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!