Not that I'm not always the greatest company in the world, but my Mommy wanted to go off and do some shopping by herself, so on Saturday my Daddy took care of me instead. We got to do many fun things together. For a while, he kept me entertained with the following exciting game: He would initially keep his head some distance from mine and then slowly swoop in toward me. As he did so, he said the word "baaaaaa-byyyyy" in a high pitched voice. This I found to be hilariously funny. When I'm really amused, I give a big open mouthed smile (not exactly a toothy smile though since I have no teeth) and kind of gurgle. This was great.

We also watched some movies together. Daddy has noticed that my taste in movies tends to run to edgier stuff. The afternoon's movie menu was a kind of controlled experiment to test this effect. Early in the afternoon, during one of my feedings, we watched "Sexy Beast" together. As far as I can tell, this movie consists almost entirely of English swear words and yelling. I was spellbound. I turned my head to the side of the bouncy seat and stared intently at the screen throughout the picture. Later in the afternoon, we watched "Serendipity", a light romantic comedy with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. This movie was not the least bit edgy at all, and I paid no attention. Of course, my favorite movie of all time is Traffic. I think as I get older, I'm starting to exude the same smoldering sexuality as Benicio del Toro (or maybe not).

Sniffle snuffle

I encountered a new and not so great milestone a couple of days ago. For the first time in my life, I have the sniffles. I don't really like it very much. For one thing, it makes it harder to enjoy a refreshing bottle of milk. The reason is that with my nose stuffed up, I like to breathe through my mouth. But this gets in the way of eating and sometimes I miscoordinated the two activities and end up sputtering and having to take a break from the happy pleasure of milk drinking.

It's been hot here lately and Mommy seems to have picked out some special rubberized diapers for swimming. I've never been swimming before, but it sounds great--like the world's biggest bath. After initially having some trepidations about baths, I've really warmed to them. I like to splash and laugh and wiggle around. Apparently with this "pool" thing, there's lots of room to do all these activities. I can't wait.

Since I've been sniffly, I've also been a lot more sleepy. I spent much of the day yesterday just relaxing and dozing on and off. I did wake up to watch the Yankees-A's game with my Daddy last night. The Yankees won on a two run homer by Jorge Posada. Daddy and I were both delighted.

I'm growing bigger all the time. Daddy weighed me this morning and I now weigh 15 pounds! I'm now on the brink of being dangerously large for several of my baby toys. Mommy also counted up the days since my birth and notes that I'm FOUR months old today. Happy birthday to me.

New Photos

I've posted some new photos of myself under the folder "baby playing poker". The highlights show me playing poker and winning handsomely.

Over the weekend, I discovered something new and fun--when I kick and bounce my bouncy seat, the "fun panel" plays songs and lights. I had never notived these before but now that I have, they're tremendously amusing. Every time the lights flach and the sounds play, I smile and laugh until I nearly topple sideways in the chair! I've also discovered how to put my hands in my mouth. I really enjoy doing a lot of the time, but especially when I'm hungry. Unfortunately, it's hard to fit a bottly in my mouth when I have my hands jammed in there. Still working out the solution to this problem.

People just keep coming and going in the house. My Daddy came home last night and we gto to spend the evening bonding with one another. I missed him, and I think he missed me too. The sad news is that my Uncle Jack departed early this morning for the east coast. Lots of people come and go but only my Mommy and Daddy seem to stay for longer than about a week or so.

Bye bye

For the next 4 days, my Daddy is going away to Texas, which my Mommy calls "big hat country." He's goiing to an Internet conference (so he can learn how to surf the net more effectively I suppose). He also says that he's going to ride a horsie while he's there (yes, he really talks like that, referring to horses as "horsies".) I'm going to miss him while he's away. I've been alive now for about 108 days, so his departure for the next 4 means that he'll be gone for almost 4% of my life, which seems to me to be a long time. Meanwhile, my Mommy and Uncle Jack will take care of me.

