Happy halloween!

After a fun morning with grandma and grandpa, we came back to Madison, and i got dressed up to help mommy and daddy hand out candy. i was some kind of monster - we're not sure what, though, because there was no tail! i did have spikes down my back, though. what do you think i was?

wrigley even dressed up as a ladybug. it didn't last long with her though.

i watched out the window for trick-or-treaters every once in a while. mommy thinks i look like such a big boy here.

ISU homecoming

yesterday i got to go home early with mommy and daddy. we drove to decorah and dropped wrigley off with grandma. then, after a quick mabe's pizza, we were back in the car to ames. it was a long ride for me and i didn't sleep very long. when we got to the hotel, i wanted to make sure everyone knew i was there, so i blabbed until about 11 and finally went to sleep.

i figured since i was kind of difficult, i'd let mommy and daddy sleep until 6. we got ready and stopped by HyVee for some Starbucks and grilling meat. We finally made it to the tailgate lots and i got to meet lots of mommy and daddy's friends. i fell asleep soon after we got there and daddy carried me around. then we went to watch the cyclones win! at half time mommy and i went on a trek to find a place for me to eat. then we stopped to see some people in the alumni band and some of mommy's rah-rah friends. later on when i went to have my diaper changed, we saw the band again, and they "cycloned" us! i had a good time, and was on my best behavior - i even flirted with the ladies behind us at the game.

after the game we went back to the tailgate and had some quick supper and were on our way back to decorah. i slept most of the way and played with grandma lots when we got there. Then i went to bed late again - what a weekend treat! :)

oh, my aching ears

yesterday mommy got a call around noon from the daycare. they told her i was pulling at both of my ears when i was eating my beans for lunch. mommy had told them i got up 4 times the night before, so they suggested taking me in to the doctor. at 1:00 we went to urgent care. the doctor said i was so happy - my lungs sounded good, and my throat looked fine. but both of my ears were a little red. he said after my icky cold, i got a tiny ear infection. so he gave me some amoxicillian.

i took it really well last night, and then only got up once, at 2. i decided to give mommy and daddy a challenge this morning, though. it took them 10 minutes to give me a little dropperful of medicine.

today at daycare we went trick-or-treating. so mommy sent my costume. they told mommy i was super cute and everyone oohed and aahed at me. :) i brought home my candy to share.

new friends

yesterday i met a new girl - katelyn. My grammy and her nanna are friends, and they were both in madison at the same time. So we went and played at katelyn's house. I also played with katelyn's sister, lauren. she moved the toys away from me lots because she liked to watch me crawl.

then we came home and played with grandpa and watched the badgers beat iowa. go bucky! I also ate lots of nummy carrots, and got my cool vintage bib from auntie rachel all full of 'em. Mommy loves this bib because it's so big and keeps everything else clean! :)

today was grandpa's last day here - he left around noon. but first we took some pictures of me, mommy and grandpa.

and grandpa helped me work on my walking.

lots of sleep...for now

yesterday grandma got here. i showed her how good of a sleeper i can be - mommy and daddy appreciated it. I slept from 9:30 at night until 5:00 this morning. grandma changed me, mommy fed me, and we all went back to sleep...except for daddy. he showered and went to work early, since he has to leave tonight for california. mommy and i slept in until 830. we both felt lots better!

do you like my new outfit from grandma? She put an owl on my onesie, but you can't see it very well. it matches the owl corduroy pants she made me too. and a little background to this picture. i found the ads from the paper, and had so much fun playing with them. wrigley also wanted to come play, and started tearing them up too! monkey see, monkey do. :)

mommy and i both had vacation days today. i played a lot during the day and mommy and grandma cleaned some, and then we went on some errands to the mall and whole foods, where mommy bought me some yummy organic baby food - Sprout. what's to lose when you've got a coupon? :) they have some interesting food combos. Mommy got me Roasted Bananas & Brown Rice; Sweet Baby Carrots, Apples & Mangoes; and Oatmeal with Roasted Cinnamon Applesauce.

We got home and hung out for a bit, and i was a stinker. I didn't go to bed until 10:00. Mommy told me grandpa was coming, and I tried hard to stay up until he got here - he came all the way from South Dakota!

SEVEN months old and sick :(

yesterday i had a bit of a fever at daycare and mommy almost had to come get me. i was .2 degrees away. but i took a nice, 3-hour-long nap, and had a 6-oz bottle! Then, when i got home, i ate some mommy milk AGAIN, just 2 hours later. last night, everyone in the house went to bed at 9:30, and i let them all sleep until 4:00.

today i did lots better at daycare. they told mommy my temp only got to the high 98s, and when mommy called, i'd already been sleeping for 2 hours. when mommy picked me up, she showed them how i can walk, and they said when they take me up to Kid Corner, where all the big kids play, they'll put me in a walker!

I even fell asleep while mommy was showing me how to make supper. she needs to work on her delivery.

