Swinging!

Last weekend it was so beautiful out, Mom took me to the park with Joey and his Mom. Joey was really good at swinging... I think it's going to take me a little while to get used to it though. I'm too small for the swings so I had blankets stuffed in the seat and it just wasn't too comfortable. I did get to wear these cool sunglasses, however, which made everything better. I'm excited for our next trip, I think maybe I'll be more into it then.

Also, here are some pictures of me and mom goofing around...

Smiling for Daddy

I love it when Daddy is around! He always makes me smile and laugh, we had so much fun hanging out together this week. Excuse the drool, I was just so excited.

Wrapping Paper

Wrapping paper is an amazing gift, plus it always has something inside of it! My grandparents friends dropped off some presents for me, 2 books and all this wrapping paper! I had so much fun playing with it - crinkling it up, ripping it up, trying to eat it. I love it...

Yeah, yeah, the book is great but....

The wrapping paper is way more fun!

Cousin Will

I haven't actually met my new cousin Will yet, but I'm so excited for it!!!! He's about 4 months younger than me, but already almost beating me in the weight gain race! Mom was showing me pictures of him today and for a minute I thought it was me! Take a look, that's Will on the left and me on the right...

Aren't we cute? I love you already Will and I can't wait to meet you!!!

Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Susie and Cousin Jenny

I had quite a weekend last week. So many visitors, it was hard to keep everyone straight! First, Grandpa & Grandma drove in for a quick weekend visit. I got to relax all weekend with them, we played on the jungle mat, we got in lots of tummy time, some quality napping time, and of course eating. It was perfect.

Then my Grandpa had to go to work, so he left to drive home. I was very sad, but then before I knew it I had even more visitors! My Great Aunt Susie and my cousin Jenny (second cousin maybe? how does it work? I don't know and neither did mom!) drove all the way from New York to see me! Isn't that so nice! We had so much fun together, we went on walks, we went to dinner, we had bottles, naps, oh and of course some photo shoots!

Thanks so much for coming to visit me! I had the best time!

2 Things

If I could only tell you 2 things about me it would be this:

1. I love being naked! I guess who doesn't love being naked, but I especially love it. Now that it's getting hot outside too I'm hoping mom and dad will keep me naked more often!

2. I love standing! laying down? sitting down? tummy time? NO, Standing is where it's at. I can see so much more when I am standing! I like to stand on the carpet, on mom, on dad, on tables, counters, in my crib, anywhere and everywhere. It's the best!

Thats right, and when I get to do them both together, I'm in heaven!

All By My Self...

The other day I was starving and my mom was taking her sweet time getting ready to give me my bottle. I don't think she realized how hungry I was! When she finally brought my bottle over I just grabbed it out of her hands so we could get the show on the road. She was so shocked, I mean what, like it's hard to hold a bottle?

Raspberries!

I learned a new trick the other day - blowing raspberries! I'm so good at it. Mom and Dad think I'm so funny when I do it after them. Here's some video my mom took. She messed up the first part, but if you listen you can hear me blow those raspberries!

More Joey Time!

I went over to my friend Joey's house this past weekend and we've had so much fun hanging out. We're both old enough now to kind of sit up and get what's going on... so it's way more fun to go on play dates. That night, I had on the coolest pajama's on and I think Joey was jealous because he kept tying to touch them...

Then we got to hold hands while our parents ate some yummy food Joey's dad grilled up! I had such a great night! Can't wait to see you all again!

Just Hanging Around...

I had to take it easy to recover from my surgery the past few weeks, but I didn't mind at all. I had lots of visitors and I got to work on a few things, like grabbing my toys (my hand-eye coordination is getting good!) and blowing raspberries! I think my mom has a video of the later that we can hopefully post soon. Raspberries are hysterical!

Grandma Fran also came in town to help Mom and hang out with me. We had a great time, since I couldn't really sit down, we did a lot of standing. I can't hold myself up yet, but I can stand for hours at a time!

Sarah & Beth also came to visit me. I was a little cranky when they first got there, but it didn't last long... they were so much fun! I kind of ruined this picture because I kept looking at Sarah's shoes, they were so pretty! They'll just have to come over again so we can get another picture. Thanks for coming over to visit!

Apparently Mom has some time on her hands because even though we didn't go anywhere, she kept dressing me up in these silly outfits. It was sort of entertaining, but I think I'd rather be naked than in those tights!

Playing Around

Here's a little clip of Mom and Dad playing a new game with me. They think it's fun to tease me nowadays!

4 Months!

Technically I turned 4 months old when I was in the hospital, but I didn't want my pictures taken there, so Mom agreed to wait till I got home. Here I am lying down, because I wasn't allowed to sit on my bum yet for the photo shoot. Not my best work, but not bad considering everything I just went through!

All Butt-er!

My surgery and hospital visit are all done! Mom and Dad told me I was very brave and did a great job through it all. I didn't think it was really all that bad, but I'm pretty excited to be putting it behind me now (get it??!! come on, you've got to be able to laugh now that it's all done!). Here's some pictures of the whole ordeal and little story about it all...

