Halloween Week

Well, the posts are getting fewer and further between but they still keep coming. Hadden has had lots of fun since we got back from Zurich. Various family activities, parties, etc. have kept him busy including his new trike. He loves bicycles ("BI-YEEK!") and, by association, trikes. He's pretty stoked to be riding his own trike (even though he doesn't peddal). We got one that has a removable handle and a free-wheeling drive wheel so we can push him about town.

TRIKE!

We also geared him up for winter at REI (new jacket, fleece, gloves, pants). Do All the stuff from last winter was too small. these things ever stop growing? Let's see...new skills since last time:

• Words, words, words. He knows bunches and bunches and a good chunk in Spanish thanks to Angela's help. Some of the better ones: "ah-ti-tee" for "excavator" and the array of Spanish animals (rana, oso, leon, mono, buho, ante, elephante, vaca, gallina, etc.).


• Jumping. Not quite yet. HE thinks he can jump ("salta" in Spanish) but still really no official air time.


• Dancing. Not yet ready to list this as a "skill". More like an "interest". He certainly goes crazy with just about any music.


• Watching baseball/football. He knows that the TV room is where we watch baseball/football. "Watch bee-ball?" he says.

We have become the snobby yuppies that teach their child a foreign language when he's one year old. The other day at REI he was whining for water by, of course, saying "auga, auga, auga..." when the cashier noticed (while ringing up over $100 worth of Hadden clothes) and asked, "Is he saying 'agua'?" (rather surprised). So, pretty annoying (uppity couple spending bucks on a 18 month old anglo kid who speaks Spanish). In defense of his "normaldom" he also likes french fries, running around the TV room with a waste paper basket over his head, and screaming "FOOTBALL!" when I turn the TV on to a football game.

Hadden has also started "Zoom" (http://www.zoomlanguage.com/) Spanish language classes twice a week (1 hour each) at a local place. Basically a bunch of toddlers run around singing and dancing in Spanish. Not bad. Wendy believes he is the cutest and smartest kid in the class - not an unlikely conclusion for a grandmother. Angela also believes it - again, not an unlikely conclusion for a nanny. Hadden seems to enjoy the class so at this rate he will have had more foreign language training than me by the time he hits 3 years old. Good for Hadden.

Grandpa reads about CAT heavy machinery. Awesome!

This last week my Dad, known to Hadden as "grandma" despite our best efforts to get him to pronounce "grandpa", was in town for 2 Husky games and to see Hadden. Hadden had lots of fun playing with "grandma". We went to a pumpkin patch/petting farm, UW women's volleyball game, out to breakfast and read loads of books and learned bunches about everything from dump trucks to how to rake leaves in a chicken costume. We also went trick-or-treating on Greenwood Avenue near our house on Saturday when all the local businesses were giving out candy. It didn't take Hadden long to understand that every place he went there was someone who wanted to give him something. He didn't really know it was candy but that didn't stop him from returning to the same person over and over again. "No Hadden, only one..." had no meaning to him. He was pretty stoked to wear the costume - especially the orange tights, which we called "big socks". He's really into categorizing the size of everything he sees. Unfortunately, he's really only got two categories: big and tiny. There is no small, extra large, medium or anything else.

Amazing Chicken feat #1: gets candy handouts for Halloween!

Amazing chicken feat #2: flies! (sort of)

Amazing chicken feat #3: rakes leaves?

Lastly, we bought a couple of pumpkins over the last couple of weeks. Once at the supermarket and one at the pumpkin patch/petting farm in Lynnwood. Hadden LOVES pumpkins - we have to stop at every display and categorize them by size. Also, any pumpkin on the ground warrants an "uh-oh". At the pumpkin patch there were lots of "uh-oh"s. I'll include a pumpkin photo next time.

