An Important Announcement...

I've been a little lax about posting, what with preparing for Christmas and all... it's funny, though... I keep hearing about how Santa and his reindeer will climb down the chimney on Christmas Eve to deliver all of our presents. First of all, we don't have a chimney; secondly, most of our gifts seem to be coming by UPS and the postal service. Oh well, maybe Santa is trying to streamline his operation.

On to my big news: I turned 6 months old this past Saturday!! My half-birthday passed without much fanfare, just a nice, relaxing day. I thought it was about time that I post some more compare and contrast pictures, to show just how much I have grown. This picture was taken when I was exactly 1 month old:

Even laying down, my little feet didn't reach the end of my tub, and my washcloth easily covered my hips. Check me out now:

Pretty soon, that little monkey washcloth just isn't going to be enough!

I still spend lots and lots of time trying to figure things out... here I am staring intently at my hands:

My hands have been getting me into some trouble lately, when it comes to sleeping. I have gotten really good at taking my binky out of my mouth, but I'm not quite as adept at getting it back in. Mommy May is starting to train me to put myself to sleep, rather than being rocked, which is fine, except that I keep pulling out binky and then fussing. Hopefully, in a few more weeks, when I can pop it back in, things will settle down.

Last, but certainly not least, I am big enough now to sit up in the shopping cart when I run errands with Mommy May!! We don't have a good picture yet, but we'll keep working on it. All Mommy May has to do is strap me in and then give me a book to read. I love books more and more everyday! Here I am reading to Daddy May:

I hope everyone has a great Christmas (or whatever tradition you celebrate)!!

Clownin' Around...

I have learned to laugh. Full-on belly laughs and squeals. Mommy May says it's the sound of pure joy. It's still pretty new to me, and, so far, only Daddy May knows the secret to getting me to laugh. Try as they might, I refused to laugh for the camera, so you'll have to settle for me being cheeky yet again:

Daddy May and I were embarrassed to be caught wearing the exact same outfit, so we hid from the camera. Hmm... I think Daddy May and I need to rethink our strategy:

And, because I know you can't get enough, another look of complete and total suprise:

I pretty much have that one perfected, no?

Evan Almighty...

Prepare to be amazed, because I am on a roll!! Every day, I get stronger, more aware, and better with my hands.... just look at this picture Nani took the other day:
I've been working on grabbing my baba for a while now, but I only just learned how to hold it up myself.

I also posted recently about my new foot fetish. I have been working feverishly on learning how to suck on my toe. Here's a close but no cigar:

And... Eureka!!

Boy, that felt good! But I have more intellectual pursuits, as well. Who says Mommy and Daddy May have to read to me every day? It's so much more satisfying to read to myself:

Being brilliant sure is exhausting... I make sure to take plenty of breaks:

Well, that's it for now. Only 15 days till Christmas--can you believe it?!

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch Mommy May

Today was kind of a funny day. It started out all right, at least on my part, but I got the feeling Mommy and Daddy May weren't very happy with me. I am a big believer in early to bed, early to rise. That makes Saturday and Sunday mornings a little challenging for us, since I'm ready to get up and play at 5:30 am, while Mommy and Daddy May really want to get some more sleep. The struggle generally goes on for an hour or two; then, just when Mommy and Daddy May throw in the towel and decide to get up, I go down for my first nap of the day :-)

Once we were all up, it was playtime!! I got to spend some time in my jumper before we headed out for errands. Mommy and Daddy May have been toying with the idea of getting a picture of me with Santa (who I hear is a really nice chubby guy in a red suit), so, just in case, they got me dolled up. I was less than amused when I found out I was wearing antlers:

We went out and ran our errands, and we actually did come across Santa, but he was ducking out the back of the store. Apparently, there was some sort of emergency at the North Pole.

While we were out, we went for a quick bite to eat, and I got mistaken for a girl yet again. It happens more often than we would like. I know I'm pretty, but do I really look like a little girl?!

We came home and had a pretty nice afternoon, and we all had a nice, long, family nap. Then we just hung out and played, until Mommy and Daddy May got a little too silly for my taste. At first I tried to wait patiently for Mommy May to get done and give me a little space:

When she kept playing, I had to get a little more vocal:

No means no, Mommy May! I forgave her a few minutes later, of course... I even gave her extra hugs and kisses at bedtime, so she would know that I could never stay mad at her.

I Only Open my Mouth to Change Feet...

I am having a blast with my newest playthings... my feet!! Now, I've always had feet; I just never really noticed them before. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about how I've gotten really good at holding my feet up into the air. I have since graduated to grabbing them:

The ultimate goal, of course, is to suck on those sweet little piggies. That part is still a challenge at this point, though I did manage to get my toe into my mouth once. I also started to chew on the adorable slippers Uncle Trav got me, until Mommy May intervened and took them off.

More to come soon on my adventures in footsie. For now, I will sign off with a photo of me & Monkey, hanging around. I spend a good amount of time like this, sitting up and playing and watching Mommy May doing mommy-type things, like folding laundry and picking up:

Not so Fast...

In addition to the ongoing commentary around my adorableness--no, really, people literally stop us on the street to tell Mommy and Daddy May that I am beautiful--everyone is also surprised to see how grown up I look for a 5-month-old. Obviously, my size must be a factor, but I think it might also be my slick fashion sense. I make being a boy look good:

By the way, that red t-shirt was a gift from my Tía Indira, who lives in Costa Rica but bought me the shirt on her honeymoon in Paris. That shirt is even more of a world traveler than I am. ¡Muchas gracias, Ina y Ernesto!

Here is another picture of me, aptly titled Ballin':

Don't get me wrong, though, I am still a sweet little baby at heart!! Check me out giving Nani a big, sloppy, open-mouthed kiss:

If I could lay one of those wet, slobbery kisses on all y'all, I would... cause that's how much I love ya!!