New tricks!

Well, my Momma and I are getting settled back in at home, and jet lag is wearing off. Actually, I never really seem to have had jet lag, but slept through the night the first night we were back!

So my Momma promised in the last post to tell about my new tricks. I must have gone through a developmental spurt or something, because I learned them all within the weekend!

I can now grab stuff fairly confidently, including the toys on the handle of my carseat, toys or stuff next to me, or, my favorite: my Momma's earrings or necklace (looks like she will stop wearing jewelry for a while)! I try to grab her nose and smile, too, but for some reason they don't come off. If I have the chance, I also try grabbing my Momma's hair. Anything I grab instantly gets checked out by fiddling and licking.

I can roll over tummy to back (been doing that for a while, but hadn't done it for a few weeks... finally got the knack of tucking my arm under), and back to tummy! It takes lots of grunting and complaining to do it, but I can, I can! You should have seen the big smile on my face the first time I rolled back to tummy successfully.

I have also started doing something that my Momma calls the caterpillar-ooch. Yesterday, lying on my tummy, I decided that I wanted my froggy toy, but it was out of my reach! So I ooched my little butt in the air by bending my knees, and pushed forward with my legs. It made me move forward! How exciting! It was kind of uncomfortable, because my face got smushed into the ground in the process... I was using my head as a counter-weight. But I did it again this morning, lying on my parents' bed, and got from the middle of the bed to the head of the bed. Watch out, world, here I come!

Also, when I am on my back, the way I kick my feet into the floor, I end up turning in a circle like the hand of a little clock in the course of about 20 minutes. Dunno why.
This is me flirting with my Momma. Look at my cute fat rolls!
Here I am talking and squawking as I try SO hard to roll onto my side!
Yes! I did it! Now on to my tummy...

Next post you can look forward to seeing me with my grandparents and various great grandparents! Still waiting for permission from all of them to post them on my blog...

Back in Germany!

Well, after a wonderful month in the USA with our family, Mark and I are now in Germany again! I am still very jet-lagged, and tired too, so I won't upload any pictures just yet, but as soon as I am a bit more rested, you can look forward to more pictures of Mark, and some reports on a few of his cool new skills!

Who reads our blog?

Hi friends! My brother pointed out that our blog was set so that only blog members can leave comments. So I changed that setting! Now anyone can leave a comment. I am curious who all checks out our blog! So, if you would like, leave a quick comment saying "hi" and who you are (no last names necessary). =o) Look forward to it! =o) Katie

Am I cute or what???!

Uh, oh! Look at my big blue eyes! I might not have much hair left, but I am still as charming as ever (...and I believe I still have more hair than my Uncle Rob...)! My Grandma put this bandana on me as a bib... I think it was a challenge to see how quickly I could soak it! Uhhhm, took me about 2 minutes. Yeah. I am that good.
So I have mastered the art of kicking my legs and waving my arms so quickly that they are a blur on camera! Look at me go!

This is my Mom's view of me while I sleep in my Maya wrap. I love sleeping like this, in fact, I dare say it is my favorite spot!
Oh yeah. So check this out. Somebody dangles this weird pink piggy toy in front of my face, and then I get all excited and try to grab it, but most of the time I end up holding onto my shirt instead, or grabbing my bib and pulling it over my face. This time I got the pig though. It tasted good. And then it just kinda went away, don't know what happened, but I was waving my arm, and next time I looked, it was gone!
Piggy is more than 25 years old, my Mom got him for Christmas before she was born!
Huh. Wadda ya know. Is that my Mom flirting with me from behind the camera? Quick! Smile back at her! Oh yeah, this is fun!
Hey, you! Wanna play with me? I think tummy time is actually kinda fun now. Stuff is right-side-up when I look at it from this perspective! Plus, I can produce some great drool-spots on the blanket under me, or my bib, or pretty much anything else within a mile radius of me.
Ohhhh, man, there's my Mom again, waving that silly camera in my face. All I want is to play and talk and laugh! But she claims that other people want to see my picture! Does that mean I'm famous? Hmmmm. Lemme think about that one.

Naked Time!!!!

Here are some pics for you guys that I took today while Mark was hanging out in the living room in his diaper. Enjoy!

My spoon and my feet

In recent news, Mark has found his feet! He can't catch them yet, but boy are they fun to stare at and wiggle! It can keep him busy for quite a while. He especially likes it when I put bright colored socks on him... like yellow or green or blue!
He can now also bring his hands together in the middle, and bring his hands to his mouth to suck on his fist. *yummy!* While visiting the great grandparents, he enjoyed waving a spoon around that I put in his hand. He can't grab stuff yet on purpose, but he has started to bat at things.

These last two weeks have been exciting! In chronological order, Mark has met his great Grandma Carol, his great Grandparents Griffing, his Grandparents Griffing, his Grampa Bradley, and his Rumely great Grandparents, as well as various aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, and several second cousins.
Everyone assures me that Mark is an exceptionally good and contented baby. He hardly ever cries, and loves to just sit on a lap looking around, or lying on his back wiggling. When he gets tired during the day, I tie him onto my front with a Maya wrap (Tragetuch), and he falls asleep within about a minute. He wakes up once (or sometimes twice) at night to eat, but has no problem going to sleep. Hehe, my Mom (Grandma Griffing) teases me that the next baby will be a "real" baby. I am sure thankful that Mark is such a good baby though!

We are really enjoying the time with our family. I wish Ben could be here with us! Three months until he comes home... I love you sweetie!

Mark Smiling

This is one of the videos that MarksMomma has been sending me to keep me going.

Whoops, I linked the wrong video. Mark smiling wiill come shortly!


Here it is! =)