steve

Back from World Tour

Well,

We recently got back from a week-long trip to Zurich (16-24 August) with the whole extended family (Hadden, Yvonne, Steve and Wendy). I finally had a cool place to go to give a presentation so everyone went. The flight over was 10 hours to Amsterdam and another hour to Zurich. We all dreaded it with Hadden but he did quite well. Yvonne wanted to give him a grade of "A+" on the way over but she's too much of a pushover - grades her own kid soft. I gave him a solid "B". Not bad for 10 hours in his parents' laps. Wendy met us in Zurich and I did 3 days of conference stuff while the other 3 toured around Zurich each day. Hadden got quite used to the stroller and the cobblestone streets of the old parts of Zurich. I never really did get used to the $6.00 lattes there (the exchange rate is not kind - even in Switzerland where they are still on the Swiss Franc).

The first afternoon Yvonne was showing Hadden the trams there (they are everywhere and always on time) and telling him about the "baum-baum" sound they make as they clack across the track crossovers. So now Hadden calls all trains (and trams) "baum-baums" or, if you prefer the alternate spelling, "bom-boms". Luckily our hotel room was about 12 floors up and looked directly down on the Orlikon train station so Hadden loved to get up in the morning and press against the glass and watch all the bom-boms. He was very nice and even said "goodbye" to the bom-boms as they left the station.

After a first day where Hadden whined the entire time mom and grandma (hereafter known as "Nona") stopped for a glass of while (the nerve of some kids) they/we learned the routine. Stroll around the city until Hadden falls asleep and then go directly to the nearest liquor merchant and order a drink. Then you can enjoy your afternoon glass of wine while your child/grandchild sleeps. Brilliant. Speaking of sleeping, Hadden seemed to do quite a bit of that in Zurich and surrounding area. He may not remember Zurich when he's older and it may be because he was too young to remember but it may be because he slept through most of it.

Hadden enjoys Zurich.

We went to a bunch of "Strasses" (streets) and some where famous (Niederdorfstrasse, Banhoffstrasse). Saw a handful of "Munsters" (churches) - one had some Chagall windows - took a boat cruise around part of Zurichsee (Lake Zurich), went up to a high overlooking spot (Uetliberg), took a bom-bom to Lucerne for the day and took a bom-bom to Rheinfall (waterfall on the Rhine - who knew). I'm not sure Hadden know he was actually on a bom-bom but he certainly recognized the other bom-boms at the station (and the vacas (cows - Spanish) along the tracks as we traveled along).

We also found out what bus you should take if you have beans (or broccoli, etc.) for lunch:

Yvonne says that once when they were changing Hadden in the park his Schlomdingerplatz was showing. Always change your son's diapers as soon as you hear the fahrtenpoopen in der liederhosen. The German language can be really funny if you don't speak it. Oddly, all the cool nightclubs and bars were on Niederdorfstrasse.

Hadden's two favorite things at Rheinfalls (the big waterfall on the Rhine River). Not what you think they would be. The winners were: chain and coin operated horse (see pictures below). Not sure he saw the falls.

Chain is soooo fun to swing around. What waterfall?

An 8,000 mile round-trip to uber (that's German, I think) - expensive Europe so we can see...a coin operated horse. Note that it is a Mexican horse with a barrel of tequila on its rump...in Switzerland. I think it cost something like CHF 2 (about $2) for about 30 seconds of "fun". Well worth it according to Hadden. We could have totally spent those CHF 2 on 1/4 of a latte instead.

New Skills?
I'm kind of losing track here because they're coming quite fast:

• Many more words. Favorites of the trip: bom-bom (okay, not a word but it is to Hadden), vaca (Spanish word, nothing to do with Switzerland and Shhhhhh (for being quite in the hotel hallways).
• Running faster. I guess you could call it running although I think his "run" may still qualify for the race-walk Olympic event.
• Jumping higher. Sort of. I've seen him get air under both feet at the same time a couple of times but you'd have to have a mightly thin sheet of paper to slip it under his feet in the millisecond he's "airborne".
• Pointing out everyone's name: mommy, daddy, Nona, Angela, etc.
• Mine! - all related concepts and words.
• Listening to music. Not sure what he likes yet - mostly dance stuff or up-tempo stuff. But he does move to the music and asks for "more" when it stops.

