Happy Mama's Day! (and the best give I had to give)

Today was Mother's Day. It was my mommy's second one ever. I didn't have much to give her but hugs and kisses and smiles and giggles and one thing she's been waiting and waiting for and starting to get very impatient over.

I WALKED!

I took my first real steps. Mommy screamed and clapped and smiled so big. She was so excited. And it was a weekend, so Daddy got to be home and see it too!

Mommy grabbed the camera because she knows how much I love to ham it up, but the batteries were dead, so she couldn't video it or take any pictures. She was very sad about that :( , but then Daddy put it into perspective for her. He said "You got to see it, and how beautiful and perfect it was in person, so just remember it." She told me he was absolutely right. I did it for them (I did) and they are my Mommy and Daddy and it was something special that they didn't have to share with the world just yet.

But I am going to keep practicing so I can show Grandma and Auntie Amber and Uncle Steve, and all my awesome cousins how good at it I am when I see them next!

Since the camera died today, here is a cute picture of me napping from this week for aesthetics:

Happy birthday to me!

Wow. I almost forgot about my blog. LOL! We've just been busy with our move and unpacking and my birthday, which was yesterday btw. I am officially ONE YEAR OLD! Yay!

I got my carseat turned around so I face forward now. I got a bunch of gifts, and I got the yummiest homemade cake that mommy made. It was so awesome. I also got my first Happy Meal from McDonalds with Chicken Nuggets and French Fries and Chocolate Milk, and, and, and...a TOY! But mommy said don't get used to those, it was a special treat.

For my birthday from daddy and mommy I got:

A Wimbley Fraggle Plush
A Gobo Fraggle Plush
A Grover Plush
A Toddlerz Toy Phone
An Elmo Shape Sorter/See & Say
A Marvel Comic Book Heros Ball
1 Fish 2 Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
Green Eggs and Ham
Go Dog Go
Where The Wild Things Are
and a Pair of Sesame Street Shoes

Here are some pictures of me and my new stuff:


Next weekend we are having my birthday party. We were going to do it on my birthday but we needed more time to settle into our new place, plus my aunt and uncle and cousins will have an easier time coming down next weekend, and they have a very long drive. I can't wait for more gifts! Hehehehe :)

We are now in our new house in Hollywood too. You can see the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory from the driveway...pretty cool.

So I gotta go break in these new toys some more. See ya!

Change in Plans, Girl Scout Cookies, Tooth #6 & Easter

Been gone a long time...sorry about that.

So, our plans changed, mommy and daddy ended up turning down the apartment in West Hollywood. The broker they were working with kept changing what she said about things, and it left them with a bad taste in their mouth. But, they found a little house in Hollywood that we're going to move into this weekend. It said one bedroom but its really two, because there's a whole other room built off the living room. Its a lot less than our 1250 square feet we have now, but its closer to the city and daddy's work.

That's why we haven't been able to update my blog in the last couple of weeks, mommy was busy looking for places and getting utilities hooked up at our new one, packing and so on. Plus mommy got a nasty cold. Maybe allergies. Something that involved a lot of gunk in her nose and chest. Bleck! She made a lot of funny sounds getting rid of it. :)

But, while I was gone, I tried my first Girl Scout Cookies...YUM

They were Samoas and Thin Mints, and as messy as they were tasty!


Then I celebrated my first Easter!


Mommy and Daddy got me a very boy basket. It was camouflage with matching camo eggs (some had a half a jelly bean in them and some has a cookie dough bit candy!!!) and a dinosaur and a blue bunny that makes "booooing!" sounds, and a froggy rattle bracelet, and a new book (The School Bus Driver from the Black Lagoon) and A CUPCAKE that came with a little easter egg bath toy! I only get about half the cupcakes when I get them, but boy is that half GOOOOD!

And then this morning I woke up with my 6th tooth! It the top, center right side. Now maybe my smile will be almost complete by my birthday! I'm also getting better at standing all by myself and taking steps toward mommy and daddy. I haven't quite got it yet, but I'm very well on my way to walking! That will mean so much more to get into. Hehehehe! I can't wait!

Well, now that every things settled, I should be able to update more regularly again. I'll make sure mommy puts up pictures of our new place next weekend too. Off to practice toddling around now!

Bye ;P

Tooth 5

I cut my top left middle tooth this morning. I was up every half hour last night because of it. But its here! Now maybe I will stop looking so much like Dracula! :)

Happy V Day

Wow, Happy Valentines Day! Its my first. I like it. Mommy and Daddy were my Valentines this year. :)

So yesterday was my 10 month birthday too. Its been a big week!

