The Simple Pleasures

So Mama took this video 3 weeks ago and is just realizing we hadn't posted it yet.

We spend a lot of time in our house with Mama or Papa chasing me as I try to get to the dogs' water dish. Mama had to put it in the bathroom so that a door could be closed to keep me out of it once in a while. On this particular occasion though, Mama gave up (I guess I was just too darn cute or something) and decided to go with the flow of my creative play and she got out the camera instead...Long Live the Mamarazzi!

Move Over Jerry Lee Lewis...

...Roll Over Beethoven...

Here comes Keyboard Kieran! The Piano Man? Move over Elton John!

Friday morning we joined a bunch of other kids and moms for music time at a local library branch (we had a separate and sound proof room of course). It was completely informal and most of the kids and moms had never been to a formal music class before, so we just "winged it." First the mommies sang to us all sorts of our favorite songs. Then us kids just kind of free-form jammed with whatever instruments we could get our hands on. Finally, was my solo performance on piano...I rocked! And then my friend Aislin, who coincidentally was born on the exact same day as me, came over to accompany me and sing a few tunes.

Oh! The Things I Do!

Kick back your feet everybody and get yourselves a cup of coffee...cause Papa got himself some new software and has been being creative!

There's a lot to watch, about 5 minutes worth or so. Most of it is from this month, but the beginning part is actually from back in July. Hope you like it!

magic laundry basket ride

so papa and i were messing around and made a movie for my first cousin Bryan who's turning ten years old. i'm almost ten months old so i don't know what the big deal is. but we wanted to have some fun and make Bryan laugh for is birthday. enjoy!

Lunch Date with Mia

Last Thursday Papa needed the car for work so Mama and I decided we'd call up Mia and her Mama Lindsay and see if they wanted to come pick us up and go on some kind of "adventure". The mamas hadn't eaten lunch yet, so they decided we'd go out for Chinese food. Lindsay and Mia are from San Francisco, so Mama wanted to take them to one of the better Chinese restaurants in Seattle...as far as she knows, the Snappy Dragon is one of the best.

Here I am, out on the sidewalk outside our house in my car seat waiting for my "date" to come pick me up...very new millennium, huh?




At the restaurant, I did try a piece of Mama's broccoli in garlic sauce (mostly I just sucked the sauce off), but mainly Mia and I ate/played with Cheerios and puffed rice.

Here I am ordering a little something off the wine list for my special lady.

Oops, I guess I ordered the wrong year, she doesn't look too happy with me.

Fun with Quinn

A couple of days ago Mama called up Amy and Quinn to see if they wanted to play. It was a beautiful September afternoon and we hadn't seen them for a few weeks so the mamas decided to meet up and walk around Green Lake with us. Mamas like to do the walking part, while us kids ride in strollers or in carriers on our mama's fronts or backs. Today was such a nice day that when we got 3/4 of the way around we stopped at the playground to go on the swings. Quinn & I are getting big enough to like to explore other parts of the playground as well. Here are some photos that Amy took.

Quinn's a little bit older than I am. He will turn one year old on Oct 9, where I have to wait all the way til the end of November. Quinn's hair is so blond...it makes mine look quite dark.

Here I am playing with Quinn's hands as he puts them through this fun play "thing".

Here's Quinn playing peek-a-boo with his mama. He's one happy guy!

One Man Band - An Ode to GranSmoky

A few weeks ago Mama was talking with GranSmoky about how few toys a parent really needs to buy to keep a kid like me entertained. Between wooden spoons, plastic containers and aluminum pie tins a kid could be quite content. Then GranSmoky mentioned pots & pans and Mama said that she and Papa hadn't "gone there" yet. GranSmoky's response was classic, she said that if she were out here in Seattle she would have for sure showed me where the pots & pans were and how much fun they were to bang on. That made Mama laugh!

Well, about 2 days later, Mama & I were taking a walk to return some library books when we saw a "free box" with some cute small metal pans and lids in it. Mama giggled, loaded up the stroller, took them home and gave them a good washing and later introduced me to those oh so lovely items!

