Sweet Home New Jersey

Mommy drove me back to New Jersey yesterday evening. While I always enjoy car rides, this one promised to be especially god because Mommy promised that I'd get to see Daddy again. He was at a conference in a place called Vancouver and was due to fly in on Sunday night. I had not seen him in a week, which is the longest time I've ever gone without seeing him in my life. I gave him a big smile when he came through the door and was really happy when he sang the Mr. Baby song and other songs to me. He seemed astonished at how much I had changed and grown in the week while he was away. I'm a lot stronger and more coordinated than the last time he saw me. I can bull my neck and hold my head up even when I'm almost in a horizontal position. I'm also very good at manipulating things with my hands.

I recently discovered my other foot. For awhile, I only liked to grip my left foot with my left arm while never gripping the right foot at all. Now, I've discovered the right foot too and will grip it in either hand. I've also discovered that when I get tired of sucking on my fingers, my toes are good to suck on as well.

Yesterday was my baptism followed by a big party in my honor. Despite the fact that I had to sit still in church for an extended period, I was on my best behavior. I didn't even flinch when they put the little bit of water on my head. In fact, the baptismal font sure did look like it would be fun to splash about in. I was equally sweet in letting the minister show me around to everyone in the congregation---this despite the fact that twice during the ceremony she screwed my name up and called me Adrian (grrr).

Following the service, we all rushed home to make final preparations for the big party. I supervised. We had two big tents and lots of tables and chairs. The caterer people came in with a whole bunch of food, but none of it was stuff that I could eat. For example, not one of the trays contained formula! Everyone seemed to have a good time and I got to meet lots of new people. They seemed to enjoy passing me around from person to person so that I was constantly enthralled by being held different people. I also got a whole bunch of loot including a couple of checks made out to me! While I was delighted at this, my Mommy and Daddy have to ponder how to cash these in that I can't really sign (or spell or say) my name.

The big highlight of the day came near the end. My Nain and one of my cousin's on my Mommy's side (there are so many of them!) were leaning over my play area to say goodbye to me. They both swore that in response to their goodbyes, I said goodbye right back to them. That would be my first word then---bye. Actually, my Mommy tells me that if, in fact, my "bye" counts as a word, then it's my second word. She herself has observed me say "hi" in response to being said hi to on some previous occasions.

It's been really busy for the past several days, so I have not had much chance to write. Let me catch you up on the lastest. On Saturday, June 28, we moved our stuff from Stanford to our new place in the east bay in Walnut Creek. It seems like a great place. I am especially lucky in that, for the moment, I have more furniture than either my Mommy or Daddy. The only piece of furniture they have there is a rocking chair that they had to disassemble to fit in the U-haul. I, on the other hand, have a crib, that our friends Rhona and Jeremy gave to us, my big swing, my little swing, and my bouncy seat. I can sit in any room of the house and sleep in a proper bed. My parents get to sit on the floor and sleep on an air mattress.

The next day, I got to go on another plane ride. Always I get the same worried looks on the faces of the passengers seated around me when I come aboard a plane. I try to reassure them by smiling sweetly and giggling a little. When we frist took off, I was up and ready to explore my world. Plane's are interesting what with all the lights and dials for air conditioning and all the people walking back and forth. I particularly caught the eye of one flight attendant who was from Hawaii. She kept stopping by to visit me and talk to me. Evenentually, she rounded up a whole bunch of pillows and blankets and made a soft cushiony chair on the tray table nearest the aisle so I could hang out there.

For much of the flight I slept though. Interestingly, at the end of the flight that other people around me wore big smiles instead of concerned expressions. Everyone said what a good baby I am. Of course, I already know this.

On arriving in the east, I immediately noticed one key difference---it's ungodly humid in the east. We landed a little past midnight and still it was 82 degrees and 82% humidity. Sitting in carseats and the like makes me sweat even under lesser humidity. I was a wet little guy in no time. We got a car a drove to my Mommy and Daddy's other place in New Jersey. It seems that for the month of July they are land barons owning places (and debt) on both coasts. The New Jersey house is very nice (and air conditioned too). Unfortunately, there was no good place for me to sleep when we got there. I slept on the floor and Mommy on the couch next to me.

We didn't stay in New Jersey long though. We were soon off to my ancestral homeland---what my parents refer to as "old country"---the Wyoming Valley. I got to meet lots of people there. Of course, I got to see both my grandmothers again as well as meeting numerous aunts and uncles. Best of all, I got to go swimming during a hot afternoon. Swimming is great on a hot, humid day. I also got to experience my first thunderstorm. Thunder is loud and a little bit scary.