That's it for now.

steve

Mid-Summer Classic

Hey all,

Again, long time no blog. It's finally the middle of summer and the fun rolls on. Since the last post, we camped, we've been to Hawaii for a week, done some berry picking and currently have Cousin Cole over with Aunty Leslie for a month. First a list of new skills:

• Running...sort of. I classify running as moving fast enough to have both feet off the ground at the same time. I think that happens now. If not, Hadden's really close.


• More words. They are coming at a faster rate now. Hadden tends to use only one syllable and drop the last consenant sound, which is pretty typical. Favorite newer words: BA-ba (flapjacks...meaning pancakes), boat (with the "t" sound, meaning boat most of the time), Go (goat), DAW-di (doggie), DUH-tuh (dumptruck), vaca (Spanish for cow), awa (agua), pa-ta (pasta), pi-ta (pizza).


• Understanding. He knows lots of words and phrases. Things like "put it back" and "bring the dumptruck over here" and stuff like that. Also, he points to the sky every time he hears or sees an airplane and totally grooves on the garbage truck on Wednesday mornings.


• Babble. Nonstop. Wish I knew what it meant.


• Jumping? No way. Auntie Michelle introduced him to jumping in Hawaii by going "ribbit" and then leaping like a frog. He swings his arms and tries to get the upward momentum going but I don't even think Hadden's heels leave the ground let alone his feet. Give him time.

Camping
We went camping (just the 3 of us) in the middle of June at a far-away place called Federal Way (if you're familiar with the Seattle area you recognize the humor - it's in the middle of urban Puget Sound just south of the Seatac airport). A little state park called Dash Point. Actually, it was great. Surrounded by trees it felt like the middle of the forest. During the day we visited the beach there (not at all like a Hawaii beach) and then went to Tacoma's Point Definance Park where we visited the combo Zoo-Aquarium. Lots of fun for all. Camping was great as Hadden walked all over the campsite and tore down the road between campsites as well. The blow-up mattress in our 4-person mansion tent (no roughing it now that we have a kid) was more like a moonwalk experience for Hadden so it was hard to get him to settle down in the tent at night. He also had a number of favorite sticks...which is really what makes camping worth while.

Yes, I have a stick and a spatula. Got a problem with that?

Hawaii Trip

Went to Hawaii for 17-24 June. I flew with Hadden on the 17th and Yvonne came 2 days later (no reast for the weary at Microsoft). We stayed at the Michelle/Andrews/Kash/Haze rental house near Kailua Beach and went over to my parents' every day. Pools at both houses and lots of fun with cousins, aunties, grandparents, uncles and great-grandmothers. At first Hadden was afraid of the shorebreak but after about 15 minutes he was used to it. Now we work to keep him from diving head first into the pool/ocean when we are not looking. No fear. Hadden became a hugging monster as he really got into trying to hug his cousin Haze. He would follow her around and repeatedly bear hug her (in a nice way). Nice work "baby cheese" (see prior posts for the reasoning behind that nickname).

Pasty-white Seattle Surfer Dude

Grandpa helping Hadden pick a Hibiscus for Mom(ie)

Other general fun

Went raspberry picking last weekend with the extended clan (Hadden, Steve, Yvonne, Leslie, Cole, Sara, Nels, Gabe, Joanna, Karen, Chris/Bug). Despite the net-negative berry presence of Cole and Hadden the Steve-Leslie-Yvonne team got about 40 lbs. Hadden made a complete mess of himself by sitting in the dirt and getting raspberry juice on his hat, legs, pants, and shirt (combined with the dirt). Apart from preventing him from stepping in the box of freshly picked raspberries Hadden was easy to care for there. Also had to keep him from grabbing/eating the berries that had been on the ground for a week already. A bit overripe.

