Day 231: Tropical Santa

I'm still going through my holiday photos. There are so many. Here's one of me last week in Florida, where it used to be warm, and furry Santa hats are pretty much unnecessary. I wore this one just for effect. Ho ho ho! After we left to come back to Brooklyn, where there are still piles of snow taller than most grown-ups, it even got cold in Florida. And since I left this furry hat behind there I hope someone is taking advantage of it to keep warm. Maybe Papa can wear it while he's ice fishing. Catch me a shark!

Days 230-231: I'm naked!

That's right, nude! And it's liberating! Though kind of cold on my bum here on this hardwood floor. Is that a bath I hear running in the background? Oh, boy. Bathtime! Catch you later. I have some splashing to attend to.

Day 229: Walking

I would like to take this opportunity to say that crawling is lame. I am bypassing that useless skill and instead going straight to walking. I've been practicing a lot with standing lately, and it's going pretty well (good, not great) but if I have some support, I'm not bad! And in Florida I decided to take a couple steps. With guidance, of course. Today, though, I took a quantum leap. I got this sweet walking aid from Aunt Jenny and her family -- it's like a cross between a lawn mower and a vaccuum, all made of plastic, with wheels. At first I pushed it too fast and my legs couldn't keep up. So I kept turning into a human bridge and then eventually I'd fall over. But soon enough I caught on and now I can walk. With the assistance of a plastic lawn vaccuum with wheels. Baby steps, people.

Days 228-229: Holidays!

These holidays are awesome. So many gifts! And friends! And family! Lately it's been one family event after another. I got some cool stuff from everyone. So thanks G'ma and Papa and Aunties Claire and Mary and Stephanie and Grandma Miles and Uncle Eric and Aunt Heather and Patrick and Drew and Emma and Eric and Uncle Conrad and Aunt Jenny and Grandmom and Granddad. Phew! That's a lot of relatives. I sure hope there's a Christmas every year. Next up: snow! I am going to do some sledding, and also snowboarding. I might even make a snowman.

Day 227: Merry Christmas!

Hi there, America! And the world! Merry Christmas, as we say here in Florida. As you will see, I am dressed for the occasion as my bib, only without the beard, and because Mom bought my hat a few months back, when I had a slightly less gigantic melon, this used to be a Santa hat. Now it's all tight and looks like an elf hat. So I guess I'm an elf. Oh, well. I hope you all had a nice Christmas with your various families. I got to spend the day with half of my family and it was great, but I'm sorry I wasn't with the other half. Hopefully I will see them tomorrow. If the snow doesn't stop us. It better not!

Day 225: So I sez to the guy...

Let me tell you a story... Are you sitting down? Good. Get comfy... Here goes: SQUEAK! SQUEAK! DA DA DAAAAA! AY YIEEEEE! BAA BA BA MMMMMM PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT. Did you like that? It's a good one, right? I'm feeling very talkative today, maybe it's because people are feeling better, and I remembered that it's okay to let Mom leave my side for a few minutes now and then. But only a few minutes! This afternoon, Dad and I went to the dock, and we each pulled up some chairs and we talked about life -- literally, like the lives of things that kept swimming and flying by. Like dolphins! One nearly jumped on my head. Swimming, I mean. I didn't see any flying dolphins. Yet. Okay, time for another story. Are you still sitting? Good, come a little closer.... YEEEEEEEEEE AYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY DAAAAAAAAAAAA PFFFFFFFFT!!!

Day 225: Oh, Florida

On the one hand, I'm totally flattered that they named this store for me. I mean, that took some foresight -- somebody had to get those letters made! On the other hand, I feel like I should have trademarked this phrase. It is one of my nicknames, after all.

Days 222-224: Florida!

Sorry (again) for the delay. I was traveling. I'm in Florida now, visiting the Grandparents. It's awesome here - the weather is great and the house is full of aunts. Unfortunately, Mom didn't just bring me and presents. She brought germs! So everyone is sick. Or most people. Luckily I've got Mom here, healthy again, to look after me. And I'm making sure she doesn't leave me alone. Even for a second! Wait, she's not here right now. MOM! Okay, here she is. I can play her like a fiddle. Anyway, it's almost Christmas. Which is cool. I hope you all bought me cool stuff.

Day 221: Black tie dining

I just found this picture. It's from a few weeks ago. I guess we were having something fancy for dinner.

Day 221: Happier times

This is me way back on Thursday or Friday, when things were happier and Mom was healthier. I expect we'll be back to this point soon enough. Also, if you squint a little this is what I'd look like with a rock n' roll mullet!