Poker Night

I've added lots of new photos to my web site. I helped Mommy scan them in yesterday afternoon. There are new photos in the Dave and Julie folder that finally prove that Aunt Julie did not leave Uncle Dave at home when she came to visit. There are also more Easter photos in the Easter folder and pctures in the new Grammy's Visit folder taken when Mommy's Mommy came to see me. In addition, there are pictures in the Lake Tahoe folder from the first time I saw snow and the first time I met my cousins, Meryl, Libby, and Matthew.

I got to see my Uncle Jack for the first time ever yesterday. He's funny. He likes to make all sorts of amusing faces at me, which got me to laugh a lot. My Mommy called me a gigglepuss (one of her favorite terms of endearment) as a result of my laughing and smiling. Later that evening, I got to do something completely new---learn how to play poker. My Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Jack decided to play a few hands of poker complete with cards from the Luxor, a casino I visited in utero, and poker chips. I got to handle one of the most expensive chips, worth 25 cents, and generally had a good time sitting on people's laps and advising them as to what they should do. Mommy was the big winner last night making $1.40! I hope she spends it on more outfits for me.

I continue to sleep through the nights without any problem. Last night, I had numerous evening feedings and, by the time I wnet to bed, I was quite full. I was able to go about 8 hours between feedings (a full night's rest for my parents). Mommy is still wondering whether this sort of thing is normal or not. I don't know, but I'm a happy smiling baby, so what's to worry about.

Poker Night'

I got to see my Uncle Jack for the first time ever yesterday. He's funny. He likes to make all sorts of amusing faces at me, which got me to laugh a lot. My Mommy called me a gigglepuss (one of her favorite terms of endearment) as a result of my laughing and smiling. Later that evening, I got to do something completely new---learn how to play poker. My Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Jack decided to play a few hands of poker complete with cards from the Luxor, a casino I visited in utero, and poker chips. I got to handle one of the most expensive chips, worth 25 cents, and generally had a good time sitting on people's laps and advising them as to what they should do. Mommy was the big winner last night making $1.40! I hope she spends it on more outfits for me.

I continue to sleep through the nights without any problem. Last night, I had numerous evening feedings and, by the time I wnet to bed, I was quite full. I was able to go about 8 hours between feedings (a full night's rest for my parents). Mommy is still wondering whether this sort of thing is normal or not. I don't know, but I'm a happy smiling baby, so what's to worry about.

Sleepy Boy

I set a new sleeping record last night. In fact, I was so effective at sleeping that my Mommy is starting to get worried about me. I had been pretty hungry for much of the day (in fact Mommy was barely keeping up with my eating) and it looked like I might be enjoying some formula last night if things did not change. Well, they did change. I ate at 10:30 last night, went to bed, and did not get up again until 6am. Really, I was not even up then, Mommy woke me. I was happy enough to eat when I awoke.

This delay in eating got Mommy sufficiently concerned that she got out the thermometer to take my temperature (well within normal range), and she cracked open a zillion baby books to see what was going on. My Daddy seemed unconcerned. If anything, he's probably happy that I'm already able to sleep through the night.

On Saturday night, I had a bath. This was the first time since I was in the hospital that my Mommy and Daddy both helped bathe me. Normally Mommy does this, but one Saturday when she was out shopping, my Daddy tried it on his own. This event was a total disaster. I get very upset almost immediately. Also, in his confusion over trying to keep my head above water, juggle all the towels and washcloths and so on, my Daddy neglected to take off my socks, so my feet were sodden. This was no fun. Thankfully, Mommy is actually competent at bathing me so I had a nice bath. This was good because it was very hot here over the weekend, and I was sweaty.

Today I see a new relative -- my Uncle Jack.

My First Plane Ride
I had my first plane ride this past week. We flew from San Jose to Detroit and then drove from there to Ann Arbor. So far, I like every mode of transportation I’ve been on and the plane is not exception. Thanks to a law created by Laura Bush (according to the flight attendant) I’m guaranteed a window seat whenever I fly. This is great although I’m still a little too short to see out the window. I like the dull hum of the jet engine. It makes me so sleepy…yawn. I slept pretty much the whole way during the flight. In fact, I was so sleepy that my Mommy had great difficulty rousing me to give me a little milk so my ears would get unblocked on takeoff and landing. Happily, I got enough good sucks in to make my ears pop, so I felt just fine.

