My favorite destination in the whole wide world...

What do you mean, I'm not supposed to eat magazines? What ELSE would they be good for?

"Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump....Snore"

Me and my bear...just hanging out and chatting about how all boys have "cooties".

Me with Aunt Astrid and Uncle Dan. He was talking to me about Elmo. Naturally, I was captivated, as Elmo is going to be my first boyfriend - as soon as someone tells me how to get to Sesame Street.

I don't know what it is about Cheerios. Every time I look at one, it makes me want to yawn!

This is my "wild-windblown" look that I save for the truly deserving toddler boys.

If Daddy's wearing a baseball cap, you can be pretty sure that I'll be playing with the visor the entire time.

Would you care for a little tennis, darling? I've got the proper cap, now if you'll just get me that racquet we can play!

When you "put your hands in the air like you just don't care", make sure you are sitting up - otherwise THIS happens.

Me & My Brother Taking a Bath

Mobility Baby....Mo-Bil-iTEE

I've done it. It took months of work, and weeks of just laying on the floor kicking my legs and making unduly carpet-humping motions, but I'm movin'. I can travel straight across the room at will. Granted, it requires a few rest stops in-between where I lay my head down on the carpet in sheer exhaustion, and I travel at the rate of about a foot every 2 minutes or so - but I'm no longer stuck in the last place someone laid me down. Let me tell you...this rules. My favorite destination? Straight to the magazine rack, where I can rip up and scrunch up paper to my hearts content. No more circles for me - it's vertical or horizontal motion from now on. Hurray! On a similar note, I'm liking that hold standing thing a lot lately. Whether it's on someone's lap or against the couch with Mommie holding my hands, I'm getting a lot less rubber-legged when I'm standing. I have a feeling that it won't be long before crawling loses its appeal....and when that happens? Watch out world!

I've also found another activity that entertains me for long periods of time. Ready? I don't think you are ready. Take a moment......Ready now? I love gagging. Oh yeah. Sweet, sweet almost-puke gagging. Last week I had a toy, which I shoved far into my mouth until it touched my throat. Boy did I gag! I pulled it out and thought, "Hmmm...that was fun!" and promptly shoved it back in. Result? More gagging! "AYCHH! AYCHH!". I repeated this process about a dozen times until Daddy got tired of laughing at me and took it away. (Don't worry...it wasn't the kind of toy that would get stuck in my throat and make me choke - gagging and choking are two separate things!) A couple days later, my Mommie came down the stairs and found me with my mouth closed and my cheeks blown out. To get a visual on this, blow out your cheeks and pretend to hold your breath - that's what it looked like. I was sitting there calmly on the floor, happy as a clam. Mommie thought this was a little wierd, and so she opened my mouth. I don't know why she thought it was strange that I had stuffed my ENTIRE binkey (a binkey is a pacifier to those of you who don't speak "parent-talk") backwards into my mouth. I was quite comfortable and wasn't gagging at all. Later that day though, I had a not so fun experience. The dog has lots of toys (which we share, as you all know), and one of them is a ball. It's a small ball, but not small enough that I could actually swallow it or close my lips around it, but it seemed small enough to try to eat. My daddy was sitting there watching TV, and in a matter of a second, I had popped that ball in my mouth...not entirely in my mouth (as I already explained), but enough in my mouth that it appeared like an S&M ball gag. I panicked a little because I couldn't spit it back out, and Daddy came to my rescue just as the panicking set in, so the ball wasn't in there more than a couple seconds. So, I did learn that toys, spoons and binkeys are fun to gag with - balls are not. Daddy threw away the ball, as he learned from my previous experiences of pulling my hair, saying "Ow" and repeating it again and again, that if the temptation is there, sure enough I'll repeat the action. So thanks Daddy for taking away that mean ball.

I am still continuing my love-hate relationship with sleeping. I love to sleep at night, and I sleep ALL night without waking (from about 8pm until around 4:30 am), but during the day, rarely do my naps last more than 10-15 minutes. That has resulted in a very tired Mommy, who falls asleep on the couch and keeps the same hours as I do. I can't believe that she's not as cranky as me, because let me tell you buddy....lack of daytime naps makes babies cranky cranky cranky. I am the Queen of Crankiness. I'll be smiling and happy and gurgling and making nice Exorcist noises, and then in an instant I'll scream unhappily at the top of my lungs. Among the things that can set off my crankiness:

1. Someone/No-one walking past me.
2. You talked to me / didn't talk to me.
3. I have/don't have a binkey in my mouth.
4. You are watching an integral moment of your favorite TV show.
5. You are holding me/not holding me.
6. Somewhere a butterfly has flapped it's wings.
7. I turned my head.
8. You looked at me without making a funny face or calling my name.
9. I look for the dog, and she isn't there.
10. It's a day of the week ending in the letter "y".

Spitty Spit, Sitting Up and The Art of Ignoring

I have discovered spitting, along with that wonderful fart-like noise that you get when you stick out your tongue and just spit away for a few seconds. I know that I'm a girl, so eventually having proper etiquette will prevent me from becoming the national spitball champion. As a result, I am going to get all the spitting in that I can right now. I especially like spitting while I'm being fed. I am capable of spitting with such force that whoever is feeding me will get a face-full of mush (and a shirt-full, pants full, and hair full as well). My mommie is now mastering the fine art of feeding me. She has to test first with just a little bit on the spoon before actually giving me the "full" spoon very quickly. This way, if I'm in a spitting mood, the chances of a big glob landing on her nose are reduced to a light sprinkle. Yeah...I know...I'm a brat.

I have mastered the art of sitting up. No more leaning over and falling for this girl. I can sit with the best of you, lean over to pick something up, and then get right back up in a proper sitting position. I'd been practicing for the last few weeks, but only in the last few days have I entirely conquered the "sitting up from a laying-down position" move. What can I say? I rule.

I am destined to be an ice princess...no really, I am. Unless you make a sudden noise or are wearing an interesting hat, if you are holding me - I'm not looking at you even once. I pay attention only to those who are NOT holding me. So, as an example, if Daddy is holding me, I will ignore him and will intently stare at my Mommie...until she is convinced that I want to shift to her lap. Once the transfer is complete, I will ignore her entirely and stare only at my Daddy until another shift occurs. I haven't quite mastered the second step though, as once Daddy hands me off to Mommie, he doesn't stick around very long.

I have also learned the value of "things". If I'm holding something, you best not even attempt to take it from me, lest I start using my mad ninja skills to teach you a lesson. Today I was sitting on the floor between my Dad's legs. I was happily playing with his right and left shoelaces (Don't ask me which was which...I haven't a clue yet which way is right and left), and then he had the nerve to actually get up off the couch and attempt to walk away! Oh no...don't "dis" me like that Daddy-O! I claimed those shoelaces and they are MINE. How did I claim them? In the only way I know how. I threw up on them. I know what you're thinking....Mad Skills!