The Old, Fat and Scary Red Man

Mommy and Daddy said they were taking me to visit the scariest man I've ever heard of, they said his name was Sent-A-Claws, which sounded scary, maybe in anticipation of the claws. He was frighteningly RED and wore a scary hat. I didn't like him. I didn't even realize that I was actually sitting on this scary man's lap, but when I did, boy did I let Mommy and Daddy know I was unhappy. They promptly removed me from his clawless grasp, ushering me to safety.
Later Mommy and Daddy informed me that if I was good, this Santa Claus person would break into our house in the middle of the night and leave me presents. I'm still not sure if this guy is someone I want to visit again.

A Quiet November

So I've been getting some not so subtle hints about updating my blog; I really haven't done much that's blog worthy but here is an update about the new things I can do.

I started solids last month and boy do I love my fruits and vegetables. Mommy said for Thanksgiving she's going to make me a special batch of sweet potatoes. I think my favorite is the squash and apples Mommy makes; she's a pretty good baby food chef. The most exotic things I've had are avocado and a bean sprout that I stole when Mommy and Daddy were eating Pho.

I've also started kissing back, Mommy was a bit upset that the first person I did this to was G. I like to give really wet open mouth kisses.

Also I can babble a bit more, my favorite things to say are "mamababadada" so far I haven't really directed them at anyone or anything in particular but Mommy and Daddy find my babbling amusing.

I haven't started crawling or scooting yet but hope to soon and I don't have any teeth yet I hope they start coming in soon so I can quit complaining about my mouth hurting.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and I promise to do a bit more updating when Mommy lets me use her computer. Also for all my Louisiana fans I wanted to let you know that I finally bought a plane ticket to come visit for the Wyatt family Christmas. Maybe Mommy and Daddy will let me have some gumbo and cracklins!

Halloween

I got all dressed up for trick-or-treating, but I fell asleep before it really started. Mom and Dad did have Cisco and I pose for these photos before I got too tired.

I can't wait until next year! CANDY!

Solid Food!

Well, not really. I'm not sure why they call it "starting solids", when the consistency is anything but, well, solid. Anyway, Mommy decided to give me my first spoon-fed food this morning. I think I did pretty well!

4 month checkup

Today was my 4 month checkup visit to the doctor and of course you all know that means more shots. Mommy and Daddy didn't tell me about that part of the visit until it was too late to turn back. Needless to say I wasn't very happy.

I've grown quite a bit since my last visit my weight is now 17.5 lbs (75th percentile) and I am 26.5 inches tall (82nd). I finally decided to give Mommy a show the other day and roll from my back to my tummy. She was so proud of me and now I do it all the time. It is so easy to impress her.

This weekend Mommy and Daddy let me sit in my highchair for the first time. It is pretty fun to sit at the table like a big boy and they gave me some spoons and a bowl to play with. The doctor said that I can start eating solids now so I don't have to pretend anymore with my empty bowls.

Yesterday I attended a Halloween party at my parent baby class. I was dressed as a pumpkin, I know big surprise right?! There were some pretty elaborate costumes, one kid was the Hulk, another an octopus and another made her whole family dress as ladybugs. Mommy says we can't trick or treat this year even though I offered to give her all my candy. She says I'm too little to be out in the cold that late at night. Oh well I guess there is always next year.

Home Sweet Home

We started our journey today at the Paris airport around 3:00 PM local time. This airport was very confusing and surprisingly small in size. Our flight was packed and so I didn't have much room to move around. I was grateful it was short flight, I began crying shortly after we took off and really cried most of the way to London. Our seatmate was a good sport and didn't seem to be bothered by my screaming too much.

We got off the plane and had to switch terminals in Heathrow so we could get to our flight to Seattle. When we got off the plane I needed a change and believe it or not other countries don't have changing tables in the bathrooms like we do in the US so Mommy and Daddy decided to change me on the floor out of the way. To our surprise all of the sudden we were swarmed with Asian tourists who I guess were fascinated by me and Daddy changing my diaper. They actually were taking my picture! It was very weird - so we ran from the Paparazzi and made it to our gate.

Mommy and Daddy figured I'd sleep on the flight since I had my bassinet and should have been tired after all the screaming on the previous flight but I didn't. I slept for 2 hour naps and would wake up crying. No one gave us any dirty looks but I'm sure they didn't sleep to well either.