Also this week I decided that I no longer like formula. I won't drink it, period. Not the little baby stuff, not the next step baby stuff. I don't want it in my cereal. I do not like it with a fox, I do not like it in a box. I'm not supposed to start milk until I'm 12 months, but since I won't drink my formula anymore (my taste buds have just become more developed and lets be honest, that stuff is gross!) mommy called my doctor and he said to go ahead and start me on the whole milk now. I started solid foods early, and I've had dairy in my diet, (yogurt, kefer, cheese) since I was 6 months old, so he said it should be fine, but just watch for allergies or digestion problems. I've had neither. So I drink big boy milk now. Mommy says I have to take vitamins now though too. :(

I've also learned how to get into trouble recently. Mommy set the can of open formula on the floor today while she was cleaning off my shelf, and within a minute I had it open and all over me! It was like my own personal sandbox. I'm quick too! It made a horrible mess and she got a funny look on her face but I had fun!

So that's about it for today. We should do some fun stuff this weekend though so I'll have more pictures really soon. BYE!

Tooth #4

I cut my fourth tooth tonight! Its my top right incisor. He's been just beneath the surface bothering me forever now. You could even see the white through my gums, but it finally cut through tonight!

Ball & Spoon

I've been learning a lot of new stuff lately. I've been learning how to play ball with mommy by pushing and kicking it to roll it back to her.


It was very hard for her to get a picture of it however, because I'm such a quick roller she only caught the ball in one picture and she took like 20! I get very excited about it and have A LOT of fun!

I'm also now learning how to start feeding myself...with a spoon! I've been working on self feeding with finger foods for a few months now, and I'm a pro, from crunchy cereal to fruits and veggies to crackers, cookies and rice, but now I get tools!

The Aftermath

It's a mess but you'll never learn if you don't practice right? I've been trying to take the spoon from mommy and daddy for months now, but they would never give it to me. Then mommy was reading another one of her mommy manuals and it said that babies should start learning to self feed with a spoon between 9 and 12 months. Well, I'm 9 months, and I started solids early, and moved to a cup early, so she figured we might as well go ahead and try this on the earlier side too. Mommy has a lot of faith in me! I love it.

I'm gonna go stand and roll the ball and dance now. Oh yeah, I also LOVE to dance now. I've even decided to wake up at 3am and dance! It's a mixture of bouncing and giggling and hand flailing, and boy is it FUN! See ya!

No more bottles!

I have officially been weaned off the bottle! As of Monday mommy and daddy have only given me cups, and I've done a wonderful job with them. I've only ever had my juice from a cup, starting on my 6 month birthday, and I accepted them right away, but now I have my formula from them too!

They tricked me at first and put sippy spouts in my bottle, so I didn't notice, then they started throwing in different cups, with firmer tops, and I never knew what hit me. The great thing is, no matter how hard I throw or shake them they don't leak, so I never have formula all over my face or shirt anymore! :)

I'm such a big boy, I'm letting go and cruising from one piece of furniture to the next, and lunging for things further away, and standing on my own for a few seconds here and there. I'll be walking before anyone knows it!

I feel like more of a little kid and less of a baby. This is awesome. I can't wait to read and count and start kindergarten!

Holiday Wrap Up

The Holidays are over and I'm back from my blogging break! I came back the same day Daddy went back to work. We're so in sync!

I had so much fun at Auntie Amber's. I saw my cousins and we hung out a lot and had a lot of fun. I got a lot of gifts too!

I got:
Some really cool clothes
A Hat & Mittens
Elmo Slippers
A TMX Cookie Monster
A Giant Elmo
A Elmo Chair that Talks
An Elmo & Abby Caddaby Best Friends Set
A My 1st Buddy Big Bird (to match the Elmo I got on my 1/2 Bday)
A Tonka Scoot & Scoop Truck with 3 Wheel Pals Trucks
4 Sesame Street Beginnings Books
An Ernie in a Stocking
A Gloworm that plays music
A new Firefly toy (my old fav...#5 now)
The Sesame Street Giggle & Go Garage
3 Giggle & Go Vehicle Sets
A V-Smile Baby
A 6 pack of Elmo Books
An Elmo Lunchbox full of letter Cookies
An Elmo Giggle Remote
2 Popples
An Elmo Mini See & Say
A Sesame Street Dr. Kit
3 Dr. Seuss Books
A Shape Sorter
A Set of Squirter Sesame Street bath toys
A windup Elmo boat for the bath
A Spongebob Bath Set
Wooden Blocks
A Ball
And other stuff I know I forgot to list but will probably add later tonight

It was great. The best part was the wrapping paper...it was YUMMY!
We also brought my 3 oldest cousins home with us for a week. That was a fun 5 hour drive with everything in the car. We were squished! Well, I wasn't, everyone else was though. :)

Then we celebrated New Years. That was so awesome too. We banged pots and pans and screamed outside at Midnight. I totally dig that holiday.

I had a nice vacation. There's no more room for me in my bed now with all my toys though. I'll update with more pics again later. It's taking forever to organize everything and get everything uploaded and copied and burned. I think we took too many pictures and videos. I'm gonna go play with all my cool new stuff now though. Bye!

Oh yeah....and the day before yesterday I cut my first top tooth! It's on the left side. Now I can really start chewing the yummier foods!

The long awaited crawling video

I'm very sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days again. The router has been messed up and daddy's been working late so mommy and I only had the internet here and there.

