The Simple Things

It's wonderful watching Michael grow. Everything and anything he can turn into a game as you'll see in this video. A side note, Michael is still sick with fever. Hopefully, he'll feel better soon!

Toy or Devotional

One day Michael pointed to the mantle and kept repeating, "Ra." I was looking across the mantle trying to figure out what he wanted, and he kept pointing and repeating, "Ra." It seemed like he was pointing to the St. Francis statue. Yes, that's what he wanted! We must of told him that the statue was St. Francis because the "Ra" was from fRAncis. That was a week ago and everyday since then he's been walking around with St. Francis. I told Michael to take care of St. Francis. His response was to bring St. Francis close to him and pat his back. St Francis' hands are folded in prayer. Michael points to them and folds his hands in prayer imitating St Francis. It's really cute. We're wondering if Michael has a devotion to St Francis or whether St Francis is just a toy. Time will tell ...

Sick Boy

This picture was taken when he was heathy.

Today we visited the pediatrician because Michael had fever, cough, and cold. The poor little guy has been pretty miserable.

The doctor said there really wasn't anything to do except treat the fever, aches and pains, and drink lots of liquids. Since he was sick, Michael had hot tea with lemon and honey for the first time. He wasn't feeling well, so I can't say he really enjoyed it, but he did drink it. Today was mostly a cuddle with mom day.

Although, he did do something funny today; we were on the phone with grandma telling her Michael was sick and he started making sounds like his doggy bark but I knew it was different.

He brought me a book and I was expecting him to find the page with the dog, but no, he found the page with the crying baby. He was saying, "Waaaaaa." (Baby crying) I said, "Oh, the baby is crying." He gave me a big smile because he was making crying sounds.

The Animal Book

Guess Who's Going to Work?

Transitions

Sleeping like a Baby

For the last month, Michael's nap schedule has been pretty crazy. Prior to this, he went down like clockwork-9am and 1pm. I knew there would be a transition period when he would loose his morning nap but all my friends said he would take one long afternoon nap. Well, that's not happening. It started off with him screaming the entire morning nap, then taking a 1/2 hour afternoon nap. So, I skipped the morning nap and he still was a taking a 1/2 hour afternoon nap. My dreams of the long afternoon nap don't seem to be happening. Boy, is he a baby bear by the evening. Hopefully, this will pass and it's just his body's way of figuring things out. I hope!

Someone's Hungry

Tonight Michael and I were driving home and I could hear him in his car seat chatting the sound, "r" over and over. (That means rice) I asked him if he was hungry and he did the eat sign. I told him we were having beans, rice, and meat. So all the way home I heard, "r", "b", and "m" which translates to....You guessed it! Rice, beans, and meat. He was a hungry little fellow.

Sound Effects

Lately, Michael has been making a ton of sound effects which is great because it helps us understand what he is saying. Today he came up to me with his hand near his head (his sign for cow) and said, "mooo." Instantly, I knew he wanted cow's milk.

One of Michael's favorite fruits is strawberries. He makes a clicking sound and puts two fingers by his mouth. The clicking sound is the key for us to understanding him. He also has his stuffed animals eat things while he makes a similar clicking sound. It's quite cute.

Prior to this video, he brought me a book (which you can barely see in the video) and placed his hand on his mouth and growled. I know that's his sign for dragon. He was asking me to find the page with the dragon. For the video, I asked him to sign dragon.

The Birthday Party

Today Michael's was fussy and whiney after his nap, although, once I told him we were going to a party, he popped out of his bad mood, and kept repeating, "P." I don't think he even knows what a birthday party is unless he remembers his party, which I doubt. To say the least, Michael thoroughly enjoyed himself. Check out, The West blog for pictures and videos. http://thewestsoutwest.blogspot.com/

Happy 3rd birthday Nicholas!

Play Ball!

What's for Dinner?

Michael Feeding Himself

Dadda and Michael Making Pancakes

A Day at the Beach

Last week a few of us went to the beach and it was a glorious day! Michael loved playing in the sand. To our surprise, the tide came in and scared us. I quickly picked up Michael and we ran away.

