Sorry for the Delay

John has been ill this week with some stomach issues, so I have been a bit too preoccupied to update the page; however, I do have an interesting teaser for you:

1. John has a new fun game we like to call, "Trapped in the Closet." I'll post video tomorrow.

2. John enjoys to sing. I don't have video of that, but I'll try to get some.

3. John's going trick or treating. If I get video, I'll post that. At least, I'll get a shot of him in his costume.

4. John's going to a birthday party tomorrow at a miniature golf course.

He's Climbing To The Top

Yes, John will rule the world some day, but he's getting really good at physically climbing up the stair. I was a bit of a Cautious Claude and asked that he not do it, but Maureen and Grammy said it was safe enough.

This weekend was full of fun and adventure. Saturday was pretty boring, but Sunday was a day full of fun. The best part of the day was that he slept in until 7:30 AM. That was the best gift he could have given us. Later, we went to the Larchmont Family Fair. There were rides, a petting zoo, and a bunch of food booths. (Most of the food booths were serving Korean barbeque. Honestly, do we need 5 Korean barbeque booths? Some people like regular barbeque. And, why didn't some of the restaurants set-up booths? We could have really done with a slice of Village Pizzeria.) Enough of my woolgathering, we didn't think that John wanted to ride the rides and I sure as heck didn't want to let the creepy old guy at the pony rides touch my boy. You just never know what diseases these carnies may have. We figure that John will be old enough next year to truly enjoy the rides.

Lil Scraps

Of late, we have taken to calling our John by the name, Lil Scraps. If he sees us eating something, he'll come up to us and growl. That's his way of saying he'd like a bite. When he is finished with his little bite, he'll growl for more. He really like buffalo mozarella and prosciutto.

He has also started to call every meal "Dinner". If Maureen or I say dinner, he goes over to his high shair and starts to say, "DINNA." He also says something that sounds an awful lot like "I like it" whenever he eats something that he really likes. He's either saying that or Maureen and I are hearing things. I'll try to get a video of both. He's very difficult when I pull out the camera to shoot him these days.

The Puzzle King

John's gift to Maureen was a puzzle of a photo of his. He figured that Maureen and he could put it together some day.

Coincidentally, John was given some puzzles by the Norton family. We give special thanks to Cate Norton for sharing her puzzles with John. That was most kind of her. Please watch the video and see John as he plays with his super cool puzzles. He even puts one of the pieces in place. There must be extra brain power in his larger than normal head.

Happy Birthday Mama

Sunday

Guess who decided to wake up at 3:30 this morning? Actually, he'd just completed a bowel movement, so that really woke him up, but he didn't want to go back to bed after that. Maureen and I decided that we had earned a breakfast at Fiddler's Bistro after our early morning wake-up. John was very good. He ate my pancakes and rejected Maureen's eggs. It seems he has my taste in food. Let's hope he grows out of it.

We were determined to find a Halloween costume for John. Last weekend, we were chagrined to discover that The Children's Place was sold out unless we wanted him to be a flitty pirate.

We headed to Toys R Us to see what they had. Sadly, they had nothing that would fit John aside from pumpkin costumes. We were disheartened. We decided to go to Taco Bell on Beverly for a quick bit, but we couldn't go because of the stupid AIDS Walk LA. I have nothing against people with AIDS, but why do you find the need to shut down main thoroughfares? Poor Maureen didn't get her Taco Bell that she wanted.

After a brief nap, we decided to head over to the Grove to Pottery Barn Kids. Maureen called earlier and the clerk said they had pumpkin costumes and spider costumes. It was a madhouse. There were tons of people and I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. PBK did have costumes. John is going to be a puppy. I don't know if the head piece will fit on John since he has quite the large head, but he'll be a darned cute puppy.

For dinner, we picked up some pizza at Patsy's at the Farmer's Market. Maureen was worried that the pizza would be too thick or hard for our John. When I gave him his first piece, he immediately asked for more with his "More" grunt and face. He really is daddy's boy. He loves pizza. Next week, we're going to the Larchmont Village Fair and we'll pick up some Village Pizzeria for him.

Mr. Bones' Pumpkin Patch

We took John to the pumpkin patch today. It was hella hot. It wasn't quite Africa hot, but it sure was hot enough to limit our visit to about 20-minutes. John had his fill of stomping about the grounds and looking at the children. Plus, there were these really annoying Middle Eastern people that kept on moving into all the areas that we were visiting. Honestly, some manners would be appreciated in a public place. Your friends and relatives may own all the oil in the Middle East; however, that doesn't give you an excuse not to be polite.

Maureen says that John seemed to enjoy himself. We picked up a few pumpkins for John and Nicholas. Yes, even the baby that isn't here gets a little pumpkin. It was free with our adult paid admission. Next year, we'll be sure to go when it isn't so hella hot. John will be running around and Nicholas will be overwhelmed. It'll be resplendent.

15-Month Check Up

We took John to visit Dr. K for his 15-month check up on Thursday. Not much to report, he had 5 shots, but he took them like a trooper. He cried, but eventually stopped. He knows that it is a matter of public health for him to get his vaccinations. Shame on those who listen to people who say that vaccinations are not needed. They've helped eliminate diseases.

As for stats, our John is normal in height at 31". His weight is a little low at 22-lbs. If you look at him, you can tell the weight is all in his belly and his big melon head which is in the 96th percentile. That means he has a ginormous head. Oh well, it must be that he needs more space in his head for all those great ideas that are floating around in there.

His behavior during his visit was a bit mixed. He loved the play house in the waiting room. He loved the little truck in the examination room. He just didn't like the examination part. He actually freaked out. Dr. K said that was normal for his age since he really doesn't quite know what's going on and he has no other way to express himself.

Fun Updates

Superboy aka John has made a few strides lately. His vocabulary has grown to include dinner and quack.

Monday night, Maureen said, "Ok, it's time for dinner." He walked over to his high chair and said, "Dinna". Now, I don't think he's trying to say "did not" with a Scottish burr, so we are taking that to be his term for dinner. Plus, he's taken to eating new foods like chicken and peaches quite well. He's like a little bird in that he just keeps on opening his mouth for more.

Quack has a different story. John enjoys watch Oswald. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a show about Oswald the Octopus. He has a friend named Daisy who is a walking Daisy. Anywho, a little duckling got lost and latched onto Daisy. Oswald attempt to locate the mama duck by quacking. It's a pretty weak quack, but John picked up on it. So, he's either saying quack or duck. Either way, Superboy is expanding his horizons with words.

On a side note, we shot some video of John in the laundry room. Enjoy his antics as he speaks and runs around the laundry room in his new shoes.

A Boy and His Trains

What is it about a little boy that makes him love trains? I don't remember liking trains. I remember liking Hot Wheels, not Matchbox. Lately, John has really taken to playing with trains. The other day, we went to Kiddieland USA in K-Town and he just gravitated toward the train table. He sat there and played with Thomas and friends while Maureen tried to find a bathroom (she was unsuccessful). It kept him entertained for a good 20-minutes.

About a month ago, we went Ikea and we bought some nice inexpensive toys for John. One was a train set. He wasn't crazy about it at the time, but now, he just loves it. He'll sit there and talk to himself, or it's his little ghost friends with whom he speaks. I hope he never learns the name Thomas the Tank Engine because that would be VERY expensive for us. I hope he takes after me and like Hot Wheels. I can dig up my old pillow case full of cars from my parents garage and John and I can play freeway accident on the coffee table. It'll get him ready for traffic in Los Angeles.