My Presents

I got all kinds of things from all kinds of people yesterday. Most of them make really annoying loud noises that I love to torture M&D with. Some of them don't make any noise at all though. You can see here that I am trying out my new Princess chair that DeeDee brought for me. Daddy sits directly in front of me any time I'm in it because he is worried that I am going to launch out of it. But I am learning how to rock it on my own now. Here's a picture of me enjoying my chair this morning.

By the way, for those keeping count at home, this is my 100th post in a little less than a year.

My Christmas Afternoon

Wow, I really do like this whole Christmas concept, whoever came up with that should get a medal or something. All day long I had people around me showering me with attention and giving me gifts. Most importantly, I had people around me sharing their big people food with me. I must have eaten a pound of sausage from Pop lavishing food upon me in order to garner my attention. I had Pop and DeeDee, Lee and Casey, Alice and Katie, and eventually Meme and Big G all over at my house for yummy dinner. I really do like turkey I've decided. Mommy says that's a good thing since we have more than half of a 22 lb'er leftover.

My Christmas Morning

M&D have been reading me the story Twas the Night Before Christmas. I thought it was just a nice story that rhymed, but boy was I surprised when Mommy brought me down stairs this morning. There were presents nicely wrapped underneath our tree (that's on a table). Santa had even brought some for me, I must have been a good girl. I got a doll and an NC State t shirt, so exciting to be a lil wolfpack fan. I had fun tearing open wrapping paper and undoing bows. I had so much fun that I had to go and take a nap about and hour after I woke up. Most exciting was that Santa brought us a new laptop so I can blog from anywhere in the house now. More to follow, but off to see Mogie now.

My Reindeer

M&D took me downtown tonight after dinner.  They had told me all about the lights and the lighted animals. We first went into the James Center and saw the enormous train, Big G will be so jealous when he hears.  Then we walked next door to the Omni to see the huge tree with colorful lights and all of the lighted reindeer. M&D found a gentle one that was laying down and let me sit next to him. Thank you to the nice Asian family that waved their cameras at me that finally got me to smile for this picture. Daddy ended up with about 6 no-gos on his camera. What did people do before digital cameras? On a related note, Daddy was recently listening to the Outkast's "Hey Ya", they kept singing "shake it, shake it baby, shake it like a Polaroid picture" I asked him to explain, and he did, but I don't think that I get it. Why would you ever need to shake a picture?*

*Ed Note, Polaroid ended production of its polaroid film last week.

My Dora Diego Ducky

This is my Mommy trying to feed me dinner this evening.  I have my favorite ducky clutched tightly in my hands and try to put it in my mouth from time to time. The rub is that Mommy is trying to feed me delicious yogurt that has Dora the Explorer and her compadre Diego on the carton. I'm not big enough to watch Dora yet but I can't wait for the day. Daddy tells me that there is a cookie company called Stella D'Ora or Stella of Gold. He promises that he will buy me some of those cookies to try. Mmmm, Stella and Dora, two of my favorite people. As you can see here, I do occasionally stop with my duck and let Mommy get a spoonful or two in.

My Cousin Charlotte

Well, it happened again, Aunt Beth and Uncle David hit the sauce again. This time they did it at UD's informal office party which happened to be right across the street from my house.  M&D started the evening by dropping me at the Y for parents night out and met their friends Greg and Missy for dinner and Bacchus. Then we went home and walked across to the party and picked up Charlotte. Just like Aunt Beth has watched me before, M&D were taking Doodlebug for the evening because Emmy was staying at a friend's. This is a picture of Doodle and me playing with my toys. Doodle is sitting in my Bumbo seat and I just couldn't take my eyes off of her. We had such a great time, I wonder when she'll sleep over again?

My Sweet Ride

Ever since my brush with fame in the marathon the other weekend, I have become enamored of my jog-stroller. So whenever I know they have time, I ask M&D to take me for a ride. Twice in the last three days, they have strapped me into my eleventeen point restraining system (designed by NASCAR) and taken me out for a run. Usually it is with less fanfare than the other time, there's been no paparazzi stepping out to snap photos of me, but I still enjoy the brisk winter wind against my face. I'm looking forward to the days I can run with M&D instead of in the stroller.

