RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Hello everyone! Before you say anything, I'd like to say... yes. I'm naked with my sock in my mouth. I don't know what it is about crawling around like this, but I find it rather liberating!

The only thing I can say is that you should try it sometime! If your a baby of course.

Dad said people would wonder about you otherwise!

Sensory overload!

Hello Everyone!

Well, on Thursday I flew into the Minnesota State Fair ... and boy were my little arms tired! (That was my first joke!)

I was really excited to go the fair!

It was a feast for my newly developing senses. There were lots of cool machines for me to 'drive' and play on. There were so many people around to watch. We listened to a pretty good band. I could smell all sorts of interesting things. Sadly, I didn't get to taste anything.

No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't find any baby food on a stick!

Captain A's floatie adventure!

Hello!..from the wide open seas of Vernon Oaks! This was my maiden voyage as captain of the The Mightie Floatie Boatie! I didn't fly the jolly roger for it was a voyage of exploration (like finding the warm side of the pool!). "Big bug....dead ahead!" Whew! That was close! Anyway, I learned how to use my legs to kick around and let me tell you...sea legs are hard to aquire! A few more times and I think I'll have it down! Well, I need to go catch some rays and some much needed rest. Being a captain is hard work!

Important!

This is me today, and today I have a favor to ask of you.

You have a mommy, right? Well, I would like to ask you to help a special mommy that we know.
Molly and Julia's mommy is in the middle of a really tough fight right now. Their mommy's name is Betsy Lucas, and the bad guy is cancer. She is having a bone marrow transplant tomorrow and she needs our help.

Please take a moment to send all of your positive thoughts and prayers to her.

We all know that mommies are some of the most important people in the world.

Thanks for your help!

And remember to tell your mommy that you love her today.

This one is a little cheesy!

Mom and Dad took me to a crazy place on Saturday. I think it was called Chuck E. Cheese.
Grandma Westlund gave me some tokens to play games. I learned that skiball is not my forte'. I'll leave that one to mom! I saw the big rat (aka Mr. Cheese), but he wouldn't hold me for a picture. The girl with him said something about company policy. Policy schmolicy! Oh well, I guess you can't have everything! Oh, I almost forgot. The games I played gave me tickets so I could get a prize. I redeemed them for a bib..........with the big rat's face on it! I would have posted a picture of that, but I thought it was too cheesy!

Maxon - Unplugged

I have decided to become a rock star! Actually, I am giving dad a few lessons. It is good to start some things early; like eating solids (I love pears!), getting teeth(I have four of them!), crawling (I can go a few feet!) and last but not least.......playing the guitar(watch your back Santana)! Well, it's been nice talking to you.
Gotta get smokin' those strings!

I'm goin' union!

Today I helped the folks at Mill City Museum move the

16,500 pound motor out of the

West Engine House!

Here I am inside the big machine that did the job.

There were a lot of buttons that I wanted to push,

but I'm not a certified crane operator... yet!

Watch out Mr. Trump!

I opened my first savings account yesterday! I want to thank everyone who contributed (you know who you are). I will do something great for you all when I make my first million! I suppose that would require investing. I'll let mom and dad take care of that. I have more important things to do......like eat my atm card!

Thanks again everyone!

Eatin' and Drinkin'

Yesterday was a big day!

I got a lot of practice using big person utensils. I worked on drinking from a cup. (Dad was a huge help!) It was good that I just had water in the cup because I got pretty wet.

I also used a spoon for the first time.

I actually took out more food than I put in, but I had a lot of fun!

Bear-napped!!!

Well I have good news and I have bad news.

First the bad news...

One of my best pals was recently kidnapped at the Mall of America. He was with me in my stroller one second, and the next he had vanished. Dad went looking for suspects but couldn't find him.

The good news...

We went to IKEA this weekend to find my friend again, and to pick up some new pals too.

In this photo you can see me with my new friends, bat-buddy, cat-buddy, and rat-buddy. (While we were there grandma bought me a really cool new rattle toy too - that's the smiley face.) Most importantly though, you can see who is closest to my heart (amongst buddies anyway) - Mr. Bear. (He was the victim of the MOA tragedy).

I will be keeping a close eye on Mr. Bear (and all of my buddies) in the future.

Blocks!

My mom and dad bought me a ton of blocks! They are supposed to help me develop my senses. I like the one with the little ribbons comming out. Thats because I have a thing for tags! If you would like to see my blocks, have your people call my people and set something up.

I better get back to my blocks!

Networking

Today I was hobnobbing with a local celebrity. If you watch any home improvement television then you will recognize this guy. He's Dean Johnson from Hometime. (You can catch him on PBS.)

We hung out and talked about remodeling my crib.

He was cool.

Can I have a hug?

If your answer to this question is yes, leave me some feedback! If your answer is no(how can your answer be no?) just sing the huggy-hug song and try again.



(to the tune of mary had a little lamb)
Can I have a huggy-hug, huggy-hug,huggy-hug
Can I have a huggy-hug cause huggies feel real good!

My new chair!

Dad brought up my new chair from storage.

He told me that the fine people from IKEA gave it to me before I was born.

It is pretty much like my dad's except mine is blue and has a matching foot stool

(my legs are a little to short for that!)

I think it is very comfy!

Veggie Tale

Today I had my first taste of carrots. Yummy!

Pfffftttt!!!!

I have been sticking out my tongue A LOT lately!

Here is a picture of mom and dad and me.

Hap Birt t M!

I am six months old today! Yippee! It's my half birthday and I am so excited.

I went to see my pediatrician today and I weighed in at 21 pounds and 5 ounces. I am now 28.5 inches tall. Wow! I also had my vaccines today and it was no big deal. (Well... I guess I cried just a little bit.)

Yesterday, I got my first package in the mail. It came all the way from Germany! It was very cool to receive mail from another country. I hope I can visit there some day.

I also ate my very first piece of finger food. I picked it up all by myself! It was really good.

Yo Ho! I want to be a lumberjack!

We went to Hayward Wisconsin on a little mini-vacation last weekend.

While we were there we had a great time!

We went to the World Lumberjack Championship.

We also stopped in to visit the family in Chippewa Falls. We went to the "hut" at O'Neill Creek Campground.

Uncle Ron took me for a golf cart ride. I had a great time!

Teeth!

Well, my top two front teeth made their appearance last night! (My bottom teeth came in when I was just four months old!) It has been a rough few days! Mom lovingly calls me a little vampire because I keep biting her and dad!

To get you caught up on my other developments...

I can sit up on my own for a few minutes at a time now.
I have just figured out how to get up onto my hands and knees and I like to rock back and forth. (I am working really hard on learning to crawl!)

I like to eat rice cereal and pears.
My acid reflux is getting better all the time.
I just got over a viral infection followed by a bacterial infection in my eye. (I feel like I am always taking some kind of medication!)
I like to make lots of sounds and blow raspberries.
I have been rolling over from my back to my tummy for a couple of months, and I like to roll the other direction too.
I have been sleeping through the night (10-12 hours) for a month now. (Mom and dad seemed much happier after this development!) All it took was for me to give up my pacifier! It was a rough couple of days, but well worth it!

Here are a few photos of me doing all kinds of cute things!