Pat my Head and Rub My Tummy

Recently, to be extra cute I slap my head with both my hands and then I slap my hand against my mouth making the "ahh ahh ahh" sound. I still play peek a boo and will sometimes hide behind the wall and peek out to see if anyone is watching.

Pool Time

For my birthday Gamma Linnette bought me a pool. Today was a perfect day to try it out. I had a blast biting the plastic balls, throwing them at River, and splashing around. Then, out of blue mom took me out. I was not a happy camper. She said something about it getting chilly. Ridiculous Gamma! By the way, I love my pool Gamma, thank you.
Before dinner mom put my pajamas on, big mistake because I got food on the sleeves. Mom asked dad to change my top and well, you could say dad changed my top. Here I am in my car pajama pants, a football shirt and a green bib(dad’s choice).

I played outside a lot this weekend. The temperature was in the 70s and the sun was shining on my baldhead so I got to wear a baseball cap. I kept taking my hat off and then would attempt to put it back on, but mom always had to straighten it for me. We went to the park twice a day, which meant I got to swing twice in one day. Dad likes to swing me high, which makes my tummy feel weird. He then stops the swing and asks me if I'm all done. I sign to him that I want more. I also went on the monkey bars. I like hanging from them even though I do it for just a second. I also went down the slide a few times. At first I don't like it because I go fast, but by the end I'm smiling. While I enjoy the park and playground I don’t like it when mom puts me down to walk in the grass. I guess I still have a little separation anxiety or it just feels good to be in her arms. After playing I’m not too thrilled to go back in my stroller so mom or dad walk back with me and I snuggle on them. I’m so lucky to have such great parents.

This weekend there were some definite highs, but one big low. Daddy had been saying that I was being sort of clumsy when walking because Friday night I came really close to hitting my head on the corner of the door. Well, daddy is very wise because by Saturday morning I actually managed to hit my forehead on the corner of the wall. Ouch! Mom and dad were really scared because before they could even pick me up my forehead had a big purple bulge that was swelling by the second. Both mom and dad did circles around each other in the kitchen figuring out what to do...ice? Call 911? Call my pediatrician? Then, they rushed me out to the car and we were headed to the hospital. On the way to the hospital dad called my pediatrician who said that if I didn't lose consciousness or vomit I would be okay. She said that when babies bump their heads it swells up big and fast, which understandably scares a lot of parents. So, we turned around and went home before reaching the hospital. Mom included a picture of me with my tough looking bruise. As you can see I am dialing the number to CPS.

Happy Easter everyone! I'm having a grand time today. First, we went to he park where I got to swing for a whole 20 minutes. Then, mom, dad, River, and I walked back home and when to the store. I got to walk around the store, which was quite the adventure. I don't know whose idea it was to put things at my eye level, but boy it makes shopping with mom a lot more exciting. She seemed more tired than usually though. Huh, I don't know why.

First, a thank you to Gamma Linette…I love my Easter basket. It was taller than me almost. The bunny rabbit is cute and when mom makes it give me kisses I giggle and wrinkle my nose. Right now I am hiding my bunny from River. She has stolen all of my other stuffed animals, but not this one! I liked to say I have enjoyed the candy, but mom and dad won’t share. Not fair Gamma!

Today since I have really enjoy wearing shoes, mom and dad bought me my first pair of Nikes. I'm going to take them to daycare so I can play outside. There have been some new kids at daycare this quarter. My best buddy there is D.C. My teacher Aimee always has nice things to say about me and I get do a lot of fun art work there. They are always taking my socks off and dipping them in this runny, liquid stuff and then they press my foot on paper. Mom gets so excited when she sees my artwork. For Easter I made a chicken with my feet and handprints.
Oh, one more thing about me, I can now stand up on my own without holding on to anything. It’s quite easy. I can even bend over, pick something up, stand straight up, and continue walking. Can you say, “Rogan is a big boy?”

