Favorite Food

What's my favorite food? What do I crave all the time and eat more of than anything else?

Mango? Watermelon? Peaches? Blueberries? Cheese? Pizza? Peanut Butter? Rice cakes? No, huh-uh, nope, nein. (Although that last one is a close second). My absolute favorite food is...



Penne al Pesto! ...Seriously. Weird huh? I never throw my plate on the floor when I get pesto!

Applesauce!

To practice my spoon work, I got to have applesauce with my supper tonight. Needless to say, I made a big ol' mess. Then, when I got tired of using the spoon, I decided to just drink my applesauce. Hey--There's nothing wrong with drinking from a bowl! I watch Mom do it with her cereal milk every morning.







There may be nothing wrong with drinking from a bowl, but there is something very wrong with throwing a bowl. I just can't seem to remember not to do it! And my dad can't seem to remember that throwing a bowl means my meal is over. Poor Daddy. We both got snapped at.



Anyway--forget the bowl-throwing incident. Wasn't that some good signing? I'm getting really good!

Stickers!

Do you guys know about stickers? My mom's parenting magazine came with some today and I got to play with them. They are so fun!

And So It Begins...

Guess what I've learned to do? Well...it is so much more fun than nodding!



p.s.

Yes. I've also been throwing my plate across the kitchen on occasion...every mealtime. And no, my mom doesn't like it.

p.p.s.

For you concerned grandmothers out there, I got that boo boo on my nose during a playdate with Scarlett. I tripped and hit my face on a rock. It sounds worse than it is--I promise!

More?...More!!

After my mom taught SCARLETT how to sign "more" in like two minutes, I thought I'd better start paying attention. Mom has been lazily signing with me for months, but after witnessing Scarlett's amazing feat, she decided to work a little harder on it. Today, I finally got it. See, Mom's been working on it with food, but to tell the truth, I'm not much of an eater. If she asked if I wanted more, I'd just say: "eh...no thanks." Today in the car, she was playing a game where Meri (my stuffed lamb) would count to three and jump off the back of her seat into my arms. I loved it. So she decided to try "more" with me again. I picked it up right away. Then at bath time, she tried it again. Yep. I like singing and I wanted more!

Latest Word

Listen carefully at the 12 second mark!

Talent Show (aka: Pushy Parent's Show)

The Heartbreak of a Baby Scientist

Today, I participated in the same infant cognition research study that SCARLETT did a couple of weeks ago. Basically, the purpose of the study is to prove that something happens between the ages of 14 months and 18 months which enables a child to understand that different people have different likes and dislikes. Apparently kids my age don't care what other people like or dislike. Apparently, we think everyone must like and dislike the same things we do. According to the know-it-all Yale scientists, 18 month old kids are less selfish than kids my own age. Whatever. I walked into that research center on a mission. I was going to prove those people wrong.

Then I saw her: The pretty blonde lady who ran the study. I'm not going to lie...there is an age difference--but I wanted even more to prove those scientists wrong so I could show her how mature I am for my age.

She presented me with a plate of goldfish crackers and a plate of broccoli. Goldfish? Those fluorescent fish-shaped crackers that all toddlers love? I became totally disoriented. I lost all sense of right and wrong. What should I do? What is atypical? What will show the lovely researcher that I am mature and selfless? I dived head first into the plate of goldfish, then chased after the pretty researcher when she carried them away. The funny thing is, I don't think I've ever even had goldfish before! I have, however, had broccoli! I've also had another cheese cracker thing though, and I recognized the not-found-in-nature orange color. Anyway, after I ate the plate of goldfish, the pretty (very, very pretty...and blonde) researcher invited me into another room where Mom and I sat across the table from her. She pulled out a blue rubber ducky and made it hop across the table to me. I played with it for a minute, then she asked me to give it back to her. I didn't want to though. She had to take it back from me. My mom was silently horrified that I wasn't sharing. (She had to sit there without making a peep). Then the pretty blonde lady gave me a green rubber ducky to play with. This time when she asked for it, I put it in her hand. Next, she pulled out both plates of snacks again. This time she ate a goldfish, then made a yucky face and pushed the plate of goldfish away. Then she ate a piece of broccoli. She liked it alot. She smiled and said "yum," then pulled the plate closer to her. Finally, she pushed the plates toward me. I ate a goldfish. Then the pretty lady held out her hand and asked me to give her some food. I picked up a piece of broccoli (that's right, people!)...and put it in my mouth. It was disgusting! How could my lovely new friend have preferred this over goldfish? I immediately pulled it out of my mouth and put it on the table. Then, thinking that she must have just needed to try it again (goldfish are an acquired taste, after all...maybe her palate is not as sophisticated as my own), I picked up a goldfish cracker and put it in the researcher's hand. She said abruptly: "And that's exactly what we thought he would do," then took the plates away.

