All Smiles, All the Time!

I love mornings and I am always happy when I first wake up so Mom asked me to show off some fun morning pictures.  Here's me rolling over all smiles in my crib on Wed., September 22, 2010.  Yep, smiling at 6:30 a.m.!  Even though I'm pulling myself up I needed Mom's help to stand in the third photo.  Getting pretty good on my feet though!

That morning Mom and I picked out a fun Air Jordan outfit to wear and as Grandma Judy says I was "duding" out!  I even have matching shoes!  At 10 months I now wear a size 5 for shoes.  As Mom says, the bigger the feet the better my balance, especially since I think I'll be walking on my own soon.  I'll keep you posted.

That night I had bath time with Dad and we had fun making soap sculptures including a soap goatee!  I'm getting pretty good at splashing as Mom & Dad are near and almost got Kato this week! 

I surprised Mom on Friday, Sept. 24th by pulling myself up in my crib, without any help!  I kept playing peek-a-boo with her after I figured out how to go up & down.  I was pretty proud of myself!

I almost forgot to mention on Friday, Sept. 17th we went to a fun farm related party and I got to ride on my first bus!  It was to shuttle us to and from our cars but still a bus.  I really enjoyed pounding on the windows and getting to face forward & actually look out.  As Dad says I never get to do that as my car seat is rear facing still.  The party even had a live band so it was fun dancing to that too!  For my 1st Christmas Great Grandma & Grandpa Kress got me a Geo-Trax train set.  We got it out for the first time this past week and I even ran the remote control to make it go forward & reverse.  It even makes cool train noises and the conductor's name is Samuel.  I love watching it go around the tracks or rather taking it off the tracks as it goes around!  So much fun to play with.

 

10 Months Old & No Pacifier!

On Friday, Sept. 10th I got to hang out all day with Grandma Judy while Mom worked & took Kato for knee surgery.  I'm happy to report Kato has healed really well and goes back to the doctor on the 24th to have his stitches removed.  He did have to wear a cone of shame for a little while and had some fur shaved for the procedure (*you can see in picture) but otherwise he's been happy & running around like normal.  Here Mom got a quick snap shot of Kato & I hanging out; that is to our surprise!

On Saturday, Sept. 11th I worked on giving up my pacifier for good.  Yep, had two naps without it!  I did get a little fussy going down at first & I did need it a little at bedtime but pretty good for my first day.  I did awesome on Sunday, Sept. 12th because I didn't need it at all!  Even went to bed without it.  The good thing is I've got lots of extra cuddle time with Mom & Dad as I think they were more worried about it then I was! By today I've gone a week and haven't needed it; as Dad says quit cold turkey.

On Monday, Sept. 13th I turned 10 months old and can do even more stuff including:

• Stand holding on to someone or something
• Pull self up to stand; did for the 1st time with an object instead of a person with a dollhouse at daycare on Sept. 1, 2010.
• Around August 20, 2010, I started taking steps while holding hands
• Started feeding self smaller items like puffs, Cheerios and bananas as of August 30 & 31, 2010
• I pull myself into a standing position & can sit back down with someones help
• Can sometimes "play ball" where I roll a ball back & forth with you
• I can hold my sippy cup & drink (*which I went up to the next Nuk size for 6 to 18 months)
• Had more firsts including 1st ISU football game, 1st horse drawn carriage ride, 1st cut up fruits such as peaches, plums, plucot (*hybrid of plum & apricot), bananas, strawberries, blueberries, melons, etc.
• And of course gave up my pacifier!

Did I mention I also get around really well by rolling (*a lot!), scooting, marine crawling on my tummy, spinning and pushing off.  I'm getting really close to crawling but not quite yet; I think I'd rather walk.  Here are a couple of pictures of getting up on my knees and then as Mom says "nothing"; yep, I go back to a sitting position or roll over to inspect something.  We'll get there soon.  Either way I can't be left in one spot anymore as I'm always on the move!  Do you like my overalls with the little trains on them?  Mom thought they were pretty cute and fun to break out the fall wardrobe.  Sad that Dad & Grandpa Allen are in the field but the sooner they get out there the sooner they will be done.  Here's to a happy & blessed harvest.

1st Cyclone Football Game!

Here's me having no clue what was about to happen!  Well, that was what Dad & Mom said as we drove to Ames, IA for my very first Iowa State football game on Thursday, September 2nd.  We didn't tailgate but we got to see a lot of family & friends including Grandpa Scott, Uncle Jared, Cousin Deb, Julie & Joe, Brad, Wendy & Ethan, Cory and a whole lot more.  It was amazing!

Here's Dad, Mom & me just before kick-off which was at 7:00 p.m.  It was so fun to see "the pride of Iowa State" meaning the band, smoke rise on the field and the players rush out.  I didn't even get scared when the cannons went off or when people were cheering & yelling.  I must say I had a hard time focusing on the game with so much to look at and see.

Here's Mom, Dad, Grandpa Scott, Uncle Jared and me hanging out in lucky row 25.  Notice I have a cool ISU Jacket on that my Geat Uncle Craig & Aunt Mary Kay got me.  It got kind of chilly and it kept me toasty warm.  Speaking of warm...

...do you like my Mohawk inspired Iowa State hat?  I got many complements on it.  Mom & Dad thought it was fun to watch the other carry me through the crowd and every time someone saw me & my hat they smiled.  I guess everyone was jealous and wanted one too.  While at the game I think everyone was also jealous of my foam finger I got to bring back to my friends at daycare.  We love playing with it and cheering on the Cyclones each day.

One of the best parts of the night was that during halftime I got to see my friend Ethan and his parents Brad & Wendy.  He is so much fun to be around I couldn't help smiling!  Hopefully we'll see them at another game and get to hang out again soon!  Here's my future AGR pledge brother, Ethan & me with our Moms.

After halftime we went back into the game for a little bit, it was after my bedtime after all, but we had to say good-bye to Grandpa Scott & Uncle Jared.  Here's us watching the Cyclones grab their first victory against Northern Illinois for a final score of 27 to 10.  What a way to start off the season.  We then stayed the night in Ames and met our good friends Emily & Spencer for breakfast.  I think Mom was pretty excited as she kept talking about how Emily had tried to meet me 5 other times but old man winter wouldn't allow it.  We had an awesome breakfast and I even got to try fresh blueberries & melons for the first time.  I got one of my favorites, strawberries, too!  Yummy!

Afterwards we went to Waterloo, IA for the weekend to see some of my grandparents on Mom's side.  We surprised Great Grandpa Richard after his surgery to deliver some well wish hugs.  While Mom & Dad played cards with Great Grandpa Richard & Grandpa Mark I got to play with Great Grandma Mary & Grandma Dawn.  It was a ton of fun.  Here's me with Grandpa Richard & Grandma Mary.  I also got to see Grandpa Mark and Grandma Dawn's new home and its awesome!  They even made me a play area that I can't wait to run around in. 

On Saturday, Sept. 4th I got to see Grandma Anne and Grandpa Scott and even had dinner with Great Grandma Shirely & Grandpa Pete.  Here we are hanging out before dessert.  Part of the dinner was me entertaining everyone with my true Cyclone skills.  Yep, instead of teaching me "so big" I was taught to raise my arms when we said "Go Cyclones!"  Here's a quick video so you can see how impressive I am!  Note how intense my face & fists are!