Last night was the 4th of July so people set off lots of fireworks. These are too loud and scary for me, so I spent much of the evening inside. I did see some sparklers though. My Daddy wanted to let em hold a sparkler since I'm good at gripping things, but no one else thought that was a good idea at all.

Big

Well, I think it's official---I'm no longer a little guy. When my Daddy came home yesterday I overheard this exchange:

Mommy: I was at Stanford mall today with Mr. Baby. It's amazing how much he's changed.
Daddy: How so?
Mommy: While everyone still said how cute he is, no one thinks he's small anymore.
Daddy: He's big all right...like hauling around a sack of potatoes.
Mommy: Yeah. He's a stocky guy. The grandparents will never recognize him.

Charming the Ladies

Yesterday my Mommy and Daddy visited the offices of Chicago Title to sign myriad forms ensuring that they'll be in serious debt until they're well into their 60s. My job was the usual one of being cute and cuddly. As we sat in a glass walled conference room, I would flach my blue eyes and give a big smile to the people passing by. Eventually, there was a crowd of about 5 people cooing over me. I really like that. While the bank people were explaning each of the forms, I started to get bored, so I ended up getting the realtor and the broker for the escrow to pick me up and rock me gently. This was great so I gave them a big birght smile. The broker for the escrow liked to say "hi" to me. I'd laugh uproariously each time she said it.

Later that day, we did a walkthrough of out new house. It's a very nice house with lots of lovely hardwood floors for me to drive my little matchbox cars around when I'm older. Of course, since I'm not big on walking yet, I let my parents do most of the walking parts of the walkthrough while I did a "sit through" from the comfort of my infant carrier.

Rollover

I'm getting very good at rolling over and in fact I now prefer to be on my tummy rather than on my back. The secret, I've learned, is to hold your hands above you like a ballerina and then kind of spin sideways with hands above head. This works great! My Daddy played a fun game where he would place me on my back and I'd spin onto my tummy as fast as I could. Now, if I could only master spinning back the other way--from tummy to back.

Kawaii

I hope you liked the pictures from the trip. I actually developed a lot during the trip. Yesterday, my Mommy weighed me and found that I weigh 19 (!) pounds. I can now easily roll myself over and hold my head up for extended periods. I like to reach out and grab things---especially crumply things. One of my favorite "toys" was a plastic bag that my formula was contained in. The plastic makes and especially stasfiying crinkling sound when I reach out and grab it. Mommy won't let me play with my toy very much though.

I like to use both my hands and my feet for grabbing stuff. I will reach out and grip the hanging stuffed animals on my Gymini quite regularly.

I went and did a search on the Internet for other terms that Japanese women used to refer to me. Here they are:

Chibi - Japanese word referring to a person or thing's diminutive size...usually associated with cute things
Kawaii - Japanese word for cute and attractive
Kirei is the Japanese word for beautiful.

Kawaii was an especially popular term.

Pictures!
I've posted a whole bunch of pictures from my trip to Hawaii. They are at this site. I should warn you that there are a LOT of them (155) and they are pretty rough---minimal corrections for exposure, red eye, etc. Eventually, I'll post a select bunch of perfect ones to my own website. In the meantime, enjoy!

Keiki

I'm just back from my first vacation ever. I got to go to Hawaii (jealous, aren't you?) We spent many days on the white sand beaches there. While the sun was hot, I didn't get burned (or even tan) since I was snug in my little tent and shaded from the sun's rays. My Daddy would build the tent for me wherever we would go---even under difficult conditions when the tradewinds were blowing fiercely. One of the best things about the trip was that I got to use my not inconsiderable charms on all the people around me. As people would walk by, I would flash them my smile, crinkle up my nose, and stare at them with my blue eyes. Naturally, they were immediately taken with me. I got to meet a lot of people on the beach this way.

Hawaii is a land of many Japanese people. They seem to especially love me---perhaps because my big blue eyes cause me to resemble Japanese anime characters. Often, they would stop me as we were strolling down the street, touch my feet or my cheeks, and say adoringly in a high-pitched voice, "keiki," which is the Hawaiian word for baby.

We took a lot of pictures, which I'll post up to my website soon. Yawn. I'm tired from taking the redeye into California this AM. More on my first vacation tomorrow.