While normally passengers around a young baby dread the trip, the folks around me looked with delight at the end of the trip and told me how cute and wonderful I was. I’m not like the other kids I guess, I just like to dream of flying around in airplanes.

The next day, I got to ride around in a new kind of car, a Subaru, driven by a realtor who was showing my Mommy and Daddy some places they might like to live in. I checked these places out too and pretty much liked them all equally. They were all a lot bigger than our little apartment in Palo Alto. Once again, I made a good impression. The realtor said I was a perfect baby because of my excellent manners.

The night after seeing the realtor, my Mommy was feeding me in the hotel room when she smashed her foot off of a narrow door frame leading to the bathroom. Mommy was very unhappy—she had the same angry purple face I get when I’m really hungry—and she could not walk very well. The next day, we went to a place called the hospital where they fix hurt people like Mommy. Before they fix them, though, they make them wait four hours to make sure they’re really hurt and not just faking it. At the end, Mommy got to wear a special bootie show for her broken toe and was hobbling around on crutches. This made our trip to the airport really fun. I got to ride in a wheelchair through the airport on Mommy’s lap. Daddy pushed us both as well as all our carry-on luggage from the entrance of the airport to the gate, which the airline had thoughtfully located the maximum distance away.

Getting off the airplane, Mommy got to ride in a really neat form of transportation. I was envious. In San Jose, where we landed, rather than having a jetway leading directly to the terminal, they have an old-fashioned system whereby they wheel steps up to the plane and the people walk down to the tarmac. Well, Mommy couldn’t negotiate the steps, so instead they pulled up this big forklift thing and moved the steps out of the way. Mommy was then hoisted down in the forklift and whisked away in the wheelchair to the car. What a trip! My trips are always filled with many exciting events—blizzards, lost wallets, broken feet, forklifts, and so on.

Because my Mommy cannot move around very well, my Daddy has been at home all day these past several days taking care of lots of things. For instance, when I want to be picked up and bounced around, my Daddy is there to do it. I like that.

Recently, Mommy mentioned that in a month I would be old enough to hold a rattle on my own. My Daddy, having infinite faith in my abilities, insisted that I could do it now. He quickly pulled out a rattle and started trying to get me to hold it. I grasped it firmly (I like gripping things) and occasionally waved it around. When I did that, it made an unexpected noise, which caused me to smile. I even flung it down to the ground a couple of times. Best of all, from Daddy’s perspective, I did all of this with my left hand. My Daddy is convinced that I have an excellent chance to have a long career as a modestly effective middle relief pitcher if only I end up being left handed. We shall see.

Today was a hot day, and I was perspiring. Occasionally, it would get so hot that I would complain and my Daddy would have to figure out some way to make it cooler. At the end of the day, I got to take a bath, which was cool and very refreshing. Now I’m a clean and shiny happy baby.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Tomorrow I'm going on my first plane flight (ex utero that is). The whole family is flying to beautiful Detroit (Ann Arbor actually but Detroit airport) to see if we want to live in Michigan. I'll let you know how I liked it when I return on Friday. Here's good news -- the city of Detroit has now made it easier for my Mommy and Daddy to apply for Section 8 housing! Now we won't have to live in the projects.

Something to Aspire To

After hearing about my eating exploits, my Uncle Dave suggests this exciting potential profession for me -- the International Federation of Competitive Eating. I wonder if they have an event for eating from a bottle? I also wonder just what all the "majors" are in competitive eating?

Sleepy Guy

I seem to have fallen into a new equilibrium in my eating. Starting last week, I decided that my usual amount of food (110ccs) was not nearly enough to keep me happy. My Mommy decided to increase my food amount to 125ccs, which made me a lot happier. Still, I would get hungry pretty frequently and by Friday, I was eating her out of house and home. I slowed down some over the weekend.

