Standing on my own

We visited Dr. Khan (Dr. Skaff's wife) today. She said I'm growing and I look great. I'm in the 95th percentile for my height (30 inches) and 75th for weight (19 lbs. 12 oz.). Just a few more ounces and I can sit with the carseat facing forward. I'll be happier in the car when I can see what's going on!
I had a shot today. I didn't care for that at all. Otherwise it was a routine visit and I won't return until I'm a year old. Dr. Khan told Mommy and Daddy my diet was fine. That I can wait for soft table foods for about another month. And I can start potty training between 12-15 months.
My second bottom tooth is nearly ready to break through. I can stand on my own for a few seconds at a time. Anyone who saw the pictures that PawPaw took can see me standing on my own in my big girl dress. This is one of the many poses PawPaw shot last week.

Harriet

Mommy is excited because some movie with a kid name Harry came out today. She says she has to buy it to add to her collection. In honor of the release, I dressed up for the occasion. Maybe if Mommy wasn't so concerned about movie releases, she would have recorded my doctor's appt. on the right day of the calendar. We showed up at Dr. Skaff's office today and my appt. is next week. Oh well. It's a trial one. I was good to her today and let her sleep in until 7. Gotta give her a break sometimes, right?

B-R-A-T

Mommy & Daddy keep saying the letters B-R-A-T over and over. I'm not sure what that means, but I can see frustration in their eyes. I don't know what they're getting upset about. I just don't want to be in this prison (bed) all the time. I let them know when I want to go to sleep (regardless of their schedule). I like to stand up in bed and yell until they have to deal with me.
Unfortunately for Mommy, I've been sleeping a lot in the evenings so I don't get to see her much. She sees me for a an hour or so in the morning before she goes to work and then usually an hour in the evening. Daddy will be the one to miss me soon. He's going back to the Big Apple to watch the Mountaineers play in the NCAA tournament. Is it wrong to hope they lose? That would sure bring Daddy come quicker.
I had my picture taken today at the mall. If anyone is interested in seeing it, you can ask Mommy for the site and password so you can view the shots.

Always posing ...

I always have time to look over at the camera ... whether Paw Paw is feeding me or not. You'd think I'd rather eat some of these yummy yams.

Paw Paw and Granny watched me today while Daddy was recuperating with something called kidney rocks, or something like that. When they start hurting, Daddy isn't too happy.

Sibling

Trying new things

Each day, Mommy & Daddy make me try new things. For example, this new sippy cup. If you hadn't heard, I'm pretty fond of my favorite bottles. I am not easily fooled. They tried to slip those bigger bottles by me, but I put my foot down, slapped the bottle away and screamed until they gave me what I wanted.

This new cup isn't so bad. It has two handles for me to hold onto it. The bonus to drinking out of this cup is the parental units allow me to try new foods, like juice. Now that my teeth are coming in, I'm also able to try some solids. Daddy gave me some mashed bananas. Mommy gave me some mashed sweet potatoes for dinner Sunday. I eat these "puffs" that granny bought me. They dissolve pretty quickly in your mouth. I prefer the sweet potatoes to the strawberries. Pretty soon, I hear I'll get to have some of what they call Cheerios.

First tooth

Well, it's finally here! At last, I cut my first tooth. It isn't the best photo. You can glimpse the top of the tooth breaking through my gums (white area on left.) Daddy discovered it this morning when he was dressing me for church. Guess they also figured out why I've been so fussy lately. I had a good time hanging out with Daddy and Granny last week, but I sure missed Mommy! Mommy brought me a present from Memphis. It's a puppet of a duck head that quacks to the tune of Old McDonald. It's quite amusing. Mommy bought it at the gift shop in the Peabody Hotel, where apparently thousands of tourists visit each day to watch 5 ducks leave the fountain the lobby and march down a red carpet to an elevator. Whatever turns you on I guess. She said Graceland was better! Elvis has left the building, folks.

Pretty in pink

I got dressed up in this fancy dress yesterday to attend church. Mommy said I gottta start wearing these clothes before I grow out of them. That's why she has me in a short sleeve shirt that's too tight today!
We drove to Morgantown on Saturday to surprise Grandma. Daddy had a WVU game to attend. We were only there for a few short hours, but I enjoyed hanging out with Penelope.
I can tell I'm driving the folks crazy lately. I give them a tough time. I'm not fond of the naps lately. And I've become an early riser again. I can just imagine Mommy & Daddy lying in bed doing rocks, scissors, paper to see who has to get up with me.

Great grandparents & more

G. Grandpa Bott had a good time hanging out with me on Sunday. I showed him all the fishing equipment in my tackle box.

I visited Dr. Chiang today. She just went over test results with Mommy. I'll have to have more tests done in a year to see if I outgrew the reflux in my kidneys. I have to take antibotics until then.

