Hi!

Hello there! My silly Momma decided to put me in the kitty's playpen... I guess she got tired of constantly having to pull me off of the stairs! Yep, yep. I like climbing. Just you watch! It's stairs today, and Mount Everest tomorrow!

Uh, yeah. My toy basket is completely empty. It was hard work! Now will you help me put my toys back inside?

Uhm, heheh. Lalala. Don't look at me... keep writing your paper, Momma. I'm not getting myself into any trouble at all.

Nope, none. Do you see this face? Purely angelic. No mischief at all. Not me!

Uh! Uh! (*grunt*) This thing is tricky! My Momma can do it, now I want to do it myself! Stop laughing at me, kitty! I am trying to make this ball go into the hole, and slide down the slide!

Ok. Time-out. I'll just chew on the ball for a little while. Get it all nice and slippery.

Maybe if I look at my Momma with these BIG GOOGLY ANIME EYES she will show me how to do it again?
Oh! Look! It worked!

Going to the Zoo!

My Momma took me to the Zoo! We had a grand old time together with Stephanie and her daugher McKenzie. Stephanie took these pictures... thank you!!!!!


Here I am looking at the elephants. They are sooooooooo big!

After seeing the elephants, I got to watch McKenzie feed the ducks. All those ducks, and all that quacking! I got really excited!
This is the old grampa monkey. When we walked by, he tapped the window to get my attention. What a strange animal! Not quite as strange as the old great-grampa monkey.... he didn't harldy have any hair!


I also got to see the lions. One of the males was roaring, and that scared me. But I didn't cry, I just almost did. Then my Momma showed me how to roar back, and then it was fun.

Here we are in the petting zoo. When we went in there, all the goats came running towards us! They licked my hands, and even my face, until my Momma pushed them away a bit. No idea why she minded. It was fun grabbing their fur. One of the babies ate a cracker out of McKenzie's stroller. The goat in this picture is pregnant with twins!

Here I am befriending two of the goats. My Momma is holding my hand, because I kept trying to grab the goats' wet noses. I wonder why she didn't want me to?

Play -Eat -Sleep -Play

Why hello there! Welcome to the newest edition of ME! This is my toy basket...

...and it is great fun to fish in it! I toppled into it a few times before I learned to bend my knees when I go fishing... which resulted in me being stuck, head first, legs sticking out kicking. Thankfully, my Momma rescued me each time.

My Momma and Dad put this playpen in the living room specially for the kitty to sleep in. Yeah. Those big meanies. When he is in there, I can't get at him! Grrrrr....

...that doesn't keep me from shreeking at the kitty: "Gkeeh!" and trying to reach in to pull his ears.... my Dad is very jealous that my first word is not "Dada" ...I have been saying "Gkeeh!" consistently now for a while. I say "Dadadadada" and "Mamamamama" but mostly just because I like the sound of it.

Sometimes when my Dad is at work, and my Momma needs to take a shower (pew!) she puts ME in the kitty's play pen. Weird, isn't she?

I played and played and played... time for a nap! Maybe my Momma will take a nap too?

Climbing!!!!

So this whole standing thing is really fun! I like it so much that my Momma has to give me my bath while I stand up... none of that silly lying down nonsense!

My Momma has been pretty busy lately with her graduate class... sheesh! All that reading and writing papers... but I was a good boy and let her work.

Oh yeah. And I used the time to learn to climb onto the stairs in front of the fireplace. You can imagine, my Momma was delighted. So delighted that she took away all the plants and decorations that were on the upper step! Boy was she surprised when I did it the first time! She went into the kitchen while I was peacefully playing on the livingroom floor, and came back to see me crawling along the length of the first step, following the kitty! So far I have managed not to fall off.

I am liking this whole "having teeth" part of life. These things are great! I can gnaw on dried breadcrusts, I can gnaw on the kitty's paws, and I can even leave my mark on the furniture now!

Alright, my Momma is talking about putting me down for my nap now. Gotta go!

8-month check-up

Today Mark had his 8-month check-up (a little late), and was pronounced, yet again, a big, healthy, happy boy. He "delighted" the waiting room with a long monologue of LOUD "Eidileidileidileidileidi! Bvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv (rasberry)! Bwabwabwabwabwa! Yayayahhh! Hahahaaah!" ...it made people laugh.

He is now 30.5 inches (77.5cm)"tall", and weighs 20.5lbs (9560g) - this means that he grew quite a bit in length, but has only gained about a lb in 2 months. I was a tiny bit worried at this. But the doctor said that this was nothing to worry about, since Mark is such an active baby, and because he did grow in length, if not in weight.

Please admire Mark's 3 teeth, 2 on the bottom, 1 on the top! The 4th one (top middle) broke out of the gum last night. And yes, that is my soggy sock Mark was just chewing on...


That's it for now, folks, cuz I gotta get back to writing my paper!

...back after a wonderful month in the USA!

So this last month has been full of amazing and fun experiences!
My Momma and Dad took me to the USA, where we spent a wonderful time with family and friends. Thank you to everybody who opened their home to us... and we look forward to seeing all of you again!



My Dad got to perform the honor of letting my little bare feet touch American Soil for the first time... my comment: chilly!



This month has brought a lot of changes: on Feb 17th, I got my first tooth, followed a few days later by my second tooth (both on the bottom in the middle). The third tooth is poking through on one corner on the top. Don't put your finger in my mouth! I will BITE!



I am better at sitting, but still not interested in STAYING sitting. During the last week of Febuary, I became interested in pulling myself up on things. I wasn't very good at it then, but by the time I was back here in Germany, I was really good at it! (Which forced my Momma and Dad to spend all of Saturday babyproofing the house!) I pull up on the couch, the stairs, my crib, the bed, legs, or pretty much anything I can find. Now I can even walk along the length of the couch while holding on for balance. The only problem is that I have not yet figured out how to get down by myself. This is especially frustrating when I am in my crib, and really just want to sleep... but I will learn soon.

Feeding myself crackers and toasted oats (kind of like unsweetened cherios) is one of my new skills too. I like offering other people my food, but so far my Momma and my Dad were the only takers.




Well, that's it for now... but there will be more pictures soon!