And guess what today is.... I'm SEVEN months old (30 wks & 4 days)! here's my pictures! (forgive me, but i'm still a bit under the weather...)

zootie patootie

Here is my not-so-regular photo with Andy. This is from two days ago, Oct 16 - I'm 30 weeks old. i wore my cyclones apparel in hopes of a win. but we got exactly the opposite. :( Oh well. this cute picture makes up for it ;)

Look how tall i'm getting - i'm almost as high as the back of the rocking chair. Do you like my zootie patootie leg warmers? They have dinosaurs on them - Rawr!!

yesterday i went shopping with mommy. we went to the mall and two other stores. after each place i fell asleep, and she kept waking me up! then last night i woke up twice and she kept trying to lay me back down. at 330 i told her i didnt want to go to sleep, so she hung out with me until 430. my nose was so stuffy and my gums hurt.

today on the way to daycare i told mommy how icky i felt last night - nice and loud. i took a short nap just after i got there, then this afternoon i took a three-and-a-half hour nap, then ate a six oz bottle. both records for me. then on the way home i was noisy again.

tonight i army-crawled all over and tried to go upstairs cuz i knew daddy was up there.

some new things about me

today i had some green beans that grandma made for me. i liked them!

i can...

* sit up by myself (when put in the sitting position - can't pull myself up from my tummy yet, though)

* rock back and forth on my hands and knees for a bit, but eventually result to scooting

* drink from a sippy cup...but mostly i like to nibble on the spout

* crawl over obstacles (like legs!); they pose no problem when a remote is on the other side! i just motor my way over them :)

i'm bored

today i waved on demand when i went to the mall with mommy. well, it was more a twist of the wrist - i gotta work on my parade wave :)

i've also learned how to tell mommy and daddy when i'm bored. this time i was sick of being in my exersaucer.

movin' on up

today at daycare i had 3 big bottles. well, they were big for me, at least...and bigger than i've had. I also took longer naps. So they let me go play on the other side of the fence today with two of my other baby friends (the Baby Chicks) while the big kids (the Penguins) were sleeping. we also went upstairs to play in the "Kids Corner." they say I might move up soon... I get into lots of mischief on the little baby side - there are so many fun cords to see!!

Tonight i had more carrots - i'm still not sure what to think.

a surprise visitor

last night i didn't wake up until 4am. that's one of the longest times i've gone between eatings! mommy and daddy think it's because i was very busy all day with visitors.

today i got a surprise visit from grandma! I hung out with her lots - showed her how fast i can crawl and how well i can sit. She showed me how to drink from a real glass.

Mommy also finally got a good shot of my killer eyelashes - check 'em out!

when mommy fed me before bed, i fell asleep and started laughing! i was having a really good dream, and i even smirked at her.

visit to the apple orchard

today aunt tracy and uncle dave came to visit. we went out to eat and i slept most of the time. Then we went to an apple orchard. mommy brought some carrots for me to try - i had a couple spoonfuls, and then was done. Not sure what i think of them.

I had lots of fun in my stroller. The ride was so bumpy that i fell asleep again.

When i woke up we took some pictures by the pumpkins. Can you tell it was nice and warm out? I even got to wear my beach bums outfit once more before mommy retired it. I even gave Aunt Tracy a break and didn't cry when she wanted a picture with me :)

we went out again for supper to try to catch the iowa state game, but BWW didn't have it showing. that's fine - it would have been painful to watch. i practiced shaking my rattle - in my right hand i shook my whole arm, then i passed it to my left hand, and then just shook my wrist.

When we got home, i had a bath, ate, and went to bed at 9.

way up high

on Wednesday when mommy picked me up the daycare said:

-- i'm more mobile than they thought!

-- i might be moving up to the next level (penguins) since i get into mischief (i.e. cords!)

-- i waved to them today!! but i wouldn't do it when mommy asked me to

Tonight daddy put me up on his shoulders and i giggled lots. I love to be up high.

6-mo checkup

today i had my 6-month checkup. i...

• have a 43 cm round head (21.61 percentile)
• am 27" long (only 60.69 percentile)
• weigh 18 lbs (49.88 percentile)
• can have veggies!! since my weight gain has slowed down
• got FOUR shots today :( including my first flu shot. So did mommy and daddy (they got just the flu shot, not four)
• LOVE to bounce and stand up
• can almost sit up on my own, as long as you don't put anything i want in my sight, otherwise i'll reach for it, and fall over
• babble lots - i say "ba, ma, da," but, of course, nothing with meaning yet...or that anyone can understand
• spit more
• can grab for and move an object from hand to hand...especially my nuk, a remote, or a rattle
• am perfecting my army crawl - and getting pretty fast. Watch out, wrigley!
• Shriek, especially when extra happy, frustrated or ready for a new activity :) (Stay tuned - mommy will take and post a video later)
• love cords and computers
• like to be read to
• like door stops, just like wrigley. Although, also just like wrigley, this was a one-time occurrence.

• love michael bublé - as soon as mommy turns on his music, i calm down.

no more daycare

well, at least no more Indigo daycare. when mommy dropped me off today, they told her that the bank will probably be shutting them down! Daddy had to bring me some milk, and he found out some more info. Turns out the owner wasn't only paying the bills late, she just stopped paying altogether!

Although this wasn't the first daycare on our list, and there were some differences (mostly with bottle feedings), we liked this daycare a lot. It was in the neighborhood, and i was making lots of friends. the teachers were really nice and were helping me learn how to sit up and do other big skills. They loved watching me learn how to crawl.

So around 1:00 mommy got a call that they had to pick me up by 2:30...and then we scrambled to find a new daycare for Monday. First we tried some other places in the neighborhood, since that is very convenient, but none had openings until the spring! Then we tried close to mommy's work. Luckily, our first choice in the very beginning (which originally didn't have openings until November), had an opening. And, even with the short notice, they have room for me right away on Monday. So, i'll be going to daycare at Koala with my girlfriend, Olivia :)