readers:

Birthday clowning

We celebrated Dad's birthday last Wednesday, which I was thrilled about because I meant that I could eat birthday cake! Babcia and Dido were there too, and we all ate dinner together and then had some delicious ice cream cake.


Dad and I joked around while I waited for the cake to come out. Take a look:

Don't fence me in

There's a popular phrase on ESPN that goes, "you can't stop him; you can only hope to contain him." That explains why Mom and Dad brought out a circular playgate to put me in, just as I've gotten really good at crawling. Their reasoning is that this lets me crawl around a bit but keeps me from getting into any real trouble, and also gives them (or Babcia and Dido) a break from time to time. Okay, but mark my words: I will figure a way out of this thing!

Here's what happened the first time Dad put me in there (if you listen in the background, you can hear Mom explaining the plot of Little Mermaid to Julia):



Looks like we're in for quite a snowy weekend. Will I finally get to go sledding? Check back next week!

Stand-up guy

Most kids would have taken the rest of the week off after learning to crawl, but not me. I wanted to learn even more things! So I also mastered the art of pulling myself up to a standing position. This comes in most handy in my crib. Once I wake up, I stand up and wait for someone to come rescue me. And while I'm waiting, I have myself a little snack.


Once I starting standing in the crib, Dad took away the mobile and in its place, put something even better: an aquarium.


I love it!


But there's something in my room that I love even more than my new aquarium: my friend in the mirror! If I stand up in the crib and look at my closet, I see him there in the mirror, and we have all sorts of fun together. Here's a look at all the new things I can do in my bedroom:



I don't think Mom and Dad like my new crib accomplishments as much, though, because I've been getting up several times each night to stand up, bounce around and play with my mirror friend. How can they expect me to sleep when there are so many fun things to do?

The man in the mirror

It's Dad's birthday today — happy birthday, Dad! — but I'm too busy to celebrate with him. I have a new friend to play with. He lives in the mirror, and looks and sounds just like me. We just met about a week ago and we've been inseparable ever since. We do everything together...


Like I said, everything! Here's another look and me and my friend:



So we've covered crawling, my teeth and my Mirror Man fascination ... what's next? Check back tomorrow!

Tooth and consequences

I've been crawling for a week now, and I'm motoring around and trying to get into all kinds of trouble.


You're probably wondering, why the odd face? Well, it's because of these new chompers:


You've got a great look at my two bottom teeth, and on the left you can see the beginnings of tooth number three. Anyway, the teeth have grown in enough that I can actually feel them with my tongue, which leads to all sorts of funny faces as I touch my teeth with my tongue.


But back to the matter at hand: my crawling. Here's a look at how much better I've gotten at crawling in the past week...and a glimpse of all the trouble I can now get myself into.



And that's just the start of all the amazing new things I've learned to do. Check back all week for more....

Something to hide

I know that Henry has a lot to catch you up on — he's been quite the busy little baby! — but I'm pulling rank and putting up a post of my own first. Because if the rest of the week is going to be all about Henry, I certainly don't want anyone to forget about yours truly.

Lately I've been playing hide and seek, and sometimes I make Henry join in.






I still have a little bit to learn - I can't resist giving myself away when Mom or Dad are looking for me and saying, "Here I am!" - but it's still a lot of fun. I can't wait to play with Henry when we're both a little older.