Man in the Mirror

There's nothing like waking up every morning to admire yourself in the mirror and give yourself a big sloppy wet kiss.

You're Doing It Wrong

Forrest, I don't think that's quite how that works...

Undertow Strikes Again

Save yourselves!

Later, Lotus

Lotus wonders where everyone is going without her. I am still amazed that they allow kids everywhere and they don't allow dogs even if they're better behaved.

First Birthday

Happy first birthday, Forrest! Of course it's really his second birthday, though the first one was his birthing day so I guess it doesn't count. We kept it low key so we didn't have to plan ahead and we did whatever we felt like. We took him to his first visit to the zoo, gave him his birthday watermelon, and went to the outdoor pool for the first time. I told him he could have as much watermelon as he wanted (it's his favorite, along with strawberries) and I was on the edge of my seat to find out how much that would be. Turned out it wasn't that much that he ate before he crawled away to do something else. Mystery solved, and first birthday complete!

1 Year Old!

We made it to one year! That makes us what percent done again? We all survived which I'd say is quite an accomplishment. Forrest is 24 pounds, he can walk now and he has started pointing and waving goodbye and clapping. He's even more stubborn about not eating what he doesn't want and about doing things himself like holding his cup and spoon, even though he's not very good at it yet. Welcome to toddlerhood Forrest!

Morning Jaunt

We took Lotus and Forrest out for some exercise this morning. Lotus ran farther but laid down to rest sooner.

Smoothie King

Smoothies are a hit with Forrest! Well, except when he catches onto the fact that I'm putting greens in them. And except when the bits get stuck in the sippy cup holes. But when the fruit runs freely, he's a fan.

Chinatown

Forrest's first trip to New York City consisted of a trip to Flushing. He visited his new friend Socorro and tasted all his dad's favorite foods. Although you may think the name of this vendor is Farm Style Deli, it is actually Harbin Foods! An exciting find for dad and Forrest's first chance to have the famous Harbin sausage.

Red Wheelbarrow

Forrest had fun with the red wheelbarrow at Grandma Char's house! It's kinda trippy when the wall suddenly becomes the floor. Who's doing that?!

Walking: The Next Step

Ah, the exhilaration of getting to where you were going! There's really nothing like it, especially when you get yourself there on your own two feet. Forrest is really making progress in his walking. It's still not very useful as a mode of transport but he's getting much better at balancing and steadying himself between steps. Pretty soon he'll be a bonafide biped!

Walking: An Early Attempt

One of Forrest's earlier attempts at walking. He can only take a few wobbly steps, but he's definitely doing it. Look ma, no hands!

Blueberries for Sal...

 ...and for Forrest too. Blueberries are one of the few things Forrest is reliably willing to eat (along with cucumbers and other berries). Not shown in this video is how he has started offering them to me too. So thoughtful!

Contain Yourself

 
This is an exciting time because Forrest is starting to be able to engage in activities that use his brain! Most of the time he'd rather crawl around and yell, but occasionally he will sit and think about things which is a nice change of pace. Usually what he thinks about is how to get certain smaller objects into larger containers. So I've once again raided the recycling bin to make him some little activities like this one. I hope he sustains the interest!

Electric Slide

Okay the slides around here aren't really electric. Unless you count static electricity which makes Forrest's hair stand up after a few slides, but which I haven't gotten a picture of. He sure loves a good slide though and is just about stable enough to go down by himself, though he topples over less when he goes down on his back. He also loves to crawl back up the slide but usually there's another kid coming down so he hasn't had a lot of chance to perfect his technique.

Pick Your Own

 
It didn't take long for Forrest to figure out how to pick the strawberries himself. But I'm not sure he would have made a good field hand since every one he picked went straight down the hatch.

Biking!

We are finally biking! Oh the places we'll go...

Strawberry Fields!

Strawberries are probably Forrest's favorite food. He can down a monstrous berry like nobody's business. So we figured we had to take him to the strawberry festival at Verrill farm in Concord.

He lounged in the sun and stuffed his face with berries all afternoon. He probably even got a few strawberry leaves in there while we weren't looking, that's how much he loves strawberries.

Bartender

What can I do you for? Milk straight up? Or water on the rocks?

Here I Am!

Cute shot of Forrest getting excited about a jungle gym. It's a fun age now that even with big kid toys and playgrounds, there is something he can do that's fun. He'll use each thing differently as he gets bigger but for now even just grabbing and cruising on new things is pretty fun!

A New Way to Walk

Forrest is close to walking but definitely can't balance yet. Usually his giant head gets ahead of his feet and considering the weight of his noggin there's no recovering from it. Holding on to the moving hula hoop was the perfect solution!

11 Months Old!

Now that Forrest is 11 months, I feel he is looking more toddlerish and much less babyish. He crawls fast and he's discovered that he can even crawl while he's holding things, which can result in very fuzzy apple slices, or a peg leg sound effect, depending on what he's holding. He can stand without holding onto things for a good 10 seconds until he remembers he's not holding onto anything. And if you set him up just right he can take a few steps before falling into our arms, though his big head always gets ahead of his feet. So he'll most likely be walking any day now! He's getting more willful but also more interesting all the time - a constant reminder that he really is a little human even though sometimes he feels like a little monster.

95 Years Old!

Forrest visiting Great Grandma Gusta for her 95th birthday. He didn't really want to sit still for the picture but great grandma got to see him in his element on the playground, and daddy even snuck him a taste of chocolate cake.

Stairs

 Warning: Video may be boring to the average viewer.

It's all over now! We say that with every new terrifying milestone I know. This time it's climbing stairs. Uh oh. Good thing we live on all one floor.

Bread Boy

Warning: Video may be boring to the average viewer.