My Tree

I got to see my first Christmas tree yesterday. M&D drove out to Jim's farm in Caroline County and drove back with it on the roof of Daddy's car. Then Daddy set it up in its stand and wrapped lights all around it.  This picture is of me sitting next to the tree, and the next one is Mommy holding me while showing off the tree. Immediately after taking these pictures, M&D hoisted the tree up and set it down on a table.  Something about me not being able to get to breakable ornaments and strings of lights once it's decorated. Not sure, didn't fully understand.

My Thanksgiving

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M&D have brought me down to the beach for Thanksgiving with my cousins and Meme and Big G. So far I've been having loads of fun, my cousins are so nice to me, but not always to each other. But when I'm around, there's lots of love around. The sitter is getting ready to come and take care of us for a little while. All of the big people are heading out to Elizabeths for an exquisite meal with the requisite matching wines. Fortunately they are walking home. If Daddy's not too shaky with the camera later, I'll add more later.

My First Tailgate

M&D took me to my first football game on Saturday morning. We drove to Wintergreen Friday evening, and then popped in to Charlottesville Saturday where we met friends for tailgating, in my case literally. We met friends Mary Percy and Griff Lampton, and their parents Gill and Lampton who spent a previous weekend with us in Wintergreen. It was far from balmy in Cville on Saturday morning. Breezy and a high of about 38. Fortunately I had two things working in my favor, abundant sunshine and my big pink winter coat. Daddy sat Griff and me in the back of his FJ with my piano and let us bask in the sunshine. My hands got cold, but I fared okay. I was very jealous of Griff's tattoos though. Daddy needs to find me one for my first Wolfpack game. Speaking of tattooed, that's what Daddy's wolfpack did to the Carolina TarHeels. Mommy's Hoos didn't fare quite so well against the Tigers. I made it in to a full quarter of the game. Can't wait until my next one...

My Fifteen Minutes

This isn't the best copy, but the Richmond Times Dispatch apparently is not in the habit of giving away their pictures to anyone who asks. Even when it's me in the picture and I'm doing the asking. Anyway, Saturday morning, M&D took me for a run, but this one was different. We ran out of Church Hill, through downtown, through Jackson's Ward, through Carver until we were almost to Virginia Union University at Lombardy and Leigh. The reason we did all this was to catch a glimpse of Uncle Andy and Aunt Brooke who were running. We waited and cheered for about fifteen minutes, and then we saw them. On the spur of the moment I decided that I wanted to run with them and communicated this to Daddy and off we went. Daddy and Uncle Andy pushed it out for the last two miles and put four minutes of time between Mommy and Aunt Brooke. Anyway, after the race a man asked Daddy if he could use the picture, and Daddy explained that he hadn't run the race, but the man used it anyway and there I was in the paper Sunday morning. Daddy says he probably can't do this again with me because he wasn't supposed to have a stroller and that Sportsbackers is mad at him. So I got my 15 minutes of fame early and it was fun while it lasted, why can't Paris Hilton's be over yet?

My Friends 2

Heather and Jason had to leave on Saturday morning to make their wedding. So to keep me entertained, (different) Jason and Laura came over to see me that night. Daddy again cooked dinner, and there might have been further drinks to be found. I've mentioned Laura before, and how she is afraid of me, I can't tell if she is laughing or screaming in fear in the middle picture. We didn't get any pictures of me and Jason solo because I'm in a very Mommy/female stage right now. I've told Daddy not to get too used to that.

My Friends

Daddy's friend from college, Heather, came to visit last weekend. I had never met her or her husband Jason before. I went to their wedding, but I was only 4 months in Mommy's tummy at that point, so I don't remember much of that trip. Just that we were in Charleston and everything seemed to taste like either shrimp, grits, or both. Anyway, they made a special trip up from Chucktown to see me on their way to a wedding in Raleigh. We stuck around the house Friday night and Daddy cooked for everyone, and also as Captain Jack Sparrow would say "Drinks All Around!" Heather was a textiles major like Daddy, only smarter. They went to England together on an exchange for a semester from the college of textiles. It was nice to see her and Jason, hopefully we can make it down and return the visit.