Packing

We're deep in the throes of last minute packing. My Mommy is worried that thegentle luggage handlers at the airport will destroy my main stroller, so I'm going to get to ride around in an umbrella stroller instead---just like the big boys ride in. I got to ride around the living room last night and this was really fun. It's a lot easier to look out and see the world around you where you're not horizontal.

I'm up early this morning. Usually, I like to sleep in until around 10 or so, but there was so much going on, and I'm so looking forward to the trip that here it is only 8:30 and already I'm enjoying my breakfast. Before that, I was playing with some of my toys. I made my froggy make noise on a number of occasions, much to my delight. Right now, I like toys with fairly narrow parts to grip. Some of my toys have wide gripping areas, and I find it hard to grasp these. My stffed Eeyore, with a thin plastic gripping ring, is another of my favorites.

Yesterday, my Mommy took me on a drive to Concord, which is near Walnut Creek, to look at bathroom tiles and tubs at a place there. Now, normally I really enjoy car rides though they doo make me quite sleepy. By the end of this trip though, I was pretty sick of being in the car. The trip was TOO LONG. Next time I go on a long car ride, I definitely want someone in the back to keep me company.

Well, that's it. I'll talk to you again on the 19th.

Aloha

I'm going on my first real vacation with my parents, and it looks like it will be a good one. We're all going to Hawaii for 10(!) days. While this is good new for me, it's not so good for you guys because there will be no blog entries while I am gone, so I'm afraid this is the last one for a while. Since I have such sensitive skin, I'm not planning on working on my tan while in Hawaii. Instead, my parents have borrowed a small tent from a neighbor. During the sunny parts of the day, I will get to relax in the shade and comfort of my own little tent; thereby avoiding the sun's harmful rays. My Mommy also picked up a small plastic storage box that will serve both as a place to store my stuff on the trip over and back and as a tiny Aidan-sized swimming pool for me to splash about in while I sit on the beach. So I think we've got it all planned.

Yesterday, I had a fun treat. My Mommy took me into the bathroom and let me look into the big mirror there. Inside the mirror was another baby. He smiled and laughed when he saw me as did I. Then she turned me a little to the side. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of *another* baby near the medicine cabinet. He smiled at me and gave me a big laugh. I looked from side to side at all three of us babies. We all seem to like standing, we're all strikingly handsome, and we're all very friendly. I wonder how Mommy and Daddy find the time to give me all the attention when there are these other two charming little guys to look after.

Social Butterfly

I love people--I mean all people, everyone around me. I like to smile at them, laugh loudly as they smile back, and make noises at them when they talk to me. My Mommy, whose sort of shy, finds herself meeting all sorts of people thanks to me. People stop and look at me and I like to wave and greet them. Sometimes, I get distracted by all the neat people and things there are to see. When my Mommy takes me out of the house and tries to feed me, it takes forever because of all the distractions from the people around me. In fact, sometimes I get a little too wrapped up in this and forget to eat for a long time (of course, then I'm really unhappy because I'm hungry.)

It's great to be a social butterfly!

Left-handed compliment?

My Daddy and my Uncle Dave are surprisingly interested in the hand with which I do things. Well, I like to keep them guessing. So far, I'm fairly ambidextrous. If a toy is to my right, I'll reach out with my right hand to snag it up. If it's to me left, I'll use the left. Truth be told, picking things up is pretty hard so I often like to use both hands. While rolling myself over, I tend to pin my right shoulder on the ground and have the left above the ground. In greeting and reaching out to others, I'll use either hand.

So, to answer the big question of what handedness am I, it's going to remain a secret a bit longer.

Rollin', rollin' rollin'

I did it. I finally did it! ...but no one saw me. I managed to roll completely over yesterday. I had been lying on my back on a quilt in the middle of the floor. I've taken to rolling onto my side in that position, but it's hard to figure out what to do with your shoulder and elbow to turn completely over. Well, somehow I figured it out. I was on my side when Mommy left to do something in the kitchen and when she returned I was all the way over on my tummy! Hooray for me. Of course, once I was on my tummy, I wasn't happy about it and insisted on eating then and there rather than repeating the trick for Mommy.

So there it is. I've learned to roll over, but no one's actually witnessed me doing it. Sigh.

