Video Catch-Up: Peekaboo & Air Guitar

Two videos from October -- yeah, I know, that was ages ago, but Mom just got around to archiving them. She commented on how cute I was then. Wait...what does that mean about NOW?!?

NOTE FROM THE AFORE-MENTIONED MOM: Playing peekabo with Soren (in the presence of his Grannie & Papaw) is 19 seconds long; Soren sitting on our stair landing playing his muted version of air guitar is 40 seconds long, but worth every second of it!

Put a Cork In It!

You'll notice much better video quality in this clip, now that Mom has a new camera. Here's 4 seconds of my new trick with a cork. Dad taught me this one. The joke is, I'm talking so much my parents told me to "put a cork in it," but this is what I think of that request!

Training for 2028

I'm in training for the Summer Olympics of 2028. I think I'll compete in men's gymnastics.
I like being airborne, but even on the way down, I've got a huge grin on my face.
Look at my perfect form in this layout. My toes are even pointed inside my jammie feet. Hey, don't male gymnasts wear tights with feet, too?
"More, more, more," I sign to my trainer, a.k.a. Dad. Don't quit now -- there's lots more practicing to be done!

Portland's For Little People

Maybe you heard I visited Portland last week. Well, among many highlights, I rode a city bus for the first time. I begged Mom to let me out of the carrier so I could run around, like on the train, but apparently all forms of public transportation are not equal. We are supposed to sit in our seats on buses, I learned.
But the confinement on the bus was OK because our destination was the Portland Children's Museum! I had a lot of fun in Water World and didn't even get that wet. That's because there were complimentary waterproof smocks in three color-coded sizes hanging on hooks at the entry. How smart! Here Auntie Jill and I send a toy boat on a ride down the cascading locks.
Better yet was the hospital wing of the museum. I got to drive the ambulance!!! There were all these buttons that turned on the swirling lights, sounded the siren, etc. Auntie Jill was my co-pilot, which was cool because she's a nurse and she knew all the lingo as well as directions to the local hospitals. Here she is telling me to turn right to reach Good Sam hospital because the patient in the back is bleeding from a concussed tubercular compound arteriosclerosis. Yikes.
We communicated via radio. I could hear best if I held the receiver to my ear like a telephone. I should mention here that Mommy left me and Auntie Jill to play and laid down in the first-aid room and took a power nap. She was tired because I'd not slept well the night before. Not that it inhibited my ambulance-driving, don't worry!
I say, Portland is sure built for little people. This sink just my size, and as I'm learning to wash my hands--Mom keeps saying it's "flu season"--the height adjustment was appreciated.

I'll be back soon, Auntie Jill!

My Space Is An Aviary

Mom has been sprucing up the blank walls above my bed, most recently by nailing up madrona branches and perching paper birds on them. The yellow bird hangs from the ceiling on a thread and if I blow just right, I can make it spin around.

She told me she did lots of origami as a kid, and these birds, in a rainbow of colors, were put in an envelope and forgotten until she had me. I really like looking up and seeing them.
Another recent addition is a mobile of items that Mom's friends brought to her baby shower. These are people who didn't even know me yet, but look what cool things they gave to me! From left to right, there's a paper butterfly, a seashell, another of Mom's origami birds, a brooch with a jewel set in it, a chipmunk asleep in a walnut shell, a colorful heart, a dreamcatcher, and (behind that), a fairy made of beads.

Mom told me she didn't put together the mobile until just now because when I was littler, I couldn't focus on such tiny objects. I wanted to look at black and white circles and lines. Whatever -- I know the real reason: she's not had any time. (Boy, I hear that one a lot. But I know it's true.)
I know I don't look in this picture as though I'm happy with my new decor, but really I am!

Why Am I Wearing This Leopard Suit?