So I arrived at the hospital a day before the surgery because I had to get all "cleaned out". It started with an IV.... that was not so great, but it only hurt for a little bit. The worst part was that I couldn't suck my right thumb anymore (that's my favorite thumb).

I kept trying to suck it through that plastic thing, so much so that I was scratching up my pretty little face. Luckily they have nice soft foam padding wrappers, it was still somewhat too big for me, but it did the trick!

After the IV, it was time to get all those fluids to flush me out. I made it clear I was not about to drink that nasty stuff, but I didn't realize they were just going to stick a tube down my nose! I might have agreed to drink it had I known that. I got used to the tube pretty quickly though and was even able to sleep through most of the night. Luckily Dad stayed the night with me, so it wasn't so scary!

Early the next day the surgeon came to get me for the operation. They talked mom and dad through the surgery and then told them to go get breakfast and relax! I wasn't scarred at all, I knew I was in good hands and mom and dad would be there when I woke up.

I also woke up to a pretty pink Hippo (thanks Joey)! I looked a little swollen and chubby because I was sort of upside down for the surgery, but that went away quickly. The first day I was not very active and enjoyed sleeping with the help of some pain meds (and mom, who spent the second night at the hospital with me).  Then, by day two I was feeling pretty good...

Mom brought all my favorite toys and books to the hospital and we got to play all day. I started to get a little testy towards the end of the day because I really wanted to eat, but they wouldn't give me any food until I pooped. Does that even make sense to anyone else!?!? How am I suppose to poop if I don't eat anything? You should have seen me when they brought around my tylenol, I was like a little gerbil trying to suck every last drop because I was so hungry! Then, on day three, a miracle... I POOPED!

See how happy I am now? Oh yeah, bring on the food! After that it was smooth sailing. I spent one more night in the hospital and then on Sunday I got ready to go home. They took all those annoying wires off of me...

And then Mom put me back in actual clothes again (being naked for five days wasn't all bad) and packed me up to go home! So exciting!

I've been home for a little over a week now and the recovery is going great; I'm sleeping through the night again! I still have a ton of stitches, but they'll all dissolve on their own and until then everyone's really gentle when cleaning my bum. I'm so lucky!

Thanks to everyone for keeping me in their thoughts and prayers throughout this whole ordeal and for all your get well wishes! Thank you all so much!!

Welcome Kate!

While in Texas I also got to meet all of grandma and grandpa's friends. Can you believe all those balloons were for me?! Everyone was so nice, I had such a great time!  Thanks so much for coming!

Wow, that was a lot of fun, but I really could use a cold one now...

Sunny San Antonio

Visiting Grandma & Grandpa Stoltz in San Antonio was great! The weather was so nice and warm, I got to go on lots of walks, play with Maggie the dog, wear some cool cowboy boots, and just chill with Grandma and Grandpa. It was great!

Just like Grandma and Grandpa Roudabush, G&G Stoltz give great baths!

And while in Texas, I really mastered my hand-eye coordination. Watch out because I can no grab anything in front of me and put it in my mouth! mmmm, plastic tastes soooo good!

First Plane Ride!

The other weekend I took my first plane ride to San Antonio! Mom and Dad had been talking it up for about a week and to be honest I don't really know what the big deal was, I mean it was fun, but just another day really. We rode the El train to the airport and then hung out at the gate for a while until we finally got to board. I sat next to some nice ladies who thought I was cute, but after all that walking and talking to and in the airport I was pretty tired. Mom gave me my bottle and I went right to sleep, then when I woke up Grandpa was suddenly there - oh and it was a lot hotter in Texas! 

Nanny Cam...

My nanny, Betsy, started the other week and I already love her! She is so much fun, and she seems to have a knack for taking way better pictures of me than Mom and Dad. A photo session with mom and dad lasts about 20 minutes and involves at least 120 pictures - at least! Betsy and her nanny cam get the job done in about a minute. 5 pictures. All amazing. Done.

Check out these great shots of me from the other day...

Hanging with the H Man...

Today I went over and hung out with my friend Henry. His mom, Beth, and my mom are friends from college and like to have play dates with us. He's a year older than me, but we've been having more and more fun hanging out. Mom was trying to take pictures of us, but Henry was so excited by the camera he couldn't sit still, he kept walking over to take his own pictures. He may have a future in photography!

Shots by the soon to be famous photographer Henry...

Very abstract, he seems to favor the beauty of the everyday pieces, such as the chair and the lamp. Not bad at all!

Happy St. Paddy's Day To You!

I just celebrated my first St. Patrick's Day! Everything was green, my outfits, my bibs, my shoes, my hat, my blankets... I'm surprised my mom didn't dye my bottles green for the day! The little onesie I have on is direct from Ireland too... Grandma & Grandpa Stoltz bought it for me when they were there last fall, before I was even born! All the dressing up made for quite the photo shoot.