Antonio Went to the Zoo

Laurie took Antonio to the zoo today. It was a nice little field trip, although Antonio got a little fussy because it was cold and he was surrounded by strange animals.

He did enjoy chasing a bunch of crows around a tree, although I don't believe that is a standard attraction there.
Hey! Monkey!

All Antonio, All the Time

Not a lot of news. Antonio's still awesome. Oh, and he's drinking again.
That's about it. He loves to be cute. He loves to play. Sometimes he loves to do both at the same time. He's also reading at a third grade level. Check out his brains.

And he really loves his doggie.
Havana tolerates him, too.

And now, with his new haircut, he looks like a new man.
A new man who loves his Glow Worm, that is.

Growing up, growing teeth.

Not a huge update here, just some good Antonio pictures and videos. (And really, are there ever bad Antonio videos and pictures?)

Growing teeth sucks. Especially molars. They really hurt. He's been a trooper, and I think the worst is behind us. No puke in four days. We're in the clear.

But he's still exhausted from growing. So exhausted that he often just collapses on his Lightning McQueen pillow.
When he's not crashed on the floor, he enjoys either hanging out with me and Havana:
Or he likes to kick back in his chair and watch some movies.
Check out excited he gets during one of his favorite parts of Finding Nemo, one of his favorite movies.

We also went to Barnes & Noble to pick up some new books and so Antonio could play with some trains with other kids.

All in all it was a good weekend, mainly because he got to spend some time with all of the grandparents. No matter how much he's hurting, that always cheers him up.

Antonio's Under the Weather

Remember yesterday when I said Antonio threw up? If you don't, I'll wait for you to scroll down and read the entry...
















Okay.

Well, he didn't feel very good today either.
In fact, there were only two things that even helped him feel better; lounging in his pajamas all day and The Wonder Pets.

It's Fun to Play at the YMCA (and Throw Up)

Antonio's an awesome kid.

You know why he's an awesome kid? For many reasons. Too many reasons to get into, really.

But I'll tell you about one reason.

He loves going to the YMCA's playroom.

We were worried. He never really spends any time with other kids. He especially never spends any time away from his Mommy or his Daddy or his Laurie. So when I started going back to the Y and dropping him off, I expected the worst.

Instead I got the best.

He loves going. He can't get out of my arms and into the play room fast enough.

He's such a great kid.
Another way he's s great kid. He's very predictable.

Since he was a kid, whenever he is about to get a new tooth, he starts throwing up at night. At first, it freaked us out because he seemed to be throwing up for no reason. It wasn't until Deb asked Auntie Kel if she had any suggestions, and she told us that some kids throw up when they're cutting teeth. Maybe that was it.

Sure enough, after a week of throwing up, he stopped throwing up, and about a week later, he got his first tooth.

Since then, whenever he throws up at night, we know a new tooth is on its way. We've gotten really good at being able to tell when the throw up is going to happen, too. Usually we can tell far enough in advance to throw down some towels and suit up in rain gear before we head in for his nightly feeding.

Like tonight.

We knew about an hour before we even thought about starting his bedtime routine that he was going to be making a mess all over whichever one of us put him down.

Luckily it was Deb's turn tonight.

Get ready for a new tooth in a couple days.

Oh, and since I don't have any vomit pictures (although I know you're all disappointed there are no vomit pictures), here's Antonio being awesome.

Slack Factory 2008

Boy, 2008 sure has gotten off to a blazing start on the blog, hasn't it? One post. And everything in that post happened last year. I'm lame.

But we're back in business.

Let's start with New Year's Day. Antonio realized he was looking kind of shaggy, so he made an appointment to get a haircut. She didn't even need to use a bowl.You might be asking yourself, where did Antonio get those fancy duds? Those were a Christmas gift from Uncle Rod that he picked up on one of his many trips to faraway lands. (Like Hong Kong, Thailand, and Sacramento). Antonio's growing so quickly, he probably won't fit into them by Chinese New Year's, so he wore them for regular New Year's.

The compliments were coming his way fast and furious.
We stopped for a New Year's brunch at the Smorsmas' new house. It was a lot of fun, and Antonio got to play with some kids his own age. But then Antonio had to play with kids much older than him. First he gave Uncle Rod a kiss for giving him the cool outfit and to wish him a happy birthday on the 2nd. Then, like the flirt he is, he made a move on Uncle Rod's girl.Rod was jealous, but he knew he stood no chance against the pure machismo that is Antonio. He really loved Aunt Virginia, and I think she was pretty smitten with him, too.

