To Quote Gramma Mindy...What is going ON in my life?!

Yep...here we are at the end of another quiet month for the blog...

Since we are still digging out after our massive apartment move, we haven't even had the chance to properly hook up the main computer in the household, and I'm left to use the laptop whenever Mom and Dad aren't using it.

Which is a lot...apparently they both have virtual farms, and are both quite obsessed with it. Also, I am once again sick (with Dad joining in on the sick train this time around) which always puts a cramp on my updates...

On that note...though I had fun watching the snow outside the window last night, I did not get to play in it. :-( Stupid sickness.

So here we are playing catch-up again...While I haven't been blogging too much, there HAVE been a few developments...I'll try and catch you all up over the next week or so...

Until then, enjoy an adorable picture of me chewing on the zipper pull of my adorable, cozy sweater...


Also, keep an eye on the blog in February....Plans for the month include my first haircut, a visit from Gramma Mindy down here in Bethesda, (Man, I'm still not quite used to saying that...) and the first leg of Baby Tour 2010! Stay tuned!

Blue Potatoes?

Yeah...ha ha ha....you're hysterical...

Now where's the regular potatoes?

2010

2010 began much as 2009 ended....finishing up the most epic move in mankind's history!

Not only that, but we added quite an impressive haul of toys and what-not to my arsenal of fun. People were so kind and generous for both Christmas and my birthday...I don't know where we're gonna find room for all this stuff!

We left Washington, DC and moved just up the road to Bethesda, MD. It was a move that put us closer to my daycare, into a bigger, newer apartment, and still within striking distance of our former digs. We were overwhelmed, but managed to get the move done...and we're excited about the new place! I have SO much room to crawl around now...even with all the stuff, I still manage to get a good workout every day.

Gramma Mindy and JustRichy came down to help, and they both helped out immensely. They managed to entertain me while Mom and Dad moved stuff, they helped clean, and they helped move an absurd amount of clothes, toys, books and other junk...

And that was just Mom and Dad's stuff! :-P

Luckily, my toys made it over in one piece. It had felt like FOREVER since I had seen them! (In reality, it was only a day or two, but a boy can play with pots and pans for only so long, you know...) Even though there was a blizzard, and tons of other obstacles to overcome, we made it! The tale of The Great Move is one that will live on in stories told around campfires to scare children, and legends retold to inspire those who have a tough move ahead of them.

We rang in the New Year with me asleep (Much like last year) and Mom, Dad, JustRichy, and Gramma Mindy watching a...shall we say unique streaming webshow of the NYC ball drop in Times Square. While it was odd, Mom and Dad appreciated that Gramma Mindy managed to find any live footage at all!

This is the third year that I have been part of the world (Granted, I only barely glimpsed 2008, but it still counts...) and I have enjoyed my time here immensely. There have been some challenges, and some difficulties, but in general things have been great, and I have had a lot of fun.

I have been blessed with a wonderful, loving family, some great folks at daycare a couple days a week (both caregivers and friends) and the enviable position of having a unique schedule that allows me to spend TONS of time with Mom and Dad.

I was able to visit family and friends up North (and a few down South) as often as I could, which I enjoyed greatly, but my only resolution for this year is to try and visit with the rest of my family more often, as I do enjoy seeing them as much as they enjoy seeing me.

I am excited to be starting a new decade, and looks forward to what my next year brings!

A very happy New Year to you all...thanks for reading, and I hope to see you all soon!

HAPPY 2010!!!

I am THIS many....

Sure...by "this many", I mean one...but c'mon...

When I get older, I may be annoyed at the day after Christmas thing, but this year...no way. We continued our holiday festivities without skipping a beat by jumping into my first birthday head-first!


SO many people came to my party! My Auntie Steph had it at her house, and did the decorating...she also took the time to bake a bunch of cookies in the shape of letters to celebrate my first birthday (As seen above) Who does that?!

We had a jungle theme, to celebrate our former apartment across the street from the zoo...everything from the streamers, to the cake, to the centerpiece and napkins all had a jungle theme! Neat, right?




There were so many people from both sides of the family, and lots of friends too! Everyone got to eat some good food, celebrate my birthday, and hang out. It was tons of fun!
Since I was a year old, I decided to start experimenting with some more food...