Gosh, don't I feel silly. Yesterday, as the sun was setting, Mom stuffed me into this spotted sweatshirt with a heavy hood. I wasn't feeling cold, but she insisted. I turned around and saw myself in the door glass and--eek! Gave myself a start.
But I soon got into the act, which I was told it was. To act like a leopard, that is, which is what I looked like. (Not that I've ever seen a leopard in the flesh, but my current favorite book, My First Visual Dictionary, has a picture of one. Mom showed it to me in advance of the costume donning. Now I see her logic.)
We didn't go Trick-or-Treating, if you were wondering. Mom says I'm too young. We had visitors, though. My friend Tayla stopped by, but for some reason, she was scared of me.
"Hey, don't leopard eat bears?" I could see her thinking. Yep, it's not the other way around. But I kept my cool. I didn't even roar at her.
Alas, Tayla skedaddled from my presence as soon as she could. Oh, well, I soon found solace with someone of my own species...
Mr. Bo, next door, is a cat like me.
Although he has better peripheral vision, I am sure.
Still, it was a comfort to hang out with one of my own kind. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Making Yoga More Challenging

I've been watching him for a while now, and decided Dad doesn't really push himself in his morning yoga routine. I figured I could help with that.
Wheee! Giddyup, Daddy. C'mon, push-ups are easy-peasy without an extra 24 pounds on your back.
And touching your toes? Enough of that simple stuff. I want UP.
Ah, that's better. Balance poses are much more satisfying when you're off-balance to begin with, wouldn't you agree?

See you next morning, Dad--same time, same place?

NOTE FROM SOREN'S MOM: The latest from yoga-land is that at multiple and random times each day, Soren stops, drops, and falls prone into a Cobra pose, then pushes up into Downward Dog. Guess he feels the need to stretch out his back. Like father, like son!

A Big Roar for My New Friends

I think some of Auntie Nora's friends might want to adopt me. Well, Kristy and Mario (above) might. Michael and Jamie (below) are not a couple, so strike that thought.

Kristy and Mario met us for lunch and brought me a present: a warm hat with bear ears and mittens that look like paws (they have no thumbs, not that I can grasp anything with bulky mittens anyway). I roared like a bear for my new friends and they roared back, then I wore the hat for the rest of the day.

Jamie is Nora's housemate and she gets along well with my papaw because they both are learning ukelele and can jam together. She works as a parapro at a school here and rides her bike to work, even in the snow! I admire that...

Michael is Nora's friend and running partner -- recently she ran a half-marathon and he ran the full marathon (and says he will never do that again. I can respect that, too). He's getting his PhD in clinical psychology at the same school Nora attends, so I watched what I said around him, lest he analyze me.
In fact, I limited my vocabulary that day to saying nothing but "bots" (as in "robots"). With a range of inflections, I made that one word mean everything I needed it to. Michael and everyone else thought this was very funny, which only encouraged me to say it more. "Bots." "Bots, bots, bots."

Tomorrow we go home, but I've loved every minute of my Colorado trip. I'm looking forward to riding an airplane again!

P.S. Speaking of new clothes, thanks to the Bartons in Tennessee for my birthday outfits. I'm wearing the fleecy green pants in the photo above. And I wore the brown bear outfit today and the jammies last night. Everything fits perfectly! Bots!

Posing in the Pumpkin Patch

Today I experienced my first pumpkin patch near Fort Collins, Colo. I'm visiting my auntie Nora (see my family's blog for more about our trip) and it feels more like fall here than it did at home. The leaves are yellow, the air is nippier, and my goodness, the pumpkins are bigger!
Here's a picture of me and Auntie Nora walking in the patch. The ground was very uneven, so I had to hold her hand tightly so I didn't fall. One funny thing is that while most pumpkins look round, when you roll them over, most have a flat spot where they lay on the ground to grow. Guess that makes sense.
Did I mention my Papaw and Grannie are along on this trip? Nora is their daughter, after all, just like she's my mommy's sister. Papaw is holding me here and I'm holding a pumpkin shaped like a pear. Then there's Grannie and Nora next to her.
Here's Mommy and me! We took home a couple of pumpkins for Nora's front steps, as well as some acorn squash that we had for dinner and some cantaloupes we will enjoy for breakfast tomorrow.
The pumpkin patch had these fun wagons to ride in, and for transporting pumpkins.
I tried to pull our wagon, but it was too heavy for me to budge more than an inch or so before I would kerplop on my bum. But I am persistent -- I would get up and just try again. I didn't move that wagon very far, I'm afraid, but I had fun trying.
Whew! Pumpkin patches can wear a fellow out. At least I found a soft hay bale to rest on.

