Pre Naptime

You have all seen how animated and active I am most of the time and especially after my nap. In this video, Mama caught me in that rare quiet time before my nap. I sometimes get upset because I'm so tired (and that sunshine was shining really brightly in my eyes!), but Mama is usually able to get me calmed down (most often with the help of a bottle) and then I drift off to sleep...ahhhhh.

Here's a still shot:

Mirror Mirror

Oh but there's so much fun in our bedroom. There's a little nook back behind our bed where Mama hangs her clothes and where there are more drawers for storage. But there is also this great thing called a mirror back there and it is soooo interesting. When I sit in front of it, this really cool baby shows up to play with me...he's just as silly as I am, so it's perfect!

Me & Jet Li

Just a quick little video of me & our friend Beth's kitty, Jet Li. We're kitty sitting while she & Jarrett are on vacation. We still need to get video of me and Julio and Patchouli, but they are pretty skittish and don't know what to make of my enthusiasm for their kitty selves. Jet Li was sweet enough to stand still and let me admire him for a bit. I just LOVE those kitties!!!

Lost Classic Clip #1 - March 19, 2008

On this day, my 9 month birthday, Mama thought it would be fun to look back and reminisce a bit. Here you'll see me at about 4 1/2 months of age. I'm at my Opa & Grandma Smoky's house in Pennsylvania. They were the ones who really got the crawling/mobility idea planted in my head...seemed like a pretty cool trick to learn...it didn't take me long after this.

Oh So Mobile

So, tomorrow, August 29th, is my 9 month birthday. And in honor of that day Mama thought my blog audience would like to see just how advanced and "oh so mobile" I am. Though I have been completely mobile since April (5 months of age), doing the army crawl and scooting myself around, I now crawl at full speed and am able to get up and down off the bed 100s of times a day (this is one of my favorite pastimes). I am also easily convinced to "chase" Mama or Papa wherever they might lead me. I do alot of "heavy breathing" in all my excitement to crawl as fast as I can. Oh, I love, love, love kitties...they make me laugh so much...real ones or just pictures of them.

Post Naptime Silliness

Often when I wake up from my nap in the late morning or afternoon, Mama & Papa will play with me and be extra silly. I'm pretty adorable and happy in my rosy cheeks after a nap and they just can't help themselves. Here, Papa is playing "puppeteer" as I, the puppet, try and attack Mama with my cuteness. At the end, if you watch real close, I show off a little of my soft shoe talents.

My New Trick...

Last Wednesday or Thursday I started doing this fabulous new trick. Mama and Papa call it "clapping". Every time I do it, Mama giggles and they both start clapping with me. It's pretty cool to see how quickly I can train Mama & Papa to entertain me.

Anyway, Mama's been trying to get video of me clapping, but as soon as she brings out the camera I usually stop clapping and start chasing her instead. This morning Papa was around to help.

In The "Library"

Mama came around the corner from the kitchen this morning & found me in my library reading books. I had made myself a nice little stool out of Papa's hand weights. Mama thought this was terribly adorable & started taking photos.

I indulged her for a little while...even flashing her one of my best smiles (I usually save those for the ladies at the grocery store).

But then she started taking video & I decided that I wanted the camera. It's our usual standoff because she never lets me play with her camera & I always want it really bad. I chase her & she keeps the camera away from my fast grabby little hands & then I get mad & cry.

Coffee Shop Playroom

Yesterday was kind of cold and grey here in Seattle (and we were out of coffee at the house for Mama), so we headed up to the coffee shop first thing in the morning. It was a very busy day in the playroom...tons of kids, big and small...I think I was the smallest, but that didn't phase me at all. I got lots of attention and I like that. There were a couple of bossy older kids and that was a bit unusual, but one of the moms talked to them about sharing and they got a little bit better.

They have this kids playhouse in the playroom and today is the first time I went inside it and checked it out. It was pretty cool. Look how cute I look in this picture!

Mama also took some video of me crawling and getting around on my own...I'm very fast. Wait til you see it! I also am very fascinated by wheels...especially on strollers, I always head straight for them once I see them and often I like to try and chew on them. Mama says that the wheels are usually pretty dirty, but I like to play with them and chew on them anyway.

Raised by Dogs

So, by far, Bongo & Jack's favorite pastime is to stare out the living room windows at the neighbors' house, driveway & any of the local neighborhood kitties who happen to be cruising by. (At night they often watch the progress of a local raccoon family that frequents our neighbors' back yard.) Well, after months of watching this, guess who else's new favorite pastime takes place in the window? Bongo & Jack are my brothers and they teach me all of their fabulous tricks! Just like good brothers do.

Summertime Fun

We have been having so much fun this past week that Papa's had off between jobs.

SALTWATER SWIMMING POOL
Mama & I showed him this really cool outdoor saltwater swimming pool we found. It's in one of the city parks that runs right along the Puget Sound. In fact, the swimming pool is located on the west-most point of the park and juts right out into the sound. You can't really see how beautiful it is from the video, but Mama will post some of the still photos of the path that you need to take along the water to get to the pool. In the video I'm practicing my swim lesson moves. It's kind of hard because the pool is so cool that LOTS of people go to it and the kids' end is always really crowded and noisy.