So here is the video of me crawling, as promised. Now keep in mind this is literally about 1 minute after my first successful attempt, so my technique is a little odd, but I assure you it has improved immensely over the last few days. Practice makes perfect right? The angle is a little off so it's hard to see my belly lifted, but it is.

*Fair Warning: TURN DOWN YOUR VOLUME. Mommy is on the phone with Daddy in the background as she is recording this and she is screaming like a crazy lady. (She does that a lot).

Also, here are some of the pics I promised of me being super cute in my new walker:

Well, I've come down with a nasty little cold (no fever, so the nurse at Dr. Connolly's says not to worry) so I need to drink an extra bottle to keep my fluids up and get some more rest.

Bye!

Crawling, Cookies, Congas, Walkers and the Word No

So much has happened! I know I didn't post all weekend, but I'll make up for it tonight.

So let's just get the bestest thing ever out of the way...I crawled today! At about 7pm. A REAL crawl, not a scoot or a creep, but a crawl! It was so cool. I saw mommy's cell phone sitting next to her while she was sitting on the ground with me, and I got up on all fours and went for it! I've been creeping for awhile and I've gotten up before, a gazillion times, but then I think too much about it and just roll over onto my back. But not tonight. Tonight I kicked my little feet as hard and quick as I could as I got up, and I pulled and pulled with my hands at the ground underneath me, and I went! Forward too. See that makes it even more exciting because I tended to move backward a lot before, when I'd creep, scoot, and in my new walker. OH YEAH, my new walker..

Daddy took me to Target on Sunday night,and bought me this awesome Sesame Street Walker. It lights up and plays music, and has a mirror (my fav!) and Big Bird and Cookie Monster on it. Mommy forgot to take a picture of me in it last night and was going crazy over me crawling tonight, but I'll do something super cute in it tomorrow so she will have to capture it. It's a little tough to move on the carpet still, I've only spent about an hour or two in it, but on smooth ground I've got going backwards down!

I also tried one of these cookies mommy calls biter biscuits or teething biscuits today after lunch. It was yummy...and messy!

They look like cookies at first and turds after you start eating them.

But once I got about halfway through it I was able to finally shove the whole thing in my mouth and then mommy said "No" and took it away. That reminds me, this thing called 'the word no'...

So that's where I left off on the last post, this strange new concept. So I've been pulling up lately, and last week I pulled up on the edge of my tub while taking a bath and suddenly mommy got this funny look on her face and said "Ari, you're old enough to start learning this now. No." then sat me back down. I thought it was funny and smiled and laughed. Having no idea what this strange new sound was I went back to what I was doing and pulled up again. Then she said it again, and again sat me back down. We did this back and forth for the rest of the bath. And now she's been saying this word quite often. When I try to put something in my mouth, she still pulls it out, but she also says this "no" thing. When I pull the puppy's hair, she still pulls my hand off but says "no" and so on. Something about it strikes me as so funny. Every time she says it I giggle. I think it means something, but I'm not sure of what yet. I never heard it before last week, but I think it's silly when she says it.

So this weekend I got to play on the drums again. On Saturday I played with them all day long. I love the sound they make when I bang on them! I had a lot of fun.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I learned how to unfasten my diaper all on my own? Yeah, I do that every chance I get now. It gives me more room to check my stuff out. Mommy thinks its funny to because I catch her laughing before she refastens it. But I just undo it again as soon as she's done. This has become my newest obsession.

So that's what I've been up to since I last posted. Now I need to take my bath (so I can work on finally crawling out of it on my own, no thanks to mommy) and go to sleep. I need a lot of energy to crawl around and get rolling in my walker tomorrow. Goodnight!

P.S. I'll include the video of me crawling from earlier when I post tomorrow. I'm too tired to wait the 800 hours for it to upload to blogger tonight.

Lazy Day

So we had a lazy Saturday today. Ate breakfast, played, took a nap.

See my messy wake up hair?

Did some TV watching (I'm only allowed to watch Sesame Street though) in between too.

Pretty much repeat that same routine for lunch (I tried avocado...yummy!) and dinner as well. Speaking of dinner, daddy fed me dinner tonight. We had a lot of fun! I love spending time with daddy! I've been saying "mamamamamamamam" for awhile now and he swears its a word, mommy says its just a babel that sounds like a word. BUT...today I also said "dadadadadadadadadad" and that made him pretty happy, real word or not.

At the end of the evening I took my nightly bath. I usually post before my bath but tonight mommy took pictures of me in it so I'm posting afterward to include those. We realized I've never posted bathtime pictures and I love it so much I thought you might as well.

I like to eat my washcloth.

And my rubber ducky.

And my turtle.

His name is squirtle because he's a turtle that squirts! Daddy had a little rubber turtle like him when he was little too. Isn't that cool?

Then at the when its all done I get lotion massages!

I love that part. Mommy tells me all the parts of my body from my neck to my toes as she goes, and explains how it improves my blood circulation and helps my muscles grow big and strong. It also puts me out pretty good too, lol.

Well since I'm all sleepy now I better head to bed. See ya tomorrow!