How in the world does he know!? What in the world?!

Ok, seriously. It's a real question. How does he know!? This boggles my mind.

Tonight we decided to play on the bed instead of the living room because Douglas has a bum knee. So we were all on the bed and I tucked Joaquin under the covers and handed him the remote. He loves the remote. It's sick, actually. I heard him call it mama.

Anyway, normally I let him carry it around the room and he just clicks the buttons and looks at the TV. He doesn't like to WATCH Tv, he likes to play with the remote.

So tonight we kept handing it to him and Douglas noticed. HE TURNS IT AROUND THE RIGHT WAY EACH TIME. He even will grab it with his hand flipped if you let him so he doesn't have to turn it over with 2 hands. It's crazy!

HOW DOES HE KNOW THIS?!

Yes, there is a red light at the top. Sure. But if you point it at the TV or backwards, it works just fine. I tried. Before this video, I used it backwards each time. Nope. Didn't confuse him, he still flipped it.

It's a serious question. How does he know. And how is he SO hardwired to flip it around. Watch. I hand to him correct once, he doesn't even begin to flip it. Watch at 1 minute. He DOESN'T EVEN LOOK at it and he flips it.

How does he know?!

Is it because he's male?

Mama. Let's dance today.

His mouth was hurting. His first molar is coming in. EEEEouch. What helps a sore mouth? Well, it's not in Toddler 411, but I think the real answer is simple: BILL WITHERS.

Dance around to some Bill and almost everything gets better. This was like dance 12 of the day. He is crying at the start because I set him down to turn the camera on. Stopped the second I picked him up. Strangely, I am worn out this evening.

What's so funny?

Do you think he's gonna be an engineer or a theatre major? Does SMU offer discounts for legacies?

Can you LAUGH?

In honor of Adeline's 1 week birthday... Joaquin walks and Mami gets it on video!

It's been about 2 weeks of a few steps here and there. I got a really hilarious video (to me) of me trying to coax him to walk. He didn't walk. He did every.single other trick he knows. For 2 mins. But no walking.

Today I finally finally finally got it. Although it's about 1/3 of the walking he did without the camera on. Of course it is. Douglas has yet to see this much in fact.

I do apologize for my extremely loud self. I really do. Please just use mute. It will save your ears.

Also, I am obviously looking straight into the sun, too. It's so toasty in the living room with all that light. But hard on the eyes.

HAPPY ONE WEEK ADELINE!





Oh and cats are better than dogs. That's for you Daisy, Fado, Carter and Radar. Here's why. We dare you to use your kid and prove us wrong.

Snow for Breakfast

I am pretty sure no explanation is needed here. We have plenty of 'breakfast' in Chicago right now.

First time sitting on Santa's lap.

Well, he won't remember it, but I sure will. Three hours in line at the Macy's on State Street (downtown) for Santa. Holy Moly. For a kid that tends to lose his cool rather quickly in the stroller anyplace where it looks like we may be shopping, this was a cakewalk. He stayed calm, he watched the other kids, he even took a 45 minute nap in the line. Woah!

And then when it was his moment to sit on Santa's lap, he didn't cry at all. He did try and de-glasses him, but that Santa is a smart cookie and avoided his grabs easily.

This is a photo of the photo we paid for. Not great quality, I should have just bought the DVD. But my brain was on Fuzz Mode after that line.



And this is a shot on my camera.





And this has nothing to do with Christmas. But it's all three cousins in their Halloween costumes!




And this is what babies like to do with their papis in our house. Dance a little tango in their pajamas. So sweet.

First Birthday Party Today!

Today we got to have So Much Fun. And we got to experience kid overload and why only a really crazy, crazy person would work in a daycare or preschool. Joaquin's party was at Grandma Pal and Grandpa Tommy's nest. And it was a great, perfect way to start a lifetime of birthday parties.

Let's get this party started. Good Morning to Baby Birdie. It's 8:30am and he's ready to go.




This was the invitation. Oddly enough, we decided to keep running with a bird theme. Come on, it's probably the only party I get to pick the theme for, right!?




And then came the Favor Crew. That's mom, Lisa and Aunt Deb armed with needles and threads and little bits of felt. My contribution was keeping the scraps from the Halloween costume, cutting all the wings and beaks and ... uh ... that's it. Favor Crew did a great job with the finger puppets and the bird seed bags.






Birthday Cake! Baked and decorated by Grandma Pal. Using the flock of birds from the baby shower over a year ago.




Photo Banner of the monthly photos. This was a really easy project. Just print the photos out and tape to the left over invite paper and envelopes. It's already tucked away in his baby book, too.






Just a glimpse of the Kid Chaos.




Marshall stays cool as a cucumber. This party is cake!




Time for Birthday Cake. He was so stinking cute. The video is about a minute long and it's us singing to him while he tentatively poked at the icing. And then after eating like the baby bird he is from Papi and Mami.... he digs in. This stuff IS good.




This is what it looks like when Papi asks for a besito from a baby covered in cake and icing. Uh, yuck.




Hey, Mami! Let's get to work on playing with these bags and stuff, ok?




This rapt attention lasted for this single (first) gift. And then he got bored of it, and the bigger kids realized There Are Presents To Be Opened and Played With Here! Woo Hoo!!






Marshall and McKenna approve McKenna's gift! School buses hardly need to be unboxed to be fun!




Grandma Pal and Marshal and Lisa winding down at the end of the party. Joaquin is . . . fading.




Back home. After a nap in the car, a bath with his toys and in his pajamas. Ready for some milk and bed. Of course, once he was in bed he spent about 40 minutes talking to himself and singing and re-capping the whole day over and over.




What a great party!! Thank you to Mom and Dad and Lisa and Deb for all their help. We couldn't have done it without them.

Finally. Here are some of the professional photos from his One Year birthday shoot. We love them. As usual.