Below is the path to the swimming pool. That's the Puget Sound on the left. On the right you can see picnic tables, covered & uncovered. We hope to have a picnic here sometime soon.

There's lots of driftwood and logs scattered on the beach - very beautiful & fun to climb on too!

Here's the swimming pool at the end of our trek.


PICNIC, HIKE, & LAKE SWIMMING ADVENTURE
Friday was really hot here in Seattle. Papa took Mama & I on an adventure to St. Edwards State Park just north & east of the city. First we had a picnic and then a little photo shoot in the cool tree that we ate under.





Then we took a .64 mile hike down to the northeast edge of Lake Washington where we found a little swimming beach and a bunch of very relieved swimmers. Mama & I could not WAIT to get in that water. It was a bit shocking when we first got in the water...YIKES! That's cold!...but then after a few minutes we both got used to it and boy! were we ever happy!

To top it off, Papa made this AWESOME video of our hike & swim. It makes Mama cry every time she watches it...she was soooooo happy! And I was having so much fun! This is the first time I ever swam in a lake.

Here's some still shots of us. Remember to click on them to enlarge them and you can even download to your computer and print ones that you like.




FREE CONCERT UNDER THE SPACE NEEDLE
After our fabulous day at the state park Mama had heard about a free concert under the Space Needle AND it was being hosted by her favorite local radio station, KEXP. So, after a good nap for me, we packed some dinner/snacks in a cooler, tucked a big blanket under our arms and headed downtown.

Here I am very interested in the KEXP DJ who was introducing the first band that night...The Maldives. I had just visited our "blanket neighbors" and mooched a piece of their bread from them. Mmmm, seeded baguette.

Huh, this is so interesting...we've never been to one of these outdoor concerts before. I like it!

Man, The Maldives ROCK! I love this band! Free concerts are COOL!

Here, Papa put together video of me and the band in the same movie! Papa's so clever!

When Mama laid on her back and lifted me above her head, this was the view she had...AWESOME, huh?



And Papa was looking pretty cute too...or so Mama said...

Swim Lessons

Papa took the day off from work 2 Wednesdays ago to come and see Mama & me at swim lessons. He took this video of me learning to go under water, hang on to the wall, climb out of the pool and jump back in (with Mama's help, of course). Mama gets so excited! She's very silly when she gets in the water! It makes her so happy that I like to be there as much as she does.

I really, really love the water. Any chance I get to play in water, I take. One of my favorite pastimes is playing in the dogs' water dish and having Mama or Papa chase me away from it, cause it's kind of dirty and gross...but that's one of the best reasons to play in it!

First Babysitters

Last Monday (Aug 4th) was Mama & Papa's anniversary. They decided that it would be fun to go on a date together and finally, over 8 months after my birth, they felt ready to go on that date without me. So, on Wednesday (when they were finally able to organize themselves), they dropped me off at Uncle Dan & Aunt Chooch (Cheryl's) house and went to dinner & a movie. All parties involved survived the evening and Mama "interviewed" me the next morning at breakfast about it.

Ride-On Lion

[Mama's pretty behind in her blog postings, but trying to catch up. I've been a handful lately with more teeth coming in and we think I've got my first cold to boot. I'm not giving Mama & Papa a whole lot of hours of sleep these days - waking up every single hour during the night for the last three nights for example.]

Mama had been on a huge search to find the perfect lightweight stroller so that we could pass on our big clunky one that used to fit my infant car seat. It was perfect for the longest time and one of the best hand-me-down gifts we received from our friends Doug & Andrea, but it was time to streamline a little bit...so, in her quest for the perfect, yet not-too-spendy stoller, she & I would end up at many of the local baby and kids consignment stores looking for the perfect "find."

Well, last Tuesday we didn't quite find the perfect stroller, but we did find this super cute wood ride-on lion...Mama & I just HAD to have it!

As you can see, I was a little hesitant at first, so Mama "took it slow" for me. But, then, I got my "lion legs" and really had a good time!

Video Star

So, Papa has been working 12-, 13-, 14-hour days for the last two weeks at least...working really hard painting the neighbors' house...the job is finally done and it looks really good (super groovy colors Mama says). But more than anything Papa needed a break so he could get creative and a little funky! Here you can see a project that he and I collaborated on...not quite my first music video, but definitely one of the funkier ones. Papa makes me look pretty cool to Beck's "Peaches & Cream," doesn't he?

The Hose Down

So, after all this eating I'm doing, it should be clear to you all by now that I often need to be "hosed down". Here I am in the bathroom sink after Papa "painted" me with yogurt at breakfast yesterday. It's great fun!

eating machine!

so papa is breaking some rules and posting on mama's blog! he likes making little movies of me doing whatever it is that i do do (haha)
this is also a present for my gran-ma shirely! it's couple of days late though...

August Has Arrived

It's been a few days since Mama's had a chance to add pictures and stuff to my blog and she has a bunch of videos that she plans to get Papa's help with then she'll upload for all of you to see.

In the meantime here are a few still photos to hold you over:

Here's me catching a few winks before a big afternoon on the town with the ladies. Mama, Lindsay, Mia and I went to the Fremont Sidewalk Sales on Friday.

Here I am taste-testing an iPod.

Hey everybody, look at my two bottom teeth...I've got 2 top ones too, but they're harder to catch on camera.