In addition to eating more at a sitting, I'm able to go longer between meals, particularly at night. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights I went five to six hours between feedings. Actually, I could have gone longer on some of these but my Mommy woke me up. This is a happy thing since six hour intervals are much more conducive to normal sleep than were my usual four hour ones.

On Sunday, we all got in the car to drive to the Pacific Ocean. It was very sunny and pretty until we crossed over to the other side of the Santa Cruz mountains. There we found lots of clouds over the ocean. I saw several surfers and got to wander around the beach a bit (actually, Mommy wandered and I rode along). I had to get bundled up very warmly against the strong sea breeze. I was wearing my insulated SnoKid hat, but my Mommy turned the iconic snowflake to the other side to seem more in the beachy spirit.

That night, we went to Chevy's, a Mexican restaurant chain. The highlight for me was the balloon man, who came by and made me a teddy bear hugging a heart. The big red balloon heart is shiny and pretty. It fascinates me. To show my approval, I kicked the balloon bear a couple of times.

My Nain (Grandmother Diana) is going back to Wilkes-Barre today. I'll miss her. She liked to hold me and feed me. She also sang some odd little songs like "The Troll of the Hill." She also had an odd way of asking me whether I needed to burp. Instead of asking me directly, like my Mommy does, she would gently inquire, "Does baby have a bubble? Do you have a bubble?" She would also describe my expression when I was hungry as my "angry purple face." I suppose I do turn a little bit purple while telling the adults around me that I'm hungry. That's only because I'm using all my energy to convey to them forcefully my feelings.

Cleaning

Yesterday, I was a very helpful little guy. My Mommy decided to clean her closet -- a mammoth project equivalent to clearing the rubble from ground zero. For such a big project, she needed me to be content to lie quietly watching her. Now normally I like to get lots of attention, but I decided to give her a break. The closet looks a lot better.

Later in the evening, my parents and grandmother went out to a restaurant with me to eat. Once again, they expected me to lie quietly. Well, after doing this all day, I decided that this was too much to ask. I was up and about shortly after my Mommy began her salad. I figured if they can eat, I can eat. I loudly placed my order for milk. Happily, I got to eat along side everyone else during dinner. I even got to sit on my Daddy's lap as he gave me pretend sips of wine (Mommy didn't like that much).

Baby Bunny

I posted a new set of pictures to my website. They are under the Easter folder. Highlights include several pictures of me in my Easter finery including bunny ears (doesn't everyone wear bunny ears for Easter?) Also, there are a couple of pictures of me smiling -- see, I told you I could figure that one out. Today, my Mommy and my grandmother are taking me to San Francisco to play with the sea lions. Arf-arf-arf.

Easter

I went to my first church service yesterday. I like to get up early, so my Mommy and Daddy thought to take advantage of this by attending a sunrise service at a local Methodist church. The service was held out on the church lawn on a kind of foggy morning. I was glad I had my blanket with me because it's a little cool at that time of day. During the singing, I noticed some mourning doves perched on the roof above the choir, They seemed to be dancing to the music. There's a distinctive California vibe to the service. The collection was taken by young teenage girls from the choir. One of them was prominently wearing a gateway.com sweatshirt.

After the service, I came home for a photo session. My Mommy dressed me in my flopsy bunny outfit. She also bought a little set of bunny ears to place on my head (I have a feeling I'll be dreading these pictures coming out on holidays when I'm older.) Naturally, I held up my end of the bargain by sitting and looking cute. There should be some photos posted shortly.

After the photo session, my Mommy wanted to go to something more formal, so she whisked me off to another church service. This one was just plain weird. Instead of saying the Lord's prayer in the usual way, it was like fill in the blanks. You were free to say "our father/mother/creator" for the first line. Also, "for thine is the kingdom/kindom". Despite my Mommy's latent socialist tendencies, this service was too liberal even for her. On the plus side, I did get to see my first transvestite at the church!

I was delighted to get some nice gifts for Easter including a strange toy from my Nain that I can kick to make music and visual effects. I haven't yet tried it, but I'm looking forward to it.