I had some meatballs, and pasta, but skipped the deviled eggs...something told me that was a bad idea...You can see my "Birthday Boy" outfit above, but Dad was bummed that he, and he alone forgot to grab the bib that went along with it...Regardless, I soldered on.

As the party went on, we knew the moment was coming...and sure enough it did...everyone sang a lovely, if uninspired and slightly repetitive song called "Happy Birthday" (Wonder what the words are? Trust me..they're not hard to figure out if you know the name of the song, and throw a couple more random ones in there for good measure...) Either way, everyone sang with the right blend of of calm and enthusiasm...I had a little help blowing out my candles from the people around me, and everyone applauded quietly so as not to make me cry...

Many thanks for that. :-)


And then the moment of truth came...it was such a lovely cake, but they started cutting it up into single serving pieces and handing them out to people around the room. (If you look closely at the picture, you can see the little jungle animal figures that they put on the cake)

Not only that, but they gave me a nice fat piece of cake, which I hadn't expected at all! I was pretty hesitant, as I am not usually supposed to make a mess. But here it was...a big piece of tempting, frosted goodness, and me without any utensils of any kind. (Not that I would know how to use them anyway)

So I did what Dad had been talking about for weeks...I put my hand into the cake! It was so soft and sticky, that I just played with it in my hands for a few minutes, because I thought it felt kind of cool. I wouldn't, however, give anyone the satisfaction of making a mess of myself.

Until my face got itchy.

Logically, I reached up to scratch it, and before I knew what was happening, my entire face was covered in cake and frosting...

I was a little shocked that it happened so quickly, but as more frosting ended up on my face, I got itchier, and one thing led to another...Uncle Mat was nice enough to help me get a few good-sized chunks of frosting in my mouth. It was tasty, but a bit too sweet for my palate.

Just when I started getting tired of the frosting game, the fam sensed my growing desire to not be covered in sugary confections, and came to my rescue.

Yes...there was frosting up my nose. Yes, I was a bit annoyed. Yes, I smelled like frosting for the rest of the party.

After the cake, came presents! Mom and Dad took me into the living room, where everyone who had the cheap seats for my frosting debacle, now suddenly had the best seats in the house!

Dad helped me unwrap TONS of presents! He almost looks more excited than I do, at this point. But really, what can I say...I was still tired and fighting off a cold, man!


There were also a lot of adorable cards, and other gifts that people were nice enough to give me. Dad loves the gift bags for some weird reason. It's one of his favorite parts of opening presents. I can kind of see his point, as the bags make that crinkling sound I do enjoy so very much, but really, Dad...c'mon now.

Everyone helped me unwrap stuff, and we had a TON of fun!

Once again, Mom and Dad's family and friends (Who are also my friends and family, let's not forget) have proven how generous, fun and sweet they are...so many toys that made so many noises, and had so many lights...books that I could read (or have read to me) toy cars, clothes, you name it. It was given to me, and I hope I was able to thank everyone for everything. (If not, I'm sure my parents will do it for me. :-) )


After a long day of visiting with friends and family (Some of whom I'm sure I didn't see nearly enough, since there were so many people to visit with) lots of crawling/running around (With some assistance from everyone else) and gifts and food galore...I was tuckered out, and the party broke up...

I can't wait to do it again next year (Albeit, on a slightly smaller scale, since this one was such a big deal, being my first one and all.)

Thanks to EVERYONE who came out, especially Auntie Steph for hosting and decorating, Da Gramma for getting the food, Laura for some mad skills cleaning up, and to everyone for the gifts, and good thoughts...thank you fore spending some time with me the day after Christmas...I know it's a busy time of year, and I thank you all so very much...

I am one...or twelve months old, if you like. :-)

My first Christmas!!

In 2009, I spent Christmas creating waves through my Mom's tummy, and (while I allowed everyone to open presents and finish dinner) finally sending everyone calmly heading towards the hospital in order for me to make my grand appearance. While I found that to be a memorable way to spend Christmas, I was very excited to get to spend this year doing things in a slightly more conventional way...

Visiting family, and opening an absurd amount of presents!

For the first time in recorded history, (Or the last five years, or so) Dad had both Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day off...so, he decided to make it a long weekend, and take my birthday off as well...we planned to go up to Connecticut mid-week, and spend some quality time up there...