Days 218-221: Floored

This is how I feel right now. Just wiped out. It's a a busy time of year and I'm out of good excuses for not blogging the past few days but suffice it to say things are crazy here at Charlie HQ. I was supposed to be flying to Florida today on one of the giant metal birds with mom but she ate a bad oyster - whatever that is - and had a bad reaction and a terrible day today, so I spent the day making Dad entertain me, and also playing on the swings, even though it was freezing out. Hopefully Mom will feel better and we'll try again for the whole Florida thing tomorrow and if that doesn't work out I guess we'll try once more on Tuesday.

Day 217: Sweet chair!

So my Granddad and Grandmom's friend Yank made me this chair. And I thought, that was nice of him. I've never had a chair before. Then I sat in it and WHOA - it rocks! I just move a little and it moves a lot. Pretty awesome. Can someone please bring me my pipe?

Day 216: A whole new perspective

Have you ever taken a minute to look at the world upside down? I recommend it. Sometimes you just need to be shaken out of your comfort zone and I can think of no better way than this. Of course, if you are larger than two feet tall, this will require the assistance of a giant. Shaq is always looking for work, isn't he?

Days 215-216: The hat collection grows

Been away since I got a new hat. So I got a new hat. It's furry. I think maybe they made it out of somebody's rug. Or else a mink. What is a mink, anyway? I think here I am practicing mental powers - I am trying to will that binky back into my mouth. It's not working, which is why I look concerned.

Day 214: Christmas

I'm hearing a lot of talk about something called Christmas. I guess it's a religious holiday where some baby named Jesus got dropped down the chimney by a fat guy in a red suit who flies around on a sled pulled by deer. Once there, he was raised under an old pine tree covered in crude ornaments and artificial lights by three magicians and an old donkey. Now we celebrate this day by buying each other toys and socks. There are some parts of this story that I find highly implausible but I'm the first to admit that my education is pretty limited at this point so I'm probably not the best person to question the story's veracity. So bring it on, Santa. I have my own tree here just waiting for gifts.

Day 213: Dudes' Day Out

So Mom left town for the first time ever on Friday so Dad and I had a dudes' day and night and it was pretty fun. I maybe ate a bit more erratically and wore my diapers longer than normal but we didn't burn the house down and had a nice time. Here we are at the swings -- swinging so high and fast that the camera can't capture me without blurring! Yay, swings!

Day 212: On turtlenecks

Got my first turtleneck. Do I look like a French philosopher? Or just some nerdy guy in IT?

Days 211-212: Progress

Hey, peoples. This week I've pretty much decided to give up on that crawling. I mean, I go out and look around at all you big people, with your cars and your jobs and your activities and none of you are crawling. So why should I? So part one of Operation Mobility involves standing up. That's easy. I just need to start working on not holding things. I also learned to blow bubbles last week, thus further diversifying my array of noises. Bubbles would currently rank second behind ear-piercing screeches.

Day 210: More, please

You know what my favorite part of dinner is? It's a tie between the part where the food enters my mouth and the part where more food arrives after I'm almost done swallowing that first part. Sometimes I wish there was no break in between at all. Here I have assumed the ready position for eating. More, please!

Days 208-209: Is that beard real?

I met this guy "Santa" the other day. Allegedly he flies around the world on a sled pulled by some sort of deer and then tumbles down the chimney with a sack full of presents. That is, when he's not hanging out in a beer hall in Brooklyn on a random Sunday. Don't get me wrong, I am fully in favor of a jolly man bringing me gifts - or anyone bringing me gifts, for that matter - but I am not sure how this works if you don't have a working chimney. Or if your fireplace is full of plants, like mine. I also seriously doubt that beard is real. I'm going to tug on it and check.

Day 207: Happy Sunday

Hi there everybody. That was a quick weekend, except maybe for Mom, who is sick and had a lot on her hands entertaining me while Dad was out of town. I'm sorry if I gave you your cold and I hope it goes away soon. But Dad's coming home tomorrow morning and we're excited. Hurry back!

Days 205-206: Winter

This is my first experience with this season "winter." My dad seems to really enjoy it. My mom, not so much. I'm not sure what to think yet. But it's certainly colder than the last season, or the one before that. I have to wear lots of cold but once I'm all bundled up it's pretty cozy in the stroller. I wonder if they'll let me try snowboarding this year?

Day 204: Big Feet!

My dad has some big feet! I had to run out for some errands last night and I needed some shoes so I slipped these on instead of mine. They looked nice but were a little heavy and hard to walk in. Not that I can actually walk. Yet.

Day 203: Cousins

Hi cousins! I miss you guys. Thanks to Drew for reading to me, and for lending me his fluffy giraffe! And thanks to Patrick for playing with me on the floor when everyone else was either asleep or ignoring me!