Apologies

It's been almost a week since my last post and I'm sorry. I don't mean to be neglecting my loyal readers but it's just that I've been so excited about my new skills that all I want to do it practice them all the time. Anytime I get near a piece of furniture, my crib, Mommy or Daddy, I just want to pull myself up. It's this irrepressible urge I have, almost like a magnetic pull. I just can't sit still! But I end up tiring myself out, especially since I haven't been sleeping much lately. I would rather stand up than sleep. Well, sometimes I want to sleep but once I've stood up, I can't figure out how to sit back down! So whenever I have the chance, I try to sneak in a couple of ZZZs. Here I am in my stroller with my new mittens.

I wanted to show off my new skills to my girlfriends - Beatrice and Amira - so I invited them over to play. I wanted to show them that I wasn't just the quiet sensitive little boy that always sat nicely and played with his toys - that I was wild and adventurous too! Although I am sitting down in this picture...

Finally, you may have noticed a new addition to my blog - a countdown clock to my 1st birthday! I can't believe that it's just around the corner. Presents have started to come in. Auntie Alison and Auntie Tracy bought me some nice spring clothes.

Another box!! But I don't think that I can fit into this one.

Pulling Up

Oooohhhhhh!!!! This is fun! I can pull myself up to standing now!

I never understood what the big deal was about. For months, I saw all my friends climbing all over their mothers and pulling up on furniture but I just didn't get it. I mean, if I wanted to stand up, I would just throw my arms up in the air and make the slightest little whining noise and Mommy, Daddy or just about anyone would pick me up and put me on my feet!

So what made me decide to give it a try, you ask? Well, Mommy and Daddy started to not pick me up so often and would just leave me on the ground. Or they wouldn't help me out when I started pawing at their legs. So fine, I had to take matters into my own hands...



Now I'm having so much fun that I can't wait to practice my new skill, and I definitely practice it all the time - whenever Mommy or Daddy is within reach, and especially when I'm supposed to be taking my naps.

This is how Daddy found me when I was supposed to be taking my afternoon nap:

Ha! Now I'm big enough to decide for myself when to nap or when to just stand around :-)

Snow Angel

Snow! What a surprise when I woke up bright and early and found everything outside covered with the fun white stuff... I definitely didn't want to waste the opportunity to play, since there hasn't been much snow this year, so headed right outside and made my very first snow angel -

What do you think - not bad for my first try, right? I do have to work on my arm motion a little, but the conditions were difficult - the snow soon turned to sleet, which made me a little cranky...

I like the snow, but I think that I'm definitely looking forward to spring now!

Catching Some Zzzzs

Gee, I'm really tired. Mommy and Daddy aren't quite sure why I'm still sleeping. It is almost noon, after all, and I went to take my nap at 9am.... I think that I wore myself out yesterday. It's rough being 11.5 months old.

And here's what I looked like when Mommy and Daddy (rudely) woke me up about a half hour after the last picture... I have just two words for you - NOT HAPPY!

My throne

I got my first 1st birthday present! My very own chair and ottoman from Yee-Ma! Yee-Ma said that I deserved my own throne since I am the King of the house afterall. It's quite comfy - I can put my legs up and lounge and watch TV along with Mommy and Daddy (although I'm not supposed to watch TV before I'm 2 years old according to the American Academy of Pediatrics). Oops. But the best thing about my gift was the ginormous box it came in. With a box this big, there's so much that I could do!!

American Museum of Natural History

Since it's a long weekend, Mommy and Daddy thought that we should do something educational and cultural so we decided to go to the American Museum of Natural History. It was one of Mommy's favorite museums growing up. But first, I got a special visit from Uncle Jay yesterday. He came to visit from all the way down in Pennsylvania. He and Daddy have been friends since high school which was a LONG time ago. I liked him right away because of his big smile.

On the way to the museum, Mommy told me all about the big dinosaurs and great habitat dioramas in the museum and how Coufou and Yee-Ma used to run all around the museum when they were younger. This museum doesn't sound like other museums I've been to.

