Stand Up!

I don't know what took my parents so long to take this picture. I've been standing on my own for at least a month now, and they finally decided it might be nice to document this milestone! The first night I started standing alone, I would only let go of the couch for a few seconds. Then, when Mama grabbed the video camera, I had no interest in standing anymore. Lucky for her, she stood me up in the middle of the room and hurried to get the camera rolling before I sat down. That time, I stood for 40 seconds! I'm still not interested in taking any steps. I think I get around just fine, even if I'm spider-walking on all fours.

I Love Santa Claus

I love Santa. I sleep with my stuffed Santa Claus all year. I have a book about Santa, and I can even say "Ho Ho Ho!!" So, when we saw Santa in San Diego, my parents thought it would be a great time to say hello and get a picture. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I looked pretty sloppy, but one of Santa's helpers said I could sit on his lap anyway, and we could come back the next day when I was in proper attire. I sat on Santa's lap and was perfectly happy. Mama was so excited.

The next day, I got dressed and had my hair brushed, and we went back to see Santa. This time, I wasn't happy. I was screaming! Mama had to quickly tell him what I wanted for Christmas and apologize for my sudden change in attitude. I hope I didn't get moved to the naughty list!

My First Haircut

If you want your baby to stay a baby, don't give him a haircut! I grew up very fast and went from a baby to a little boy when I got my first haircut. My hair was long and shaggy in the back, and my parents just couldn't handle it anymore! We went to the barber, and after Daddy got his cut, I was next.

I was extremely well behaved. I've heard that some kids cry, but I don't know why. It doesn't hurt! I ate some snacks and tried to hold still while the barber cut my hair. Mommy collected some to keep in a baggy. I looked older immediately!

From shaggy to clean cut!

Gobble Gobble

I didn't gobble any food on Thanksgiving. I just wasn't in the mood, which is too bad, because my parents tell me I would have loved it. At least I looked good!

San Diego Part 3 - Home Away From Home

My mommy spent her childhood living in San Diego, so it has always felt like home to her. She hopes we get to visit often enough that it starts to feel like home to me, too! Here I am with her in front of the house she grew up in. We miss you, San Diego!

San Diego Part 2 - The Zoo

While we were in San Diego, we visited the world-famous San Diego Zoo! We went with our friends Tom, Anne and Jack. I love reading books about animals, so it was really cool to see the exotic creatures in real life!

I saw flamingos, bears, tigers, elephants, giraffes, zebras, monkeys, chimpanzees, meerkats, pandas, rhinos, hippos, and a bunch of other animals. My favorite animals were definitely the tigers. I watched them playing with each other as they ran around on their hill. I was smiling and growling at them! It was so exciting!

I think the zoo will be even more fun when I'm a little older.

San Diego Part 1 - The Beach

We took another trip to San Diego... we just can't stay away! This time, we went to the beach at the Naval Station on Coronado Island. Mama and Daddy thought I was probably still too little to really enjoy it. Boy, were they ever wrong!

We started out in the dry sand. I liked it and only tried to eat it once. Then we moved to the wet sand. That was fun, too. Then to the water... that's where I really started having fun! I crawled all over the place. I was splashing and watching the waves. It was great!

A not-so-big wave came, and it was a couple inches higher than the others had been, so it caught me off guard and knocked me over! I was totally under the water - just for a split second - until Mama saved me. Believe it or not, I wasn't scared! I didn't even cry. I was a little shocked by being immersed in that cold water, though! I had sand stuck all over my face!

Here I am playing in the water with Daddy. I started crawling out too far, so I had to have a little supervision in the deeper waters! It was so fun.

What a great day at the beach. I really hope I don't have to wait too long before we can go back!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I celebrated my first birthday with my family. We had a yummy Italian dinner, and then it was time for cake! Mommy made a chiffon cake with sprinkles just for me, and she made a coconut "spaghetti & meatballs" cake, too. My hat gave me the heebie-jeebies, so that's why I'm not wearing it in any more pictures!

My cakes!

After everyone sang "Happy Birthday", I was supposed to blow out my candle, but I wanted to grab the flame, so Mommy blew it out and let me go to town on my cake. I dug my hands in (causing major destruction), but I had no interest in tasting the cake. Mommy had to force some into my mouth!

The sugary stuff was pretty good, but I didn't go wild for it like everyone thought I would.

After a bath, I got to open presents! I got lots of fun toys, books and clothes. I can't wait for next November 11th!

One Year Old

I'm a whole year old! I celebrated my first birthday on November 11. I'll tell you more about it later. I'm changing and learning new things so fast. My parents can hardly remember what I was like a year ago. My favorite food - tomatoes. My favorite thing to do at home - read books. I love to be outside. I love playing with other kids (especially my cousins). I love to growl and hiss when I see animals. I can stand for a few seconds without holding on. I'll squint at you if you squint at me first. I'm getting better at handing over things I find on the floor instead of eating them. I'm very good at crawling up the stairs, but I have no idea how to get down. I love being chased. I laugh when I'm tickled. I love sleeping with my pumpkin. I love being a big boy!

