Fed up

So I've been pulling one over on Dad for a week or so, but he found me out. He's been feeding me baby food as usual, but over the weekend he learned that not only am I starting to eat table food...but I've been feeding myself!


Of course, I can't do it all myself. I do need a little help—and inevitably things get a bit messy— but I do pretty well.



I sort of felt bad about keeping this from Dad, but as he pointed out, this was just the first of many times in my life that I'll be less than truthful with him.

For dessert, I had my favorite food: "bahn"! (You know them as bananas.) I ask for "bahn"s at least once or twice a day, and I get really mad when I don't get it...and sometimes even when I do!

Getting the hang of it

Since we got our new camcorder, we don't use the camera as much anymore (the camcorder also shoots pictures), so I decided to take the camera case for my own use. Then everything got a little tangled up...



I know it sounded like I was choking myself, but don't worry, I'm fine! By the way, you might have noticed me crawling from more of an elevated position. It's all part of my transition to being upright fulltime. But for now, that project is still a work in progress.

My playdate with Tayrn

I don't usually share the spotlight on my blog, especially not with another baby, but I made an exception for Taryn, the four-month-old daughter of Mom's friend To-dao, who visited us last weekend.


She was very nice (and so were her parents. Her dad entertained me with my "Five Little Monkeys" hand puppet), but I have to say, she was kind of boring. No talking, no walking, no crawling...what's up with that? Mom and Dad said that I used to be that way too when I was her age, but I don't believe them.

Here's some video from her visit. Taryn makes some cute faces and sounds, while I flash the patented "Abby face" (i.e. scowl) from time to time.



Have a good weekend, everyone!

Fists of fury

Today's post is dedicated to a loyal reader who is in need of some cheering up this week. And I've got just the thing: an adorable video of me browsing through one of my favorite books, Ten Little Fingers. With Babcia's encouragement, I dramatically reenact a scene from the book in which the kid makes fists with his ten little fingers. (Dad also included what happened right after, when Mom, Babcia and Dido tested me on recognizing Ukrainian words for different body parts. I do okay before I lose interest.)

I scream for ice cream

A year ago, Mom and Dad took me to Applegate's ice cream and taunted me with some ice cream that I was far too young to sample...


How times have changed. I've been to Applegate's dozens of times since then, and after finally getting a taste of what I had been missing about a month ago, I began insisting that Mom, Dad, Babcia and Dido share their treats with me.

And once I turned 1 and was able to eat more "real" food, Mom started buying ice cream specifically for me. Oh happy day!


And as you can see, I get very impatient when Mom doesn't keep that yummy banana ice cream coming my way!

Ask Julia: 6/3/08

As I've gotten taller and smarter, I can get into even more trouble these days. Look, now I can reach my iPod!

We haven't done an Ask Julia for awhile, so here goes with a couple questions from Aunt Paula:

It sure looks like you had a wonderful birthday. You sure enjoyed the tunnel that you got from your mom and dad. It looks like fun. Can adults fit in that?
They could squeeze in there if they really tried, but it's meant for kids.

I heard that you got lots of great toys and clothes. Will you be modeling any of your new outfits soon? The dress that you wore on your birthday and the one on the day after were beautiful. Who were you wearing? Do you have a favorite designer yet?
Thanks. My birthday dress was purchased by Mom and Dad; the dress that I wore the next day to the iris gardens was a gift from Grandma. I'll slowly start wearing my new outfits. Over the weekend I wore the dress that Aunt Ileana and her family bought for me:


But I still don't have a favorite designer yet. I like anything that looks cute on me, and that includes a lot of things these days!

If you guys have other questions for me, send them along as always.

Pony express

Yesterday brought an unexpected treat—I rode a pony! Mom, Dad and I swung by our church's parish picnic, and while my parents thought I'd love seeing the pony close up, they had no idea I'd actually be able to ride it.



So Dad, now that I'm big enough to ride a pony, when are you going to buy me one?

By the way this video contains the happy ending: my sweet, contented reaction once I got off. What you didn't see was the real ending an hour later, when we left the picnic and I was sobbing hysterically because we were leaving the ponies behind.