August 1st was a very big day for me! With Grandma Karen in town, Pops decided it was finally time to go to a restaurant with me in tow. Before we left, Moms begged me to behave myself so that she was not forced to live another 10 weeks as a shut in. I decided to go ahead and throw her a bone, and as you can see above she was so excited she had to take pictures.
Emboldened by the success of the restaurant outing, we headed to Washington Square. I made it through okay, but did meltdown for a little while. In fairness, I lasted longer than Pops--he lost it before we even walked into the mall.
I was definitely in need of a good nap after all of that, so we headed home where I proceeded to snooze for hours. Then it was off to dinner. Pops wanted to go to Ken's Artisan Pizza. We arrived 15 minutes after opening only to be told it was an hour wait so we checked out the neighboring Bamboo Sushi. My parents said it was DELICIOUS and they ran into a sushi chef from their old neighborhood. Once again, I totally behaved myself in the restaurant...so on the way home we stopped to show Grandma Karen the MAC and I checked out my first baseball game ever!!!
Pops Fuels Me Up before we enter The Mall
There Are Lots of Mirrors at the Mall for 2 Handsome Guys to Check Themselves Out
Angelic at the Restaurant
Grandma Karen has Flashback to When She Used to Feed Pops
Baseball!!!!
I got a chance to take a bath this week too. A few, actually. Thought I'd throw up a little vid I had taken. You know, for my lady-fans out there.
I hope you enjoyed my movies. Moms and Pops keep saying they've got to make more of them but they never seem to bust out the Flip when I'm being extra cute. However, Moms is pretty good with a camera, so I'll give her some props for that.
After Grandma Karen's visit and all of the activities, we hung pretty close to home for a week. Uncle Bob and Auntie Feather did come by for dinner one night, so I wore one of my cute French outfits she got me while they were here.
So far, I've slept in a bassinet in my parents' room, and at night I do go to sleep in the bassinet pretty easily where I stay for 6-8 hours on average, but I don't like my crib yet. In fact, during the day I still prefer to be held when I nap. You can put me down, sure, but I wake up within 20 minutes of that so the question is: long nap being held or short nap on my own? Moms mixes it up during the day. That Thursday, she thought she'd try to get me to sleep in the crib using what her book calls the "extinction" method, but what everyone else refers to as "cry it out." Two hours and forty-five minutes later, Pops came and pulled me out of my crib. Yep, I outlasted them. I look forward to including this on my "Survivor" application sometime in the future. Moms says she's going to try again soon. I am beginning to plot my response already.
On Sunday the 9th of August, we all went over to Granny V and Grandpa Jeff's so I could see the Massines again and meet the Bingays. Moms tells me that, like the Massine Family, the Bingay Family is among their dear old friends from the old 'hood in Aloha. She says Mr. Dick and Miss Judy are like her second parents, so I guess that kind of makes them like my second grandparents...although I hear their SIX grandkids keep them plenty busy!
That night, I tried to savor my time with Pops because he was planning on making an escape to South Carolina. On Monday morning, before even I got up, Pops was out the door to catch a plane. Off he went to the National Advocacy Center, and he tells me he learned lots, but he doesn't ever want to go back in August. Something about heat and humidity. As if I don't know all about that from when I was in the womb!
Since Pops was out of town and Moms had to go to work (again and again) we went to stay at Granny V's and Grandpa Jeff's for three nights! It was good for Moms to see that if she was gone for a day at work I was still in good spirits. I didn't even have time to miss her I was so busy being cute for my grandparents!
On Friday, Granny V, Grandpa Jeff, and Moms went to see my Great Aunt Allison in the hospital after her surgery on Wednesday. I provided some baby cheer, followed up on by her grand-nephew Nathan from the other side of her family. Nathan is nine-and-a-half months old and, I have to tell you, I think I can take him if ever I need to fight for Great Aunt Alli's affections. Moms assures me that she has plenty of love for the both of us though so, for now, he is safe.
