Only one holiday behind

Halloween was pretty awesome! I don't quite remember my last Halloween, but I caught on to the concept pretty quickly this year. Basically, if there's food around, it's something delicious my parents won't ordinarily let me have, and I should eat it NOW!!! Yum.

Check out how happy I am at my school's Halloween party (note full sized cookie in my hand):

...and here's my other outfit, on Halloween proper, when I went Trick-or Treating door-to-door:

Dr. Liev B. Schiffman, M.D.

Preparing for the transaction

Ding-dong!

Learning to take candy from strangers

My Trick-or-Treating conveyance:

Yucky!

Bubbles

Bye-bye, summer. We will miss you!

More fun than a tantrum

Long time, no see

My blog is back by popular demand! Also, Mommy's on an outpatient rotation right now, so we all have a little more time to update you on my progress.

First of all, I can totally walk now. Mobility!! It frightens my parents. I can also eat corn on the cob:


I can throw a ball:


I can use a fork:


I know how to dance:


I can turn upside down:


I'm getting ever so good at communicating:


...and I'm starting to understand the subtle art of manipulating my parents into making dubious parenting decisions:


One thing I am still working on, though, is the concept of paradox:


More to come! I'm learning daily. Stay tuned.

More Birthday Fun

On my birthday, I did so many new things. I opened presents:

I tasted eggs:

(I actually liked the omelet Daddy made a lot; this is actually the face I make when somebody asks me what a pig says.)

I played with bubbles:

I ate some of Daddy's scary orange Cheetos:

I took a walk in my "Birthday Boy" T-shirt:

I hung out at the zoo with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa (behind the camera):

...and I rode the zoo carousel:

Rrroooaarrr!!!

I had a fun, fun birthday.

The next day I rode on my awesome fire truck from Grandma and Grandpa. It plays a really loud and obnoxious song that I like a lot!

The day after that was my birthday party, and you already know how the cake went down (see below). Yum!! I wish I had birthdays every day.

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

There were fireworks on my birthday but I was too tired to stay up and see them. I *did*, however, enjoy me some cake:

Welcome, Summer!

Skills update: I...

• - regularly crawl on my hands and knees instead of on my belly
  
• - can speak multiple words, some intelligible, almost all animal-related (woof, roar, oink, moo, duck, dog... and, oh yeah, Dad)
• - can sign even more words (useful stuff: eat, milk, more, help, all done, and please)
  
• - have trained my parents to get me Cheerios by pointing at the cereal cabinet
• - can often get food onto a spoon OR a fork, and then get that food into my mouth
• - am cutting two new teeth (upper molars)
  

...and just to top off my achievements, today I stood briefly under my own power. Look out, world!

Funny!

Mama is HI-larious!



[Warning: this video contains gratuitous giggling and high levels of hilarity, and as such may be suitable only for grandparent viewing (i.e., Rated G).]

There you are!

Going Solo

Sure, Daddy was a good four hands partner, but I think my playing has matured enough that it's time to go solo:

Compare/Contrast

Can you find 6 differences between these two photos?

How about just one? Like how HUGE that baby has gotten??

Still cute, though.

A Warm, Sunny Day

Memorial Day found us with beautiful, sunny weather here in Madison. We celebrated with a summery outfit, a dip in the pool (in the shade -- have you seen my skin tone?!), and a cook-out. I wasn't a fan of the pork loin, but the garlic mashed potatoes were good, and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the big serving bowl full of broccoli. Fortunately, I have recently learned to sign the word "More."

I Concur

My folks had a party on Saturday (something about Mommy slipping the chains of grad school?), and one of their good friends (and wonderful chef!), Bridgette, brought hummus:

I agree somewhat with my friend Helen's assessment, but wonder if she's ever tried hummus on a carrot. Seems to make a difference.

My First Word

Sure, I've been verbal for a while now. I've been tossing around a few syllables, often remarking, "Dah" when I see the dog or Daddy, but I haven't really said any particular syllable with enough regularity or precision to have it identified as an actual word. That all changed this week:

That's right, woof! Why woof? So my parents can plague me with stories about it for years to come.

We Want To Pump You Up

So strong! Rrrrrrrr!!

How Big?

Three in One

A new video, in which:

• we revisit one of my favorite games, "Where's Liev?"
• we play a new game, entitled "What does a doggy say?"
• viewers can play yet another new game, "What is Liev having for dinner?" (hint: don't forget to check my mouth!)

New Frontiers

Now that I can commando crawl with the best of them, and even climb a little, I've been doing some exploring. Today I went from the living room to the kitchen, then through to the dining room, then to lands hitherto unexplored by me. It turns out there were no dragons there, merely an interesting cave to explore:

What?

Hmmmmm?

Uh-oh

I've been acquiring new skills at a dizzying pace. I can high five, wave bye-bye, point, feed myself all sorts of solids, and commando crawl everywhere. Here's my newest skill (the 'rents are a little alarmed):

Some stills: ...and me in action:

Piano for Four Hands

(Apologies for the rudimentary rendering -- Mommy's still learning how to use Windows Moviemaker)

It begins

Percussionist

I've found my calling. Noise, whacking at stuff, and edible mallets -- what could be better? Plus, I can sing along like Glenn Gould or Sanford Margolis.

Chip Off The Old (Lego) Block

As you can see, I've learned a few of Dad's moves:

Belated

Mommy finally got the pictures out of the camera, so now I can officially wish Daddy an online Happy Birthday.


Happy Birthday, Daddy! Your cake is pretty funny!

Adventures in Eating

Banana!

Where's Liev?

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

How YOU doin?

Coffee Talk

I went to go play at my friend Will's house the other day. He shared his Pack'n'Play and our mommies enjoyed some decaf coffee.

Fun was had by all! After all, Will and I and our mommies are old friends:

(L-->R = Will -->Me-->Alex-->Peter-->Huxley).

Health & Hygiene 101

Now that I'm so big, I'm learning so many new things! I can take a bath sitting up, (Thanks for the tub, Bridgette! Quack, quack!)

I can brush my four (4!) teeth, I can exercise in my brand new Exersaucer,

...and do my vocal exercises:


I'm so busy!

New Hat

Daddy made it!

New Skill

I looooooove drinking water!

New Game

I invented it myself!

Boys Bein' Boys

Wrasslin'

Playin' Legos