I started the week off with a bit of a cold, so Mom and Dad were a bit worried that I would be sick for my first Christmas, and my birthday...they decided to drive back up to Connecticut on Christmas Eve morning, instead of the night before to let me get some sleep, which was quite kind of them, I must say...I felt much better when I woke up.

The drive up wasn't too bad, as I slept for most of it, feeling even better when I woke up again. When we arrived, we immediately dove in to a flurry of activity...

CHRISTMAS EVE

Christmas Eve saw us arrive at my Great-Aunt Patty's for the huge festivities on my Mom's side of the family...there were TONS of people there, including my Uncle Mat who has been away training to be a Marine for awhile, and who I missed very much...everyone was worried that I wouldn't remember him, but I did (Though, I do recall him having a bit more hair last time I saw him)


I enjoyed opening my first presents with him, and was flattered to find out that all he wanted for Christmas was to open presents with me. Well, wish granted, Uncle Mat. :-) We even got to read a little bit together...this is impressive, considering the organized chaos that was carrying on around us...


I can't even begin to tell you how generous people were! (Even Mom and Dad got presents...I think it's cool that Moms and Dads still get presents...I had been concerned that the gift-giving stopped at a certain age, but was relieved to find out that, while it won't always be such an absurd amount of presents, that they would always be there. Phew!)

Gramma Mindy gave me my cornucopia of Elmo toys, which she won (Much to my Mom's chagrin, as she is not a fan of Elmo...) and I dug right into them...pretty much everything you could put Elmo's face on, they did....everything from bubbles, to bath foam, to stuffed animals...it was a VERY Elmo-ey basket...


Gramma Mindy loved the fact that I grabbed onto Elmo's eyes and shook him around, indicating of course that I don't mind Elmo anywhere NEAR as much as my Mom does...And really, if it's soft and has big eyes, I'm a fan...so, you know...whatever. My joy is evident in how blurry the picture is. Which is pretty blurry, since I'm so full of joy!

It was so much fun spending time with Mom's family...as quickly as the party came together, it broke up, and I am told that this is how things go, around here. No worries...we enjoyed seeing people, and getting presents...I can't wait until I'm old enough to become part of their "Secret Santa" dealie...

CHRISTMAS DAY

I awoke Christmas Day to my first White Christmas (and apparently the first one that has been seen around these parts in some time) at my Gramma Mindy's. She had her Christmas tree all set up, and I could see that there were some presents under there with my name on it...

(And hey....who's that handsome devil gracing the upper right-hand corner of the photo...?)

We took a quick side trip to see my cousins, who Mom and Dad haven't seen in some time, and while I slept for the first part of the visit, Mom and Dad got to eat and visit for awhile. Mom and Dad also had purchased a Baby's First Christmas ornament, which they took from tree to tree as we visited puir


After that trip, it was off to Da Gramma's house to see Uncle Steve, Aunt Amy, Da Gramma and NotDaGramma (Auntie Steph was working, but I knew I was going to see her on Saturday for my birthday, so that was OK.) While the tree was smaller, there wasn't any shortage of presents under there, nor was there a shortage of that festive Christmas feeling! Da Gramma had put the tree on a kind of pedestal, and put the presents underneath...


I also arrived to find that I had received an official mini-Christmas Tree Stocking Ornament... how neat is that!? You DEFINTELY know you're in when you have one of these guys hanging on the tree! Everyone in the family has one, and Da Gramma adds one whenever you join the family (Thus, the reason Mom has one, too!)

And before you ask...YES! There were even more presents! I couldn't believe it! Da Gramma helped me open some up, but at this point I had kind of gotten the hang of it...

Later in the day, Uncle Steve and Aunt Amy made their arrival, and we all got to hang out together. Uncle Steve and I get reacquainted, with some good old fashioned tummy tickling...good thing Da Gramma is holding me back, or I'd get Uncle Steve back pretty good!


Great-Gramma Case was there too, and she got such a kick out of seeing me! She kept laughing at how adorable I was! I can't say I blame her, I mean...you read the blog. You know what's up. We also get a rare shot of Grandpa. He is seldom photographed, and when he is, it is always a special occasion. He and I have an understanding...we get along pretty well, and he seems to enjoy seeing me a great deal. I feel the same way, and show it with laughter, and grabbing tightly onto his outstretched finger.