The extended family on a 5th of July picnic at the Woodland Park Zoo

Days at the park are fun too. Our favorites now are Greenlake (they have a terrific wading pool that is apparently heated by pee given the number of kids in there), Greenwood (close to the house), and Ballard Commons (they have a water feature there). Hadden loves to steal other kid's balls or anything else they're not actively defending.

Hadden also got his first haircut last month just before Hawaii. It was a bit traumatic and it cost more than my haircut. Probably not paying $25 for a 1-year old haircut again. However, he looks more boy-like now with the shorter hair. I guess that's good but he's stil the same guy - just looks less like a balding 50-year-old with long hair.

There was a stint of about 3 weeks where Hadden enjoyed crapping in the shower but thankfully that's over (no pictures this section). Nobody at the rental house needs to know about that. We bought a trainer poddy and put it in our shower on the advice of Sandy, our neighbor and mother of 2 toddler twins, thinking that if he tried to crap again in the shower we'd just sit him on the crapper. Perhaps he'll learn to crap on the throne that way. Later on we'll teach him that most houses don't have a tidy-bowl in the shower. "Hadden, what did you do? Oh, crap (literally). DON'T TOUCH IT!"

Leslie/Cole here

Auntie Leslie and Cousin Cole are here for about a month. This is great because Hadden gets to meet C-diddy. Coleman is 4 months old and he and Hadden are fascinated by each other. We are constantly reminding Hadden "gentle" when touching Cole but sometimes he manages to throw collanders, lotion bottles, etc. at him when we are not on our game. Cole is unhurt...so far. Luckily Hadden's aim really sucks - can't hit a 4-month-old from 6 inches. Probably a good thing.

Auntie Leslie and Cousin Cole enjoying a fountain

That's all for now,

steve

Bigger and Better

Hi there,

It's been almost 2 months since the last post. Lots of stuff has happened. Hadden is now well over 1 year old and he LOVES to walk and play. New skills:

• He can still walk - just much better now. Even with his hands down at his side like a "big person"...or a person who's not drunk.
• With the babbling he really "brings it" now. Many more sounds, phonemes (is that right?), etc. Still, unintelligible though.
• He has taken eating to the "next level". He eats just about anything now and if you are eating anything he gets real cranky until you give him some. Yesterday he had oranges, an avacado, scrambled eggs and flapjacks for breakfast...which is what we had too. If there was a contest for speed eating like that Coney Island hot dog one then I would put money on Hadden. He's fast.
• Showers. Hadden loves showers and pretty much hates baths. So, he gets a shower every day. Luckily, we have a shower with two heads in it so it's a family thing. This will have to change as he gets into his teens.

Now, on to the parties. First, he had a small party on his birthday (12 April 2008) in the back yard. It was a glorious 75F that day (first warm day in the spring) so we had dinner on the back patio. Hadden had a special birthday cake made from a recipe in an organic baby cookbook. Thus, it had no sugar, frosting made from yogurt and lots of carrots. Nonetheless, he loved it (see picture below).

Hadden pounds his birthday cake. "BEEFCAKE"!

Wendy was there and Donald stopped by too. All in all, a great day. We also got him one of those tow-behind bike chariots (actually, it's a Burley) and we went to Woodland Park that day too. He has to wear a bike helmet in this thing and he looks rather funny (see below).

Hadden tricked out for the bike ride

After that, Grandpa and Grandma Muench came over for a visit at the end of April for birthday #2 (we celebrate a lot here in Seattle). The weather was fine if not spectacular and it was wonderful to see everyone together. We will be back out in Hawaii in June for a week to visit them and Auntie Michelle, Uncle Andrew and Cousins Haze and Kash. Hadden, with his super pale white skin, will need LOTS of sunscreen.


Birthday celebration #3 was at the beginning of May when we had a pool party at the Ballard Pool. You can reserve the pool (and then the outside area for cake for the next hour) on the weekend there. Bunch of folks came with kids in tow. The kids had a great time in the shallow end and the adults had about as much fun on the water slide and rope swing in the deep end. Usually, at a kid's party it's the kids going off the rope swing - not here. Most all the kids were too young to use the rope swing but all the adults were old enough. Glad to see it didn't go to waste.

