Lion king

Every week, I get a few steps closer to walking on my own. Over the past week or so, I've grown fond of walking around and pushing the lion. I'm getting really good at it!

There's only one problem: my big sister.


Whenever Julia sees me with the lion, she comes over and sits down on it, effectively putting an end to my walking. Come on, Julia, don't you want me to learn to walk so we can chase each other around?

Going bananas

Every day I'm getting a little better at eating. I've been starting to eat yogurt at breakfast (I'm used to having food at room temperature, so something that chilly took some getting used to!) and have been starting to sample some stage 3 baby food (I still have a lot to learn about chewing, but having teeth on the top and bottom will make that easier). I'm starting to enjoy bananas, too:

Let's bounce

Today is such a dreary, rainy day, so I thought I'd brighten things up by remembering the fun that Henry and I had last weekend, when Dad brought out the bouncy castle for the first time this year (he also brought out the ballpit and tunnels, and the roller coaster). Alec and Isabella came by too, as did our next door neighbors. Everyone had a blast, and Henry loved his first time in the bouncy castle!


Here's a video of all our fun in the sun:



Now - sigh! - it's back to the soggy weather...

Zoo story

Our final trip last week was to the Philadelphia Zoo. I've been to zoos before but this one had a huge collection of animals: giraffes, gorillas, tigers...oh my! I also got to brush the goats, and Henry enjoyed it too.


And what's a visit without Henry and I doing some more cut-out clowning around?


And here's a brief video from our zoo visit.



And that's all from our trip to Grandma and Grandpa's. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Under the sea

The day after Julia and I went to the Please Touch Museum, Mom and Dad took us to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden. There were lots of interesting, colorful fish to look that, though to be honest, Julia was more interested in them than I was. (Later on, though, she was a bit freaked out by being so close to the sharks, while I was completely fine with them.) Julia was funny when she tried to protect Dad by pulling him away from one scary-looking sea creature.


There were also more cutouts for Julia and I to clown around with.



Then at lunchtime, I had myself a bouncy, giggle fit.


Here's a briefer look at some of the things we did at the Aquarium.



We have one more trip to share tomorrow, so check back then.

Touch and go

As Henry mentioned, we had a terrific week with Mom and Dad, who were both on vacation. We spent much of the week visiting Grandma and Grandpa, who watched us for a couple days while Mom and Dad had a weekend to themselves (why would they ever want to be apart from us?). Then Mom and Dad came up, but we stayed down there for several more days, and visited a bunch of really cool places. First up was a place I hadn't been to to for a long while - and Henry had never visited - the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. We both loved it. I worked on my driving skills...


and Henry did too.


Dad took us both on the carousel.


Until it gets a little warmer, this is the closest I'm going to get to a roller coaster:


Henry and I clowned around in some other silly scenarios too:


We got up close and personal with a (fake) swan...


Henry met the goose that laid the golden eggs...


While I honed my milking skills...


And looked after one huge egg.


I saw a sick baby in the baby ward, so I helped make her feel better.


Then I went with Alice down the rabbit hole to Wonderland, and had tea with the Mad Hatter!


There was much more, so check out all the other highlights - which including driving, crawling, sliding, sailing and reenacting one of my favorite scenes from Sleeping Beauty - in this video:



Check back tomorrow for news about another trip.

Perfect 10

I'm 10 months old today! In honor of my special day, we're going to wait until later to tell you about our terrific vacation last week, and all the fun places we visited. Today is about my latest accomplishments. I can stand up all by myself — without holding on to anyone or anything — for a few seconds at a time. (In other words, I'll be walking soon!) I've also been clapping my hands enthusiastically and over the weekend, I went on a swing for the very first time!


I loved it! We were visiting with some of Dad's friends who had a playground set, so it was the perfect time for me to try it out. Then Julia went on the big swing next to me, and she did a great job on it!


Take a look at me in action, joined halfway through by Julia:



Full disclosure: While I'm doing all these great new things, I'm also regressing a bit at night, getting up frequently and demanding one or two bottles every night. I have to learn to eat more during the day, but these new foods like yogurt and pasta are tough to stomach!

Chip off the old blocks

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hopefully Mom and Dad remember to put me in green today!

Julia didn't start knocking down stacking blocks until she could walk, but Mom thought I'd enjoy them now even though I'm still crawling. And she was right!

Ask Henry: 3/15/10

Hi there! I really love hanging out at Julia's kitchen - in fact, I spend more time there these days than my sister does. It's the perfect size for me!

Anyway, Julia answered a bunch of questions last week, and now it's my turn. All my questions come from Aunt Paula.

Henry, you sure are a daredevil. Have you tried crawling up the steps yet?
Sure have. In fact, I heard Dad say "bath" the other day and got so excited I climbed all the way upstairs (don't worry, Dad was right behind me, spotting me) and headed straight for the bathtub. I really love bathtime. I'll be sure to post video of my stair-climbing expertise soon.

I really haven't seen you walk around the furniture. Are you doing that yet? Have you tried to take a step without holding on?
Yes, and yes. I'm really good at standing up, grabbing on to the couch or a another long object, and shimmying my way all the way across. And Dad spotted me standing without holding on to anything for a few seconds. Trust me, I'll be walking long before my sister did!

How many teeth do you have now? Are you into biting yet?
As I answer this on Saturday, I have four teeth all on the bottom, and overnight I finally got two teeth on top. But the doctor told me a few days ago that I have two more teeth on top that are going to break through any moment. In other words, by the time you're actually reading this, I very well might have more than six teeth! And no biting yet, just teething.

