Tuesday, December 30, 2014

The Nutcracker

Adding to the growing list of holiday activities, Mommy took me to see a performance of The Nutcracker at the local ballet studio. It was a condensed 45 minute long version geared especially for kids, and I loved my first experience.

Here are some of my key takeaways from the performance:
  • The nutcracker was a little scary. Picture a six foot tall nutcracker head dancing around on human legs.
  • My favorite part of the performance was the giant candy figures that were part of the set.
  • I enjoyed the ribbon dancers.
  • No, this didn't make me want to start taking ballet classes again.

Here are some photos from before and after the performance:

Sporting the Asian glow (ha, it was really a red stage light shining behind Mommy)

Nine Month Update


This update is a little late but not much has changed from last month anyway. I'm still just as active, curious, and full of trouble! I'm becoming impossible to photograph and won't sit still. It took dozens of blurry shots before we could get that photo above.

Stats:
I weigh 17 lbs, 10 oz. and measure 26.5 inches long. I stayed in the 25th percentile for weight but dropped to the 5th percentile for height, which was a little alarming. When the pediatrician looked at my height the first thing he said was "that can't be right, we'll have him remeasured." After the appointment the nurse came back to remeasure me, but still got the same result. By then the doctor had already moved to the next patient so we didn't get to discuss it further.


Developments:
I figured out how to take steps while holding onto furniture and have gotten pretty good at cruising. I also enjoy pushing empty boxes, laundry baskets, and chairs around the house and occasionally trying to use my walker. I've taken lots of spills and bumped my head so many times, it's amazing I haven't gotten majorly hurt (knocking on wood).

My favorite discovery this month was the bathroom - pulling up on the tub to see the water running for my bath, pulling up on the toilet, unraveling toilet paper, reaching for the pipes behind the toilet and for the toilet brush (ewww), ripping out pages from magazines, and trying to chew the tags on the bath rugs - I've been driving Mommy crazy with my unsanitary bathroom antics.


I continue to grab and put EVERYTHING in my mouth. In any given room, I always manage to find the things I can't have and go straight for them. I tend to ignore all of my toys in favor of things like the TV remote, Mommy's iPhone, cords, outlets, etc. And when it comes to reading, Mommy can't even get through an entire book before I grab it and try to eat it.

Me plus Christmas trees equals trouble. Before the ugly baby gates were put up around the trees.

I've also started to babble a lot. In the mornings especially, I can be found playing while talking to myself. Mostly I make a lot of "bababa" sounds. Oh, and I love blowing raspberries!

Teeth:
Another tooth has popped out! I now have two bottom teeth, plus lots of drool.



Eating:
Eating continues to be an adventure and I love every moment. With the cold weather I've been enjoying lots of soups and stews, and love anything with melted cheese. I now eat three meals a day and have a lot of new favorite breakfast foods, including oatmeal, yogurt, and applesauce (for some reason I never tried it until this month). I will eat anything. It's funny to compare how Mommy approached solids with Kaitlyn versus with me at this age. With Kaitlyn, she was steaming and pureeing fresh organic veggies and fruits, freezing them in ice cube trays, and heating up individual portions at each meal. With me, she is scraping the beans and cheese off her Taco Bell double decker taco and feeding it to me. Such is the life of a second child.


First road trip:
We took my first road trip and drove down to SoCal for Thanksgiving. We started out at bedtime so I was able to sleep through most of the six hour drive, although I ended up waking up and crying for the last hour. At least there was no traffic and the drive wasn't too unbearable. Kaitlyn enjoyed watching videos on the screen until she fell asleep, and even slept through my crying.


Likes: playing peekaboo, being tickled, snacking, being naked, bath time, chewing on my wet washcloths during bath time

Dislikes: sitting in shopping carts for too long, diaper changes


Friday, December 26, 2014

Colin's First Visit with Santa

We went to the mall to visit Santa Claus for the first time. I did pretty well and didn't cry!


Kaitlyn told Santa that for Christmas she wanted a toy mouse. He was a little surprised and asked "that's it?" Then she told him that I wanted some maracas (according to her they're my favorite instrument). Santa said he would try his best.

Sorry for the poor photo quality. This is a picture of the picture since they didn't allow personal cameras and Mommy didn't want to pay extra for the digital file.

After the photo, Santa looked me straight in the face and ALMOST made me cry. Luckily, Mommy rescued me just in time and we all went on our merry way. Until next year!


Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Our Christmas Tree(s)

We went to pick out our tree at our usual Christmas tree lot down the street. This year, I kept insisting that I needed my own tree that was "just my size." Mommy thought I would forget about it when we found our actual tree but of course, I didn't. Once I saw those cute little mini trees, there was no swaying my decision. So that's how we ended up with two trees this year.

Our morning trip. The wait was too long so we had to return in the afternoon.
Our afternoon trip - found our tree! Daddy told me to give the tree a hug. So I did.
Colin's first Christmas tree! Once again, he's barefoot because he hates wearing socks.
And here's my own mini tree! I picked it out myself!

We're thinking next year we'll just get five mini trees - one for each member of the family (including Brady)?

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Rainy Day Rainbow Cake

It was a rainy Sunday and I was milling around at home in my pajamas. Then I spontaneously decided that I wanted to make a Unicorn Rainbow cake, just like the one I saw on an episode of Nerdy Nummies (and like the one from my third birthday). Mommy said there was no way she was making a six layer rainbow cake with me, but she helped me make this single layer rainbow cake. It was just as fun, and kept us busy for a few hours.

By the way, I spent the entire day in my pajamas.

We didn't have a unicorn figure, so the unicorn cake ended up being a princess cake instead.


Also, we couldn't make a cake for no reason. I made up that it was my pet Beagle's birthday, and we were throwing him a huge birthday party. It was so exciting! We even used real candles and sang "Happy Birthday."



Here's the finished cake. Turned out pretty good, and tasted delicious too. Not a bad way to spend a rainy day! Happy birthday Beagle, you lucky stuffed dog.


Friday, December 12, 2014

Thanksgiving in SoCal

Here are some more photos from our Thanksgiving week in SoCal.

Being a helpful big sister.

Flashback to three years ago. This was me at twelve months old!

At the duck pond across the street from Ma-ma & Yeh-yeh's house.

I enjoyed lots and lots of cousin time!


We also hung out at the Tans' house in Arcadia. We loved their neighborhood and got a kick out of seeing the resident "wild" peacocks. They just roam around the streets and peoples' front yards!

We don't get to see this everyday in NorCal.
Wheelbarrows at the park.
An entire pea-family! Peacock, peachick and peahen.

Can't wait til we're down again for the holidays!