neked baby!

John likes to take all his clothes off and then rip off his diaper and run around naked, especially when its bedtime and we haven't put him to bed yet.
He likes to run around, slaping his knees and belly. Then he goes to the full length mirror on the wall and flexes, with his arms bowed over his head. He bends forward and sucks in his belly, then he pushes it out and slaps his pot belly. He doesn't care that its very cold in the house and I'm in socks, bathrobe and wrapped in a blanket.
I like to let him have his fun. He looks at his feet like they are some alien appendiges. I know he doesn't get to see them much lately, they are always in socks or footie pajamas. At the same time, I don't want him to fire hose the carpet down!
The only way to stop him is to put him in a tight fitting zipper pajama. I put on a 3T footie pajama one piece, and he managed to climb out the neck hole and pull his hands and feet out of the loose elastic. He slithered out like a sheading snake. Any 2 piece outfit doesn't have a chance. The moment he is bored, off comes any loose-fitting shirt!

Christmas dinner

potroast.

I had to cook it wraped in foil because it was too big for my casserole dish.

Happy New Year

Christmas pictures

John's new kitchen, bowl of "sink" came broken, but he just takes it out anyway.

John playing with my xmas elf hat.

John stompin on some papers near his toys

This is his "my first christmas" hat. It still fits (just barely)

The night before Christmas

and daddy is reading The Grinch who Stole Christmas to John.

Sunny Day

It was a sunny day today, so John and I went down the driveway for a walk. Its been raining for the better part of two weeks. The driveway is sodden, and a little stream crosses it, leaking out of the hills and heading toward the stream running on the property line. John likes to go out and play in the muddy stream while I go get the mail. I don't mind, because the doggie leash has been in the car, and I don't want to fight with him about the street. He likes to go up hill and pick the leaves off plants, play with sticks, and collect as many driveway rocks as he can fit in his hands. We did this on Monday as well (I think, maybe it was yesterday?) On Tuesday it was raining (or was it Monday?)
John has been playing with his toy kitchen. I've been straightening up the spare room so it can be a playroom. We spent the dry part of Saturday moving useless things from the spare room to the downstairs storage room.
John has been babbling a lot lately. I think he said "kitty" once instead of "hiiissss!" at a picture of a kitty. Mr. Rogers was holding up baby chicks and John was slapping at them on the TV. I said, those are baby chickies, and he said "chickies". He won't repeat any of these words.

Disaster! John has learned to unlatch the baby gates! We were all in a habit of only setting the bottom hook into the eyelet to close the gate, to make it easier on Nana's hands. He has learned to lift the gate and open it. Now we have to close it properly, by using the stiff squeeze lock.

John hates getting his face and hands washed after dinner, so Nana has him washing his own face, hands, and tray with a damp washcloth.

He can sometimes clean up his toys, by putting the little people back in their box or his baby legos back in their own box.

Exploratorium

We decided to try to go to the SF Zoo this past MLK jr weekend. We tried to go just before Charles left for Maine, but we arrived after closing. We were going to go on Saturday, but decided to wait until Monday because Charles was working as proctor on Saturday until 2pm. On Monday, we packed up and headed to the City, and...It started to rain! We were hoping that it wasn't raining in SF. As we got to the Zoo, it began raining there (its near the ocean). Finally, I got the bright idea to go to the Exploratorium. Its on that side of the city, and its inside. So, we saved a trip into the city. http://www.exploratorium.edu/

The Exploratorium is a award-winning 100% hands on museum. Its aimed at middle aged children, 7-13 maybe. John enjoyed being able to run freely in the warehouse-like museum. The Exploratorium is located in warehouse behind the iconic Palace of Fine Arts (above). This plaster Greek replica was meant to be temporary for an Expo 100 years ago, but was so well loved (and beautiful) that the city recast it in concrete and kept it. Its now falling apart, and you can't go under it because of earthquake retrofitting. Its still beautiful. The lake has swans. You can't see it from the Exploratorium, because there are no windows!

We looked at the exhibits. John enjoyed the water exhibit, trying to float plastic shapes on spouting water. He likes to splash. Further in, there is a fenced in baby play area. John and Charles spent a lot of time in there, playing with the blocks, books and baby puzzles, and the other babies. We shot some video of this. I went to look at the temporary mind exhibit, which included a water fountain in a toilet, and piano suspended from the ceiling with a bulls eye under it for you to stand on, and a ladder to walk under. Then we let John run around some more. There was an exhibit on what makes something cute, and it had a tiny couch and chairs, with cute big eyed animals on the wall. John sat in it with a cute little girl who wanted to play with him. He wanted to move the couch around. Passers-by were saying "how cute! Are the babies included in the exhibit?"

Then it was time to go. there was a circus tent that was spinning and John liked to run in and out of it. We finally dragged him out. As soon as we got in the car and had some crackers and milk, John passed out. We ate some sandwiches we brought and drove home, over the Golden Gate. John had a good long nap. We went home and made dinner. Charles made his baked hoggie. Mama had the day off! Watching John was easy in a place he was free to roam (although he cried a lot on the way to the zoo, we had to pull over and try to comfort him. I had to go sit in the back and play point at Big Bird with the book I brought). Charles watched John in the baby play area so I could see exhibits, and I didn't even have to make dinner!

John had a great weekend. He got to go to the park on Sunday, and to run around Monday and play with other babies.

The Palace of Fine Arts is under the Golden Gate Bridge.