I weighed 19.3 lbs. and measured 28 3/4 inches long. I'm getting big, but not nearly as big as Mommy thought. :-)

Morgantown

Despite the snow, we traveled to Morgantown this weekend to see Grandma & Grandpa Bott. I also visited with G. Grandpa Bott. On Saturday, he turned 82!

I had a good time goofing off with the grandparnets this weekend. Course, I always laugh at Bear E. Beckner. And I had to show off for everyone -- showing my great ability to stand up.

Mamaw & Pap watched me while Mommy worked on Monday. It's always fun at their house too. The blog will have to hold them over until our next visit next month.

Peek-A-Boo

Did you know good things come in small packages? Daddy stayed home with me today. He said I was sweet, but I was still HMG. Since I'm mobile now, Daddy has a hard time keeping up with me. So Mommy corralled me and put me into a box.

I've managed to pull myself up to standing position in my crib and onto my toy. Daddy lowered my crib tonight so I won't be able to crawl out of bed and hurt myself.

We're headed to Morgantown to visit Grandma & Grandpa and the rest of the family this weekend. Great Grandpa Bott has a birthday on Saturday, so we're going to visit with him too.

Mommy said I've been a little fussy this week. It could be that my gums are aching because these teeth won't come in! On Valentine's Day I have to see a specialist about my kidneys. We're not even sure what the test is, but we'll let you know the results.

Fun with cousins!

We visited with the Gibson family after church on Sunday. Cousin Jessie let me help myself to carrots. I sure had fun at Aunt KaKa's house -- until I got too cranky from not having a nap. Daddy said I barely made it outside Bancroft before I was asleep. It was nice to see Aunts Dodie, Grace & Karen, Uncle Rocky, cousins Blake, Jonah and Ethan, and Paw Paw.

Mommy & Me

I love my Mommy. I especially love to grab onto her hair! We've been hanging out today. I don't like it when Mommy won't help me stand, though. I get mad when she makes me try it on my own first.

First bite

Tonight at dinner, I ate a few bites all by myself. As you can see, I had a little trouble finding my mouth in the beginning. Can you believe Mommy let me make this big of a mess? Don't worry. She cleaned me up promptly when I was finished eating.

Gone fishing

I just love my first tackle box. Mommy says the worm is to lure the fish, but I think it tastes great. Mommy is feeling much better, but her voice hasn't entirely come back. And I think I'm still wearing her out pretty easily. We're managing, though. Daddy is in New York for another game. It's a short trip, but we still hate to see him leave.

Before you know it, June will be here and I'll be turning one year old. Don't make plans for June 10. That's when we're going to celebrate.

Those Mountaineers.

Can you believe those sticken Mountaineers? They lost to Marshall, a team that is far inferior to them. Clearly they were having an off night. Daddy came home upset from the game. Mommy said something about those Marshall fans will be insufferable now. Mommy and I watched the game on television for a little while before I went to bed.
I would say it's been nice having Mommy home all week. But she isn't really much fun. She can't talk or do silly things to make me laugh. Luckily Daddy has been home to care for both of us.

Nothing new in terms of teeth or other developments. I'm prefer standing over sitting. And I would rather Mommy or Daddy just put me in a standing position, rather than making me work for it. Daddy says I take after Mommy. I have a temper and I get frustrated that I can't do what I want to do -- which is walk. Granny bought me a walker. I haven't figured out how this thing works yet, but I have noticed that it makes it easier for me to reach things I'm not supposed to have, like magazines or bills.

On my own

Well for two days now, I've been practicing on my own. Daddy says I take after Mommy and get frustrated easily. I fuss when I can't get my way. And sometimes it startles me when I fall, but I'm willing and ready to get back up and try again. I love this new toy I got for Christmas. Mommy said I'm excelling past my development stage -- something about usually babies stand on their own or try to stand on their own at 8 months.

Hanging around

I'll be hanging around with Daddy again today. Mommy is sick, so Daddy gets to play Mr. Mom again. We will watch the Mountaineers play UCLA this afternoon. Glad Daddy didn't have to travel to L.A.

What a wonderful world

For two wonderful days, I've enjoyed hanging out with my Daddy. We've had such a blast. We played. We watched The Muppets. We went for walks and hung outside on the deck (where we took this picture). We look quite serious in the photo, but our time together was anything but serious.
I've been told by Mommy that some people are upset there aren't any "natural" (i.e. bad photos of me on this blog). Well, truth be told, I really don't take a bad photo. It's true. I'm a ham. I love the camera. Mommy said she'd try real hard to catch a more "candid" photograph so people can see a more dimensional me.

Pulling myself up

Forget this crawling stuff. I'm going to bypass crawling all together and just try walking. Today, I managed (with a little help) to pull myself up from sitting to a standing position. I held onto my Gymnastatics toy and stood for awhile. Guess I'm getting the intended use out of this toy. Mommy has footage of me trying to stand. We're still trying to figure out how to get it on the blog. I like to chew on the top of the toy. I'm still trying to get those teeth to come through.