Eating With a Spoon, Sort Of

Oatmeal is pretty difficult to eat with a spoon, I don't care what the grownups say.

And yogurt? Best spooned into the mouth with the hands!

The Biggest Dog I've Yet to Sit On

My! That's what I thought when I came around the corner in my friend Barb's house and saw THIS sprawled on the floor.
It's a St. Bernard, she told me. Look, she's friendly! We got close and Peggy Sue (that's the dog's name) gave me a big grin.
Then Barb lifted me up and set me on Peggy Sue's back, which was perhaps a surprise for both of us. She was very soft and furry and...still large. You should see her standing up!

Just this morning, I realized I could climb on my dad while he's in certain morning yoga poses, and sit on his back just like I did with Peggy Sue. I have to say, Dad's more fun to ride. But I like dogs, even the biggest of the big ones!

Ahoy! Isn't That What You Say When...?

Ahoy! Doesn't this life jacket look a little too confining to you? I thought so, too. Wearing it marred what would have otherwise been a perfect outing on my friend's 1966 Grand Banks 32. What a beautiful wooden boat! Appropriately, it's called VINTAGE.
We departed the marina on Sept. 14 for a 2-hour cruise out Guemes Channel...
...where I deftly steered us, with Grannie's aid. This was my favorite part!
Later, Mom said I could take off the hated life jacket if she could carry me on her back (here we are on the bow), or if I stayed in the cabin. But that was boring. The deck was where it was at!
A big thanks to our skipper-host, Carlos. We'll go cruising with you anytime!!

Clowning Around With Mom

Last Saturday Mom and I met Grannie and Papaw on the other side of the ferry and we all drove to Langley (on Whidbey Island) for a stupendous free "kids' day" event with all sorts of activities. I had been playing with Grannie for quite some time before I realized Mom wasn't with us. When I started fussing for her, Grannie led me over to this funny-looking person who was making balloon creations, with a long line of kids waiting their turn. This person had a big red ball on her nose and colored spots on her face and a funny hat.

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "I don't want a balloon doggie. Where is my mom??" Even when she spoke to me, I didn't recognize her. It wasn't until I got close enough to smell her that I was convinced she was indeed my mother.
So her little secret has been revealed: she's a closet clown!
For a short while I got to sit on her lap while she blew up the balloons (using the purple pump pictured) and twisted them into fun shapes to give away. It didn't seem so hard -- surely I can do that someday.
Sitting right next to Mom was an even funnier looking clown who turned out to be my Papaw under the yellow wig and makeup. Mom said he taught her to tie balloon animals and other things like flowers, hats and swords -- which were very popular among the boys, mostly. So they were clowning together at the kids' day, and I was pretty proud of them.

It's cool when your mom's a clown. I mean, do you think she'd make an appearance at my next birthday party??
On the way home, more fun. I got to drive my first car when we stopped at a grocery store for lunch from the deli. I tell you, it was hard to parallel park!

Are My Eyes As Blue??

Mom says my eyes are as blue as blueberries.
Well, here's what I think of that!
See all my eight teeth? A new one on the bottom just popped through today, that's why I've not been sleeping well at night.
Sheesh, Mom, does the blueberry have to be in my eye socket for the purposes of your photograph? (She answered yes.)
But this one's going straight into my mouth. Yum!!!!