Papa Boogs picked us up at the airport around 8:30 Seattle time and we were so happy to be headed home. When we got home Mommy gave me a bath to wash off all the travel grime and spit up and I went to sleep in my own bed. I woke up about 4:30 AM but then took a nap until around 7:00 AM. I think I'm going to need a few days to get over the jet lag but I'm so happy to be home. I guess my blog is going to be a bit dull as we return to everyday life.

Eiffel tower

Today we visited the Eiffel tower, we got off the subway at a stop reccomended for the best view of the tower. It was impressive, we could see all the way down the Champs de Mars.

We made our way to the tower and stood in line outside for what seemed like an eternity. Mommy wanted to go to the 2nd level but Daddy decided we should just go all the way to the top. We were packed onto the elevator like sardines with all the other tourists, keep in mind these elevators have been in operation since 1889 when the tower was built.

We finally made it to the second level of the tower and thought it was best to enjoy the view but also stand in line for the next elevator to take us to the top of the tower. This line was even longer and I was getting cranky. When we finally made it to the 3rd level I was desperately in need of a diaper change so Mommy changed my diaper right there on the floor of the tower! Can you believe it? I had my diaper changed on the top of the Eiffel tower!

We made our way down and I was ready to get away from all the tourists so we took the subway back to our hotel and Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a quiet dinner of take away pizza from the restaurant next door while I slept.

Tomorrow is a big day - we're finally headed home. Yeah!

Notre Dame

When we left our hotel this morning for the subway we were delighted to find that a market was going on our street, Mommy and Daddy had a breakfast of chocolate croissants from one of the vendors. They looked pretty yummy but no one share with me.

Since today is Sunday I thought we should visit the Notre Dame cathedral. When we arrived mass was going on – it was a very full church. Before our visit we took a detour to another church, St. Eustache. This church was modeled on the Notre Dame and was a very impressive size. I didn’t like the organ music that was playing everyone out of church – it was too loud for my ears.

We toured the Notre Dame and were again impressed by the size of the church and the beautiful stain glassed windows. There were also beautiful statues and carvings throughout the church. It was a bit crowed for my taste with all the visitors so we sat in the back of mass for a bit and enjoyed the service although we couldn’t understand anything.

After the cathedral I took Mommy and Daddy to the Musée d’Orsay. This building used to be a railway station and was due to be demolished when the people of Paris saved it for an art gallery. We saw lots of art work by Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec, and Seurat just to name a few. There was even a small Picasso exhibit.
The museum was much larger than Mommy and Daddy had anticipated; especially with carrying me around and were beat afterwards. We hoped on the metro and made our way back to the hotel so I could get a nap before dinner.

Daddy and I are getting really good at figuring out the metro system here in Paris, If you haven’t been here before it is very overwhelming. There are so many trains! Our system has become that I hold the map for Daddy while he and I translate to Mommy where to go. Tomorrow we’re going to the Eiffel tower - I can’t wait!

Bonjour Paris

Today we took the TGV (super fast) train from Avignon to Paris, it was a short 2.5 hour train trip and I slept most of the way. After we got to the hotel and I rested for a bit I decided to take Mommy and Daddy out on the town.

We started our journey as everyone should when first arriving in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe on the beginning of the Champs-Elysées. We were shocked at how big the Arc de Triomphe is; it stands 164ft tall. Mommy and Daddy had a hard time trying to fit it into a picture. We decided not to go up into the Arc but instead strolled with the tons of Parisians down the Champs-Elysées toward the Louvre museum.
We finally made it to the area of the Grand Palais and needed a break to rest our feet, feed me my bottle and change my diaper, by the way I must say I have had my diaper changed in some interesting places on this trip. We also called Papa Boogs to check in and make sure he could pick us up from the airport in a few days.

When we finished people watching we continued our stroll to the Place de la Concorde. This square was used for the guillotine where the death toll in 2.5 years stands at 1119 people. Now in the square is a Luxor Obelisk and lovely fountains. We arrived right as the sun was setting and all the street lights came on, then we turned and looked behind us to see the lights of the Eiffel tower. It was a beautiful and according to Mommy, a romantic sight.

We continued our walk in the dark determined to make it to the Louvre museum and finally arrived at the Place des Pyramides and then the modern entrance to the museum. It was very neat to see the pyramid entrance in the dark and since Mommy decided we probably won’t be able to visit the museum on this trip I really liked seeing the building and peeking into the windows. After such a long walk we took the metro back to our hotel and got pizza to go from a nearby restaurant.

Roussillon

Today, we went to the hill town of Roussillon, about two and half kilometers from the farmhouse. We spent a few hours at the morning town market and walking the pedestrian-only streets.