La La La - Laurie

We have been teaching Antonio sign language since he was very little and it has been such a great tool for us. And now that he talks, he wants a sign for every person in his life and if we don't give him one he makes one up. For example, for Grandma he signs apple.

He had been asking for a sign for Laurie so I started making an L with my fingers. This has been going on for a few weeks and each time Antonio tries he just points his one finger and doesn't use the thumb, until today.

The smile says it all - he was SO proud of himself when he figured out how to sign for Laurie all by himself!

We are all still battling the winter cold, but Antonio is still having some fun while we are recovering. And lucky for all of us Jeff is here now and we are all excited to be together for the "Winter Blast 2008" - maybe Jim Forman will come to our neighborhood and film the mess.

Let it snow!

This is the first year Antonio actually understand snow, though I'm not sure he likes it. He won't touch it and today was the first day I could convince him it was ok to walk through it...



He did like walking in it afterall but only when he had his blanket around his shoulders and Luigi and Guido in each hand. Of course every few feet he would drop one of them in the snow and we'd have to dig to find them.

In the end he was happiest looking out at the snow from inside his warm house.

Quote of the Season

Oh, yes that is right...as Antonio was looking for his own penis, after his bath, he proceeded to tell me, unprovoked, that yes indeed, Baby Jesus have a penis. His new book told him so and Antonio is darn proud to be in good company. Happy Holidays.

Snow and Brunch Day

Today Seattle woke up to snow, and so did Antonio. However, he wasn't as excited as we thought he would be to play in it.
Instead we treked to Anthony and Jeff's for the annual Il Borro Brunch where many other brave souls ventured out into the snow. Great food and fun for all and Antonio loved giving hugs to everyone, especially Anthony and Joe...I think he knows that Joe is with Clare and he LOVES Clare.

With all this snow, poor Havana has to go out and go potty and get her delicate little feet wet, which she hates. But now Antonio is helping to encourage her on, even saying her name correctly now.

Santa Sucks!

Antonio and his cousin Elijah went to see Santa. And with all the prep and talking about it they seemed pretty excited about it, until the big guy made them sit on his lap. "What the heck?" they both said and screamed.....

These will go down in the Barge family treasure troves of great Santa moments.

NOTE: I posted this picture on our facebook page and have gotten more comments than I've ever gotten on the site. Everyone loves a funny Santa picture.

An Apple A Day - but not celery

If you've never had allergy testing you may not realize how sad each of these little marks are. Each is a mark for a test and each dot is the place where the liquid and prick happen. For little people it happens on their backs rather than their arms. Yes, Antonio screamed. Well some kids are allergic to nuts, not Antonio, he is allergic to raw celery. He has what's called OAS (oral allergy syndrome) which really means he is like his mom and is allergic to pollen but his body thinks the celery is a pollen. And for most kids what a blessing to be allergic to a green vegetable right? Well not Antonio, because that is the Wonder Pets FAVORITE thing...and just a few months ago Jeff had someone tell him, "my kids loves celery because of the Wonder Pets" so of course we tried it. And like clockwork he wanted it....but his body did not.
Poor Antonio, no more playing with his celery and Wonder Pets....I may have to lie to him and give him something else and tell him it is celery.

In the meantime, an apple day might keep "another one doctor" (as he called the allergist) away.

Clare's Back!

Well, Sunday was Antonio's annual photo session with Clare. And once again she captured all of Antonio's best faces! This is one of our sneak preview pics....can't wait to see more.

New Update:
For a few other sneak peeks check out:
http://claremariephotography.blogspot.com/2008/12/antonio-year-later.html

Love or Obsession

Antonio LOVES his cousin. It was Torin's birthday this weekend and Antonio went over to visit. And in that visit, couldn't keep away from his biggest boy cousin. He was SO excited to spend the day with him.




Happy Birthday Torin!

Cuddle Time

There are days when Antonio does nothing overly special, he is just Antonio. He is learning to help clean up all his toys and will gladly gather all his cars and put them back in his bucket at various times in the day - he'll put his bath toys away - he'll help take Havana potty and hold her leash - he'll eat all his meals relatively happily - he'll imagine and play and read and just be him.

And then he'll sit and cuddle with mommy and listen to music (sue-mick as he says) and talk to Santa. He is really just a great boy.

Making Christmas

Today was a fun day to set up our tree for this Christmas... We went to the local True Value in West Seattle and picked up a nice little tree for our little house.

Antonio was excited to get a tree and so was Havana... laying next to the Little People Baby Jesus, she said she should be included in the scene.

While Jeff decorated the tree he helped me go through all the ornaments to choose the ones he liked....it was fun. We pulled out all the fun things Grandmama bought him last year, the singing Pooh and Carousel...he loves them both so much this year.

Antonio loved making Christmas!

Antonio Is Thankful For...

His mommy? No.

His daddy? No.

His Havana? Nope.

Here's what Antonio's thankful for:

Hike

Last week Antonio went to visit his cousin Preston and Auntie Becky with Jeff. It was the first day of Jeff's week long Thanksgiving break and Antonio was so excited to see them.

While at a park, Auntie Becky said 'let's go on a hike' and now that is Antonio's new favorite word!

Which he now says as: "Go See Hike" - it is how he says many things....like "go see girlfriend" which means he wants to go to Easy Street for breakfast, or "go see trains" which means he wants to do to the Coffee to a Tea shop and play with the trains and kids, or "go see Teacher Rachel" which means he wants to go to art class, or when Laurie comes it is "go shopping PCC" which means he wants to take a LONG walk to the nearest PCC, or when Jeff is home it is "go shopping Ca-co" which means he wants to go to Costco....it is so funny to listen to his "go see" the minute he wakes up.

More EI EI O

Farm Time Again

Words to come later......but here are some pictures.....

Happy Ha-o-ween

Havana had another torturous Halloween. Now that Antonio is in her life she has to dress up every year and as you can see she doesn't really like it....

But Antonio was in the Halloween spirit. He started the day going to visit his cousin Preston...and he wore this great Tigger costume he borrowed from Preston.

Later, Antonio decided to see his cousin Elijah (the monster) for some kids fun at the Children's Museum.

Antonio was thrilled to be back at the water table and when we left to get daddy his Tigger costume was soaked through.

More videos and pictures when I get my other camera loaded....

A-N-T-O-N-I-O that's how you spell Antonio

Last night, before fall back, Antonio decided he didn't need to sleep. Of course he did take a 3 1/2 hour nap, but then didn't fall asleep till after 10pm! But, while in his bed he was busy talking, as usual, and we finally figured out what he was doing. Spelling his name! We captured it on video today....before shovelling more snack in his mouth.



Tonight he is out like a light!

E I E I O

Antonio went to a farm - E I E I O

And on that farm there were some chickens and roosters - E I E I O

And on this farm there was a horse....E I E I O

And on this farm there were some sheep - E I E I O

And on this farm was Elijah, Uncle Me-Me and Daddy...E I E I OAntonio went to a farm....

E I E I O!