I think it might be time for Daddy to put on those cabinet door baby locks...
Mom tried to put a chair up against it, but I am much smarter than she thought.
She was just complaining today, after seeing Scarlett practically writing the user's manual for her toys, that I don't know how my toys work . (To see for yourself, click on her name). I had to show Mom that I know how to work some things--even if they technically aren't my toys.
Mom and I took Leroy to the vet today. I really liked it because I got to see lots of animals. I even saw a kind of animal that I have never seen before: fish. They have a big fish tank filled with brightly colored fish, and one of them was staring right at me. I think he liked me. Most animals do. But do you know who didn't seem to like me? Any of the people there. Normally, whenever I make any kind of public appearance, be it a trip to Target or a walk around the 'hood, everyone loves me. People stop me just to say hi and tell me how cute I am. And when I flash them a Poki smile, they seriously melt. Basically what I am saying is I'm a lovable kind of guy. Well this place was full of animal lovers--but not just any kind of animal lover--the kind that ignore babies and coo over Leroy. Leroy! Can you believe that? I mean, I love Leroy, but come on! Next to me he's just a little fur ball! I was there for almost an hour and no one even said hello to me! Okay, maybe I am going overboard here. I do love Leroy--I love all animals. I really, really do. In fact, an animal can't get within 10 feet of me without my squealing in delight. All I'm saying is, animal lovers can be baby lovers too. I'm an animal lover and a baby lover. It's not hard. In fact, I love alot of things. I love kitties, doggies, fish, dust bunnies, cereal puffs, Mom's hair, stroller wheels, truck wheels...the list goes on. So open your hearts, animal lovers, and make some room for Poki!
My mom thinks that I'm really trying to say "kitty" when I see Max and Leroy. Here is a video of me making the sound that my mom swears is me trying to say my first word. (Listen carefully around the 50 second mark).
Did I mention that Granny and Mimi weren't the only grandmothers I saw in Tennessee? Babushka was in town for the first few days of my visit and I saw Babi a bunch too! Here are a couple of pictures of me and my paternal grandmother and great grandmother.
I also discovered something at Granny's house that I like almost as much as Babi's cane: a canopy bed.
Finally, I can tell you about my visit to Tennessee. There is so much to cover!
First of all, I went on a plane again. I love flying! Here I am in my very own seat, which I only got to sit in before the plane took off. Once we started moving, Daddy held me.
Another great thing about flying is that my mom lets me drink juice! I don't normally get to drink juice, so this is a real treat for me.
I called this visit Granny Baby Camp because I wasn't the only baby there. Nope--my cousin Tully was there too. He's only 6 weeks younger than I am, so we have fun together.
Everyone loves Tully because he is always smiling and laughing. He's a sweet baby...
But sometimes I forget that 6 weeks is a bigger age difference than you might think. I was sometimes a little pushy. Like when I took over the exersaucer... (Sorry--that video is too big. Mom's trying to make it smaller.)
And when I kept crushing cereal puffs on Tully's head...
Speaking of Tully's head, my granny says that Tully looks just like Uncle Preston (he's also Tully's uncle) when he was a baby. Tully is the opposite of me--he's long and lanky, while I am a tubby little sausage boy. Tully also has a big noggin, while my head circumference stayed in the 30th percentile for quite a while. I didn't really believe Granny that Tully looked like Uncle Preston until I saw this picture of the two of them. They definitely have the same head!
Tully and I did just about everything together. We ate together...
Picked flowers together...
Played on Granny's big bed together...
And I taught Tully how to give Granny good lovins!
And Tully let me play with his pacifier, which I hadn't shown any interest in since I was like 3 months old! Go figure...
But Tully is not the only cousin I got to see. I also spent a few days with my big cousin Sam. I love Sam. He's going to teach me how to be a good ninja when I grow up. Here's Sam, flashing his famous grin.
And here he is pretending to be a knight. He's really clever. He put on a Burger King crown upside down and said: Look, I'm a knight! Isn't that smart? I never would have thought of that. I have alot to learn from Sam.
Also when I was in Tennessee, I got to play with doggies at Granddaddy and Mimi's house.
I also got to see my cousin Dru and my Aunt Donna and Uncle Matt. They are going to have a baby this summer!
You all know that I walked for the first time this week, but did you know that I also went on a swing for the first time? I did! And it was so fun!