My 12-month stats:

Height: 29 1/2 inches (25th-50th percentile)

Weight: 20 pounds 2 ounces (10th-25th percentile)

Almost One

A year ago today was my due date - November 4th. Does that mean I'm technically a year old? I don't think they should make me wait another week for cake!

My First Halloween

It was the best of Halloweens; it was the worst of Halloweens. Best because it was my first, and I got to spend it with family, and worst because I was the ONLY trick-or-treater in my neighborhood!! Only 2 houses were giving out candy that we could find. Pathetic.
My cousins came over for lunch. Mommy and Daddy made chili, cornbread, tombstone brownies and witches' brew! After we ate, I got into the candy (no one thought I could reach) and started eating some Rolos, including the foil wrapper. Then when Mama was distracted by carving our pumkins, I snuck over to the trash can and started eating pumpkin guts. I had 3 seeds in my mouth when I got caught. We're all lucky I didn't choke!

After we attempted to trick-or-treat in our ghost-town neighborhood, we decided to go over to Uncle Marco & Aunt Mere's. I rode in Uncle Marco's golf cart and then on a hay ride with my cousins. I did a little trick-or-treating there before I ran out of steam. I saw some spooky costumes and decked-out houses. It was great fun.

Pumpkin Patch Kids

After hearing Mommy tell me about pumpkins for months, I finally got to see some! I went to the pumpkin patch with lots of my relatives (Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Tini, Chad - not related, Aunt Michelle, Aunt Mere, Uncle Marco, and my cousins Marlee & Mia. Mackenna was busy sipping non-champagne in a limo!) Anyway, I played in the hay and licked a bunch of dirty gourds while Mommy snapped pictures and Daddy picked out 4 nice pumpkins to take home. I wasn't really into sitting on the scratchy hay until Uncle Marco gave me a piece of it to chew on, then I didn't seem to mind. This was the first year this particular pumpkin patch was open for business, so it wasn't full of pumpkins like Mommy expected, but they gave all their profits to some local soccer teams, so I was happy to help!

Let There Be Light!

My first word is LIGHT! Actually, I say "ight". I just spit it out one day, a few weeks ago. I get very excited about seeing lights, and when someone flips the switch, I look up at the light with a big smile and say "ight! ight! ight!" Even when we're reading stories, and it mentions something about light, I always interrupt to look up and say "ight! ight! ight!" before letting the story continue. Although I've been able to say "Mama" and "Dada" for a while, I finally know what I mean when I say "Dada". When Mama and I are playing, and I hear the garage door open, I immediately say "Dada!" and start crawling over to see him! Or, if Mama shows me a picture of my daddy, I'll say "Dada!" If she shows me a picture of herself, I just give a blank stare. I'm sure "Mama" is coming soon, along with lots of other new words!

Eleven Months Old

Eleven down, one to go until I get cake!! Mommy & Daddy say it's crazy, but it's just life to me! I am getting older and wiser by the minute! I'm faster than ever. Turn your back, and you're likely to turn around to find me halfway up a flight of stairs, eating something disgusting off the floor, or just gone - out of sight! I like to walk around the coffee table and couches while holding on with both hands. I'm faster and have better coordination, but I'm still not ready to try it without support. I have 6 teeth now, which helps me to eat lots of grown-up food. I haven't had much baby food at all lately, and I'm doing pretty well! No more bottles, either. Even though I only started using them a month ago, they're gone. I'm starting to talk, too, but I'll tell you more about that in another post. My hair is longer, my body is longer and slimmer... I'm definitely morphing from a baby to a boy. A little sad, I know, but always exciting!

SoCal

After a too-short visit to San Francisco, we hopped on a plane and flew down to San Diego to have more California fun! I was so excited to visit Uncle Sean. I hardly ever get to see him. We drove up to Palm Desert together. We visited with friends who used to live in Wichita. Mommy used to be Jaxon & Jensen's babysitter! It was really nice visiting with the boys, Harvey & Missy at dinner and at church.

There were so many new things to see in Southern California. Although I didn't make it to the beach, I saw the raw beauty of the desert as we were driving in, lots of palm trees, and I got to meet some geese at our hotel!

It's extremely hot in the desert. Even though it's a dry heat, it's almost too hot to be outside for a minute! We cooled off by swimming at the hotel.

Here I am looking quite handsome (or at least that's what they tell me) at the wedding.

The main reason for our trip to California was to attend Shadi & Monique's wedding. It was a really fun reception. I'm so glad I was included! The view of the desert was amazing, and I had a blast dancing to the Arabic music! Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Hanna!

