mmmm....Calories!!

I've been working a lot lately on using eating utensils. I'm fine with my fingers, but Mom would like for me to become a bit more civilized, so here we are. It takes a lot of concentration, but I'm up for the challenge.

He shoots, he scores! A spoonful to the mouth is always a success!

Except when you dribble...sometimes even applesauce is easier with the fingers! I'm sure not going to scrape the food off my face with the spoon like Mom does. I do have a little bit of dignity!
Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I don't miss much when it comes to calories...unless it's a vegetable! My first experience with an Ugli fruit, was well, not so Ugly... As you know, when you're venturing into unknown food territory, you must first inspect the food. After careful consideration, the Ugli fruit passed inspection and I allowed Mom to cut it up. Now this was when I really started wondering if I wanted to eat it. Is it going to make me ugly if I eat it? I wasn't so sure. I decided to go for it and thought it was pretty good.
My next fun food experience was food on a stick. Mom isn't a big carnival fan, but I'm going to guess when Santa-Cali-Gon Days roll around this year, I'm going to tell her to put that new baby in a sling and get a move on! Corn dogs are cool! Why did someone not introduce me to food on a stick before?? Now you see it...
Now you don't! I must say, Bill & Ann's Mugs Up Drive In makes a great dog! This made up for Mom not sharing her root beer!
This is digging back a little, but I thought I'd share another new food obsession. When I was sick in January, one morning I was particularly cranky and Mom was moving a little slow with breakfast. She gave me some peanut butter on a spoon to occupy me for a minute. Well, not only did I smile for the first time in at least 24 hours, I ate 7 spoons of peanut butter for breakfast instead of what Mom was cooking. Oh well. Protein is protein!

Momma's Little Helper

I have become such a good helper lately! I helped mommy make a couple batches of cookies by stirring the eggs and then the batter. I think this was especially nice of me, since she didn't share the cookies after they were baked. She said they were chocolate and I don't really need any chocolate, but I beg to differ!

Daddy did a little construction project in the kitchen and I helped by using the shop vac to sweep up all the dirt - and a few of my own crumbs - off the floor. One day when I turned the shop vac on by myself, it scared me really bad and I was pretty upset. Somehow Mom found this situation to be amusing. I think not.

I also helped Mums sweep the living room floor. A little added pressure on the dust mop really helps to get ALL of the dust!
After all that work, a boy sure needs some play time! Daddy took me to the park on one of our few nice days this month. We had a good time!Yee haw! I love to swing!

Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh

Whoosh Whoosh at about 150 beats per minute is what I heard this morning. Daddy and I went to see Dr. Saunders (of Henry delivery fame) this morning and she put a funny thing on mommy's tummy and we heard a noise. They were all excited and said it was a heartbeat, but I think it just sounded like whoosh whoosh. I'm a little concerned about this...does this mean that my rule as King Henry of Santa Fe is over? But...my villagers, my kingdom...what will I do without my own personal jesters?? I suppose I have until the middle of August to figure it all out!

A Busy Month

This month has flown by and I realized I haven't shared any of my activities! I've had a cold, croup and an ear infection, yet I am growing at warp speed and talking up a storm. I also run at warp speed, so I keep Mom and Dad on their toes! I am really getting in to boxes of any kind...this diaper box proved to be a fun toy for about a week before it was destroyed! I liked to open and close the flaps and climb inside. I really liked it when I could find some poor soul to swing me around in it. It's like a kiddie roller coaster!
Mom thought she'd be on top of things by getting the potty chairs out and 'introducing' me to them. I know she didn't think that she'd get me potty trained, but I think it made her feel better to think we were headed in that direction. Much to her dismay, the potty chairs didn't stay in the bathrooms and they didn't stay in one piece. The engineer in me couldn't help myself, so I took them apart and hauled them all over the house. It seemed very appropriate that I would work on this one in the living room.
I do enjoy getting into things I'm not supposed to and while I usually do pretty well on my own, one day Mom had the bright idea that she'd hand me a roll of tape to occupy myself while she got a couple of things done. She said giving those preschoolers tape always worked at school... Well, I figured out how to unroll it and I got it everywhere. So, I wasted a roll of tape, but her plan worked - she got 15 minutes to do whatever it was she thought she needed to do!
Shoes are my latest passion. Looking at the closets of my family members, I know this is genetic. Here I am, testing out Dad's shoes. I like Moms shoes and Nana's too. I'm not picky!
Last week, our friends Elijah, Avelyn and Malachai came over for a swim. Yes, I said swim. We cranked up the heat in the atrium and turned it into the Great Wolf Lodge! I couldn't wait to get in, so I decided to dive in with my shirt on. Then, I decided I wanted to swim with my towel. I told you I keep Mom on her toes!

