Merry Christmas!!!!

The Bradley family wishes you a very merry Christmas!!!!

Happy Mark's-first-food-day! (I am 6 months old now!)

So, I am not sure what posessed my Momma and my Dad: Today I turned 6 months old, and for some very odd reason, they thought it would be a good time to introduce me to solid foods! Well, quasi-solids... I am not sure if mushed-up steamed carrots count as "solid" per se...

Haha! You're funny, Momma! I am supposed to do WHAT? Eat that stuff??! It looks nothing like milk, and that green spoon looks nothing like where the milk comes from. You're so silly!

Ok, this is my very first bite of food ever. I had no idea what awaited me!

*full body shudder* -Wow. This tastes really weird. Yuck. Or is it yucky? Swallow! Quick! Uh. Oh. *Gag* Not THAT quickly... Ewwwww!

(a few spoonfulls later) This is disgusting!!! I think. Ugh. ...or is it?

Yeah, I would say I have had enough of this messy nonsense. Just gimme some yummy milk! I've had it for 6 months now, why switch to something else?










More pictures of his next meal to follow! We will give him "food" for lunch from now on... and maybe some nibbles of stuff here and there. =o)

Catching the Kitty!

Hello again! Glad to see you! Hope you haven't gone crazy with Christmas shopping yet... my Momma and Dad have decided NOT to Christmas shop this year! They are going shopping together AFTER Christmas! But we still have lots of gifts under the tree that my Dad won't let my Mom peek at. I have tried to help her by taste-testing the packages, but my efforts are foiled each time.

Well, that darned tooth still hasn't made it through my gum, but it doesn't bother me as much right now, as long as I have something to chew on. I am not fussing as much, and I am sleeping better, too. In fact, a few nights ago, I didn't even wake up until 6am!

Today I had my check-up! Aside from making me take all my clothes off in a cold room, and then poking and prodding me with chilly tools, it wasn't so bad. I can't get my shots until I am actually 6 months old (which is on the 25th), so I didn't get stuck with any needles this time. Anyway. I am sure you have all been holding your breath to find out just how big I have grown: I am 28.7 inches long (74cm), and I weigh 19.2 lbs (about 8900g)!!! Yep, yep, I am a big, big boy. Just like my Dad. My parents don't need a work-out gym... they can just continue to lift ME all day!

Look at me play! Dad hung a blank CD from my playground, and it is fun to chew on!!!

Ok, so remember my lesson in caterpillar-crawling? Well, I have a much more effective mode of transportation these days! It is called the speed-rollover (also used in war zones, by the way!). Once I get going, I can go and go until I hit a barrier (the couch, the playpen, or the kitty!). Yesterday I had so much momentum that I rolled right on top of the kitty... he was surprized, (as was I) and was able to wiggle out from underneath me, but I had his tail pinned, so he wasn't going anywhere! I started pulling his ears, and got a few mouthfulls of his fur... but then my Momma spoiled the fun by freeing the kitty... coming to think of it, this was probably a good thing, because he was beginning to bite my feet!

Just for the record, the kitty and I are friends! We are! I don't torment him more than he lets me... He has figured out that I am rather fun to play with, and he frequently plops down right next to me. Sometimes he even bats the toys away from me. Here he decided his ears had been pulled enough... and was TRYING to get away. Haha! But my grabby little hands were too quick for him!

Swimming, Teething, and going to work with Dad!

You have probably begun to wonder what I have been up to! Well, let me tell you about the highlights:
Last weekend my Dad and Momma took me to Frankfurt to visit Jasmin and Timon! While we were there, I got to go swimming for the first time. It was quite the adventure. For the first 5 or so minutes I wasn't quite sure if I liked being in the water, and would hold on to my Dad or my Momma for dear life, making a very unhappy face. Then I realized that I can wiggle all sorts of waggles in the water! Those of you who have seen me "live" know how much I love wiggling... well, it works even better in the pool! I got a fright the first few times my wiggling arms made me splash my face... and then I gave Dad a fright by grabbing onto his chest hair! My Momma let me float on my back, supporting just my head, and I accidently dipped my face in the water a few times while "floating" on my tummy... but I liked it, I did! I also got to play with these weird streams of water that looked like cables (cables are FUN to play with) and were spraying out from the side of the pool. Tricky things, they were... I'd try to grab one, and it would squirt me in the face! Then my Dad and Jasmin and Timon played with me in the water for a bit while my Momma swam laps. After swimming, I was really hungry and thirsty, and then it was bed-time. I didn't even wait until we were home, but fell into a deep, deep sleep in the car. I enjoyed swimming so much that my Momma and Dad are going to take me swimming more often... and we will get a disposable waterproof camera to take a few pictures next time!

Hmmm. What else hav I been up to? Ahhhh! Yes! I got to go to work with my Dad! My Momma had a doctor's appointment, and Dad decided to take me with him to work. He had me sort through files, and I got to deal out a few article 15s to some soldiers... not really. I mostly basked in the admiration of his co-workers, and chewed on Dad's wallet and his cell phone. He had brought my own toys, but Dad's cell phone is SO much more interesting! Just wait til I have teeth! After a while, I got tired and took a nap... and then when I woke up, Dad brought me back to my Momma, and I had a good meal of yummy milk!

Speaking of milk, my Momma is still breast-feeding me 100%... but on Christmas day I will be 6 months old, and I get to try "real" food for the first time! ("real" as in mushed up pumpkin or peas, and cereal). I bet my Dad and Momma will get some good pictures from the experience!

Please admire my toothless smile... because it will not be toothless for much longer! I have spent the last three days being very uncomfortable because my first tooth is trying to come in on the bottom... it still hasn't quite made it, but the gum is red and swollen, and there is a little white point peaking. Lots of slobbering, and chewing on everything, everyone, and anything helps. My Momma also puts some ointment on my gum that numbs it. She tried it herself, and she shuddered from the taste just like I did, and then was weirded out when her lip went numb! I want to be held all the time right now, and am pretty fussy... it is a first for my Momma and Dad, but they will learn... cuz I have 23 more teeth that will come in after this one!

Uhm, no, I am not on a leash here... this is just a ribbon dangling for me to play with. I love playing with cables, and so my Momma and Dad are trying to re-direct my interest to ribbons and string instead... but cables are so much more yummy!

Ah, yes. My book. The edges are a bit more worn, but it is just as delicious as ever! If the pages aren't too wet, my Momma looks at the pictures with me and makes the animal noises and explains what they eat. I really like the horsy-noise and the sniffing bunny is great fun, too!

When nobody is available to read to me, I talk to my book myself. I am not yet able to open it, or turn the pages. But the good old kittens and airplane never fail to fascinate...

Yes, so I am told that traditionally babies are supposed to play with the dangly toys that hang off of this thing. How boring! It is so much more fun to pull myself over by the legs, or to push the whole thing around! I also like lifting the whole contraption by one leg, and chewing on the round blue ball on the end...