Ummmm,we seem to be stuck in warp drive.
Soooo, it's February, is it? Weird... I thought maybe it was still 2006.
Ferris is a very happy little monster these days(as usual).
Although as I'm writing this he IS wailing his heart out in his crib.
I'm not even sure where to start. He is a full fledged "big boy". He doesn't just walk, he runs! He drinks from a sippy cup. He signs, "food","all done", "more", "good-bye", "hi","no no"," bath", "sleep" and "please". He sort of says all of those words too...sort of.
His favorite animal is a cat. "meowwwwww" he mimics and bends down to hug Saatchi. If we are at a friends home and there is a cat involved, he spends more time with the cat than the other children.
Today was his first sledding experience. Lots of fun despite a face full of snow!
After sledding we headed home for a bath ( face hands towards body and rub hands up and down chest with palms open and fingers spread).
After that we threw on a little 50cent and Jay-Z. Ferris works pretty hard getting that "dirt" off his shoulder and bounces rhythmically as 50cent urges him to " go shorty, it's ya birf-day. we gonna partay like it's ya birf-day.." I will attempt to get video of this soon. There is nothing quite as funny as watching a small child "get down" to hip hop.
I'm sure there is plenty more to say, but I'm at a loss. Here are some recent photos.
Oh yeah! Ferris just finished his first week of daycare. Just 2 days a week. Just enough for me to get some work done without always feeling over-extended.
On the second day I dropped him off his face lit up as we pulled in the driveway and he signed "more, more" to me. When I returned to pick him up in the afternoon he glanced up from his activity, smiled, and went right back to playing.
This kid is so easy going.
Crap! It's been a whole year already?
Hard to believe that October is already here again! Ferris will be turning one in just a week!
We've had a great summer. Lots of fun adventures, lots of new tricks up our sleeves!
I think the last post was from just before we went to WI to visit Bri's family and show the little man around.
The WI trip was a blast. Ferris was ridiculously good in the car for 1000mi. trip (2000 roundtrip) We hung out at his parents' cottage for several days and Ferris went on his first boat trip and finally met his awesome Aunt Dawn, Uncle Dave and cousin Michael...actually he met all his awesome extended family a few days later at a beautiful campground owned by Brian's cousins.
He successfully made it through Brian and David's annual business dinner, way past his bedtime( that lasted several hours) without falling asleep OR turning into "that screaming, fussy baby that those crazy parents brought to the nice restaurant at 8pm".
We all had a great time and I think we'll be heading back in the Spring to attend the annual Holidome reunion AND welcome a new cousin for Ferris!
Shortly after we arrived back from WI, Ferris and I packed an overnight bag and headed over to Boston to wait for his new cousin, Camden Latimer Helme to arrive. He's a real cutie.
New baby, of course, meant more visits from Grandmas and Grandpa and Aunt Katie. It’s always wonderful to see the family up here. We're pretty bummed that Michael, Katie and Camden will be leaving Boston later this month back to Texas, but that'll just give us another reason to visit Texas more often.
This Thursday we will be taking Ferris on his first flight...a little anxious about how he'll behave, but we'll be optimistic and hope for the best.
We're heading to Texas. This will be Ferris' first trip there and hopefully he'll get to meet some of our friends that weren't able to make it up here this past year.
It's kind of exciting that this trip also falls close to Ferris' first birthday so I'm sure we'll do a small celebration for him. It'll be great growing up with a birthday that always falls close to a holiday that isn't a big deal, like Thanksgiving, but still gets him a day off from school. :)
Hmmmm, major accomplishments from the past few months...
Ferris started "cruising" the furniture and climbing our stairs in mid-June.
Clapping the hands came soon after.
He can dance and bop his head to music and he LOVES instruments and cans and boxes and the guitar...anything that makes noise. He's getting a mini acoustic guitar for his b-day.
He's a very good imitator. He makes grade A monster noises. He can successfully climb *down* the stairs now and climb off of furniture.
He can stand and take steps without any help, but god help you if you *try* to make him do either...you will get dead weight and nothing more.
He is excellent at turning the bath water on and off. Lucky for us we can just remove the faucet handles.
He's getting pretty good at feeding himself and he's not half bad with a fork or spoon.
He gives hugs and just started to give kisses.
He points at things. He babbles. He says "dada", "mama" and "baba", but for the most part *everything* is "dada"...unless he is crying, then it's all "MAMA MAMA".
Every now and then he sneaks in something like, "bye bye" or "hello", but they are so rare that we almost don't believe he actually said them....or maybe just that he didn't realize what he was saying...even when they were used in proper context.
He loves playing on the playground and going down slides. He loves to be tossed around like a ragdoll. The more precarious and dangerous the more he laughs.
He likes to play a peek-a-boo. he'll shut us in the bathroom with the lights off and then open the door for us to jump out and scare him. again, hysterical laughter.
my apologies for the sporadic posts and shaky camera work
I’m really sorry I haven’t been doing the best job of keeping up with this blog. It is insane how quickly Ferris changes and develops and I simply can’t find the time to write about it all…and that wouldn’t be such a big deal except ( I’m surprised to learn) that there are actually other people that are as interested in hearing about Ferris as Brian and I are.
