A long-awaited vacation!!

Starting this weekend, Mom, Dad and I are taking an epic journey to Maine.

First, we'll be going to the wedding of one of my Dad's oldest friends! It's on a boat, which will take us to an island...how do you get much cooler than THAT!?

After the wedding (Which is near Portland) we will be continuing north to Houlton, Maine...a tiny town, where Mom's family owns a small cabin on a lake. There will be much relaxing, much rest, and more than likely, much adorable-ness from yours truly...

Depending on the mood of the internet (Which is regrettably dial-up) I may update from our vacation. If not, I have set up several final catching up posts to go through while I am away.

This is a big week! Mom and Dad look forward to it every year, and now so do I. The trip will be difficult, but the end result will be truly worth it. Keep reading while I'm away, and I'll keep the blogging coming!

6 Month Doctor Visit....

I went in for my six month appointment the other day, and here are the latest and greatest stats...

I currently weigh 15 lbs 3.5 oz, which puts me in the 10-25 percentile range. This is a little light, but not so light that the doctor is all that worried. As the doc said, I'm happy, healthy, and just a little small, is all!

I am currently 26 7/8 Inches long, which drops me right in the 50-75 percentile. I guess the days of being a tall baby are over, as I settle into a pretty average length.

My head circumference is 17 1/4, which leaves me in the 25-50 percentile. Again, a hair small, but I am just biding my time. People think my small head makes me not as smart as those around me...not true! It's all a clever trap.

I got a couple shots (Do these things ever STOP!?) and I didn't cry at all, which everyone (me included) thought was a little odd, but hey...I pouted my lip a bit, rallied, and did really well!

Gramma Mindy visits again!

Catchup? I'd prefer mustard...badoom, csh!

A few months ago, mere weeks after Da Gramma visited, we were graced by the presence of Gramma Mindy! There has been a lot of visiting going on lately!

We enjoyed having her, and Mom and Dad even got to go out to see a movie!

As you can see, Gramma Mindy and I had a lot of fun just hanging out at the apartment! When people come to visit, they tend not to be interested in all there is to see in Washington, DC, but moreso in just hanging out in the apartment with me!

I must be pretty darn interesting!

She makes me laugh with some of her songs, and others just lull me into a trance, which ultimately leads to sleep (As you'll see later in this blog entry!)

She also took some fun pictures of Dad playing with me, which I'm sure will see the light of day (Even if only on Facebook...what a weird guy, my Dad...)

Gramma Mindy had the opportunity to try her hand at feeding me some solid food, which was nutritious, and also fun! Here, she wipes away my food, but can't manage to wipe away my smile, as I eat my bib. Wouldn't you eat your bib?! There's FOOD on there, man!

Also, I tend to eat whatever random piece of cloth is close by to me anyway...
I was still feeling a bit under the weather when Gramma Mindy visited, but she was nice enough to hold me, and sing herself hoarse trying to put me to sleep...as you can see, I nestle right up in her arms and head off to sleep...she seems to be enjoying it as well, so don't feel bad for her that she has to sing like crazy to keep me calm...
So...after a fairly brief visit this time around, her voice hoarse from singing, and her heart full from hanging out with me, Gramma Mindy packed her bags, and headed back off to Connecticut....Luckily, we ended up in Connecticut just a couple weeks later, so I was able to see her again! More on that later....

Thanks for visiting, Gramma Mindy!

The Power of Christ Compelled Me...

Several months ago, my parents decided to cleanse me of my original sin (and trust me...I was pretty sinny)

So they took me to the church where my Gramma Mindy is involved, and had me get all baptized and stuff. As you can see from the picture above, I was a bit concerned. I had never been cleansed of original sin before, and after a nice nap, I was getting pretty hungry.

We did not time this well at all...

After finally wrangling all our family and friends, we set about the ritual. The Priest was very nice, encouraging pictures, and saying that it was cool if kids ran around and stuff.


Mom held me for awhile, while the Priest explained what the baptism was, and why my parents were doing it. Behind Dad, hiding somewhere behind his beard, is my Uncle Steve, who served as my Godfather, and my cousin Amber, who served as my Godmother. They are responsible for my spiritual upbringing, should anything happen to Mom & Dad (And I think they are responsible for supporting and guiding it, even if Mom & Dad live...suckers.)

Also, my Uncle is now responsible for doing fair to middling impersonations of Marlon Brando in his iconic role of Don Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's immortal classic "The Godfather"

So, as it happened, when it was time to have the water sprinkled over me forehead, I realized just how hungry I was...and decided that it was time to tell everyone about it...

Yep...I screamed through my entire baptism.

I really didn't mind the baptism...I like the attention, the Priest had a lovely, soothing voice, but I was just hungry, man!

My cousin Taylor, as is typical, saved the day when she brought my Dad my pacifier. Everyone up on the altar cracked up when Taylor walked up in front of my Dad, handed him my pacifier, nodded in satisfaction, and walked away.