Saturday, Great Aunt Alli's kids, my Moms' cousins, came to our house for dinner and a sleepover. Cousin Kevin schooled Pops and Cousin Jordan at XBox 360, and Cousin Katy Jo proved once again what a skilled baby handler she is, giving me bottles and keeping me from throwing any major fits. Moms says they might come back a few times in the future and I can't wait for the next time we all get to hang out together!
Frenchie Baby with Auntie Feather, world traveller
Granny V & the Judies are Won Over by my Cuteness
Quality Time with Pops
Being Extra Cute to Make Sure Pops Misses Me
Oh, did I forget to mention I loves to suck my thumb? (when I can find it, that is....)
Meeting the Very Cool Shuford Family!!! Pops introduces me to Mr. John, Miss Alex and Juliana
Moms tells me this is 100% true, although 50% of the time it's a 4-way tie...
Pops thinks this means I'm going to coach Hoops at UNLV
With Cousins Kevin & Katy Jo...people say I look like Kevin when he was a baby & I hear he's totally flattered by that
Kevin, Jordan & Katy Jo wait in line with Pops for Voo Doo Donuts. I can't wait to chew so I can try the "Grape Ape"
WELCOME BABY JACK!!!
John Henry Schroeder joined his parents Mr. John and Miss Kirsten on Sunday August 16th. We couldn't stay away from the hospital and took dinner the following night.
According to Moms, if Pops and Mr. John are any indication, Jack and I are destined for years of mischief and fun!!!!
The Rabble Rousers
How's it going? It's the end of August and in the last week or so lots of cool stuff has been happening. When Moms and Pops are giving me bottles, I put my hands up to the bottle and hold it myself. They don't let go for too long, though, because I drop it pretty quick. Still....they say it's some sort of developmental milestone or something. I say stop reading books and start playing with me! I don't usually reach out to grab something, but if it's in my wingspan (like the elephant on my gym mat) I will grab it and try to pull it to my mouth. I roll to one side from time to time as well!
Also, and this seems to please them the most, I now laugh out loud. Not all the time, but I do giggle from time to time which amuses them to no end. I am hoping that they'll post some video of me l-o-l-ing (or is it l-ing-o-l?) very soon.
I've also officially graduated into chunky baby stage.
Check out those drumsticks!
Wishing Cousin Katy Jo a Happy Sweet 16
Enjoying a Timbers game with the dudes
I've also enjoyed a few field trips. I took some dinner and my parents over to see my new pal Jack and his parents Mr. John and Miss Kirsten last week. Mr. Matt and Miss Anna came over for dessert! I don't see what all the fuss is about, though. New babies are boring. Jack slept the whole time we were there, plus Moms forgot the camera (way to go, Moms!) so no pictures to commemorate the occasion. Moms reminds me that I used to sleep through certain occasions myself, but those days are a distant memory.
On Saturday, August 29th Pops went to his Keeper League Fantasy Football Draft so Moms and I went over to Great Uncle Mark and Great Aunt Allison's house to hang out with them and my cousins Jordan, Kevin & Katy Jo. Moms says it was like old times when she used to hang out with the kids when they were younger. She left feeling quite nostalgic and a little old.
With Great Aunt Allison
Katy Jo knows just how to keep me HAPPY
Bringing the Cute on Jordan's lap
I have also become a world-champion sleep fighting machine. I like to check things out, so instead of sleeping I want to be awake! I get pretty mad when Moms or Pops tries to put me to sleep. They've even tried the "cry it out" thing again. The other day Moms laid me down for a nap and I cried for THREE HOURS AND FIFTEEN MINUTES--there was 15 minutes in the middle where I slept, or at least stopped crying...
However, I also slept the first night ever in my crib in my own room. I still sleep most nights in the bassinet in my parents' room, but they feel good knowing that I can do it on my own down there and will begin to transition me as Moms goes back to work in just over a week. Don't talk to her about it though because for some reason she just bursts into tears when you do...I'm not sure why, she's leaving me in the capable hands of Grandpa Jeff and Granny V, and it's not like I currently have a concept of time in any event. She can be gone 5 minutes or 5 hours and I don't think I'd know the difference!!
Maxwell & Emmitt struggle to see what is so dang fascinating about me as Pops tries to document me on film
