Happy Halloween, Charlie Brown.

Antonio's second Halloween was a little bit more action packed than his first. For starters, Antonio can walk now. He can "talk" now. And he can wear a pumpkin on his head now.
Yep, this is what happens when Antonio and I are home alone all day.

Antonio couldn't wait to get into his costume... He was Charlie Brown. Of course he has entirely too much hair to be a good Charlie Brown, but I don't believe in punishing people because they have too much hair. I think we should celebrate Antonio's hair while we still can.

Not only was Antonio going to be Charlie Brown, but Havana had a costume, too. She was Woodstock. Needless to say she now hates us and everything we stand for, but she sure was cute. Antonio couldn't wait to get outside to trick-or-treat, but he had to wait until Mom got home. And then, he had another surprise, his cousin Elijah came by for a visit and he brought Auntie Chrissy and Uncle Steven with him.Antonio learned that there are two types of pumpkins. There are pumpkins, and there are PUMPKINS.Then it was time to go outside and check out the world. We didn't actually go door-to-door, because Antonio wouldn't understand it and he doesn't really eat candy. He mainly just chews lots and lots of gum. Antonio wanted to take a ride in his wagon with Elijah, but Elijah wasn't having any of that.
So Elijah stayed behind and posed for pictures.
Antonio and Havana went for a ride together.
Antonio loves riding in his wagon, but this was Havana's first trip. She did a great job as we went all the way to the end of the block then up the other side of the street.

But then we got to the house across the street with the loud and annoying dogs (as opposed to the house on our side of the street with the one very loud and annoying dog named Havana). I guess they must have made some fun of Havana for her costume, because she went tearing out of the wagon and started yelling at them. There was a fence keeping all the dogs apart, but that didn't stop Havana from trying to dig her way underneath it.
Havana started a new tradition of getting a bath on Halloween. She did not enjoy that one bit.

Here are a few videos of Antonio. The first is when he first saw Havana in her Woodstock costume.

The second is a long video of Antonio being Antonio.

Hot Dog: The Blog Entry

Big family weekend for Antonio. Grandma was in town Thursday, and so she had to come by and spend the night. She brought Antonio a recliner so he can kick back when he's reading or talking on the phone. Havana likes it, too.
But you know how it is, Grandma brings a new toy, and all she wants to do is play with the box.
Then on Friday, Grandma got to spend the entire day with Antonio. She plays with him like no body else, and he had a great time. I'm pretty sure she had fun, too. Then Grandpa, who was in Texas for a conference, made it back in time to see Antonio off to bed on Friday. They had a very nice Antonio to Antonio chat about things.
On Saturday, after seeing the Barge Grandparents off, the family made the trek to Issaquah to spend time with the other side of the family. After getting grabbed and tickled by Bonk:
And cuddled by Mamma:
Antonio and his cousins posed for some pictures for Mamma and Bonk's Christmas card. Don't worry, this one isn't the winner so I'm not giving anything away.
We had a good afternoon and a great dinner. Antonio loves his cousins. He wants to be a big boy like they are someday. And you know what, some day he will be.

Then on Sunday, we made a trip to Costco. Because we happened to be hungry at the time, we picked up some lunch. Polish Sausage for me, regular hot dogs for Debbie and Antonio. Not only did Antonio really enjoy the hot dog, but he said his first non- "Mama", "Dada", "Ya-Ya" (that's what he calls himself in the mirror) word.

That's right, he said "hot dog." Actually, it was "Haw Doc", but it was pretty darn cute. He did it again and again because he saw how excited it made us.
So in summation... Yay for first words. Boo for his first word being hot dog.

(There was supposed to be a video here, but the ExtraNet decided to not let me put it up. Sorry.)

New

BIG NEWS!

Antonio knows where his penis is.
In other big news, Antonio is still cute. And sometimes, when you're cute, you have to get your diaper changed when it's almost bath time. And if that's the case, then why put on pants when you can walk around in your clean shirt and clean underwear?
And sometimes, after (on more accurately, in the middle of) getting your diaper changed when it's almost bath time, a fella just has to pee on himself and his shirt and his changing table and his dad. And when that happens, well, there's no point putting on a whole new outfit, so you get to hang out in your underwear for the rest of the night.
(Daddy remembers when he was a bachelor and he got to watch cartoons in his underwear... Good times, good times.)

Today, Antonio had his first McDonald's cheeseburger. To say he liked it would be an understatement. He almost ate the WHOLE THING.
After lunch, Antonio got all bundled up and we headed out for a walk. All that walking tired him out, and he had to get ready for bed. How do we know when it's time for Antonio to go to bed? Well, there are some subtle hints...

Antonio had a busy week. We did a lot of the usual things, reading, playing, going for walks, but for Antonio every day is a new experience.

One thing that actually was a new experience was Antonio's first bus ride. Laurie decided to take him downtown to Pike's Place Market, and they rode the bus there. Like always, Antonio flirted with everybody he saw, and he loved waving at the riders as they got off the bus.

He's really up and moving. Every day his walking skills get that much better -- he's more stable and more faster. He'll be running marathons before too long.

Today was a big day. Antonio had a ton of visitors. Literally. 2000 pounds of visitors. We weighed them all.

It started out with Uncle Brandon and Amy who stopped by on their way back from the airport. It took a few minutes for Antonio to remember how Uncle B likes to play rough, but when he did, he was all over him.

After they left, Auntie Chrissy, Uncle Steven and Cousin Elijah came by. As always, it was good for Antonio to see his little cousin. As always, Antonio was trying to grab his little cousin. (Who is actually not that little. He'll be towering over Antonio soon.)
Since it was a nice day, we busted out Antonio's new wagon that Mamma gave him for his birthday. Antonio absolutely loved riding in it. He can't wait for the next sunny day.
Then Deb and I did a last bit of yard work, trimming the lavender before it gets too cold. Antonio sat on the lawn watching us. We got it all done, and we were able to get a few good pictures, too.
And Havana wasn't allowed to join us.
Poor girl.

Antonio Has Done a Lot

While I haven't been posting because I suck, Antonio has still been very busy. Mostly he's just busy being really cute, because he's really good at that. But he's also been busy hiding under the table and playing with his plastic balls and the remote control.
He made a trip over to his cousin Elijah's house. As always, he wanted to grab his cousin.
What he didn't know about the trip was that he was giving... er, loaning... his cousin some of his favorite toys. He wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to them yet.
He was also very happy to see his Nina.
Then his Grandma and Grandpa made a surprise visit. He was quite happy to see them and spend some time with them. Unfortunately, they weren't happy to see him.
He also got to show of his mad sign language skillz. He knows the word "help." That's it. Help. He wants you to read a book? "Help." He wants you to play a DVD? "Help." He wants you to make a grilled cheese sandwich? "Help." It means so much.
He still loves hanging out with Havana. The two of them are going to cause so much trouble together. They're the perfect team.