I continued screaming, as milk doesn't come out of a pacifier, but we couldn't help but think that Taylor was a great older cousin, and did a great job at figuring out what could help the situation, and acting on it. Dad tried the pacifier, to no avail. He thanked her later, and she was quite humble about her contribution to my calming...

We finished the ceremony, I ate, and I was a lot happier. It wasn't until some time later, that we realized that when the Priest offered to let us take as many pictures as we wanted, he meant that we could do posed pictures after the ceremony. We didn't think to do that, so the moment was captured as it happened, with no time to pose. It was real, and all documentary-style.

Here I am in my awesome, and super adorable baptism outfit. Da Gramma saved this from when my Dad, and Uncle Steve got baptized. It was nice wearing something that has such history in my family. Very cool...and come on, a baby in a vest and little hat? Unbearable!

We had a nice little catered lunch afterwards, and I was wiped out. I tried to let them pass me around to as many family members as I could...but I ended up taking a long nap in my Uncle Mat's arms in the darkness of the church while everyone ate.

This is me after my nap...I'm a bit more awake, eh?


Later, as I visited with a few more people, drama erupted as I erupted, peeing all over one of my Dad's friends. You can see us enjoying ourselves in the photo below, mere moments before things went South (No pun intended...OK, maybe a LITTLE pun is intended...) In the background are two of my grandparents...none of whom had any idea of what was to come next.

It ended up not being too bad, but she was wearing nice clothes, and was understandably upset since she was going out to dinner later.


I was sorry, but let Mom and Dad do the talking. I think she may have forgiven me, but can't be 100% sure. As you can see from the picture, I was having a lot of fun (Which may have contributed to my little accident...)

It's the first, and only time I have leaked like that. I will attempt to avoid such incidents in the future...

As always, my family does a heckuva job throwing a party, and everyone seemed to have a great time. I received a lot of generous gifts, and attention. People were really throwing the love around.

Someone was also throwing germs around, as an unidentified Patient X got several members of our family sick with a vicious cold. A few people were sick for over a month and a half (My Dad was one of them, as was both of my Grandmas) I mentioned my Dad being sick in an earlier blog post, and this is where he got it from.

Yeah, yeah, I know...I've been WAYYYY behind in updating...that should change soon....

I tried peas....

As you can see from the picture, I did not like them the first time I tried them. I think the problem was a consistency issue (Dad has the same issue with some foods, except on a much bigger, and more annoying scale...)

Mom subsequently mashed them up a bit better the next time she gave them to me, and I managed to get them down...

They're certainly not my favorite...but they'll do....

Da Gramma Visits!!

Here we are, still catching you up on Life From the Crib...

Lo and behold, we somehow found a way to get Da Gramma to visit our humble abode!

Gramma Debbie was on a road trip tour of the East Coast a few weeks ago (When asked by NotDaGramma when she was coming home, her answer was "When I get there" How awesome is THAT?!) She was babysitting my cousins up in Pennsylvania, then she swung on over to us for a few days, and then it was onward to Virgina, swinging back up to Pennsylvania again.

Along the way, my Great Aunt surprised Da Gramma in Pennsylvania, my other cousins went to Niagara Falls...whooh! SO much going on!!

So, Da Gramma stopped by, and we LOVED having her come visit! It's a rare treat, but we do love it so. This, of course, proves that she should come back...hint...hint...

While Dad held me, Da Gramma got the chance to feed me some of my favorite foods (In the picture above, it's my new friend Bananas!)

I also took this opportunity to grab Da Gramma's face while we were playing. That lady cracks me up! If it's not her doing some crazy voice while I'm on someone else's lap, she's holding me very close, and tickling me while bouncing me around. Man, she really gets some good laughs out of me!

While Da Gramma was here, we didn't have a chance to get out and do any "Washington, DC" stuff, but that's OK. It gives her an excuse to come back and visit again.

Besides, we got tuckered out just hanging out in the apartment, playing, and watching a movie. Mom, Dad, and Da Gramma watched "Don't Mess with the Zohan" after I went to sleep. Though it was a trite affair, it was still a fun watch for them, and Zohan looked a bit like my Uncle Mat. (So I'm told.)

Da Gramma went on her way back to the Great North, and I slept...worn out from bein' loved and played with so much. :-)

Bananas

Sweet Potatoes...I hardly knew ya!!!

Recently, Mom and Dad introduced me to bananas! I can't say enough about these sweet little treats wrapped up in a peel! (Which apparently can be used for humorous pratfalls...I can't WAIT to see that!!)

Pretty much the same situation as the sweet potatoes, although Mom and Dad have labeled this a "Sometimes Food" or a "Special Snack" since it seems to make my belly run a little slower in the digestive department.

Due to the delicate nature of some readers...I'll leave it at that.

Just yesterday, in fact, Dad ate half a banana, mashed up the other half, and fed it to me. I didn't spill a drop of that mashed heaven in a bowl...he didn't even have to wipe my chin. I love that stuff!