Here I am in my one man band.

Playground & Beach - Summertime Fun!

Mama is really behind on my blog, and she's wide awake in the middle of the night/early Saturday morning (I'm upstairs with Papa and we're both sleeping soundly), so she thought she could at least post some photos from a fun day we had at the Green Lake playground and beach on Thursday afternoon.

Here are a couple pics of me on the swing:






After the swings, we went over to the beach and played in the sand with some cool toys.




After a while, Mama thought perhaps I had been in the sun too long (I'm kind of fair-skinned, you know) so she set me up in the shade in my new ride with a beverage. I was just kickin' back checking out the girls and stuff.

Live Bluegrass

Here in Seattle Mama found a kid-friendly restaurant/pub that has live (& free) bluegrass music every Sunday night. She's been wanting to go for a long time, but it wasn't until this past Sunday that we actually all piled in the car and headed out on our fabulous adventure. Our neighbor Jo, who lives downstairs & also happens to play banjo, went with us. Jo often comes upstairs just to see me and play with me and teach me any science she can (she's a scientist of sorts...working on her dissertation). She's the one playing peek-a-boo with me and making me smile. I really like Jo. She's really nice. Oh, and the bluegrass music was fun too. Mama introduced me, sort of, to the musicians while they were on their break and they showed me their instruments up close. That was cool. Mama says that the second part of the video, where she is dancing with me, reminds her alot of the time she spent dancing to the Grateful Dead with my cousin Eva when she was just 2 or so years old. Eva's turning 16 this month...it is a really, really special memory Mama says.


Here are some photos Mama took of me in her new laundry basket before we went to see the bluegrass music:

BIg Blue Tunnel

Our friends Jen, Viviana & Oliver let us borrow their big blue tunnel a couple of weeks ago. Though I've been playing with it often, Mama just got a chance to get the camera on me recently.

The first time I got through it with no problems, but second time around I thought about it too much and got kind of discombobulated...turned around, you might say. The dogs and their shadows from the outside of the tunnel didn't help my personal navigation system much either. But eventually I got myself organized and headed toward the Mama-razzi. The big blue tunnel is pretty fun!

More Birthday Fun

YIKES! It's already September 3rd!!!

Mama has more video clips from my 9 month birthday last Friday that she hasn't had a chance to post on the blog yet. I keep her very busy and always want to "help" her when she's on the computer. I guess she prefers to work independently though.

But first some stills shots from that morning. Mama & Papa were singing Happy Birthday to me! Yay!




Chillin' With Papa
Papa and I were just hanging out in the back yard, taking it easy, eating some snacks. Mama of course thought we just looked so fabulous together she just had to run and get the camera. Good thing too, because Papa was extra funny/cheeky for the camera...made for good video. I, on the other hand, am getting quite used to the Mama-razzi and was much more interested in eating my cracker and just sitting in Papa's lap.


Time for Swimming - Not!
The weather here in Seattle took a sharp turn and it's been more like in the 60s & 70s, rather than the 80s & 90s that we had experienced just a couple weeks ago. Needless to say, Papa emptied the water out of my baby pool, but hadn't quite gotten it deflated, folded and stored away for the season yet. Seemed like a perfect place to play for a while after my crackers...I didn't have to wait a 1/2 hour before going in though!


Here's a couple still shots that Mama just loves. I like to give her a few good ones every once in a while!




On to the Dogs
After my "swim" it was time to go over and check out the dogs in their pen. You'll notice that when I crawl on ground that is kind of bumpy or stony that I protect my knees and do a little crab crawl, just on my hands and feet. Mama & Papa call it 4 wheelin'. Oh and those bells on that gate!!! How much fun are they to ring! Those bells are how Mama & Papa can tell if the boys, that's what we call Bongo and Jack sometimes, are trying to escape...Jack's quite the escape artist!


And a few last still shots before Mama signs out for the night: