New Year's Resolutions

Tonight is my first New Year's Eve. While I will hopefully be fast asleep when the clock strikes midnight, that doesn't mean that I can't participate in that famous New Year's tradition - New Year's resolutions. While 2007 was a very eventful year (especially compared to 2006), I plan on making 2008 even more remarkable. Here are some of my resolutions for next year, in no particular order:

1. Grow teeth
2. Eat food
3. Say "Mama" and "Daddy"
4. Finish a 5k with Mom
5. Learn to swim
6. Attend Tot Shabbat
7. Convince Mom and Dad I'm old enough to drive

Happy New Year!

Last weekend of 2007

I just wrapped up another fun weekend in Austin. My cousins Chuck and Kim were in town, and they took us out to dinner at County Line BBQ. The barbeque was delicous, although once again, Mom was the only one who shared with me. I loved it when Chuck and Kim held me, and I got to see some cute pictures of my cousin Sierra, who's a few months older than me.

I also got to go shopping with Mom to get our first child-proof cabinet locks. No - they aren't for me. It seems that our dog Peepa has figured out how to get in our kitchen cabinets, so Dad installed child locks on all of the cabinets to keep her from eating our food. Fortunately, they'll be useful for keeping me out of trouble later too.

I am progressing through a few new developmental milestones. I am starting to hold my feet. They are pretty fun. I can't quite put them in my mouth yet, which is really my ultimate goal. Only a few more inches... stay tuned. I also impressed Mom by grabbing my stuffed monkey and putting its tail in my mouth. Yum. And, best of all, I've started doing a "wiggle dance" that Mom thinks is hilarious. I did it in my jumperoo a few days ago, and then on Sunday I did it again at the store. Mom laughed at Dad when he first started dancing with her too.

Looking up

I'm feeling better, and have some new photos to share. I've been busy and will have a longer post for you this weekend.

Under the weather

After five wonderful, healthy months, I finally developed my first cold. Yuck. The other day Mom noticed I had a little bit of a cough. The next day, my nose started running. I still haven't been able to catch it - ha, ha. Now I'm also sneezing, coughing, and my eyes are runny. It is no fun, and it's a real mess. Mom and Dad took me to the doctor Friday, just to be on the safe side. The doctor said that it is probably just a viral infection and that I should be better in a week or so. All Mom and Dad can really do is keep giving me baths, put saltwater in my nose, and give me Tylenol. She also told me how much I weigh now. I'm up to 11 pounds, 11 ounces!

Unfortunately, sometimes being sick is just part of life (that's what Dad says). Dad also said this is something we can all share. He had it first, now I have it, and Mom's throat hurts too, so she's probably next. In the meantime, I am not sleeping very well, so neither are Mom and Dad. Every time I cough, it wakes me up. Fortunately, Mom and Dad are putting me to sleep in my swing so I don't cough as much, and that's helping a little. I hope I feel better soon!

No soliciting

My bed time is normally 7pm. Lately though, people keep ringing our doorbell and knocking on our door, which wakes me up. They keep coming by late at night to drop off packages, try to sell us something, or get Mom and Dad to sign petitions. When they come by, my dogs bark and wake me up. I guess they don't know that it's past my bed time. Mom tried to stop it by putting a sign over our doorbell that said not to ring it and also said, "No soliciting." But people keep showing up anyway. Finally, we added a "Do not knock on door" sign. The front of our house looks like a sign store. As you can see from the picture, our guard dog Peepa has just about had enough. I'm tired of it too, and I'm glad Peepa is looking out for me.

Having fun with some down time

I have been having a lot of fun lately with all the toys I got for Hanukkah. I've been reading my books from Bubbie and Papa, playing with farm animals that Grandma and Grandpa gave me, and watching lights and listening to music on a floor gym and jumperoo Oma and Walter gave me. I especially like my floor gym when I'm getting tired, and the jumperoo is fun, even though it's still a little big for me. The toys on it are fun, and I like watching the flashing lights on the front of it. Mom and Dad say I'll like it even more when my feet reach the floor and I can jump in it. For now, they posted some pictures of all the fun I've been having for you to look at.

Wednesday was another milestone. Mom had to go to a cooking class for work. I couldn't go because she was afraid I'd burn myself, so my friend Janie stayed with me. I've never stayed with anybody but Grandma and Grandpa and Bubbie and Papa before, and it was fun hanging out with one of my friends. I spent most of the time napping, but we had a nice lunch together before I went to sleep, and she had a bottle of Mom's milk ready for me when I woke up. It was fun and I hope I get to see her again soon.

Wednesday night I got to meet more friends at Dad's office holiday party. Dad gets to work with lots of nice people, and he and Mom said the food was yummy. Dad is also celebrating the holidays by fooling around on the Internet. Here's a link to something funny he sent me.

Mom and Dad have been buying and selling lots of stuff on Craig's List this week. Dad says Peepa is next to go up there because she is bad. Today she pulled my dirty diapers out of the pail and scattered them across my bedroom, along with my wipes from the garbage. Mom screamed and Dad ran upstairs. Now she's outside. I hope they don't give my dog away.

Happy Hannukah!

Tuesday night was the first night of Hanukkah. It is a really fun holiday. We lit one candle, said some blessings, and then Dad, Mom and I opened some presents from my parents, Aunt Laurie and grandparents. Rumor has it, there were also some latkes after I went to bed, but since I can't eat potatoes yet, I don't mind that I missed it.

Wednesday, Bubbe and Papa came to visit. We had a lot of fun. We went out for Mongolian barbeque, which was really neat because I got to watch everyone make their food and then we could see the chef cook it. By the time we got home I wanted to go to sleep, but Bubbe and Papa gave me loads of toys and books. Also while they were here, I learned to play a really cool game called dreidel.

Thursday I hung out with Bubbe and Papa so Mom and Dad could work. Mom and Dad's friends, Beverly and Dan, came over. Mom and Dad sure like latkes, because they had them again! I really like Beverly and Dan. They are pretty funny. I just wish I could have stayed up a little later to see more of them.

This week, Daddy taught me another new game called peek-a-boo. It is so funny, and he likes it because whenever we play it, I laugh a lot. Maybe I can convince them to videotape it for you sometime this week.

You can check out pictures from my first Hannukah here.

Mitch and Friends

I've done lots of fun things and have hung out with lots of cool people since we got back from Pennsylvania. For one, I noticed that I have feet! I have been looking at them a lot, which Mom and Dad like. I've also started sticking out my tongue a lot, which makes them laugh. You can see me sticking out my tongue while kicking my new toy in this video.

Wednesday we were welcomed home by Mom's friend, Megan. She is from South Africa and sounds nice when she talks to me. We have some pictures of her visit.

Saturday Mom and Dad took me to breakfast with some of Dad's friends who were visiting from Kentucky, Mike and Tabi. There were lots of other people there too. They gave me a neat Kentucky shirt. One funny thing about breakfast was there were ants swimming in the pancake syrup, which freaked Mom out. Dad told her they are a good source of protein! She said she does not care. I didn't even know ants could swim.

After that, Mom and I went to a cool neighborhood called Travis Heights to see the Art Trail. Different artists were showing their work in homes there, and we thought looking at the houses was just as fun as looking at the art. Our friend Prabhakar and his dog, Yogi, met us there. Prabhakar showed Mom how to use the camera to videotape things, and you can see the results here. Now if we could only figure out how to get edit video and get it from our real videocamera onto the Internet...Dad says that's the next step.

Today Dad had to go back to work, which was sad, and Mom and I had lunch with Zhenya. She thinks I'm cute. She's very smart, I think! She also sounds nice when she talks, because she's from Bulgaria. I hope I can visit all these different places one day.

When Dad came home from work, we took a walk to the library. It was not just any old walk - it was the coldest walk we've taken in Austin. Dad and Mom put a hat on me (which made me look like an elf) and bundled me up in blankets so all that stuck out was part of my face. Once again, they thought it was funny, and they took some pictures of me. They sure laugh at me a lot!