The swing wasn't exactly a baby swing, so Mom had to hold onto me. In this video, I sat in Mom's lap and got to swing higher. I loved it!
After swinging at the playground, I went back to Granny's house and tried to find something to swing on. All I could find was this baby rocking chair, but it did the trick!
When we were at the airport, getting ready to fly home, I decided to leave my friend Tully a little present. You all know Horsey. Well, Tully loved Horsey. In fact, I think he liked him more than I did, so I gave him to Tully. Frankly, I have been spending alot of time throwing Horsey on the floor and Horsey deserves to be with a baby that adores him, and Tully certainly does. Don't you think that was very big of me? Here is Tully giving Horsey some much deserved love.
And finally, here we are after our fun week together: The lady killer and his wing man. Seriously, people, how cute are we?
I'm missing a ton of stuff, but this should tide you over for awhile! I'm a little out of breath from dictating all this to my mom!
More Poki very soon--like my Easter fun!
Okay people, who had March 21st in the Poki Walking pool? March 21st...the first day of Spring...9 months 10 days old...I took my first steps. And can you believe that my mom actually caught it on video?!! She was filming me standing after I stole my cousin's pacifier (I haven't taken a paci since I was 3 months old)and next thing you know, I was walking! Here is the video:
I have so much to tell you about my week at Granny's house. It was a Granny Baby Camp. Me and my cousin Tully (7 1/2 months) spent the week together and we had so much fun. Well, actually, it was sort of boring. Tully and I nap at different times, so we really didn't see much of each other. My mom has tons of videos and pictures from the week that she will post after we get back home. Of course, she had to post this huge news right away! More this weekend!
Hi, everyone! Poki's mom here. Poki is getting some much-needed sleep because he is not feeling well. Poor Poki has an ear infection in both ears. But let me tell you, that kid is amazing! I had no idea that he was feeling so badly. I called the pediatrician today because he has a stuffy nose and I thought that was preventing him from drinking and napping well. He was pretty fussy this afternoon, but up until then he was as happy as could be. He even spent almost an hour before his nap playing with Julie and Fred (Julie is our friend, cat-sitter and sometimes Poki-sitter, and Fred is Julie's boyfriend and our new friend). Poki was friendly and laughing and smiling and vacuuming (or trying to).
When I spoke the the pediatric nurse, I thought her suggestion to bring him in was a little silly, but she said she wanted him to come in, just to be on the safe side. Thank goodness we did! Poor kid. Hopefully his antibiotics will kick in and help him feel better before Saturday when we fly... sigh. We'll keep you updated, but please send get well thoughts Poki's way--extra ones for Saturday!
That's right, people--I'm 3/4 of a year old. Can you believe it?
Usually my mom posts a birthday picture of me, but today we decided to show you some old pictures instead. Here are some pictures of me during my first few days in the world. (You can click on them to make them bigger). It seems like a lifetime ago to me, but to my mom, it was just yesterday.
Here is a picture of me and Mom doing our favorite activity back when I was still living in her belly: napping.
Here I am just minutes after being born. Want to hear something really cheesy? My mom can't believe it has already been 9 months since she first held me, but at the same time, she can't remember not holding me. Weird huh? She loves me.
Here I am snuggling with my Mom in the hospital. That was a pretty freaky time for me, so I was a little clingy with my mom. Look, what baby isn't?
Snuggling with mom again. I think I fell asleep every time she nursed me.
Yep. I definitely did. And sometimes I got a little milk drunk, like here. That must have been one good feeding. It looks like I lost a sock! Check out my little frog legs! No sausage legs there--anyone remember when those appeared?
And finally, here I am in what was supposed to be my birth announcement photo. Mom and Daddy never actually got around to doing those. They were going to design them and make them like they did their wedding invitations--it's kind of their thing...and then they remembered that they had a new baby and no free time. So you guys can see it now!
So that's it! Some never-before-seen Poki pics. Looking back, I was pretty funny looking in the beginning. And I was so cocky! I thought I was so cute! If only the newborn me could see the 9 month old me--then he would know what cute is!
Guess what I got this weekend? More new toys! Can you believe it? I am seriously spoiled rotten. You can barely see the floor in the living room because it is covered with my toys. My parents don't even know where they all came from! Before Christmas, I had one bin filled with little toys and stuffed animals. Now I have 3 bins and tons of big toys that don't even fit in bins!
