My very first trip!

I know my big sister Resli didn't get to go on any trips until she was much older than I am now, but Mami had to go to a conference in Minnesota last weekend, and she let me tag along. My very first trip, before I'm even four months old! Wow!
Our travels started at the Jacksonville airport, where Daddy dropped us off. I was in my stroller, so as far as I could tell, this was pretty much normal for me. But there were a lot of people and a lot of noises and stuff.

We finally arrived at our hotel in Minneapolis at about 9pm that night. Boy, it felt great to stretch out on our big comfy bed!

It's a "sleep number" bed, you see. So I spent some time adjusting it to MY perfect number. My side's all set, now what's YOUR number, Mami??

Woa, say what? What do you mean this bed isn't for me? Where am I going to sleep?

OOOOHHHH, in my sleep number port-a-crib?!?

Well, OK, if I must. (And truth be told, I ended up in Mami's bed by morning most days anyway - I mean, I had my number all set already!)
Now, I don't know if you're all familiar with Minnesota, but let me tell you, it's a lot colder up there than it is in Florida! I had to get all bundled up just to go outside for a few minutes. There was even white stuff on the ground that Mami kept calling nieve or snow. I'll have to remember to tell Resli all about that.

I spent most of my days quietly listening to Mami and her friends talk about how hard it is to learn to pronounce things in foreign languages. I contributed often to these discussions with my own vocalizing, which I fear may not have been fully appreciated.

(Note the frequent pacifier, which one of Mami's friends called my "mute button." Hmmm...)
When I wasn't sitting in my stroller, I got to hang out with Mami in our sling that our friend Amy made for us, which I liked a lot. It's so comfortable, you should get one too!

At the end of those long cold days, there was nothing quite as relaxing as taking a nice warm luxurious bath. Except that I didn't quite fit in the sink! How silly is this:
But as you can see, I kept my good humor about me anyway. After all, what choice did I have?
And then it was off to sleep the sleep of angelic babes... at least for a few hours.

All in all, it was a great trip and I was very well behaved. I made lots of friends at the conference, and in fact I think they liked me better than Mami's talk!
Then on Sunday we bundled up again and headed out to the airport to return home. I was, as always, good natured. But wouldn't you be too if you looked this cute in your snowsuit?

And then here's a bonus picture that has nothing to do with me, but Mami couldn't resist snapping it at the MSP airport. They have a vending machine for iPods! Can you believe that?!?!?

I begged Mami to whip out her credit card and snag me a nano, but she wouldn't. . . All the same, though, we had a great trip, but I was really glad to be back home with Daddy and Resli too.

Can I already sit up by myself?

You be the judge...

A Quick Tutorial

Hi blogfans! I've heard that there are lots of you out there, but sadly I don't ever hear comments from many of you. I asked Mami and Daddy about this and they told me it's because sometimes Blogger's comments process can be kind of confusing. After doing some research, I agree, but I'll try to walk you through it:


Ok, first look down at the bottom right of the last picture in this post. There's a tiny little line there that says "0 comments" (or more if there are any comments already). Click on that line. A window will open up above my page. That's what you want to happen. Still with me? Let's keep going ...


There's a big space in that new window that says "Leave your comment." Click your mouse in that big empty area below those words. (Isn't it cute that they call it a mouse?) Type your comment and when you finish, (I'm assuming you don't already have a login at blogger - if you do you probably know this stuff) you'll see some funny letters writing a nonsense word at the bottom - you'll need to type that nonsense word into the space that says "word verification" a little further down. This is all there to keep other computers from "spamming" my blog. I don't know what that is, but I DO know it sounds bad.

Ok, still with me? Scroll down a little further and click the little circle next to "anonymous." Then click "preview" to see how your comment will look when it's posted. If you like it and you're ready to go, click "publish your comment." That should do it!


Ok, any questions? No? Well then let's see some comments!

Tempus Fugit

Boy, time does fly, doesn't it? Seems like just yesterday I couldn't even roll over or hold my head up, and now I'm a big girl of three whole months!


Makes a girl tired just thinking about it. Maybe I'll just stretch out here and take a little nap. While I do that, let me remind you that my big sister is turning three years old next Friday! Be sure to be extra nice to her this week ...

My first volunteer work

Last week I generously gave my time and talents to help out with the UF Occupational Therapy Masters' students. They needed to practice assessments on real people, so I said, "Sure, you can assess me!"
Mami and I went to this big room with lots of people and mats and toys, and I met two very nice young women who played with me. First, they showed me this green donut. I grabbed at it, and they seemed very impressed - but I mean, for real, what would you do with that swinging in front of your face?