Signing Update

It's hard to believe Michael is 13 months old. Once he turned a year old, he seems to have a greater interest in the world around him. The greatest changed we've seen is his improved communication skills both verbal and signing. This is a great relief because we wondered whether signing would delay his speech.

He tries to pronounce everything, although, we do wonder when he'll start pronouncing the endings on words. Tony and I compiled a list of 70 signs he knows. A number of the signs do look alike so context is very important. A lesson we learned from our signing teacher was the importance of sounds. This helps tremendously and is fun. For example, when he signs strawberries, he makes a clicking noise. It's really precious. Michael continues to keep us motivated to learn new signs for him.

Ducks

When my parents visited us, we took Michael to the park and for the first time he saw ducks. He was speechless. All he could do was stare.

Peek a boo and Tired

This video captures Michael playing peek a boo and showing us he's tired. One night we were driving home and he yawned and I told him, "Oh, you're so tired." Right then and there, he did a fake yawn and now it's a game.

More Walking Take II

More Walking....

Michael continues daily to progress with his walking. He started several months ago cruising along furniture and started taking steps shortly after his birthday. He's still very wobbly but making lots of progress.

Michael's Baptism Anniversary

A year ago yesterday, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Michael was baptized. To celebrate we had a special dinner with Michael's favorite foods and lit his baptismal candle. The celebration ended with Michael eating a few tastes of some yummy chocolate cake. He was a happy boy!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Saturday our family had another chance to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, so these pictures are from two weeks ago. Michael loves the otters so we seized the moment to teach him the sign. Unfortunately, you finger spell otter, so we used the sign for seal. We arrived near closing but it was perfect because Michael didn't have to compete with other people.

If you ever want to go during the week, let me know because we have a year pass and love seeing all the sea creatures.

A Visit to Oma and Nonno's House

Today Michael visited his grandparents Oma (German for Grandma) and Nonno (Italian for Grandpa). He enjoyed playing with his toys and reading books with them, and demonstrating how well he signs. In fact, Michael learned a new sign, leaf, and then immediately turned to Oma's plant and signed leaves. Then at lunch I was feeding him what he wanted, depending on his sign, either strawberries, watermelon, avocado, chicken, bread or water. After he ate quite a bit, he finally signed finished. We are pleasantly surprised how quickly Michael is picking up and using signs and communicating with us. It is joy to see his excitement when he understood.

Oldie but Goodies-Michael's Furry Friends

Trip to the Zoo

Michael and I visited the SF Zoo. At one point, we were in the lion house and there was a humungous lion in a very small cage. I was telling Tony that there were a sea of people and Michael and I were in the corner and I told him maybe it was my imagination but it looked as if the lion was just staring at Michael roaring quiet loudly. You can see the lion looking toward us in the video. Keep in mind, the sea of people are on the left side. Tony said animals prey on the weakest and littlest and the lion probably wanted to eat Michael. I was slightly freaked out.

It's a ...

It's a ...

Today was our 20 week appointment for Baby Q. II. This entailed a thorough ultrasound of all the baby parts. Thanks be to God, everything visible was fine. We also had the option to find out the gender. As I mentioned before, we waited with Michael, but this time ... we decided to find out.

Here are the results.

We asked the OBGYN to write the gender down on a slip of paper and put it in an envelope. After the appointment, I went to a baby boutique and chose one blue and one pink outfit. I asked the sales clerk to read the slip of paper and wrap the appropriate outfit that you see in the picture above. We aren't waiting too long, and will open the gift tomorrow on the feast of the Three Kings. We are very excited and feel like kids the night before Christmas morning. We will keep you posted.

Michael Barking

Michael has always loved dogs. In fact, it was one of his first signs. If he sees a dog, he gets excited. So it shouldn't be surprising that now he barks like a dog. It's not real clear in this video, but he is barking.

Someone is Trying to Walk

Michael is definitely taking steps, and you can see by the video, he's having a good time.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Yesterday we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium and I captured a couple brief clips.

Rock Out Baby