One Small Step for a Baby...... (11 months)

.....one giant leap for babykind


Mommy was just going to throw away this valuable coupon for Holiday gas stations but I would have nothing of it. One night I crawled around hanging onto this coupon for dear life. Let's just say I'm a thrifty shopper! You might be wondering about the title of my post. It is a bit mysterious yet totally obvious. This week I took a couple steps on my own! Mostly just left foot, right foot, fall into Mom or Dad. I'm pretty cautious when it comes to walking (which is weird because I'm totally not cautious about anything else--like my swan dives down the stairs). I really want to just hang onto something but every once in awhile I'll forget to hang onto something and I'm walking on my own! Then I realize what is going on and fall. My parents say I just need some more confidence.




My other big first this week was my first injury from a cat. These are the two suspects. They are being jailed until trial. Actually I'm just kidding about that. I know who the perpetrator was and I know that I probably am most at fault for this incident. You see I was REAAAALLLY pesky to Ashley one day this week. She is normally very patient with me and all of my rough petting, tail grabbing, and lunging for her paws but by nightfall she had enough! I did one final lunge to grab her front paws and she batted me away, causing a small scratch on my hand. I was a bit shocked at first and then let out a few wails. My parents washed my scratch and I was all better. I'm going to try and be more gentle with her now.

This weekend was the big game...Michigan vs. Ohio State. One day Mommy and I made cookies in the shape of football helmets, footballs, and hearts. Well, I mostly helped by taking a decent nap. They are always a hit at the Michigan/Ohio State party we go to (ok, ok, so it's my first time going to this shindig but technically I went last year albeit in Mommy's tummy).

This is Daddy and me in our new Michigan digs. My Michigan onesie from basketball season doesn't fit at all anymore. This sweatshirt sized 18 months. My shirts are all 12 month or 18 month and my pants are all 9 month or 12 month. I think I got Grandpa Dalton's short legs and long torso! Anyway back to Michigan---notice we are all smiles before the game.

This is me after the game! Shucks we lost to Ohio State AGAIN! All the turnovers!! AHHHH! Mommy tried to put me down for a nap at their friend's house but I would have nothing of it. I couldn't leave my team in their hour of need so I cried long enough for them to give up and they let me watch the game. Mommy and Daddy drove separately in case this happened and Mommy had to leave early with me to take a nap at home. I fooled them though! I stayed up for the entire game and I was in a good mood. It was fun exploring a new house and new people! I was so exhausted after the game that I fell asleep in the car before Mommy even made it to the highway. Luckily I was so drowsy when Mommy took me out of my carseat that I fell back asleep when she put me in my crib.

After my nap I was in such a foul mood because of the game that I kept making faces at Mommy and Daddy when they tried to take my picture. This is me playing my new favorite game. It's pretty fun. You just open up the picture drawer, and then take every picture out. I like to take them out one or two at a time, glance at them, then throw them on the floor. This game can be applied to many things like my diaper bag, toys that are put in a container, my bag of blocks, etc. It's a very versitile game!

Again, I was in no mood for happy pictures after the dismal performance of the Wolverines. I mean really, you just fumble in the end zone and give them a touchdown in the first moments of the game??!!?!

Daddy pulled out a puzzle that I had gotten as a gift awhile ago and that made me feel better. Nothing like a new toy to take your mind of the day's troubles--plus the pieces were verrrrrry tasty! Daddy taught me some animal noises. If you ask me, "What does the horsie say?" I respond with "pffffffffffffb" When Mommy or Daddy gets this on camera, we'll post a video.

This morning I got to wear my fall dress to church since it was so nice out. I was very good in nursery and made it through the entire service without my parents having to be paged. I only have 2 more months in Nursery 1 and I'll graduate to Nursery 2. I'm not nervous about Nursery 2 as you may remember from my past postings that one Saturday night I got moved there because I was the only baby. I held my own with the big kids so I'm not afraid!

Daddy was checking out his fantasy football team before we went to church. I decided I'd better check out his lineup and make sure he didn't make any foolish choices. Daddy is in two fantasy football leagues and Mommy is in one. Mommy's team is in first place so she is really excited. Usually her teams are very bad but not this year! Daddy's teams are doing ok.. He might have to just cheer on Mommy when it comes to the playoffs if things don't go well this weekend.

Mommy and I did a little arts and crafts project this week. Mommy said that I must be part hamster as I like to chew on my crib rails. I used to just chew on my front rail so a couple months ago (before I even had teeth) Mommy bought this crib rail protector (the white thing) at Babies R Us in anticipation of me getting teeth someday and actually doing damage. Well that day has come of course as I have two little teeth. Since the front rail is covered I moved onto the side rails. Mommy didn't want to spend more money on 2 more crib rail protectors so we headed to JoAnn Fabrics. We were excited when we found an elephant print fleece that would work great and match my room! Mommy doesn't sew but she can find creative solutions to problems like this!

And there was even some leftover fabric so Mommy made me a blanket!

What else happened this week? Oh! I got my H1N1 shot and my 2nd seasonal flu shot on Friday. I didn't cry for the seasonal shot but I did cry a little when I got my H1N1 shot as the nurse says it "stings a bit." A bit?!!? I say a lot! I'm still teething. Friday night and Saturday night I decided to get up at 2:30 in the morning. Friday night I put myself back to sleep after 15 minutes of whimpering in my crib. I think I had a bad dream or something. Last night was a different story. I decided to stay up from 2:30-nearly 4:00. First I stood up in my crib crying. After 15 minutes of that, Mommy came in my room and gave me my pacifier and made sure I wasn't feverish or had an "accident" or something. She left and I wailed some more for a few minutes then I decided to just sit in my crib quietly sucking on my pacifier for the next 40 minutes or so. Daddy went back to sleep but Mommy was wide awake at that point. Then after 40 minutes or so I looked like I was going to lay down and go to sleep but I decided to stand up and wail some more. After 10-15 minutes of that, Mommy came back in my room and changed my diaper thinking that maybe I was dirty. Nope! Just wet! But then I stayed quiet for a few minutes and then went to sleep. Mommy and Daddy are hoping that this was just a weird weekend thing and that this 2:30 wakeup doesn't occur again!

I also no longer enjoy bathtime. Well, maybe that's not quite right. Mom and Dad no longer enjoy bathtime. I like the bath for a few minutes and then I want to stand up and/or crawl around the tub which I'm apparently not allowed to do. Then the next few minutes Mom and Dad try to hold me down to at least get me clean. Trying to wash my hair while I'm squirming around trying to stand is a real challenge and somewhat resembles waterboarding. Bath time used to take 15-20 minutes as I would get clean and then I'd play and splash around the tub. Now it's about 3 minutes. My parents are wondering if any one out there has any tips to make bathtime fun again?? Can you tell them that it's ok for me to try to stand up and walk around and crawl in a slippery tub?

I'm still pretty chatty. I can say "Da Da" "Kitty" and "Mama" (Mommy's side note: FINALLY!!). I am getting a little annoyed at the constant quizzing.... "Who is that?" "Who am I?" "Where's kitty" My parents keep asking me the most obvious questions that I KNOW they know the answer to. Most of the time I ignore them but once in awhile will answer just to appease them. They get so excited when I answer right. I think I'm ready for some harder questions!

Alright this blog is getting long and it's past my bedtime! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!