With Autie Sara, Uncle Matt and Cousin Gabe in the pool.

This last week (10=20 May 2008) Yvonne went to Europe for 10 days and left the boys home to fend for themselves. Yvonne will find out later that it's always a risk to leave the house to a couple of boys for 10 days. Luckily, everything went fine. I brought Hadden to a couple of my softball games (two nice grandmother ladies took care of him while played) and Angela and Wendy also helped. Hadden had brisket that week and loved it. We went to Bainbridge Island to stay at Wendy's on Saturday and went to the beach, park and pool (a full day even if you are not a 1-year old). Hadden loved the sandy/rocky beach, ran around at the park (it was 90F that day - whew) and swam around in the great Bainbridge pool that has a kiddie pool, hot tub, water slide, lazy river, 6-inch shallow end, rope swing, diving board, basketball hoop and water sprayer. Hadden didn't really nap that day but slept well that night once he actually fell asleep (techincally, after both Wendy and Steve fell asleep: Hadden = 1, Wendy/Steve = 0). All went well while Yvonne was gone save for the time Hadden "dropped a deuce" in our shower while I wasn't looking. He loves to shower these days so we do that instead of a bath. It's all cleaned up now so no worries.

Running around at Battle Point park on Bainbridge.

Yvonne is back now and the beat goes on. Yeseterday: Bainbridge and a return trip to the pool, today: the park. Also, we got to watch the new Indy Jones movie today while Angela watched Hadden this afternoon. Not bad. I kept hearing the loud THX sounds in the theater and thinking they were too loud for Hadden but had to remind myself that he wasn't there.

That's all for now,

steve

I can walk!

It's been a while since the last entry but since not many people ever read this my tardiness won't have much of an impact. Since Mom's birthday in February Hadden has continued to...eat. A lot. New skills or at least things he does now that he didn't do 1.5 months ago:

• Walk. That's a big one. I guess he started towards the beginning of March taking a few unsupported steps but he's up to walking around the house now. Pretty much this is Hadden's favorite activity anywhere. He still lerches around like a "drunken sailor" (as Yvonne says) but he get's from here to there. Importantly, he's pretty good at always falling on his butt when he does lose his balance.
• Babble and possibly talk. He babbles much more now and we are debating whether to call at least some of it actual "talk". Our criteria is that he recognizes something (without our prompting) and then calls it by name. The word actually has to be an English word (Spanish is OK too) and not some cute "baby-ese" for something. He seems to have said "Da-da" and "Dad-dy" to me a few times so perhaps this counts? He definitely recognizes words and attempts to say some of them. I'd say "Titita" (dimunitive Spanish for "bottle") is a definite. He just has trouble pronouncing "titita".
• Point and ask "da-da?" I guess he's asking something like "what's that?" or at least that's what we theorize. He likes to point at trees right now.
• Giving. He likes to give you whatever he's holding. I suppose it's thrilling to decode at least a bit of human social behavior ("if I offer it, you take it"). However, I'm told later in his life he will not want to give anyone anything. So we'll enjoy it now.
• Stacking. Given the chance and proper motivation Hadden will stack 2 or 3 blocks on top of one another. He still vasty prefers to knock things over (and bang things together).
• Stair climbing. He has climbed our stairs from the living room to upstairs. Twice supervised and once unsupervised (oops). He does not wish to decend yet, just ascend.

Hadden also tends to eat or at least want to eat just about everything. Just in the last few days he's tried pulled pork sandwich, coleslaw, a peanut butter shake, waffles, hot dog bun, a short stack (he ate all 3 pancakes), his own shoes, cat food, cat hair lint, tangerines, newspaper, snap peas, blueberries (about 30 at one sitting) and anything else you leave within arms reach (which is now a much longer reach since he can walk).