In San Diego, we were able to visit with some Navy friends whom we met in Sicily. The first friends we visited were Tom, Anne and Jack. I had never met them because I was still in Mama's tummy when Tom used to come over to watch Lost with Daddy. Back then, I had no choice but to listen to America's Next Top Model with my mommy while the guys had their fun downstairs! Ugh! It was fun having dinner with them in San Diego. Mommy and Daddy had never met Jack before then. He is 6 months older than I am. After dinner, we met Bryan for dessert. I remembered meeting him a few times before. It was nice to see him again. It's fun making friends in the Navy. You end up knowing people all over the world!

San Francisco

I finally took my first trip to the Bay Area! We spent most of our time with family, but we stopped in the city for a bit to see some sights. I saw the sea lions at Pier 39, the Golden Gate Bridge and a great view of the city from Marin. I had fun meeting Grammy and Nana, some great aunts & uncles, and a few 2nd and 3rd cousins. San Francisco and its surrounding areas are some of my mommy's favorite places in the world, so I'm sure I'll get to explore it again soon!

They're GREAT!

The best part of my trip to California was getting to meet my great-grandmothers for the first time! I'm the first great-grandchild on my Papa's side of the family, and the 4th great-grandson on my Oma's side!

Here I am with Grammy. She's my Papa's mother. Her name is Mary O'Callaghan. She lives in San Rafael, which is in Marin County. That's just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. She made me laugh by making silly faces at me.
Here I am with Nana, my Oma's mother. Her name is Evelyn Linane. She lives in Santa Rosa. That's in Sonoma County, which is famous for being part of California's wine country. She played her dancing gorilla for me over and over, until I fell asleep in her lap!

Loo-a-vull

If you live there, that's how you pronounce Louisville. We took a family trip there to go to our friend's wedding. Before the festivities started, I went downtown with Mommy & Daddy to check it out. I met the former mayor of the city - he was sitting very still on a bench. As you can see from the picture, he looks nice enough, but he didn't say a word! We took a tour of the Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum where they make all the famous baseball bats! I got to see one that used to belong to Babe Ruth, among other bats of baseball greats. I also got to see what a 90 mph fastball looks like when it's pitched. Whoa! It looks a lot faster in real life! The man at the museum gave me my own mini bat to take home! (That's not it pictured below.)

Mandy and Constantine were so kind (and brave) to invite me to their wedding! I was a very good boy. I also got to spend Auntie Ney's birthday with her!

Congratulations, Mandy & Const! Happy birthday, Auntie!

Baby Sam

Meet my new little cousin! Sam is actually my 2nd cousin. My daddy and Sam's daddy (Clayton) are first cousins. Sam lives in Indianapolis, so Mommy & Daddy took me there to meet him.

Samuel Elias Farhood is just 6 weeks old in these pictures. He's very tiny. Mommy & Daddy tell me I was once that small, but I don't believe them! How is it possible that I was that size just 10 months ago? They also say they've already forgotten much of what it was like to have a newborn baby. Baby Sam refreshed their memories. I'm so glad I was able to visit Sam, and I can't wait until he comes to visit me in Oklahoma!

I was very gentle with Sam, which is funny because I don't seem to know how to be gentle with my parents. I'm into biting lately - shoulders are my favorite. I also have razor-sharp fingernails, so Baby Sam is lucky he caught me at a rare calm moment!

Ten Months Old

I'm into the double digits! 10 months old and quickly approaching a birthday! As exciting as it is for me to hit these milestones and to learn new things, mommy wishes I would stay a baby a little while longer. I think Daddy is ready for me to grow up so he has a buddy to take to OU football games! As you can see, my top teeth make me look a lot older, and my hair is getting longer. I'm quick when I crawl, and I will pull up on anything! I'm slowly being introduced to big-boy foods, but I still prefer the purees. I'll take some steps if you hold both my hands. My balance control still isn't good enough to stand on my own. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm running all over the place, though!

Chicago

After two months of not seeing my friends, I had had enough! Mommy and I went to Chicago to see Auntie Bekah, Auntie Gayle, Vince and Theo. They're all from the Chicago area and were visiting from Italy. Chicago is a great city! We had so much fun. We went to the top of the Hancock building for an awesome view, visited a nature museum, went to Millennium Park, and of course, we did some shopping. I loved being in my stroller on the busy streets of Chicago. I saw lots of tall buildings, people and taxis. If only Oklahoma were so exciting...

My new surroundings inspired and motivated me to get moving - I started crawling on my knees and pulling up while we were in Chicago. There were so many things to see and do!

The Bean at Millennium Park is fun - I saw my reflection and thought it was pretty funny.

Auntie Bekah played with me in the water at the park. It was so cool! They have big faces on either end of the water area, and water comes out of the mouths. It would be even more fun if mommy would have let me loose!

I probably qualify for free drinks for life at O'Callaghan's Pub. Unfortunately, I don't have a fake ID, so I wasn't allowed inside.