Eight Months Old

Sit still for pictures... nope! Look at the camera... barely! Smile... forget it! Eat my sign so no one knows how old I am... yep! As you can see after three attempts (the three outfits in the pictures prove it), Mommy gave up... I won the battle!

I have really grown to love Joy! She sits on my shelf to sleep at night, as an owl should. When I wake up in the morning, Mommy lets me grab her (by the foot), and I squeeze her and giggle.

I started crawling on Wednesday, the 7th, and I am already starting to pull up into standing position!!

Ho, Ho, Ho... Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus flew all the way from the North Pole just to visit me at my school today! As soon as Mommy set me down, I went straight for the beard! Who wants to cry when you can try to figure out what all the white hair is hanging from his face?!? Mommy said it was a "real" beard too. Well, duh!

Six Month Old Pictures - Finally

Mom and Dad were a bit slow on ordering my six month pictures that we had taken back in mid-October. I wasn't in the mood for photos that day, but they still turned out!

St. Nicholas Day, December 6th!

Mommy and Daddy taught me all about St. Nicholas Day! St. Nicholas is known as the protector or guardian of children. The tradition goes... you put your shoes outside your bedroom door on the eve of St. Nicholas Day (December 5th) with your Christmas list placed inside hoping Saint Nick will come and take your list to Santa Claus. Good children receive candies, cookies, apples, nuts, or small toys. Naughty children receive a lump of coal.Well, I did it and I received a books!

Look, Mom and Dad! St. Nick came!!

What's this? The Story of Christmas? It teaches me the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Baby Jesus. Mommy says we give each other just a few gifts to show our love for one another.

 'Twas the Night Before Christmas... Wow! I can't wait to go to bed tonight, so we can read my new stories! 

 Read it or Eat it? 

Since we are German, Mommy and Daddy are also going to start the tradition of the Christmas Pickle. It is an old German tradition to hang a pickle last, hidden among the branches in our tree. The first child on Christmas Day to find the Christmas pickle receives a special blessing for the year and an extra gift! I don't like how prickly the Christmas tree is, but I'm willing to dive in!

The Two Teeth Crawler!

My two bottom teeth poked through on November 23rd, the day before my first Thanksgiving!

I finally did it! I figured out how to go forwards not backwards. Look out, Mommy and Daddy! Childproof the house! I am SO proud of myself! All it took was seeing a bag full of brownies, but Mommy wouldn't reward me with any. She gave me these Sweet Potato Puffs instead to try for the first time!

Cornelius

Mitchell, South Dakota... Home of the World's Only Corn Palace! It is so cool that my dad is from such a famous place (well, my Dad thinks so!)... "Cornelius" got my attention!

 Mommy was teaching me the cheer "Pop the Kernels" that she used to chant when the Brookings Bobcats played the Mitchell Kernels. 

So, this place is just a building full of corn murals? You mean people drive hundreds of miles and see twenty billboards for this? I wonder what Wall Drug is like?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble, Gobble! We went to see my Grandma Rose in Mitchell, South Dakota! The best part was knowing that "Everyone is Thankful for Me!" Thank you, Aunt Lois for making sure I had the bib to prove it!

I sat and looked out the window with Grandma Rose in the morning!

She even rocked me when I wanted to be rocked! Boy, do I love her!

My Godmother/Aunt Sylvia drove up from Kansas City, MO. She was SO fun! She played with me on the floor and did this thing called "Peek" with my pink pig. I giggled...

My Uncle Bob was fun too! I liked his bright colored shirt. Look out, Uncle Dave... I may have a new best friend!

Grandma's table was so pretty with her china, crystal, and candles!

I sat with the family for about three seconds... Just long enough to try my first "real" table food, Grandma Rose's mashed potatoes. I spit them out right away. I'm not so sure about the consistency...

What's a turkey?