Over my spring break (last week) we went to Scottsdale, AZ to visit Uncle Ron (my brother). We stayed at the resort he works at and got a great deal - loads of fun. They had two pools including one that had a faux beach and water slide. Hadden enjoyed playing in the sand and pool every day. He's quite fair-skinned so lots of sunscreen and a shorty sun suit were in order. Conveniently, he got up each day at 7am (ugh) so he was out at the pool by 8am meaning he could get some quality time in before the prime burning hours of 10-2. Hadden also saw 2 spring training games (Dodgers vs. KC in Surprise and Dodgers vs. Brewers in Maryvale). Not sure he know there was a game going on but he seems to have enjoyed it. Next year we will have to make it a greater family event (perhaps Grandparents, etc. and even cousin Cole).

Ron, Hadden and Steve at the Dodgers-Brewers game

Hadden in vacation garb "walking" with Yvonne.

Until next time...Steve.

Happy Birthday Mom! (by Hadden)

I (Steve) will do a bit of liberal translation of Hadden's thoughts since mostly he says things like, "Bwee, bwee, bwee" and "Ah-yee-ah". I'm sure he means something but we're never sure exactly what it is. Mostly we interpret it as permutations of "hungry", "tired", happy, sad and frustrated.

Well, Mom is 40 years old this month (on the 19th to be excact). Surprisingly, this has not changed my outlook on life much. Still pretty much overeating, crying when I'm tired and getting in to things I'm not supposed to. First, let's list my skills (hey, this is MY blog) that are new this month:

• Crawling. That's a big one. Mom and Dad say that I crawl like a crab (I refuse to touch my left knee to the ground) but what do they know - I'm their first kid. Anyway, I leared how and Aunt Stephie and Uncle Richard's house in Santa Rosa while on a Microsoft recruiting trip with Mom a couple of weeks ago. She didn't let me do the interviews but I did tour Stanford with Grandma (they don't accept applications from my age group yet).
• Cruising. This is what the so-called experts call it when you walk around by holding on to stuff. I'm pretty fast and can get through the house this way.
• Clapping. I'm pretty good at clapping on demand. If you say "clap, clap, clap" in a sing-song style I may grace you with a few claps. You guys eat that stuff up.
• Waving. I can wave with both hands and do the "queen's wave" (a slow rotation of the hand at the wrist). I think adults have limited their waving enjoyment by somehow limiting it to situations where someone is leaving or arriving. I often just like to wave at myself in my spare time.
• Feeding myself. This rocks. Now I can finally try and feed myself the amount of food I think I deserve.
• Chewing. This goes hand-in-hand with feeding myself. It seems like a lot of extra work that doesn't need to be included in the eating process but, hey, "when in Rome..."
• Banging things. Give me one thing and I will bang it on something else. The louder the noise the better. You adults need to do better - I can't tell you how many things I've discovered that are not supposed to be banged against anything else. Totally lame. It seems you guys build lots of lame single-purpose non-durable items. That's gotta change.

Also, I must admit it's become hard to figure out what my real name is (Hadden) with all the nicknames Mom and Dad keep calling me. So far I've cataloged Cheech, Scooter, Flapjack, Meatball, Chunk, Mellonhead, Bwee Bwee, Ding-a-Ling, Ding-Ding, Stinky Pants (I hear this is a common baby nickname - I wonder why), Doots, Lil' Stinker.

Some of my new favorite things are electrical outlets and power chords. It's especially good if one is plugged into the other. I tend to make a beeline to them when set down. Perhaps it's my grandfather's influence - they call my name.

Okay, so back to the subject matter of the post. Mom hand a surprise party for her 40th birthday this month. I knew about it for something like 2 weeks but I didn't tell her. I was even quiet while dad was on the phone with mom and on his way to the party. There were lots of Mom's friends there and a few of mine too (Gavin, Madeline, Maggie, Alastair, Nels, Gabe to name a few).