Lately Forrest's favorite foods are cucumber and bread. We try to feed him other things for dinner too but whatever we give him has to be interspersed with bread and cukes or he won't have it. Here he is gnawing on a hunk of rustic Italian loaf!

Sleep Position

Not the best picture to show it but Forrest sleeps in the classic baby pose now, with his knees tucked under and his little bum sticking up. It's super cute!

Toy Truck

Forrest's favorite thing to do at the park is push these trucks and walkers around to practice walking. He could do it for hours! Well ok maybe not hours, but definitely minutes! He's getting so good he barely has to hold on now.

Open Sesame

Let me in!!! Or out??

Bathtime

Cutest photo ever! Taken by Jenny Ayi, cute bath towel courtesy of Grandma Char.

Hula Hoop

I found a hula hoop on the free table so I brought it home on the stroller. Very convenient for carrying hoops as it turns out. Despite the picture below Forrest did actually enjoy playing with it, he just didn't enjoy my interrupting his play to take a picture.

Baby's First Nutella

Forrest had his first taste of Nutella today when we stopped by the Nutella truck. Needless to say, he likes it.

I'm flying!

Sure fire way to turn Forrest's frown upside down. There really is nothing better than a baby's laugh!

Honest Abe

Mini Abe Lincoln or giant Forrest?

Quilts!

Forrest enjoyed his first visit to the MFA today! We went with Grandma Char to the quilt exhibit which had all kinds of bright colors and geometric patterns.

Chompers

Very tricky to get a picture but Forrest now has a top tooth. Much better for shredding cucumbers, apples, and wood chips at the playground. His other top front tooth and the next two on the bottom are coming in fast as well!

More Cousin Chats

The latest cousins FaceTime. Forrest is like hey cuz check out my new toof!

10 Months Old!

At this point, Forrest is officially out of control. He still gets around mostly by army crawl but he can get anywhere fast. He pulls up on everything and cruises around, and anything that isn't screwed into the walls he pulls down on top of his head. The frustrating part is that he doesn't seem to learn that if he grabs things they will fall on him. Babies!! To top it all off, this week he discovered climbing. Yep, it's all over now. He has informed us recently that changing his diaper and getting dressed are forms of torture. However, he also finds way more things hilarious, even things he's been unimpressed by up to now, and it's a whole new world of playground-going now that it's warm and he can actually do things there. So to summarize, the adventures continue!

Horse Ride

It's finally sunny and warm! I'm sure we'll be spending a lot more time at the playground now. Nothing too exciting about this picture except that you can compare it with the first time he played on this blue horse. He has gotten a little bigger and a lot more capable of balancing and holding on. Pretty soon he'll be riding at the blue horse rodeo.

Giant Grasshopper

Oh hi Mr. Grasshopper. How did you get so big? Or how did I get so small?

Museum of Science

Forrest's first visit to the Boston museum of Science. Here he is admiring the ball sculpture. Or maybe yelling at it.

One For Me, One For You

Forrest has learned to feed Lotus so about a third of the food on his tray goes to her, whether it's dropped on the floor or deposited directly into her mouth. Another third probably gets in Forrest's hair and on his clothes. And the last third he actually eats. Needless to say, Lotus is enjoying mealtimes but not making much progress on her diet.

 

Panda Love

Playing with a pack of pandas we happened to run into!

Chess Master

Everyone loves a giant chess set!

Aquarium

First visit to the aquarium was a huge success. It was hands down Forrest's least fussy hour of his entire (waking) life. He was enthralled with the bright blue water, silvery fish, and big red (his favorite color) coral. He even shrieked with joy a few times. So I'm sure we'll be going back again soon.

Passover

A quarter of a matzoh for a quarter Jewish baby. He seemed to like it! Although he was sick during his first Seder, Forrest powered through and enjoyed his matzoh ball soup and charoset. Happy Passover!

9 Months Old!

This month Forrest hit some major milestones. He started daycare, he can sit up from laying down, he can pull up to standing, he can army crawl, and he started sleeping. He really is like a whole different baby. Lots more for us to worry about, but lots more fun too. He now occasionally laughs at things he thinks of himself, without us having to work for it. He also started eating much larger quantities of food, and he has finally started to like books. And at only 21 pounds, he is no longer a giant baby, in fact he is almost average!

Crawling Hypothesis

Whelp, it's all over now! The world is a dangerous place for a crawler. But my hypothesis may be turning out to be correct. Forrest has always needed to be on the move and he seems a little more content now that he can take care of his own mobility needs. Results are inconclusive so far but the initial data is promising. Clearly more research is needed.

Celery

Celery is another good one to keep him busy for a while. He can really do a number on a little celery stick. Here's what it looks like when he's done with it!

Cucumber

So refreshing! Nothing keeps him busy (and quiet) like something cold and wet to gnaw on.

Boxing Day

We all know babies don't need fancy toys, just cardboard boxes. So I was excited when we got this giant one. Forrest only got to explore it for a short time though before daddy put it in the recycling bin.

Bunny Lit

Forrest has never been that into books. Probably because they involve sitting still. But he's starting to really look at them now, especially the ones I attempt to read to him every morning. He hasn't quite figured out which way up it goes but here he is enjoying some good bunny lit.

More Bathtime Fun

Disclaimer - there is baby nudity in this video.

Forrest has always loved the bath, and lately he also loves kicking. So naturally he loves kicking in the bath even more. Good thing we got him this new bigger tub so he can really go to town. The shower curtain also comes in handy for mom and dad. Just look at those legs go!

Kicking Around

Forrest's favorite exercise is kicking his little legs. We're not sure why it's so much fun but if it keeps him happy and tires him out, we're all for it!