My Duck, Duck, Pumpkin

Mommy went to work for me for Halloween. She went to Abby and borrowed the twins costumes from last year so I got to dress up two days in a row. On Friday, I dressed as a pumpkin, so here I am looking stunning in orange on the floor. The real coup de grace was Friday when I got to put my yellow duck suit on. Aunt Beth had decided that my home stomping grounds of Church Hill were entirely too dangerous for me to be out and about. So she invited me to come to Emily and Charlotte's gathering and then go around with them. Mommy says I'm too young for candy, but we at least went to the pre-party. Before we left however, Meme Too and the Sarretts came over to see me dressed up and we had time for a photo-op. My opinion is that Halloween is fun, but tiring, I was out like a light by 7.30.

My Gangstas

I'm haning with my boys this weekend. Daddy had some friends from college down to the beach this weekend. Josh and Jenn, who live in Richmond, and Benny and Jenny who live in Virginia Beach, converged on the Outer Banks this weekend. Uncle Benny posed for a Boyz in the Hood shot with Ryan and Brendan.  I haven't taken many pictures so far this weekend, but I'll try and take a few more and get them posted with everyone. I have some down time, it's half time with Maryland, Go Pack!

My Silly Parents

M&D left me with MeMe on Saturday evening and went to a Halloween party. Daddy has this strange idea that he looks like Patrick Swayze, so they went as Dirty Dancing.  I'll let you be the judge of that. Costumes=ok, but Daddy, I think you're getting a little old to pull it off. Oh, and the picture of me in the box, nothing to do with Halloween, just thought you'd like to see a cute picture of me.

 

My Pumpkins

So Uncle Eliot and Aunt Liz went out to California for a vacation. They brought back lots of neat stuff, but the best thing they brought was a hand-knit pumpkin watch-cap for me. I feel like I could be a ninja or a cat burglar, except well, it's orange, not so stealth. Anyway, that prodded M&D to take me to the pumpkin patch. So we drove out to Mt. Olympus Berry Farm, daddy's work partner Jim's farm. People always want to confuse it with the Ashland Berry Farm, but did you know that at ABF they mostly don't even grow their own pumpkins? Just do better marketing I guess. Anyway, they had some really huge pumpkins, and it was like animal planet there were so many doggies and kitties roaming around. Note to M&D, I want a pet! It was fun to see Jim and Boo, and M&D bought a pumpkin which Daddy says he's going to help me carve soon.

My Beach Walk

Since it was a glorious sunny day here in Florida today, M&D took me out for my favorite, a walk along the beach. They packaged me into my Baby Bjorn to hit the sand. Daddy started out walking me, but being the big, almost 20 lb. girl that I am, they switched up mid walk to ease up the burden. In weight loss commercials these days, they always show the before and after pictures, about how Jenny Craig's Nutri-Watchers have helped someone get from here to there. My before and after pictures are slightly different, walk start: awake and alert; walk end: lifeless, sleeping rag doll. That's how M&D know when I've enjoyed a walk.

My Reward

I said yesterday that it rained a lot of the day here. But I just wanted to mention how I got paid back for being a very good girl indoors most of the day. M&D took me to dinner with Mommy's work friends Agnes and Kelley. As you can see, Kelley made good eyes at me and I certainly returned the attention in kind. But back to my reward, on the way to dinner, we were given a rainbow to look at out over the ocean. I guess that's what I get for having endured a rainy day on vacation.

My Ft. Lauderdale

Every year, Mommy gets to come down to Florida on VCU's dime, and every year Daddy has chosen to bum along. Last year we stayed in Miami, I don't remember much of it because I was in Mommy's tummy at the time, but I do remember that she shared some really yummy food with me. Mommy has been down here since Monday, but Daddy and I flew down to join her yesterday. She had to work all day today, so it's been me and Daddy vs. the world. It was thunderstorming when we woke up, but cleared up enough for us to walk out to get lunch. We waited the requisite hour after eating and he took me swimming. It wasn't a very baby-friendly hotel pool, but we made do in the chilly water. Then we sat in the sun for a couple of minutes, but not for too long as I refused to keep my hat on my head and Daddy didn't want me to get burned. As you can see, I had enough fun that I crashed, but I wanted to show you the view that I woke up to this morning in my Pack n' Play.