After presents, I had Da Gramma walk me around for a little while (Something I would keep her doing for the next 48 hours)


I must say, it was an amazing first Christmas...everyone was so much fun, and so nice to me...and even if I hadn't gotten any presents, I would have had just as much fun....to you all I say...

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!

Baby Tour 2009_Leg_7_Just_Visiting_

In the last of my series of catching up, we have a quick series of pictures that goes along with my Uncle Steve getting married (http://thepgdot.blogspot.com/2009/10/baby-tour-2009leg6unclestevegetsmarried.html) Mom and Dad stuck around for a day or so after the wedding, so Mom could have a day or two off before traveling again, and so that Dad could head out with some of his friends for Haunted House Hoppin' 2009 (Basically, this tradition started off with Dad and some friends trying to go to as many of those Haunted House deals as they could in October...and these days it's limited to just one or two a year...Dad started this tradition in the late 80's, and even though the group of people he goes with is fluid, he has somehow never missed a year. Wow...that was FOREVER ago!)

We got to hang out with the Dumas' some more...Mr. D is sportin' one of the tophats from Uncle Steve's wedding, which makes him look like an old man in a mob picture. I'm not judging, I'm just saying. Dad's friend Chris is holding me, which he loves doing. They told me something tremendously sweet, recently...that they have pictures of me on their fridge.

Just like everyone should.

I also got some more time with DaGramma, and got to play with some of the toys that live up in Connecticut. It's nice to have different toys in different places...it helps keep things interesting, and our apartment ever so slightly neater...

Also notice the cameo from the monkey that was at Uncle Steve's wedding...Man, I LOVE that guy!

I also got to have a visit with my Godmother Amber, who was nice enough to not only draw me a picture, but she let me play with the crayons, too! Now, I didn't come up with anything more than scribbles for the time being, but really...I was ten months old...give me a break.
JustRichy and I played the piano for awhile. He handled all of the lower notes, while I took the higher ones. Gramma Mindy provides backup. (And by backup, I mean she held onto the back of my shirt while I played. I tend to get into the performance a bit, and with all the moving around I do, there's always a decent possibility that I will fall over...good lookin' out, Gramma Mindy.
As I watched JustyRichy finish up his end of our piece together, (There were more low notes than there were high notes, sue me...) Mom and Gramma Mindy were both amused and impressed at my contributions. They liked JustRichy's too, but he's been playing piano for AGES...been there, heard that. :-)

My first visit with Santa!

So...what do two sane grown-ups do at 9:00pm after an evening of Christmas shopping when their kid is tired?

Why, buy him a cheap Christmas shirt from Macy's, comb his hair, and stick him on Santa's lap, of course!

This was more for my Dad than anything else, although my Mom did eventually see the value of another of my first Christmas memories immortalized forever. We had been kind of playing it by ear as to whether or not I'd be visiting Santa, since most plans have to be run by me these days. After Mom fed and changed me (in a fitting room, no less...Mom is a TOTAL pro at this point...she can do that stuff anywhere!) we ran over to Santa as he was packing up. The lady taking pictures said we had a few minutes, so like a well-oiled machine, Mom and Dad deftly put the new shirt on me, combed my hair, and brought me in to see Santa...

Now, let's talk about how awesome this Santa was...now, Dad has shown me some pictures of some sketchy characters that have stood in for Santa over the years as he was brought to various malls to have his picture taken...but THIS guy was the real deal...Look at that beard! That giant hat! The suit that was just the right color of red and white! Amazing!

Mom and Dad walked up, and even though it was the end of the night, this guy smiled so brightly, and took time to get me comfortable with him. He gently tickled my stomach with his finger, and he let me touch the soft edging on his sleeve...it was SO soft...he did it so fast, but never made me feel uncomfortable or upset...

It was quite magical.

Since gaining my trust currently involves tickling me, and giving me free presents once a year, he had me at "Ho..."...he took me, and propped me up on his lap, and even though I looked exhausted in the picture, I was so excited...he was just so nice. Mom got my attention from behind the camera, and after a few snaps, we were all done! He didn't make us feel rushed, and at the end, when Dad asked me to tell him what I wanted for Christmas, he even let me tell him...

Dad whisked me away, thanked Santa and wished him a Merry Christmas while Mom picked out the best picture...yes, the above one was the best...shut up, I was exhausted.

What did I ask for for Christmas, you ask? That's a secret between Santa and I, silly. :-)