When we got there, instead of paintings and sculptures, I was greeted by a giant Tyrannosaurus rex! He looks kinda hungry and scary. I hope he doesn't get any ideas... He has big sharp teeth and a grasping hand with fingers that differ in size and shape. But are his teeth sharper than Mommy's? I had to check for myself.

Across from the T-Rex was what Mommy called a Brontosaurus but I quickly corrected her - it's now called an Apatosaurus. He was big too and had a long long tail. Boy, these dinosaurs have big bones. The Apatosaurus' arm bone is almost as big as me!

We wandered through the rest of the Fossil Halls and saw a Stegosaurus and a Triceratops. Then we came upon someone I could relate to - we could see eye-to-eye. I think that I could take him on, don't you think?

Next we went to the Hall of Ocean Life to see the famous blue whale. He's 94 feet long!!! Mommy and Yee-Ma used to lie under the whale's belly and daydream. I just wanted to read more about the largest animal to roam the planet.

Our last stop was the Rose Center for Earth and Space. In the exhibit hall, there were models of planets, stars, and galaxies suspended from the ceiling. Here you can see Jupiter in the background.

Mommy also showed me Saturn and its pretty rings.

There was so much to see at the museum! Gee, I have a lot of learn about in science class!

Everything's Back to Normal

Phew! I woke up this morning and guess what? Daddy was home! I was very happy to see him but I had to make sure that he was real. So I poked his nose, rubbed his chin and patted his cheek. Yup, he's real alright. Then all day, I was waiting for Mommy to leave again because that's what happened before - Daddy would be home but Mommy would be gone or else Mommy would be home and Daddy would be gone. But today was different - THEY BOTH STAYED. Maybe I just imagined it all. Maybe it was all a bad dream? It doesn't matter though because everything is back to normal now.

P.S. I like to suck on my pacifier upside down sometimes. Don't ask me why but I do.

I'm confused...

I hate to admit this but...I'm confused. Where's Daddy? I woke up on Wednesday morning and Mommy was home. I was so excited to see her since she's been gone a week. I dove right into bed with her. But then, at little while later, Daddy was gone! I couldn't find him. I looked all over the house, walking from room to room (with a little help from Mommy and Babcia holding my hands). How come everyone keeps disappearing? Where are they all going? How come I never get to go anywhere???

I thought that it was finally my lucky day when I snuck into Daddy's bag so that I could go on his business trip with him. But, I guess it wasn't meant to be. He found me and said that I exceeded the weight limit for carry-on baggage. Next time, I just have to be a bit more quiet. Then maybe I can go sneak out and see my cousin Keira!

I miss Mommy!

Mommy has been gone almost a whole week now, and I miss her very much!

Luckily, while she has been gone, Daddy and I have had lots of visitors to keep us company over the past few days, like Daddy's friend Patricia, and of course Dziadek and Babcia.


But still, things just aren't the same without Mommy. Luckily, she is coming back tomorrow night - I can't wait!

While the cat's away...

As some of you may know, Mommy is away this weekend, and I'm home alone with Daddy. What I didn't know is that Daddy has a very different parenting style when Mommy is away... Daddy calls it "learn from experience"... you might even call it "laissez fare." I'm not sure what Mommy would call it, but I must admit that I find this new freedom from rules refreshingly liberating...

Making the most of this new found freedom, I decided to explore the house a bit while Daddy was taking one of his many weekend naps. I wanted to do all the things I'm not allowed to do when Mommy is here.... and sure enough, I learned lots of lessons, just as Daddy said I would...

Here are some examples -

Don't eat the dirt in the flower pots...

...it doesn't taste so good.

Don't play with scissors...

... you might get cut.

Don't stick a fork in the electrical socket...

... you might get shocked.

And definitely don't drink too much beer...

... you may get drunk and fall on your head...

