11 Months

Bambino Stats

Height/length - I'm guessing somewhere between 28" to 31"?

Weight - A solid 20 lbs

Teeth - Six with two on their way

Current Health - Teething and a cold (which was onset by the teething)

Favorite Foods - Grilled Miso Salmon, anything chicken, tofu, Gerber Puffs, fresh bananas, mangoes, and papayas, green beans, squash, white rice (he's learning to like the brown rise texture) and popsicles.

Motor Skills - (Gross) Crawling, cruising, walks with push toy, and takes steps at the babysitters but not with me. (Fine) Point, pinch, wave, pull and well my nipples would say that he's got a strong bite - even though he's no longer nursing....yep he's a biter.

Breastmilk vs. Formula - Completely off the boob. The lactating ladies went out of business when he was 6 months but we still snuck in a few nursing sessions when nothing else would console him. He likes his formula nice and warm - but will tolerate cold milk when he's at the beach.

Words - Hi, mama, ball, butt (but he means book).

Favorite things to do - Going for walks with Aunty Amber and his girlfriend Delyla, jogging with mama, being tickled, laughing, banging things on the sliding doors (actually anything), looking at himself in the mirror, swiming with mama at Ko'olina, eating, eating, eating, going to Aunty Roses house (his babysitter) and playing with his daycare friends, hanging out with Uncle Lou and Uncle Eloy, listening to mama sing, listening to music (especially the Gilmore Girls theme song), bathing, taking off his clothes and leaving them on his head like a hat, watching Baby Einstein, trying to take mama's camera out of her hand when she's taking pictures, getting his picture taken, snuggle, looking at books and giving them to mama to read and eating, eating, eating (especially whatever mama's eating or whatever he finds on the ground or floor).

And in one month he'll be ONE.

P.S. Old Goat & Tutu this is the video I've been trying to send you the past few weeks. Love.

The Old Goat on Route 66

Dear Old Goat,

On Sunday you turn 66 and like the route you have reached a historic milestone. So in honor of your 66th birthday I would like to list 66 reasons (in no particular order) as to why I love you and am so thankful that you have allowed me to call you "Dad" for the past 23 years.

66 Reasons I love My Old Goat

1. Your love of travel;
2. Your desire to learn about different cultures;
3. The notes and poems you used to put in my "Emergency" kits for school;
4. Because you took me out to lunch, just the two of us, to try to understand me;
5. Our trips to the zoo together and the chili dogs we used to eat afterwards;
6. Our road trips to Colorado or Sacramento;
7. The stops we made during the road trips like the dinosaur museum and Salt Lake...even though I didn't get out of the car;
8. Your persistence to open my eyes and see reality - the world;
9. Your devotion to mom;


10. Your devotion to me and the Bambino;
11. Your devotion to your family and friends;
12. Your crankiness - you're a grumpy Old Goat but you wouldn't be you if you weren't;
13. How you've provided for your family and not just mom and me but the many others;
14. Your bravery, it is much braver to choose to fight for life than to give up;
15. Your good credit and I don't mean financially - you were indebted to someone for your life and you payback the community by sharing your story;


16. Your bread...it's beyond delicious;
17. Your cooking in general - oh how I miss it;
18. Your love of cooking;
19. How you were teaching me to be tech savvy since I was 5-years-old with the introduction of a Mac;
20. The abacus and many other global toys/tools from your many travels;
21. Our trips to the library - I can still remember what it looks like;
22. Company picnics - even though they were boring I was still happy to go with you;
23. My broken leg and how you were there in the room when I found I wouldn't be able to play my last season of high school soccer - you looked just as broken hearted as I did but still put a hopeful smile on your face for my sake;
24. How you let me watch you shave in the mornings when I was little and would let me pretend to shave my face....even though I'm a GIRL!
25. Bedtime stories;
26. Hanging out at the pool;
27. Father/daughter dances;


28. Making Missions out of papier mache;
29. Going to Missions to help me learn about my school project;
30. San Diego Padre games...or the tailgate parties?;
31. Disneyland;
32. Knotts Berry Farm;
33. Birthday parties with favorite homecooked meals (you & mom);
34. Moving to Seattle or more like the drive from Sacramento to Seattle;
35. How I got to spend time with just you for a few days for our first Christmas in Seattle;
36. Crossing over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge for my first time and how you told me its history as we drove on it;
37. Visiting Grammy and the family in Sacramento;
38. Preparing for Spelling Bees;
39. Trolley rides to Old Town San Diego;
40. Mission Bay and San Fernando Beach picnics;
41. You jogging and me riding my bike on Saturday mornings when we lived in California;
42. Helping me with extra credit homework for when we went to Sacramento for Thanksgivings;
43. Actually helping me with a lot of homework throughout the years;
44. My first Spanish/English dictionary and how you were trying to get me to learn Spanish before high school;
45. Letting me play soccer;
46. Buying me rollerblades - you know the ones I never used...or wait...I used them twice;
47. Trying to teach me how to cook - numerous times;
48. How you were looking for the best gift for the Bambino's shower;
49. The Bambino's Christmas gifts - we love the fuzzy lion and elephant;
50. When you and mom would visit me in college and in Boston;
51. How you always listened to me bitch about whatever was pissing me off at the moment;
52. Riding rollercoasters with you;
53. Our plans to go white water rafting together;
54. How we share the same love for spicy and stinky foods;
55. Paying for college - thank you and so sorry but mostly thank you;
56. Your support for me to go to live abroad;
57. When you and mom would get mad at me for not spending enough time at home when I came to visit during holidays and the summer while I was still in college (how naive I was to think that you were just being pissy parents when you two just missed me);
58. Your e-mails with pictures or jokes or presentations of beautiful professional photography;
59. Your e-mails with words of encouragement and love;
60. You always came back home after a long business trip abroad;
61. Earth Days;
62. Jersey Boys and Madame Butterfly;
63. How you still love me even though I know I've disappointed you a couple of times in life;
64. The day you came to get me;
65. The letter you sent comparing your and the Bambino's birth stats;
66. How even though you didn't have to have me in your life, you chose to love me and call me your daughter.

I could list more.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Love,
Princess PPGB and the Bambino

Bambino Sounds

This evening while playing with his old Gerber Puff container he discovered that his voice echoes when he "talks" into it.

Can I get a witness?



I wish I could've caught him on film when he was making that sound non-stop for 5 minutes but I didn't get that thought into my head until at the very end of his fun with the echo. It was adorable because I started making sounds into the container and then put it up against his mouth and he would micmic me. He's a freaking genius that baby. I'm also convinced that he knows he's a goofball.

Sometimes that thought of Infant World Domination pops into my head because babies are freakin' too smart for me.

Oh and we're still experiencing some spit up. We keep it classy around here.

The Clapping Bambino!

The Clapping Bambino!
Originally uploaded by RestlessMama

Here's the Bambino clapping on request - and trying to say "hi." He's sooooooooooo stinkin' cute I sometimes can't even deal.

Watching videos and looking at his photos are what get me through those long or tough days at work.

What do you do to stay level headed through your days?