(at Mom's surprise party with Karen and Angela)

Today we just got back from spending the weekend in Plain, WA in a cabin with the Goodchild/Cahill clan (not sure how to reference them since there are 2 last names) and my aunties Joanna and Karen. Lots of fun. I went sledding with mom and dad, took a bath with Alastair and Maggie, went on a sleigh ride, and played a lot in the cabin without breaking anything significant. All in all, a great weekend and a great birthday for Mom.

(Sledding at Lake Wenatchee)

(Bathtime with Alastair Goodchild - he's about twice my age at 19 months)

See you all soon, Hadden.

Happy New Year!

Well, Hadden is almost 9 months old now and he's experienced his first Christmas and first new year - neither of which he understood as he has very little knowledge of the Julian calendar. I guess when you're 9 (months) the most important things are people, paper towels (he loves them) and tupperware lids (loves those too).

This Christmas was full of fun for Hadden because he got to see tia Leslie, tio Karl, abuelo Bill, abuela Jane and abuela Wendy (unfamiliar words are Spanish or so I'm told). It certainly was a premium Hadden day with at least one adult paying constant attention to him all day long.

It's been a bit over a month since the last post so here's a short list of new skills:

• Eating. Not new, but continues strong. Certain foods he doesn't like (I think the best category is "stinky" foods like broccoli, cabbage and chicken). Other foods he chows - any type of sweet squash (butternut, spaghetti, kabocha, etc.), grains and dried fruit, etc. He eats a lot these days. I've taken to calling him "el caballo" (look it up).
• Not quite crawling (is that a skill?). He gets in the position, lurches forward with the hands...then lurches back or sprawls flat on his stomach and then turns over on his back into the helpless "turtle" position. Refuses to move forward. Who knew locomotion would be so hard.
• Assisted standing. Hadden loves to use anything else in the house to help him get into the standing position (side of crib, dad, chairs, pillows, cats...). If he could stand continuously he'd be happy 24/7. He used to be totally thrilled with eating. Well, it's been several months since eating started so "standing" is the new "eating". I'm sure the thrill will wear off. I can stand pretty much any time I want and it doesn't thrill me any more. Not sure when it lost its appeal. Perhaps I've lost perspective.
• More sounds. He can do M, N, D, B, A, E, I, O, U, H, P and perhaps a few others. Mind you, this is a pretty good set for Wheel of Fortune. Do they have a baby show? "Pat, I'll take a 'duh'".
• Hair pulling. I guess this could be considered a deficiency (see below) but for now it's a skill. Give him some hair and he'll pull it for all he's worth (loves doing it). It's not really a resume-builder but perhaps he could list it in a "hobbies" section.

Deficiencies:

• Sleeping in the crib for naps. He rarely sleeps in his crib for naps longer than 30 minutes. If you hold him or put him in the stroller he's gone as long as 2.5 hours.
• Eating the aforementioned "stinky" foods. Life is more than butternut squash. Deal with it, boy.
• Untimely bowel movements. Self explanitory. Sometimes I call him Stink Stinkerton.
• Grabbing. He grabs everything. So much that I call him Grab Grabberson.

Over Christmas it was good to see everyone including my parents who both thought it was too cold in Seattle. Other news:

Angela's been doing great and Hadden loves her. She's here Tuesdays through Fridays as I'm at school (UW) and Yvonne's at her new job at Microsoft working for the "man". Hadden gets lots of love, walks, story time, etc. from Angela. It's been wonderful for all. He's also getting a good dose of Spanish from Angela (who is also teaching Yvonne), which is fantastic. He already knows who los gatos are (no, not the California town) and can't get enough of them. He's still chubby. We've thought about gastric bypass surgery but have instead opted for bigger shirts. Right now he wears 12-18 month-old clothes. We think he's gifted. Hadden is still pretty uninhibeted socially, which we wouldn't mind changing a little bit. It's a little disconcerting to hear him grunting as he "drops a deuce" (thanks for the phrase Sassons) at the dinner table while the rest of us are eating.

If you're ever in the area, drop by and say "hi" and if you wake Hadden up you have to put him back to sleep. Ha, ha...seriously - put him back to sleep.

steve