This weekend, I got an activity table and push toy from Marna, Penelope, Jena and Marlo. Thank you guys so much! I LOVE them! I also got a baby Triceratops from the Museum of Natural History. I named him Broccoli cause that's what he looks like.
Check out my new toys:
Here I am walking with my new push toy
Meet Broccoli. Isn't he cute?
Here I am playing with my activity table. Mom loves this one because it keeps me from pulling up on the radiator--which was my new favorite thing. By the way, that thing in my mouth is the inside of my foam letter B. I like chewing on it.
In fact, I like chewing on it so much that I decided to keep chewing on it while I played with all my other toys.
I went to New York City for the first time yesterday. Uncle Jeff came in for a visit from his new home in Colorado and we spent the afternoon together. It was very cold and windy, so we stayed inside the Museum of Natural History. My parents are so excited about when it warms up so they can take me back. The Bronx Zoo, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Central Park, Coney Island HERE I COME!
Here are some pictures from my fun day with Uncle Jeff:
And there are more pictures to come from my daddy's camera!
I've gotten really good at feeding myself. In fact, I'm so good that I've decided to help feed other people too--like my mom.
Here I am feeding her cereal puffs. (Please forgive the loud dryer running in the background).
And here I am feeding her some fish that I caught during my bath.
My parents love me. They love and adore everything about me. Or at least they did. See, I've started making this new noise...and my parents can't stand it. Mom wants to put a stop to it right away, but she has no idea how. It doesn't help that I laugh at her every time she says "no" to me. She thinks it's because I've always heard her say "no" to the kitties. Anyway, here is a video of me making my new noise. And just so you know, I don't only make it when I want out of my crib. I make it when I am playing, when I am eating, when I am walking, crawling--you name an activity or mood, and you can bet I'm making my noise. My soothing, not at all like fingernails on a chalkboard noise.
This is why I'm not allowed to watch TV and why my parents don't turn it on until after I've gone to bed:
My mom is afraid I will turn into Jimmy Jet from the Shel Silverstein poem.
Maybe someday when I am older and I know not to try to climb inside the TV...then maybe I can watch.
As I have mentioned before, I really like helping my mom around the house. Lately, I have especially loved helping her with laundry.
I help her sort--only taking momentary snack breaks.
And I help carry the basket. Okay, I really steal the basket so I can practice walking--but I could scoot it all the way to the bedroom if she would let me!
I decided that I didn't really care for the robots. Actually, it's not the robots that I didn't like (I love robots), it was the colors. So this is my new blog layout! It has a monkey and a bucket! What's not to like about that? Nothing, I say. Plus, it totally suits me because I am a monkey! Now all I need is a bucket...
I forgot to mention in my last post that the truck that I was pushing was an early birthday present from Babi and Sasha. They sent me a cute card and some money for my 3/4 birthday and my parents, instead of depositing it into my savings account like they normally do, decided to buy me some new toys. I got that fancy schmancy new truck that I can ride on or push (although right now I am more interested in pushing it). I also got a little farmer's truck that carries a pig and a cow AND a new shark bath toy that eats little fish! We went to Target to get some things for the house and we left with a cart full of fun stuff for Poki! Thanks, Babi and Sasha!
Here are some more pictures of me and my new favorite toy:
When do you think I will walk? My mom and granny think it will be pretty soon--like when I'm around 10 months old. I'll be 9 months next week, so if their prediction is right, that will be very, very soon.
I cruise everywhere and I can stand unsupported for a while--my mom counted 40 seconds the other day. Everybody says those are the first signs!
Check out this video of me and tell me what you think.
So I can now feed myself cereal puffs. It's really fun and it makes me feel like a big kid. My mom gets really frustrated though because I will no longer let her feed me baby food. Every time that spoon comes near my face I freak out. I don't mean to be mean, it's just that I want to feed myself. The problem is, my mom wants me to eat something other than cereal puffs and toast squares. She tried giving me some banana, cooked pears, peas and smushy carrots, but I couldn't quite get the hang of eating those. Most of them made me gag. I like things that dissolve in my mouth--like cereal puffs!
Here is a video of me enjoying my puffs. And as a bonus, you can see my toofers at the end of the video!
...Me!
I had my first swim lesson yesterday with my mom, Scarlett, her mommy, and lots of other babies and mommies and daddies. My daddy sat in the bleachers and caught the whole thing on film, then he went from camera man to editor and came up with this little beauty. Enjoy!
