Turkeys and lizards and monkeys, oh my!

On Sunday, Mommy and Daddy took me to a place called the Niagara Power Project right next to Daddy's school. They had lots of cool things to see there. I got to see really big birds like hawks and owls and vultures, little lizards, and a monkey who liked to play peek-a-boo just as much as me. He was so silly! They even had a lion suit that didn't have a lion in it. But my favorite were the really pretty birdies and fishes hanging from the ceiling. They were so nice to look at, and not quite as scary as that big, ugly turkey. Mommy says we eat turkeys, but he looked too mean to eat! It was a fun day, though. I can't wait until I'm bigger and can explore it a little better.

Happy (Belated) First Birthday to Me!

Emma and I had our first birthday party together last Saturday. It was so much fun! Everybody came to see us at my Nona's house, we ate lots of tasty food, and Emma and I opened tons of presents. I got so many cool new toys. It was awesome! My favorites were a green 4-wheeler just like cousin Madelyn's, a great big tunnel to crawl through, a big shiny dragon puppet, and a big fire truck to ride on that sings songs. Mommy also gave me my very own piece of chocolate cake. It was sooo good. Nona made it special just for me. I had such a great day. I hope I can have a birthday again next weekend!

Tiny Steeler

Uncle Joey sent me an awesome birthday present today. It was a black shirt that has lots of tiny holes in it and a great big 7 on the front and a bright yellow bib. Mommy tried the shirt on me, and I would not let her take it off. I look sooo cute in it! Uncle Joey says I have to wear it on Sundays, but I'm not really sure why. Maybe because it is so holey? And the bib is such a nice color, I just didn't want to put it down. I carried it around with me for 15 minutes before Mommy finally just put it on me so I didn't have to hold it anymore. It was getting tricky to hold it and drink from my cup at the same time. My hands are just tiny! Mommy read the words on it to me and it says "Terrible Toddler Towel," but I don't think it is terrible at all. I just love it! Oh, and I'm finally starting to figure out this whole balance thing. It's still tricky, but I was able to manage it a few times today. It's a lot easier to just stop in the middle of the floor than to walk over to furniture all the time. This picture is actually of me and Mommy clapping when she saw me standing by myself for the first time. Yay!

He's walking!

I did it! I finally learned how to walk! It is so much fun. And it is so much easier to get around. I was having trouble fitting in between the boxes. And I can get to places Mommy doesn't want me to a lot faster and have more time before she catches me. Emma and Mads have been doing it for a while, and I decided it was time to try. I still can't stand on my own yet. That is hard! I just have to keep moving until I get somewhere where I can hold on. There are lots of things at my house to pull myself up on, though, and then I can just go, go, go! I'll have Daddy post a video soon. Right now we have to go run errands.
.
This is video from 9/9 that was taken on my camera at Fort Niagara State Park. He walks much better than this now.

He's Back!

Well, almost back. We still don't have internet at our house. Hopefully all that will change very soon - just as soon as the cable guy can squeeze through the front door, past all the boxes, and over to the TV. But it's true. We've officially moved to Niagara Falls, and so far we're really liking it.

I have to take a second to sincerely apologize to all our loyal fans. I'm not sure how it happened, but we managed to go AWOL for the whole summer. Once we get up and fully functional, I promise to be much, much better. We miss everyone everywhere and want you all up to date on what is going on out here, especially since the big 1 is fast approaching!

Here's a quick rundown of what has happened all summer: First we moved to Nona and Papa's in good old SF. Then, there were weddings, then graduation, and then 10 days in good old Cancun, USA. I mean Mexico. Seriously, it might as well have been the US. Lara's spanish fluency was largely unnecessary (but occasionally handy anyway. High chair, por favor? It was more the way she said it.) :) We mostly hung out in the pool and on the beach, but we did go to see Chitchen Itza, one of the new 7 wonders of the world. It's an ancient Mayan temple that basically is the Mayan calendar. It's actually really cool. You used to be able to climb it, but an 87 year old woman fell off of it a few years ago and they shut that down. I didn't mind. It was a 45 degree angle. I'd have gotten up, but never been able to get down again!

After Mexico we were still busy with lots of stuff, and then went camping in Pennsylvania for a few days with our DC friends. That was lots of fun. We were down in Big Foot country (no, seriously, the guy honestly thought Big Foot lived on his land) and had acres and acres of mountaintop to ourselves. We also had a really nice creek to spend our days swimming in, which was good because it was much too hot on top of that mountain.

A few weeks later we were camping in the Adirondacks with 35 of our nearest and dearest (pics of that have not yet managed to get onto the computer.) That was a blast. We had our own little olympics, played a little kickball, and generally just had a great time. In between all that, Mike and I managed to find a place to rent, Mike started school, and Jack is learning to walk. He hasn't quite gotten there yet, but we're really close. He took 6 steps yesterday at the Math department picnic. He is too impatient to stand still long enough to get his balance, so he just runs to wherever he needs to go and then tries to get there before he falls over. It is rather amusing. :)

Ok, that was just a little update for now. We'll be back real soon. We miss you all. Jack wanted me to remind everyone that his and Emma's birthday party is 9/20 at Nona's if you're close enough to make it. We miss you all!