So that was the 1st. Since then, it's been a lot of Daddy time. A bunch of Mommy time. A bit of Laurie time. Some grandparent time. And even a trip to the playroom at the YMCA. We were worried that he wouldn't like being left in there while I went to work out, but he only got upset when it was time to leave.

See you all again in a few months when I get around to blogging again. (Deb just hit me, so it'll probably be sooner than that.)

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Antonio saw 2007 off with a great day. Well, parts of it were great, parts of it were terrible, but we'll get to those later.

First, he played on his new foam tiles. They're a great place to play, but the first time he got on them, they were new and strange and different.

Oh, and another new thing, he likes kicking his feet over the side of the landing above the stairs, just relaxing and watching the world go by.Then came the highlight of the day. We bundled Antonio up and took him to a nearby playground so he could play with all the cool jungle gyms and slides and other exciting equipment.
Or dirt. He liked playing with the dirt.
But he finally got the hang of the more exciting equipment, but the dirt was still the best part of all.



Then it was back home to warm up. He kicked back on his recliner and then chased Havana around. It was basically a normal day.


Then IT happened.

December 31, 2007 will be burned into his memory as the day that his mom said he wasn't allowed to eat crayons.
I know. She sucks. And he told him she sucks. He was not happy.

But in the end, she cuddled him with his blanket and made everything all right.
Until the next time she tells him not to eat crayons, that is.

(In other news, his Mommy and Daddy had a very nice and quiet anniversary. We even made it up to New York New Year's.)

(Good God, we're old.)

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime

Antonio had a great Christmas. He saw friends. He saw family. He dressed up like Santa. He scored tons of great gifts. What more could a one-year-old ask for? Pretty much nothing.
The trip to Oak Harbor started with a journey down to Mamma and Bonk's house. Bonk has officially gone mad. Take a look at his Christmas display.
Although he assures me, this is "green," I'm not so sure about it.

There was plenty of time spent with cousin Elijah, who has a habit of bursting into tears whenever Antonio comes near him. I think it's because Antonio conveys an image of pure strength, that he intimidates everyone he encounters. But probably not. It's probably because Antonio likes to grab his younger cousin's face all the time. As we waited for the actual big day to arrive, Antonio got to spend some time with cousins on the other side of the family.
As well as watch Dad rest from a long day on the picket line.Another big event was the arrival of his tent from the upstairs kids' bedroom. Finally Antonio has someplace to get away from all the craziness and read in peace and quiet.
Then finally the big day arrived. Antonio donned his fanciest Santa suit and got ready to open some presents.
You know what the best presents he got were? These ribbons.
Wait, I take it back, it was this leash and this string. Those were the best gifts.
Elijah got into the Santa mentality too. He enjoyed rockin' his maracas. (I don't know if that's an actual saying, but if it's not, it is now.)
Hello, cousin. I think Antonio likes his older cousin.
Havana tried to help with the gift un-wrapping. But she's not as skilled as Antonio is and got a bunch of paper and tape stuck in her fur. It's hard being her.
While Antonio can't decide what the best gift he received was, he knows what the best gift he gave was. Antonio and Elijah got together and created a giant frame of some of their best picture. Grandma and Grandpa loved it. It will hang with pride in their home.
You can see it too, if you want. Of course it's $10.00 to get in, and there's no flash photography allowed.

Here's Antonio trying to cheer up Preston. It's a long video, but he just wanted his cousin to feel better. He's such a sweet kid.

Antonio says, "Merry Christmas!"

Actually, he says, "ba boo doo doo," but he's working on "Merry Christmas."

But first things first, Antonio had a very busy week with a lot of visitors. First, his Great Uncle Doug visited. Too bad Antonio didn't have any fun playing on his lap. I mean, look at the kid, he looks absolutely miserable.

Then, Antonio had a play date with his friend Charlie. She enjoyed his recliner and jumped in and started to read right away. As much as he loves playing with older kids, he enjoys when older kids read to him just as much.

And then the presents started. First came a wonderful goodie bag from Brenda. The bag was great in and of itself, but there was cool stuff in it, too. And the coolest of all, candy canes for Havana. (She was so happy to be included. It happens so seldom lately.)
One thing he didn't like, however, was when Mommy and Daddy told him he wasn't allowed to eat the doggie candy canes himself. That part sucked.
After he calmed down, he knew it was time to see the Jolly Fat Man, but since he sees me every day, I thought it would be fun taking him to see Santa instead. he did a great job, he wasn't scared at all. He squirmed a bunch, and it made getting photographic evidence of his visit with St. Nick hard to get, but we still got a few good ones.

(Yes, that is my bald head at the bottom of the picture.)

And here's a preview of how much fun he's going to have with all the boxes he gets for Christmas. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas, everybody.