More Milestones

I hit some more developmental milestones over the weekend. Since it had been a while since I've been in my big swing, Mommy decided to put me in it on Sunday morning. She also wanted to make sure that I was not bored, so on the little tray at the front of the swing, she placed my stuffed Eeyore rattle. When she next came into the room, she was astonished to find that I had picked up the stuffed Eeyore from the tray and was playing with it. This reaching out and taking things that are not simply placed in my hands is a new thing for me. I've been trying my new skill out on lots of objects---the hanging squeeze toys in my gymini, the plastic stars and mirrors on my swing and in my bouncy seat, I'll even reach out and grab my Daddy's hand as he's giving me a bottle. Grabbing things is great! These hands sure are useful.

I also had an almost milestone yesterday. While I was lying on my back on the ground, I got interested in what my Mommy was doing on the couch to my right, so I leaned over to see. In fact, I leaned over so far that I nearly turned over.

Locomotion

Yesterday I did an amazing thing. My Mommy set me in the center of a quilt she keeps on the floor for me to lie on. At the corner of the quilt, some 2-3 feet distant were two of my toys---a stuffed bunny with a rattle in it and a froggy that makes froggy noises when you open his mouth. MY Mommy made them make noise so I'd know where they are. Now for the amazing part---I slowly wriggled my way from the center of the quilt to a point where I could reach out and grab the toys. I'm quite proud of this achievement.

Now I don't move like the rest of the world does. My method of moving involves thrashing about with my hands in legs in the general direction I wish to go. In doing this, my head ends up on the ground. Then, I lift my head up again and repeat the process. It's not the most efficient way to get around, but it at least lets me move a bit in the direction I want to go. I was exhausted by the time I was able to reach out and touch my toys. I could barely keep my head up. But, still I was happy and making lots of noises. I got where I wanted to go ALL BY MYSELF!

The Joke's on Them

Lately, my Daddy has taken to trying to get me to laugh by pulling my face close to his and going "hee hee hee" in a high pitched voice. Often, this will cause me to smile and laugh myself. I laugh---my big open mouthed laugh where I sometimes struggle to get enough air into my lungs to keep it up---he laughs, "hee hee hee." He seems to think that I don't get the fact that we're together laughing at nothing. What he doesn't get is that while he thinks he's playing with me with his laughing, it's actually the reverse. It is funny to see the way my little laugh in response to him can get him to do the same silly thing over and over. That's the joke---and it's on him.

Over the weekend, I got to see some new people. My cousin Molly and her friend Ed came all the way from the east coast just to visit me. (Well, not quite, they also stopped by San Francisco for a couple of days en route to visiting me.) They were lots of fun holding me and playing with me. In fact, I got to sit at the dinner table on Ed's lap while everyone (except me) was having dinner. I don't usually get to do that. They do professional photography, so naturally they brought along a camera. In this case, a super-deluxe zoom camera that my Daddy was salivating over. They took lots of pictures of me, which, once they burn a CD, I'll post to my site.

Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, my Mommy did a dramatic photo shoot of me in various christening outfits. She posted them to shutterfly.com to get prints made (we only had the digitial camera because Mommy's batteries died on her cameras). The fancy christening gown with beribboned bonnet was Mommy's when she was a baby. The jacket with the white cap was Daddy's when he was a baby, and the white cotton number with embroidered collar was my Uncle Dave's. Anyway, here's the first batch of shots:

my christening outfit photos

It was a hot day yesterday, so I spent much of the afternoon in maximum coolness and comfort, wearing only a diaper. Toward evening, my Daddy came home while my Mommy went out and did errands. We sat together on the porch as the sun slowly descended in the sky. Mommy insisted I wear clothes while I was outside. As we were sitting, we watched Zippy the hummingbird busy himself by hurrying back and forth between the hummingbird feeder on the porch and some nearby trees. Later in the evening, Mommy got out a footprint that was made of me when I was only a few weeks old. We were both astonished at how much bigger my feet have gotten in that time. My blonde hair continues to grow in rapidly--especially in the front. I'm not sure you'll be able to see it in pictures, but I suspect that in not too long a time, you'll think of me as a whole new (and even cuter) little guy.

Master Aidan-sen

I went with Mommy and Daddy to a Japanese restaurant for lunch (well, they had lunch, I watched). While we were there, the waitress, who was fascinatingly dressed in a mauve kimono kept on remarking about how cute and wonderful I was. She suggested I would make a great child model. After lunch, Mommy had to send some faxes, so she and I came in to Daddy's office. While there, pretty much the entire first floor staff spent a good 15 minutes fawning over me. Said one woman, with my looks I'll rule the world some day. I hope so!