Christmas 2008

After all this, North took a nap:

North and Jenni in the snow

Baby with Bottle

Billiard Ball Physics

The temp has been in the 20's for the last few days, and going to stay that way for awhile. North likes temps around 45-55, but he isn't into staying out too long when its 25 F. So our long daily walks are less frequent, and he is starting to get cabin fever.

So I took him to the basement where there is a billiard table. He was so happy to see something new and complex. I rolled around the balls for awhile, then let him get hold of them. In the picture he is not sad, he is just being a serious experimenter.

North on Dec 11 morning

Pushing around 1 gallon of water

I bought a gallon of water home and North swooshed in on it and wanted to play with it. I laid it on its side so it wouldn't fall, and when I did that he protested because he thought I was taking it away from him. Once on its side he grabbed the handle and drug it all over the apartment. A gallon of water weighs a little over 8 pounds according to my web search.

Morning nap on momma

Sleeping in his overalls

Lately North has begun standing, climbing stairs, and all kinds of things that, to his parents at least, are signs of maturing. This picture shows he's still a baby.

Look Mom, I standed!

Crawling on the PCC grocery store floor

North's new hang out in Rock Valley

This is one of the places I take North to several times a day, and lately we are letting him play on the concrete, dirt and leaves along the Burke-Gilman trail which runs along the ship canal. This "Rock Valley" is a plaza of steps leading down to the water, next to the Google Research and Development labs.

Halloween 2008

Our neighborhood has a Halloween event in which most all area businesses give out treats between 3:00 and 6:00. The sidewalks were full of toddlers and their parents. We had a great time. This was all right outside our door, with our first stop at Jive Time Records being in our same building. I included the map of our route at the bottom of this blog post.

North taming the Robot

We have an iRobot vacuuming robot ( same company makes the robots used in Iraq to dismantle bombs ). North likes to mess with it a lot-crawling on top of it, patting it. This is while it is off. The robot is made to be baby and pet safe. So I knew the day would come when North turned it on. He did today. I saw the thing cornered by North, and it was just working itself back and forth, bouncing off North and the wall. North was just watching. As I came to the rescue, North began to cry. I turned it off and held North till he stopped crying. To my surprise North is back messing with the Robot. He bought his blanket with him this time, and is capturing the robot with the aid of the blanket. See pics of him just as he returns to robot after mishap of turning it on and being a little frightened.

From North at Home

From North at Home

I Crawl, I Rock

Rearranging DVDs: North's sense of organization

Starting in the last few days North has begun his own organizational project. He takes DVD's and VCR tapes out of the stacks we have on the TV stand shelves, pulls them onto the floor, then pushes them fairly tidily under the TV stand. If I put them back in the TV stand shelving system, he pulls them out again and puts them back under the stand. He seems to think his way is better.

The "Where are you?" Game

North reads at 7 1/2 months

If, after hearing this story, you don't believe North was really reading, that is fine with me. Mine is only a guess that he was reading.

On September 5th we were at Fred Meyer shopping for a birthday card for Jenni. Going down the card aisle, I parked his stroller facing a card section with the word "Mommy" printed several times. He starts saying "momma momma". Previously he has ONLY said this at the time of day when his mom is due to arrive from work. So he does not just say this any random time.

I was dumbstruck and didn't know how he could really know what the word was. Later I told Jenni, and she made a connection. North's video he watches the most is a sign language tutorial, and they say "Mommy", show the word "Mommy" and do the sign.

I think he knows that word, including when it is in print.

North and Lance in daily jam session

North's earliest days crawling

North and Jenni

Moment of Truth

July 25, 2008. North is 6 months old

We went for his 6 month check up on July 25th. He is perfectly healthy. Here are his stats:

19 lbs 3 oz
27 inches tall
47 cm head

Playpen Frenzy

Today North went into a frenzy when I put him in his playpen. Screaming with glee and throwing his toys around, he's went from not thinking much of his playpen to really liking it.

North hanging out at Jive Time

Today North and I were hanging out at Jive Time. He seemed to be enjoying the reggae music. We saw a Tom Tom Club album and North made it known he really liked the cover. Some British musician rocker guys were hanging out talking to the guy behind the counter. One of the British guys walks by us and North says "hi", the British guy stops and smiles and says "hi" back. The British guy looked at me like he was impressed.

My baby boy rocks.

North plays bass at 5 months old

North on his Baby Einstein for fist time, at 4 months old

North plays bass at 4 months old

There is this gambling bookie in the prison...

First Full Roll Over

photo taken seconds after his first rollover

At 11:27AM PST, May 29 2008, North rolled over on his own know-how and strength for the first time ever. I watched and encouraged him when he was halfway there and having trouble getting one arm out of his way from fully coming over onto his stomach. He started to get discouraged, and I praised him and he smiled and then started grunting and trying harder. He made it.

Up close

Very First Mothers Day

You are a beautiful mother. Thank you so much for marrying me, and creating a family together. You are the most precious person in North and mine's eyes. You cannot be replaced by anyone ever in existence, we belong to to you and adore you in a very special bond. From your son and husband, we love you above all else.

North plays bass at 14 weeks old

Today North was watching me play bass, and was watching my hands and kicking his leg in time to the music. After I played I sat the neck in front of him, and encouraged him to hit the strings. He wasn't scared, and started holding the neck in roughly the right form for playing(!) So far he has only plucked the strings in the way real bass players do.

Baby North chills with the Red Hot Chili Peppers

This morning before I drew North's bath water while letting him watch the Zephyr Song video. He really enjoyed the song. I got the video below of him watching and stomping his foot to the music. I let the song keep playing through his bath. After his bath and he was dry, I picked him up. I hummed something to the music, and he cooed. I cooed back in tune with the song, he cooed back. We kept doing this for several minutes. His head on my shoulder the whole time. He seemed so content. I was too.

Hugo the happiest hippo

Yesterday North received a package from his great aunt Allison in Florida. Among the treats were some colorful toy bugs - now velcroed around his chair - and his new best pal Hugo the happiest hippo. Hi Hugo!