As a parent you kind of figure that people sort of humor you when you talk endlessly about your child, but no, there are actually some of you who genuinely look forward to endless ramblings and photos and videos of the young monkey. I mean, beyond relatives… we know you look forward these. Again, I am sorry for the stagnation.
So here we go with a couple of videos!
The first one was taken, sheesh, about a month or so ago.
Ferris the army crawling fool!And this next one is recent. Ferris is well on his way to walking. He "cruises" the furniture now. Not quite 8 months yet and he's fiercly independent. It getting harder to feed him too. He'd prefer we just put food on his tray and allow him to feed himself.
A box full of toys
mobility: a parent's worst nightmare
Ferris is mobile. slow, but mobile. He has mastered the army crawl, complete with grunting. We are in big trouble.
It is wonderful to watch him reach this major milestone, but now we must worry about baby-proofing our home...
Here, see for yourself.
army crawling fool
Ferris has also developed his own style of greeting. When anyone says, "hi" to him he wrinkles his nose and grins his big, gummy grin and flails his right arm wildly in a drunken version of a circle. It's pretty fabulous.
Picnics soothe the savage beast
Today Ferris and I enjoyed our first picnic of the season….his first picnic, period.
It has been one of those days. I’ve had lots of work to do, he’s had lots of whining to do. As I was finishing up a wholesale order this morning Ferris was whining and whining and whining. In my head I am chanting “please be quiet, please be quiet, please be quiet…” to the same tempo…Okay, to be honest there might have been a mental “shut up” in there too.
Neither of us were having a great morning. Order complete, I decided to take the monkey to the park to have a picnic. I mean, isn’t that what being your own boss is all about?
I thought maybe the nice weather and change of scenery might calm him down, plus I’d get to test out new things, like grass, sand and cold water on the boy. So I dressed him up in his spiffy Brewers outfit and we headed up the hill to the park.
Normally, a person would get beat up around here for showing their allegiance to any team but the red sox….but I figured no one was going to mess with a baby…especially not one as tough and crazy as this kid. They'd totally get their asses whipped!
Anyways, the picnic was a success.
Eating outdoors? Success!
Bare feet on grass? Thrilling!
Bare feet on sand? Not so great.
Bare feet splashing in cold lake water? Fantastic!
Here’s a few pic.s of the occasion… (I’m starting to realize that I’m more like my mother than I thought. A picture of Ferris and me taken by me… It’s the only way I’ll ever have any pictures of us together. Just like it was in my family as a kid, the mommy(me) is the picture taker. Daddy, not so much.)
2 new videos and a product endorsement
So, ferris is rapidly approaching the big "6"....months! It's pretty hard for me to wrap my brain around that one. 6 months, poof! life is scary sometimes.
i wish i had more time to post videos and write about the funny little day-to-day things he does. i wish me and bri had a million dollars to put in a travel account and fly family out to see us whenever they wanted. i won't hold my breathe though.
i think we're just going to have to continue to do what we do...try to find time in the future for trips. trips and parenting and working. i miss being a kid sometimes. you don't plan anything. you don't have to schedule the next year of your life into a week here or there. you just exist and go with the flow. i'm sure that is why time moves so slowly as a child. as adults we squeeze every last drop out of time. it's exhausting...for us and for time. no wonder it just whizzes by.
ANYWAYS, the main reason i'm writing this post is to show 2 new videos of the young man. by "new" i mean a few weeks old.
first we have a small video of the monkey in the zoo. i forgot that if i recorded vertically i wouldn't be able to rotate the video for the web....so crank your necks to the left and enjoy.
happy caged monkeythis next on is of ferris sitting up by himself...maybe it would be more accurate to say "not falling over while sitting and playing"
not falling over while sitting and playingi think it's safe to say that ferris' journey in full body realization is complete. next step, mastering the body. he's working on his babbling. he does this funny happy scream that reminds me of the howard dean. it's priceless.
part 2
the product endorsement:
Some friends of ours recently introduced us to a great children's album and dvd. "they might be giants, here come the abc's"
if you have children and you actually play children's albums for them, you know that those repetitive and annoying songs have a vicious way of getting stuck in your head. you catch yourself singing while driving to the bank or the grocery store.
if any of our friends with children are reading this, you should get this album. the greatest thing about it is that it isn't really much of a departure from their usual albums. they have a sound and writing style that lends itself well to children's songs. Plus, the lyrics are slightly more intelligent than most children's songs so your brain won't turn into mushy pudding after several listens.
a sample from a personal favorite:
"c is for conifer"
"if you see a tree in the shape of an elephant,
or in the shape of a dog...
it's probably a shrub, a conifer shrub,
pruned into that shape by someone.....
most with cones for seeds. most with needles for leaves...c is for conifers, my kind of trees...."
it's not exactly profound, but a damn sight better than "baby beluga".
Although as I'm writing this he IS wailing his heart out in his crib.
