Poppa's Got a Brand New Bag

Joey has a new favorite toy these days.
Apparently the Swiffer is no longer cool enough, which is fine by me, because this little vacuum/dust buster does a much better job on the floors. And seriously, look how committed to clean floors he is ... getting on his knees to make sure he gets into the corners.

Here he is saying, "Please, Mommy." Please what? Plug the vacuum in? Turn it on? Stop taking pictures? I'm not quite sure. But he certainly doesn't look happy with me, does he? Maybe he's saying, "Please, Mommy, would you clean the floors already so I don't have to? This child labor is not going to be free much longer. Can you say allowance?"

Happy Boy

I don't know what happened between yesterday and today, but I got my boy back. He was still a bit fussy when I dropped him off at school, but when we got home. Wow. We skyped with my sister and brother-in-law and niece, which was fun. Then we just played.

Maybe there was a little Family Guy. (Hence the above smile.)

And some white chocolate pretzels.
He loved those.
And while it may look like he's getting ready to share with Ginny, look a little closer. The pretzel's in the other hand. He's no dummy.

I'm All Cried Out

We had fun in the basement again on Wednesday night. I don't know if it's how much closer this picture is, or that Joey's halfway off, but doesn't he look bigger than just a few days ago?

And just enjoy this series ...
Joey has become a master whiner. I mean he can find all kinds of fuss and complain if he's not getting exactly what he wants. Fortunately, Mommy and Daddy are getting used to it and have stopped giving in. The above, though, is pretty much how our nights go. Joey cries and cries and then finds his pacifier (or Mommy or Daddy give it to him) and miraculously he is cured of whatever ailed him.

If you look closely at the first crying picture, where his mouth is open wide, you can see that he's cutting his lower molars. I'm guessing that might be part of his recent mood swings. All four molars within a few weeks. I can only imagine how much that hurts.

New Tune

I have a bit of catching up to do, but I'm tired and have work to do and you'll just have to settle for pictures.

Joey loves the Wonder Pets ...

a lot.
He also loves to wear his diaper on his head. So every once in a while I at least try to make it look like a bandana and he's cool, like Bon Jovi or Brett Michaels (or something).

He still loves to look out the window. I imagine he's watching for Nana and Pop-Pop or Busza and Grandpa. Or any of our other friends who come to visit.

Bicycle Freedom

I know I've mentioned the Radio Flyer tricycle. Even shown you a picture of it. But wait until you see these!

Look at that smile! How proud he is that he can stay on the tricycle. And how much fun he's having being pushed around the basement!

He still loves using it as a walker. Good thing we have all that space downstairs.

Babes in Toyland

So I may have mentioned the toy cabinets before, and maybe even shown pictures. But wow. We have a lot of toys.

And Joey has fun with them. Pretending the train is an airplane ...

or that it's a train ...

so many options. How do you choose?

Silly Thing

More blanket silliness with Daddy on the couch ...

I'm not sure the fascination with eating the blanket. I'm hoping it's helping with teething in some way. That's the only thing I can think of. But he has a ton of fun, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Crazy Legs

Hello! Are you there? Um, it's me. Yeah, I've been away for a while, but I'm baaack! Things have been a little crazy around here. What, with work, and cleaning, and playing with the boy, and trying to adjust his schedule so he stays up later and we get more play time (and he sleeps later in the morning so Mommy can get ready before he wakes up) and working and playing and occasionally sleeping. But anyway ...

We had a lot of fun on Sunday. And Sunday night was great, too. Joey was getting tired, but not quite ready for sleep. So he just lay down on the ground, and start playing with his blanket.

And then he got into the streamline pose, ready to do some butterfly kick underwater just before popping up to start swimming backstroke. It was hilarious. He'd flail around, and then suddenly get really stick in this pose.

Then he just enjoyed being silly, eating his blanket and playing with the blocks. A good time was had by all. (And yes, those are his new kicks!)

Playground

I've realized that one of my problems is that once it gets cold, especially Chicago cold, I don't usually go out of the house. It's not that I become a recluse or anything, but I really enjoy the outdoors, and with a 14-month-old, I'm just too worried about him getting too cold and then getting sick. Oh yeah, and the foot of snow we have on the ground isn't exactly friendly for going down the slides.

I decided I needed to figure out some indoor activities that we could do that felt like outdoor activities. When we went to the mall to get Joey's picture taken with Santa (you remember that epic fail), I noticed the indoor playground. I thought I'd give it a shot.

While not necessarily evident in these pictures, Joey loved it! We got there around 9:30 and played for an hour. Then we stopped at the Disney store, Stride Rite for new shoes, and then a quick stroll through Macy's. Almost immediately after I put him back in his car seat around 11:30, he fell asleep. We'll have to try it again next weekend. And maybe some of our friends can join us, too!

So Close

We're not quite walking yet, but getting closer every day. He's been using the walker a ton, and will even stand for a few seconds on his own (when I let go). I know everyone tells me I'll wish he was back to crawling once he's walking, but really I can't wait to do so many things with him. And hopefully one of those is play in the snow!

Push It Along

For Christmas, Grandpa got Joey a Radio Flyer tricycle, with the special adult handle that allows us to push and steer until Joey is old enough.

He absolutely loves it. He's not quite big enough to ride it yet (we tried), but he loves to push it around everywhere.

Even by the adult handle. And he screamed bloody murder when I tried to put it away. Fortunately he eventually went to sleep and doesn't have much of a long-term memory yet, so Mommy successfully returned it to the basement, where it will hibernate until spring. Then let the fun begin!

Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House

I'm telling you, Joey loves visiting new* houses. New terrain to explore, new cabinets to make mayhem out of it. And Grandma and Grandpa were more than happy to entertain.

This isn't necessarily the best picture of Grandma or Joey, but let me tell you, this was the two of them. Grandma couldn't wait to get the toys Daddy used to play with out for Joey. She was so excited to play with him. It was great.

Grandpa, well, as soon as Joey sat on his lapped, he was right at home. Practically fell asleep instantaneously. He wasn't happy I took out the pacifier, but the boy has to learn. And Momma needs her pictures where you can see his face.

*Technically Joey's been to Grandma and Grandpa's at least twice before this. He just doesn't remember, and wasn't quite so mobile before. It was new to him.

Where Eagles Dare

Nana and Pop-Pop got Joey a Donovan McNabb jersey for Christmas this year. And Mommy couldn't wait to break it out. Based on the outcome of yesterday's game, we won't be wearing it next weekend.

Don't worry. Joey didn't actually eat the carrot. (I think he put it in his mouth and pulled it out immediately, without even biting.) But aside from the healthy snack, he looks like every other man I know on a Sunday ... with the remote at the ready when the game goes sour.

We also visited with Joey's great-grandparents. More pictures to follow. Needless to say, he had a blast!

Peek-A-Boo!

Joey absolutely loves playing peek-a-boo. He also loves just walking (or crawling) around the room with the cloth diaper on his head. We're pretty sure he can see through it, since he has managed corners and pulled up on the couch. He'll just sit there, with the cloth on his head, laughing away. It's so much fun!