Life has finally gotten back to normal. I love spending time with mom and dad and have been cuddling more than usually, which everyone seems to love. I still say, "da da" a lot and point to things and say,"uh." Every once in a while I humor mom by saying "ma ma" or "mom." She really seems to enjoy that. I still antagonize River by jumping on her or pulling her lip up. When she gets tired of me she steals my blanket and then I have to chase her. my temper tantrums seem to have only lasted a few days. Once mom and dad started to ignore me I got over things alot faster. But, I still like to lie down on the floor with my head down just for kicks. Mom runs up and tickles me and that makes me giggle really hard.I haven't been playing with my toys as much because I'm enjoying exploring the house. I push open the swinging door to the kitchen and walk in like a big boy. Mom doesn't like it when I do that because I can get hurt. I finally figured out how to turn my walker and no longer have to yell at mom to help me out when I run into the wall. Grandma Daniels gave me a little car for in the house. I get pushed from behind on it and am slowly learning how to use my feet to move it. I'm a little too tall though so I think by the time I figure it out I will be too big for it. Mom has been quiet pleased with my eating habits. I try more things now and I love to eat crackers. I have to be careful though because River is known to run by me and grab my cracker. I also started eating bananas, which I wouldn’t even touch before because they are slimy.

Since mom and dad returned from Italy they can’t stop saying grow much they think I've grown. They are also amazed at how far I will walk. They have mentioned one more thing I have begun to do since their return and for the record; I don't see what the big deal is. It sounds something temper tantrum. Whatever! It is no big deal as far as I’m concerned. I mean if I want something, whether it be a pen, to walk up stairs, push open heavy swinging doors, etc. shouldn’t be entitled to do so? Well, my mom and dad see things differently and they have started to convince me that boundaries are necessarily a bad thing.

When my parents are upstairs they let me walk everywhere. I love to walk into the bathroom and slam the door on mom. She then pushes it open and I slam it again and giggle really hard. Ahhh, it is so funny. Then, I walk over to the mirror in the hallway and talk to my reflection; sometimes I even give myself a kiss. Next, it is off to the computer room where the real damage is done. I pull ALL the paper out from underneath the print, rummage through the recycling bin and try to steal these really cool pens on the shelf.

Because the weather was so nice when I visiting my grandparents in Seattle I got to go to the park a lot and swing. Wow, is that fun. At home when we take River walking and it is nice I get to go on the swings. I quickly taught mom and dad, however that I will determine when it is time to go. If they try to get me off the swing any earlier I will start crying and throwing myself around making it very difficult for them to get me out of the swing.

At the end of March/ beginning of April, mom and dad went on a trip to Italy and I got to spend time with my Na Na Daniels for a fews days before heading up north to see Grandpa Scott and Grandma Shell. I had a great time with Na Na. We are really close and I love to cuddle with her. We went on walks every day with River, she made me eggs, which I put in her mouth instead, and we played a lot.

Then I went up north to stay with my other grandparents. It was soooo nice getting to know them a little bit better. Grandma Shell prepared homemade organic meals for me that I devoured. Grandpa Scott got right down on the ground and played tell I was exhasuted. Then, he would put me down for nap by rubbing my back and singing to me. On Friday my cousin Ava came over to visit. We didn't interact a lot but it was still nice being around her. She is sweet and might I add pretty girl.

While with both my grandparents I really took off walking. When mom and dad left I was only walking about 8 steps, now I walk everywhere. It is a lot of fun and easier to see things.

It sure was hard being away from mom and dad, but they left a DVD of them playing with me, pictures of them, and they called me all the time.

After I turned a year old, mom took us to get our family portait taken along with some single shots of just me. I wasn't moody, but it took me a while to start smiling. When the photographer had mommy and daddy sit on the ground with me I just wanted to crawl all over them and play. Finally, they were able to snap one shot of us all smiling. I wanted to snuggle with mommy more so I just laid my head on her.

While I have your attention, I wanted to thank everyone for coming to my first birthday party. It was a hit! I love all my gifts. My favorite thing to do is stand at my toy chest and throw everything out of it. I have also been very successful in training mom and dad, mom especially, to pick up my books, blanket, and sippy cup when I throw them. It is a fun game. I trick them everytime. You think they would learn. I also have started to mimmick River. See, when I was just crawling it was hard to carry things across the room so I would do one of two things: put the item in my hand and then drag it across the floor as I crawled with one arm or carry it in my mouth as River does. I'm not sure which I prefer as though both get the job done.