They also showed me blocks, but they were very little and I wasn't as interested in them. That's OK, because that's something that 5-month-olds are supposed to do, and I'm not quite there yet.

Mostly, I did a lot of smiling and cooing, which everyone seemed to enjoy.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of a lifetime of volunteerwork and service projects for me. It sure was fun!
(Oh, and by the way, I aced my assessment. I'm doing just fine!)

Rumble in the Jungle

Mami and Daddy just put this cool new (ok, it's not new, it used to belong to my sister before she became a big girl) exersaucer in the middle of the living room. I prefer to think of it as my own personal jungle, because it has lions and elephants and giraffes and all kinds of cool stuff. It's SO much fun!


I have to say I'm not so sure about some of the animals. Like this green leopard-spotted thing. I think that animal better watch itself or I may have to kick it to the curb.

Welcome to my reading room

Oh, hi there. I'm just relaxing with a good book. You're welcome to join me - there are a couple of really interesting ones over here I haven't made it through yet.


This is great stuff. It's about this brown bear (or oso pardo, as we like to call him) who ... well, I guess I'll let you read it for yourself.


Hey, I'm trying to read here. If you can't settle down and find a book you'll have to move on to the next blog post. It's a little more action-oriented.

Does this picture remind you of anyone?

Who's the kid in the Santa suit?


I think he looks a lot like me ...


Grandma says that's my Daddy, but I know Daddy, and he's a lot bigger than that baby!

Peek-A-Boo!

Bet you can't find me ...


Hey, wait, how do I get out of this thing!


Never mind, I'll just take a little nap here. Promise me you'll wake me up if anything important happens, you know, like if anyone posts a comment on my blog ...

Aunts and Uncles and Priests ...

Oh My!

This past weekend my Aunt Melissa and Uncle Adam and Aunt Liz and Uncle Brian all came to town, and they went to church with me, Resli, Mami, Daddy, Granddaddy and Grandma. Resli and Mami and Daddy and I go to church nearly every Sunday, but I knew something was up when all these other relatives showed up at the same time.

"Hmmm," I said to myself ...


Turns out I was being baptized, which entailed Reverend Loch - a nice lady for whom I've always had high regard - POURING WATER ON MY HEAD. Yes, we were all getting along so nicely and then WHOOSH - water on my head, right there in front of everybody. It turned out ok, once the surprise wore off. I have to credit big sister Resli with helping me keep it all together during this - she leaned over and told me (and everyone else within hearing distance) , "It's ok Lela, don't be scared." When it was all done we took some pictures. For those of you relatively new to the blog, that's Uncle Adam on the left (and I say good for him!), Reverend Loch, Mami, Me, Daddy, Resli and Aunt Liz.


Afterwards the nice people at church had a cake for me and John David Stearns, the little boy who was also baptized Sunday.

Happy New Year!

You didn't know I was moonlighting as Baby New Year, did you?


Happy 2008 to all my loyal blogfans!

Sister Time

Sometimes we just kind of sit and hang out. Resli gives me lots of good advice.


And sometimes we hold hands. I really can't participate in the fun all that much, but I still enjoy our time together.

I'm So Busy I'm Always Running Late

What's that you say Mami? I'm HOW old? And I forgot to blog about it?!?!


Oh no, you don't think these are crows' feet around my eyes, do you?


Hah! Got you again ... I know I'm one gooood lookin' baby, because Daddy tells me so all the time.

Ho Ho Ho!

So, Christmas was this week. As I've mentioned before, I'm a little bewildered by some of the stuff that goes on around this town. They tell me this "Christmas" is a big deal, so I was willing to go along with it, since everyone else seemed to enjoy it.

I didn't even complain when they put these antlers on me at the grocery store. Of course, I did pretend to be asleep ...


I asked my big sister to give me some inside information about Christmas, but the look on her face here tells me she may not be telling me everything. I'm not sure this idea of hanging socks beside the fireplace is, you know, up to the local fire codes, but I suppose I'll go along with it.


Ok, I do like the lights on the Christmas tree. A lot.


And I got some pretty cool stuff too. Maybe Christmas isn't so bad after all.


What's that you say? I have to wait HOW MANY days for it to happen again?

The Prime Minister Takes a Meeting

Hi there! Welcome to my office.


I just have a couple of things to handle, and then we'll have a chance to chat.


I have some plans to work through with this mutant horse toy:


Man, some inanimate objects can be tough negotiators!


Just kidding! I don't actually DO meetings! Had you fooled, didn't I ...