Oh boy, that last one hurt! I hope Mommy is back soon so we can go back to learning life's rules by her example again... Daddy's way may not be so refreshing after all!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Finally, it's here! My very first Chinese New Year. After all the preparation this week, how exciting!

I definitely woke up very happy this morning, especially since I found myself surrounded by red envelopes and an apple...



Of course, I knew right the way what to do with the apple - the same thing I do with everything I can get my hands on...


But I wasn't so sure what these red envelopes were all about at first...


Soon enough, though, I figured it out... jackpot!!!


I got three envelopes - one from Ah-Boo and one each from Mommy and Daddy - that got me even more excited to get the day started!

But Chinese New Year isn't just about fortune - it's also about spending time with family, that's why I was so glad that Babcia was here, and that 4 Yee Pau and 5 Yee Pau came to visit me:


And, they brought more red envelopes! At this point, I could hardly believe my good fortune!


As you can see, to celebrate the day, I was already wearing my freshest red Puma outfit - but with all the excitement I decided to take things up a notch -

I have to admit, the hat was my favorite - I hope yours, too...


Happy New Year, everyone!

Preparing for Chinese New Year

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year and there's so much to do before then! I'm so excited for my very first Chinese New Year. It's a very special time of year - one of new beginnings, giving thanks and spending time with family and friends. It starts at the second new moon after the winter solstice and this year will be the Year of the Rat.

Wait a second, does that mean that it will no longer be the Year of the Pig?? It won't be my year anymore? I don't know if I like that one bit... But, I'm still excited to learn about all the traditions that go along with the New Year festivities...

The first thing we have to do is clean the house and sweep the floors, to sweep away the bad luck from last year and prepare us to welcome good luck in the new year. Yay!

Next, since it's the time of new beginnings, according to custom I also had to get my hair cut, so I'll be fresh and clean for the New Year. It's about time anyways. My hair has been starting to get in my eyes a bit lately if you haven't noticed.

Though Mommy may have taken a bit much off the top... I'm not so sure how I feel about that...


What do you think? How does my hair look - too short?


Well, I guess the haircut also had the advantage of getting some of yesterday's Aquaphor / Vaseline combination off my head (since multiple washings with shampoo - and, believe it or not, dish washing liquid - don't seem to be doing the trick...)

Finally, after all these preparations, tomorrow I'll also get to wear a special New Years Day outfit. Mommy is very excited about that, but she won't tell me anything about this "special outfit" or what it looks like, except that it's a "traditional outfit all the boys wear on Chinese New Year"... We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what that's all about...

Keep out of reach of children

You know how there are all these warnings on various products that say "Keep out of reach of children"? Well parents, you really should pay attention to those warnings. You just never know when your mischievous little child will get their grubby hands into them, even when you think that they are peacefully napping in their crib. Today I pulled a good one on Mommy. I had a big surprise for her when she came to get me after I woke from my afternoon nap. This is what I looked like.

You might think that I'm all wet - that I sweat a lot when I sleep (which I do) or that I peed all over myself. Nope. I managed to reach over my bumper in my crib and get my hands into the tubs of Aquaphor, Vaseline and A&D and slather the various ointments all over myself. hee hee.

It was so fun to play with all the gooey stuff and rub it through my fingers and in my hair. I lubbed myself up really well. I kind of like the greaser look.

Mommy was trying to catch me but I kept slipping out of her grip. That will teach them to leave things uncovered and within my reach from now on. But I think I heard Mommy mention something about having to wash my hair with dishing washing liquid to get all the oil out...

Go Vote!

It's Super Tuesday and I got to cast my first vote in the New York State primaries! Okay so maybe I didn't actually get to vote myself because I'm not 18 years old yet but I went along to help Mommy vote. She still hadn't made up her mind when we arrived at the polling site so we talked a little and I gave her my opinion on who I thought would make the best nominee for the Democratic Party in the upcoming presidential elections. It was very exciting to see our democratic process in action. Don't forget to vote today!!