Exploring

this is the life

11 months, 2 teeth, crawling on all 4s

Stephen turned 11 months on Friday. I didn't take the customary birthday photos, but I got a picture of him on the couch with Dad and doggy.

I've also been trying to get pictures of his teeth... which he finally got last week. All my shots are blurry. Sorry bout that. The kid moves around a lot.

And, in other news, Stephen has finally decided he prefers to crawl like a normal baby instead of his funny one-legged scooch that he had perfected over the last few months. He's taken a few steps, but the most he's done without holding on to anything is 5. It's so funny because before he walks, he starts laughing uncontrollably -- as though the suspense is making him giddy.

Some stuff I missed...

I've been without Internet on my computer for all of July until today. Now, that's not my complete excuse for not blogging much, but it's a big part of it. Anyhow, I'm back online and I've got a slew of pictures that should have been posted before:
My folks were in town at the beginning of the month... busy as always helping unpack or stack the boxes we haven't gotten to yet.
Dad built me a wardrobe (IKEA, of course!) Stephen found this very interesting :-)

Stephen has really taken a liking to long skinny objects: spatulas, breadsticks, honey wands...
And his all-time favorite, his toothbrush. If I stick it in the crib, he usually wakes up holding it. OH! And he's finally got some teeth. The bottom front began breaking through last week. I love his big gummy smile, but I think I'm going to love his toothy grin too.

And Stephen has really grown to love his "Auntie Tai" -- and her necklace. This photo was taken pre-haircut, when Stephen's hair was looking especially scary.

Lorikeet Landing & squawking

We got some interesting photos out of the Lorikeet Landing at the Nashville Zoo... but I got doo-dooed on and Stephen started to cry when the lorikeet on the railing scooted over to him and squawked loudly.
But I'd still say Stephen enjoyed his first trip to the zoo. Mom and Grammy were pooped though!

Ethnic eater

We ate at the Saigon Cafe in Nashville yesterday... our favorite Vietnamese noodle place in the same shopping center was closed. As an appetizer, Mom and I split a coconutty omelet with pork, shrimp, beansprouts and a big heap of fresh herbs. Munchie didn't get to sample it, since I suspect he's a little allergic to eggs. (They give him a rash around his mouth.) But he did eat several bits of spicy chicken from my "bun" -- a bowl of pho noodles with lots of crunchy greens, peanuts, a tangy fish sauce mixture, and cut up egg roll. He also enjoyed Cheerios and puffs. And banging on the table with chopsticks.

He also gnawed the juice out of both lemon slices that were floating in our waters.

Oh, you might also admire my mom and my efforts to give Stephen his second haircut. Joe says his head was starting to look misshapen :-)

WKSF petting zoo

Stephen usually loves animals... but sometimes he goes into zombie mode and it's difficult to figure out how he feels about his surroundings.