Baby steps

Hi there. Hy here.

... Say, that's pretty good! I'll have to trademark that.

Dad recommended I take a break from my busy training regiment to be on the Olympic crawling team in order to bring the grandparents and the rest of you some of my recent accomplishments.

As you can see from this picture, I am quite accomplished. Dad thinks I'm playing the air violin. Mom thinks I'm giving a lecture on pension law like Pop.



I stand with great regularity right now. I stood on the day of my 6 month check up with Dr. Loehre (pronounced Lair - NOT an auspicious name for a waiting room: Welcome to the Leohre!). He didn't get to see me stand, but he watched me crawl all over his office with bug eyes and dropped jaw. He had to double-check his computer to make sure this was really my 6 mo. check up. "Wow! He's MOBILE!" was all he could say.


The video is one Dad took tonight. He checked the baby book, and at the 6 mo check up, it said 'your baby might be rolling over by now.' At 9 mo. 'your baby might be crawling by now.' At 12 mo 'your baby might be standing and walking when grasping things.' Yeah, I'm cool. Doc confirmed that I am at the 55th percentile in height and 31st in weight, which he also said is perfectly normal and happy.

Here is a normal, happy baby playing in a cardboard box. Any questions?





I've added rice and broccoli to the menu of things I eat. Mom was sick twice recently, so that put a damper on adding new foods. The only other new food I get is ... formula. After seven months of Mommy Milk, my little tummy couldn't handle the formula very well, but it's getting used to it. Today Dad fed me my solids while holding me and singing in choir. I had a lot more control over the process that way.

My favorite toy in the tub is a tupperware bowl just like I eat out of. I drink out of it and splash it and dump water out of it. I really like playing with spoons, too.

I also love to drink Mom's water, at home and at restaurants. Oh, I had my first restaurant meal last week! Mom and Dad had bought me my Halloween costume (hint: I won't be a pumpkin OR a caterpillar, though even Dad was forced to admit I made a Really Adorable insect) and we stopped in to a Chinese buffet. Along the rows of food, Dad saw some bananas that weren't too covered in sweet sauce, mashed them up, and I ate my first restaurant food.



In other news, my team didn't make it to the World Series, but came really, really close... again.





I graduated from my little baby carrier to a big baby carrier. The police were kind enough to buy and install it for us thanks to our low incomes. (Dad figures there's no shame in using state resources to follow a state law.) I also briefly graduated to sitting in the large part of the stroller ... until the seat belt broke. So for now I'll be using the little baby carrier in the stroller still.








Today at stake conference, I accomplished another milestone. I climbed a step! Mom and Dad were sitting with the choir, and before the meeting started I managed to swing one leg over the edge of the step and then pull the rest of my body forward enough to be on higher ground! Dad was my witness.

Look out world, here I come!



Dad thinks my biggest accomplishment is introducing a particular new syllable to those I can mutter. When I use two of them in a row, it forms the word "dada." The first time I said it, he freaked out. He jumped around, he whooped, he danced me around, he did everything he could to let me know that he was happy when I said that. I'll have to say it more often, but not too often, or the newness will wear off. Got to keep these parents in line.

Though I've said several syllable combinations that form words, I haven't had a meaning behind any of them yet. Likely candidates so far for First Word With Intent are: mama, Hy, dada, and book. During General Conference, when someone was talking bout the Book of the Mormon, I repeated 'boo' after him. Not boo like a ghost, but like book without the k. Mom was pretty excited.

Mom and Dad took me to the Ithaca Book Sale yesterday. Next to the Ithaca Festival in summer, it's the biggest event in town. Thousands of books are on really cheap sale. Proceeds fund the library. Mom found a box full of baby books for me to chew... er, read together with them, including a few Dad knew from his childhood. That'll be fun.

I'm also quite expert at riding on Daddy's shoulders. The mission president encouraged me to tug really hard on his hair today. Well ... Daddy does always encourage me to follow my priesthood leaders....