That's it?! I felt my chances of marrying the researcher quickly slip through my fingers as my my mom resisted the urge to scream: "But give him a minute! He'll hand you some broccoli! He's not a typical 14 month old! He's a genius! I swear!" But alas...it was over. The pretty blonde researcher had all the proof she needed that I care nothing about any opinion or interest other than my own. I'm so ashamed...

I sulked home (okay...my mom carried me) and immediately went to my kitchen to cook...broccoli.

Hide and Seek

Recently, I discovered that if I hide in my house, and I'm very,very quiet, my mom can't find me. She walks around looking for me and calling my name. She looks under the sofa, in my shape sorter, behind my car--it's so funny! And all the time I'm in my house peering out the window!







Today, I found a new hiding place. What to know where it is?

Lani's Birthday (+ 1 day) !

My friend Lani had a birthday yesterday, so Mom and I sang her a birthday song. Here we are rehearsing the song while I am cleaning up. What can I say? I'm a multitasker.



I know, I know...the song sounds a little familiar...deal with it. I'm 14 months old.

Balloon Monkey!

Today I went to Ikea with my parents. Not only did I get to eat a hot dog and frozen yogurt, but I also got a new chair just like Scarlett's . I know, I know...I'm such a copy cat. But I really wanted my own chair, and my mom couldn't find a nice one anywhere for under $100! Anyway, usually the frozen yogurt is my favorite part about Ikea, but today they had a man there making balloon animals for all the children. He made a big crazy monkey for me, because I'm a crazy monkey.





I love it. And the man was really great. If any of you live in the New Haven area, and you are looking for a fun kid's entertainer, click here for the balloon man's website. He was really amazing. He could make anything!

Oh yeah...and here's my chair.



Big deal. Did you see my monkey?

Belly Button!

Because I really do have to be right on schedule with SCARLETT...

Lyrics!

You saw me doing choreography, now listen to me sing lyrics!



Now if only Mom could get the words right, we could go on the road! Camptown races sing? That doesn't even make sense. Sheez.

Sam's Fund Update

Wow! We quickly passed our goal and are now only $30 away from giving 4 children complete corrective surgeries! That's amazing! Please click HERE if you would like to make a donation and help Cousin Sam's tribute fund get even bigger.

UPDATE:
In less than an hour, we've had another complete surgery donated! So now we are $30 away from 5 complete corrective surgeries!

Big Boy Seat and Big Girl Living Room

My mom has been going a bit crazy not having any "adult" space in the house. Apparently she thinks I have my stuff in every room. Well, today she came up with a solution. She moved the dining table into the kitchen and made the dining room into a play room for me. Yep! I have my very own playroom. That means none of my stuff is in the living room anymore. Do you know what that means? My mom got her living room back! See:

My Playroom



The Adult's Living Room (the cats like it too)



With the table in the kitchen, my highchair was really cluttering up the place, so my dad got me a booster seat instead. Now I can sit at the table like a big boy! How cool is that?



Man, oh man--what a day!

Story Time and Smooches

The other night, My parents and I met Scarlett and her parents for dinner and a story at Barnes and Noble story hour. We had so much fun! Scarlett and I got prime seats right up front.



And after the story and some shopping, Scarlett and I said our good nights. I planted some serious smoocheroonis on her, but Daddy couldn't catch them on film. After a few tries, he decided to try video instead. By this time, I was over the kissing, but Scarlett couldn't get enough of the old Poki!



But I like my ladies to play hard to get. She is much too forward with me, so I had to push her away.

Choreography!

Cousin Sam's Tribute Fund

My cousin Sam is a pretty amazing kid. I know you've heard me talk about him before. He's going to teach me his best ninja moves when I get older. But that's not the only reason why he's amazing. Click HERE to find out why and to see how you can do something pretty amazing too.

We love you, Sam!

A Very Special Message

We'll get it down by the next birthday--we promise!

Happy Birthday, Aunt La La! We love you!

Why I Don't Dress Myself

Mom gave me the opportunity to dress my teddy bear, Boogie, all by myself. Well, sort of. She let me pick out the clothes. She said, "Pick a shirt. Now pick some socks." etc. I guess it was another one of her vocabulary lessons. Whatever. It was fun anyway! But, as you can see, there is a reason why my mom dresses me. After I picked out the items that she told me to, I just kept going. What can I say? I thought Boogie might want to go swimming.



My soon-to-be friend and wingman, Finn, is about to be born any minute now. In preparation for his arrival, I thought I would practice my diaper changing skills on Boogie.



As you can see, they still need some work. Maybe I'll wait a little longer before I try to change Finn's diaper.



By the way, for any of you who might recognize Boogie, he was my mom's very favorite stuffed animal when she was little. He's an old man, but just as cute as ever!