It sure looked like you had fun on your sled. I heard you got a lot of snow. Do you think that you will be sledding anytime soon?
Almost all the snow has melted now, so unless we get one last snowstorm, I'm going to have to wait until next winter.

I heard you say DADA. Did I miss the video of you saying Mama?
There was no video, though I do say that word, and Mom has even heard me say it. But these days, my big word is "Baba." Don't ask me if I'm really saying "Babcia," because I won't tell!

What do you call Julia?
Nothing yet, but Mom and Dad are really curious to hear what name I come up with for her.

I liked that chicken leg you were eating. Are you into eating chicken wings? I sure hope not.
I haven't eaten chicken wings, but like anything else, if it fits in my mouth, I'm going to try and put it in there.

You are sure one fashion plate. So is Julia. Do you think that you might get to be in People like Suri?
Sorry, I'm allergic to the paparazzi. Mom and Dad are invasive enough with the camera, I don't need anyone else taking my picture!

That's it. Got any other questions for me? Send them my way!

Welcome, wagon!

Uncle Ryan got us this great wagon for Julia and me at Christmas, but aside from a quick spin in the house that day, the weather's been too cold for us to go outside and really give it a spin. But over the weekend, we finally got to go out. And unlike the last time I was in there, I was able to sit up - and therefore ride in it - all by myself.



It was awesome! I loved it a lot more than Julia, who had just thrown a hissy fit right before our ride and was still acting like, well, a baby. Take a look at this video: you'll see how Julia is being a real buzzkill. But then after she leaves, the fun really starts!



That's going to be it for the week. Mom and Dad are on vacation next week and we'll be spending a lot of it at Grandma and Grandpa's, but Julia and I have prepared a couple blogs that will post during our absence.

Fresh fruit

Remember the days when I refused to put a hat or anything else on my head? Neither do I. Now I love modeling hats (don't I look cute in my skull cap?)...almost as much as I love double-fisting fruit.


And making silly faces is pretty fun too!


Mom tried to get to sing along with my of my favorite children's songs...but I was too busy to join in.

Ask Julia: 3/9/10

It's time for a new mailbag, and this time around I didn't even have to go begging for questions! I'll tackle my mail today, and Henry will answer his questions later in the week. First up is a question from Grandma:

What are your Leila Kellys?
Ah, someone was taking a look at my Twitter feed and saw me announce that I "hate" my Leila Kellys. I'm referring to a pair of shoes. Take a look:



Since this video, however, I've come back around, and have in fact worn my Leila Kellys a few times this week. So I guess I don't hate them after all.

Next up, several questions from Aunt Paula:

I really liked the video when you were drying your hair. Do you use the hair dryer on yourself each time you wash your hair?
That was the first and only time I used the hairdryer. After seeing Mom use it every morning, I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

You got Henry such a nice pirate ship for Valentine's Day. Did he get you something? Are you letting him play with it?
You must be mistaken. That pirate ship is mine. At least, that is what I have convinced myself now. Both of us play with it and love it. But now that you mention it, Henry got me a bag of bracelets. I like them, but not as much as the pirate ship!

Are you getting any better at letting Henry in your fort, and letting him touch your things?
No, I still scream bloody murder anytime he crawls within a few yards of wherever I'm playing with my toys.

I just love all your school outfits. Do you ever wear that black and white headband you had on to school?
Thanks, but no, I think the only appropriate place to wear that headband would be at an '80s hairband concert.

I heard that you are taking dance lessons. What type of dance are you learning to do? Do you think you might get to be on Dancing with the Stars?
Mom and I have dance class every Saturday morning. We practice "night-night" toes (pointing) and "wakeup" toes (flexing), and also dance a little routine to "Jack and Jill." There's also dancing with scarves and hula hoops. But forget Dancing with the Stars; I want to dance in The Nutcracker!

That's it for the questions, so send me some more!

Raspberry tart

Here's something ironic: I like to put just about anything in my mouth...except new foods. Last week, Mom and Dad put raspberries into a mesh bag so I could get the flavor without actually having to chew and swallow it. And it didn't go very well:



You should be happy that Dad turned the camera off when he did. Because I kid you not, just 10 seconds later I threw up my entire lunch! So maybe we'll wait a little bit before we try that again, okay Mom and Dad?

Busting out

Mom and Dad are crazy if they think that I'm actually going to stay in that enclosed baby gate they keep putting me in. I'm already plotting my escape and doing everything I can to scale the fence — including standing on top of my toys in an attempt to get closer to freedom.



It might take me a few more months, but I promise you: I will figure out a way out of here!

Silly break

Our weekend lunch at Red Robin - and the purple balloon I got there - put me in a giddy mood when we got home. So I put on all my necklaces and bracelets, and had lots of silly fun with Dad!

Nailed it!

It's amazing how powerful a motivator a bribe can be. For weeks (months, really), Mom and Dad have tried to get me to use the potty. Mom even promised that I could paint my nails after I went. But this weekend, she actually bought the nail polish - it was purple and glittery! - and that was all the motivation I needed.

Sunday I told Mom and Dad that I wanted to get my nails painted and was ready to go on the potty, for real this time. So I sat...and sat...and sat. And then....



Success! I decided that I'd rather have my fingernails painted than my toenails, so Mom did those instead.



Now I have to go on the potty again so I can get my toenails painted too!

Obviously I still have a long way to go before I'm toilet-trained, but this was a big first step!