All I Want For Christmas...

...Is my two front teeth,
See my two front teeth!
Gee if I could only have my two front teeth,
Then I could wish you "Merry Christmas"!

"Oh Christmas Tree..."

"Oh Christmas Tree...." I love to pull your ornaments off! A couple weeks ago Mom and I set up my very first Christmas tree! Okay, so maybe it's not a "real" tree and it's a little on the small side, but 750 sq. ft is not a lot of room to work with and my toys take priority anyway. Real trees are hard to come by and very spendy since they are imported. None the less, I had fun watching Mom put the ornaments on and then when I got a closer look I had even more fun pulling them off!

11 months!

I turned 11 months old on December 9th! I am learning something new every day. Some of my new tricks include grinning really big and wrinkling my nose, making funny face expressions, blowing out food when I'm eating, devouring Cheerios, flirting on the buses and trying to walk on my own. I can stand up all by myself without holding on to anything and I can take a couple of steps before I fall. I am quite cautious, I always make sure I can grab something...or at least try. I love to hold Mommy's hands and walk that way too and Dad puts my feet on his and walks me up and down the hallway. I giggle and then try to jump up and down. When I get really excited I kick my legs as fast as I can.
...So back to the Cheerios~a few posts ago I wrote about practically choking on one so I wasn't about to try them again but at my playgroup (that I go to occassionally...it's right in the middle of my morning nap so we don't make it very often) all of the kids were eating them. Most of the kids are just a few months older than me. Well one of the moms gave me one and I loved it! Suddenly I didn't care about the toys anymore, I kept following her around and she kept feeding me. Ever since then I can't get enough of those things. If I had my way I'd eat them for every meal. My parents make me eat my fruits/veggies/meat first though so I eat that as fast as I can. After my meal I get a few Cheerios. And I don't just put one in my mouth, I can eat 2 or 3 at a time...yep, talented huh? When I start to get full I start feeding them to my parents and they love them too! I like to give them the broken ones. Lately I've been real sneaky...I pretend to give them one and then all of a sudden I pull my hand back and eat the Cheerio myself instead and then start laughing. Mom says I'm teasing and I get the biggest kick out of it. Want one?
Just Kidding! Ha ha ha!

One of my favorite things to do at home is play with the curtains. We have sheer ones and even when I'm behind them I can still see out, it's so cool!

You know it's officially winter when...

DOGS WEAR COATS!
The other day when mom and I were heading out for a walk we saw the funniest thing! Our village dogs were wearing coats!

Mom gets fussed at quite often for not dressing me warm enough these days. As we go on our walks we have to pass by the village grannies on our way to the road. There's no way around them and usually I love to smile and cut shines for them as they pat my hand and say, "be be, be be". One lady says, "good boy" and another says I'm "beautiful". Well they were all out there in their stocking caps and gloves when we walk by and they started shaking their fingers at mom and rubbing their arms motioning "cold". Did I mention it is still 75 degrees and sunny?! Mom just smiles and pretends not to understand. They must think she's nuts!

For our walks we usually go up to The Wishing Tree and look at fish and parrots. I like the fish but those birds make the most awful noises! When they are quiet I love to look at them and watch them move but when they start squawkin' I nearly jump out of my stroller!

Last week I had a close encounter with a dog. I actually love dogs. I have a little blue puppy that I sleep with, a big St. Bernard that I give all my hugs to and a little St. Bernard that I love to carry around with me. Whenever I see a dog outside I reach for it and grunt like I want to go see it. Well, there happened to be a nice yellow lab running about with his owner and mom decided to push me close so I could see it better. Wouldn't you know it that dog came right up and licked my face! Now I said I liked dogs but that was a little too close. Immediately I started crying and mom had to pick me up. But then we knelt down together and pet the dog and I felt a little better. Mom was afraid that I might be scared of dogs now but a few minutes later we saw another one and I was reaching and yelling for it again. Dad says when I get bigger we can get a real St. Bernard! I can't wait!

Beware of the guy in the red suit...

That's right people, this "Santa" guy is one scary dude! So what if he brings you presents, I'm not sittin' on his lap, no sir, nuh uh, not me. My day started off fine, we were strolling around the mall looking to spend some gift certificates before they expire when Mom suddenly has this good idea of getting my picture taken with Santa Claus. We walked through a little place with Christmas trees and Angels and then out of nowhere there he is...the guy in the big red suit (and he's not even Chinese)! Mom plops me right down on his lap and I couldn't jump back in her arms fast enough. I clung to her like a koala then reached for Dad to save me from that scary guy. So away we went to take my picture with a less scary piano and a giant Christmas ball. Don't ask me why, it was included with the Santa pic.
So I thought my holiday adventures were over when my parents brought me back to that scary guy again! At least they sat with me this time but I still did not like that guy one bit. No cookies for you! Thank goodness we don't have a chimney (I heard that's how he gets in!)

Yeah, Dad's back!

For the past week Mommy and I have been on our own. Dad went to Cambodia with a group of students for a service project. We missed him so much but he's home now! Mommy and I met him at the airport today and boy was he glad to see me (and Mommy too I guess). I gave him the biggest smile and hug ever! Thank goodness this was his last trip (without me at least).

We took a double-decker bus and here is a cool bridge we went over.
When we got to the airport there were tons of kids waving flags awaiting Dad's arrival...ok so maybe they might have been waiting for someone else...

Here I am reaching for Daddy when I first saw him. It's cool just to reach with one arm (two arms seem too sissy).














I sat in Daddy's lap for the whole taxi ride home and gave him lots of snuggles and nose honks. He says that I've grown so much in just one week. I love my Daddy so much!