Also this month: My Kissinger cousins came to visit for a day and we had adventures! We went out to lunch and then walked the nature trail and played at the park. When we came back home, we played in my tunnel for hours! They are a fun group - I sure wish I could play with them more!

'Uncle' James had a birthday last week and when we went to his party, he let me strum on his electric guitar! It was very cool and I loved all the noise that it made. I also loved the applause from the crowd! Can I be an engineer by day and a rock star by night!?

Merry Christmas!!

I decided to get up about 5am on Christmas morning, but Mom and Dad would have nothing to do with that. They let me out of my bed, but no presents yet. Those lazy bums laid in bed and let me watch cartoons until 6, when I finally got them to move!
First order of business was the biggest present under the tree - it was from Aunt Janice and her kids, so I knew it was going to be a good one! It was a cool set of building blocks with a car to build on.
I got a great set of flashlights from Nana! Mom said this was a good thing because then I would quit taking hers and hiding them.
Daddy got a GPS unit, which I promptly took from him. It was very interesting. I'm thinking about taking a little geocaching trip!

After all the presents were opened, I decided to rip all the paper into tiny pieces and make a huge mess. Mom was cooking and not there to tell me to clean it up, so I took my new John Deere lunch box and left. My work here is done.
After my nap (Christmas is exhausting!), I had a little snack of crushed ice. I threw such a big fit, mom made me a little plate of it. It felt good on my teeth that are working on coming in. It's a good thing Dr. Robbins is retired - he would not be happy with me chomping on ice!
After the ice snack, Dad tried to teach me to blow bubbles. While I've not perfected the art yet, I am really good at blowing spit bubbles!

After all that, Mums, Pappy and Auntie Allison came to visit with more gifts!
At the end of the day, I had all kinds of new toys - remote control cars, bug kits, tunnels, flashlights - too many to talk about. Really, all I wanted to do was play with the trash!
Merry Christmas everyone!

Snow Day!

Last week, we got a nice covering of snow - just enough to play in. Before I went outside, I had to tune on my weed eater though. Yard work is never done around here.

When I was ready to go outside, mom bundled me up so much I could barely move! Anyone ever see the movie where the kid looks like this? Sheesh, Mom! How embaressing!
Once I was out and about, it was fun. Dad pulled my sled behind his 4-wheeler.

I wasn't very happy about having the sun in my eyes, but I don't really like to wear sunglasses, so I guess that's the way it goes!
I was very happy getting to ride on the 4-wheeler and push the buttons!

The Happy Elf

Today, Mom, Nana and I went to Crown Center. I saw my first big theater performance - The Happy Elf at the Coterie Theater. In order to make me sit still, Mom had to shove some contraband my way (no food allowed in the theater), but overall, I was very good! I liked when the elves sang and danced - Santa was even there!
After the performance, we went to Crayola Land and played.
I liked climbing around, but there were lots of big kids there and they kept knocking me over. Mom didn't like that very much, so we went to see SANTA! He had an awfully busy day - performing in the play and then seeing all the kids at Crayola Land. I bet he takes a good long vacation after Christmas!
Last week, Mums brought over some Christmas lights that Daddy had when he was a little kid. They had bears on them and I really liked playing with them, though Mom wasn't real keen on the idea...something about babies and electricity...