My Twin Beach Weekend

M&D's friends Abby and Erik joined us at the beach this weekend and brought their twin girls Riley and Josie. They are about a year older than me and I love having big girls to watch and learn from. Plus, they have great toys that they are happy to share with me. We have spent a lot of time playing as you can see. First in the house they let me play with their Legos. Then we drove to Corolla so Daddy could feel tough taking his 4X4 on the beach. Daddy parked on the beach so that we could use our beach toys. Again the nice girls shared and let me chew on one of their shovels. I hope that I am this nice to littler people when I get big.

My Window Curtain

Mommy informs me that I got confused. This is actually Kelley Curtin not my window curtain. Anyway, Kelley is a friend of mommy's from college. She recruits for a college in Boston like mommy does for VCU. She had a recruitment trip to Richmond to meet students from VCU, so she came to meet me the other night. She held me an cooed to me even though I could tell that babies make her nervous. She seemed to do pretty well though. She said she might be moving back closer to Richmond, maybe I'll get to see her again in the near future.

My Recent Absence

There is no great reason for my recent vacation, I'd love to be able to blame crop circles, alien abduction or even the recent volatility in the stock market, but no such things. If I have to pick a reason, it's because I have taken no recent pictures. Daddy hasn't remembered to bring the camera anywhere since we went to Mathews a few weeks back. Mommy finally took a new picture last night, not me at my best I'm afraid. But it seems she snapped me after I had gone down for the night. This is me sleeping with one of my bears. Daddy says that when I'm not in my crib, it looks like the secret bear burial grounds. Five bears of different variation laying askew thiw way and that. The truth is, I just like to arrange my friends in funny poses. More from me later.

My Reign of Queens Part Duh

Again, I was not in Queens this weekend but rather in Deltaville. Some of the usual suspects from the Colonial Beach weekend, and the wonderful addition of Todd and Richard. You can see here that I played with my Uncle Larry, or Aunt Nicole as he prefers to be called. Lots of pool time, and lots of cocktails, mostly drunk from cups that read "In This House, A Queen Beats A Straight Every Time". You can see here our farewell pictures, one with Mommy, one with Richard. Only surprising thing is that everyone is sans shirt except Daddy. How did that happen?

My Bubble Beard

M&D were back at it again. It's like I don't even have a chance to get dirty when they've got me back in the tub again. Maybe they'll tire of snapping pictures of me in the ducky soon enough, or more likely, Daddy will drop the camera in the soapy water and bamo! no more tubby pictures. For the moment, I must endure. As you can see here, as soon as  I saw the papparazzi coming, I tried to cover myself with bubbles, but to no avail. This other picture is from our trip to Asheville this weekend. This is Daddy and me sleeping late.

My Ducky Tubby

I have had several tubby related posts over the eons of my life, but I'm not sure I've ever had a bath as fun as this one before. Let me give you some history, since bath #1, Daddy has sung what is known in our household as "the duck song" to me during tubby time. Mommy tries, but first off, she can't carry a tune in a backpack, but apparently the one verse, repeated ad nauseum (depending whether you're the singer or singee) with one small change of word is too much for my lyrically challenged Mommy. Anyway, Mommy did do wonders by buying me the ducky tub at Tarjhey. The bath was memorable because I had so much fun in it. M&D loaded it with so many bubbles that even Daddy could let me post the pictures without thinking bad people would look at it on the intraweb for bad reasons. I gave a whole new meaning to the lyrics "splish splash I was takin' a bath". Off to Asheville this weekend. After two weekends of Mommy running half marathons, Daddy is running with a relay team from Marion, VA to Asheville, NC. 208 miles, crazy Daddy!

My T&C Revamp

$68 and about a week and a half later, Daddy finally got his camera back from Turks, so I'm rewinding a bit to post some of my favorites pics and explain them. This first one, it's really not Daddy trying to be seductive on camera, it was about 6.45 AM and poor Daddy was barely awake, see, I'm even still (partially) in my burrito blanket. The next one is me and Miss Terry. Miss Terry came to sit for me the night of Big G's 65th birthday so that all the big people could go out to dinner. She strapped me into the baby bjorn and walked me all around the property. I must have worked up an appetite walking b/c it's been the only time yet that I've eaten two whole containers of green beans. This last one is of my tan M&D suspiciously looking like their enjoying time away from me while I'm with Miss Terry. We can't have that now can we?