Huff elementary

With my new walking skills, the school playground has become more interesting. I can go where I want, when I want. Remember when I realized crawling represented freedom? It's just like that, but turbo-charged. Half the fun of the playground is the journey getting there and the wandering about while we are there. I have found a chain ladder but haven't figured out how to climb it (yet). There is also a wall with paintings of the school mascot. I'm trying to determine if the birds are going to eat me. It is supposed to be rainy today and for the next five days. Stay dry. I'm glad that I got out today before it got wet.

More Napa

The balloons in this photograph are two of the dozen or so in the United States that have an envelope capacity of 315,000 cubic feet. According to the pilot, this is the largest size that is legal to fly in this country. How big is that? Think 315,000 basketballs. Enough to lift at least sixteen passengers and the pilot with two propane tanks and basket off the ground. Impressive.

My parents say the most stunning thing about a hot air balloon is when the burner is off. It is quiet. It is warm. It is not windy. A nice way to spend the morning in wine country.

Papa says there are some additional Napa balloon pictures in the Picasa Web Album, just follow the link in the right hand sidebar. As before, the large-sized photographs from this blog are also located there in a separate album.

Napa ballooning

Mama and Papa were away this weekend. They went to a magical place called Napa; it is one of Northern California's premier attractions and a World famous wine region. GrannyM and Pop-pop Bob were on hand in Mountain View to take care of Zadie and me. [Thank you again!] I'm glad that my parents were able to get away and spend some time together. That said, I am glad that they came back because I missed them. A lot. I wonder if they missed me. I think so because they were home pretty early on Monday.

Of course there was wine tasting and fine dining in Napa, but the highlight of the trip may have been their hot air balloon ride. You can see the joy in their faces just prior to slipping the surly bonds of Earth. Looking down onto the other balloons is a perspective that is not often seen. A classic horizon shot of one of the other baloons in their group, and the underside of all four baskets prior to takeoff in the morning light. It looks like a great trip.

February happenings

Despite our weekends seeming to run together with our usual routines, I know there is change afoot. For one, GrannyM and Pop-pop Bob are coming to visit me next weekend. They have agreed to watch over me while Mama and Papa take a short break over Presidents' Day weekend. They are headed up to wine country for a getaway since they really haven't done much alone since I arrived. Sure they've had a few evenings out, but for the most part they are home taking care of me. Thank you in advance to the grandparents! This will be the longest time I will have spent apart from my parents.

In the pictures, you can tell that I am getting much better at walking about. The big blue ball is still a favorite toy - it's so bouncy and easy to catch. I have been getting better at feeding myself too. I can certainly guide the spoon into my mouth and lick it clean. What you cannot see is the lack of skills in loading the spoon with food in the first place.

Happy Valentine's Day this week. I hope you have someone to share it with. Happy Chinese New Year too. This year it occurs on the 18th and we'll be celebrating the year of the pig. Oink-oink. Lastly I've noticed the cherry tree blossoms (sakura in Japanese) are starting to bloom. Pretty early this year, but beautiful nonetheless. Maybe the blossoms have arrived to celebrate Grandma Mira's birthday.

Outside World

Sometimes I look out the window to see what is going on. Sometimes I close the bedroom door so nobody can come in. Two different ways to interact with the World. There is so much to explore, I don't know where to start. Google and Wikipedia are two good places for starting out.

Now that there are over 100 posts on my blog, it is good to know one can search for old entries by using the search box at the top of the page. For example, you can type "bear" to find all of the previous posts which include my furry ursine friends. You may have also noticed the new hierarchical navigation in the sidebar to make finding older posts easier. Slick, but I can't take credit for it. The clever people at Google make it possible. Lucky that we live so closeby to their Mountain View Headquarters. They even provide citywide wireless broadband access to all residents. Did I mention it's free? Lucky for us.

On another note, it is Superbowl Sunday. Good luck to both teams, I like both teams because they are the Colts and the Bears - two of my favorite animals besides Zadie dog.

Weekend routines

On a typical weekend, I will get up at the usual time of 7am and have a nice breakfast with either Mama or Papa. The other parent will usually try to get in a few extra winks, but I feel that is becoming more difficult because I am becoming more vocal. I can ask for "nana," my favorite yellow fruit. I can also bang on my eating tray because it makes a good amount of noise. In either case, the other parent is not going to sleep much longer. Two parents are more fun than one anyway.

My walking skills have improved tremendously over the past few weeks. I can make laps of the living room without sitting down or holding on to anything. I can even do the laps while carrying something good, like the new spoons and sporks (spoon-fork combination eating utensils) Mama bought me.

We usually get to do some sort of short errand in the morning before it is time to have lunch and a nap. A trip to the grocery store or the big Costco are entirely typical. I like shopping because there is always so much to see, noises to hear, and new odors to smell.

The remains of the day are usually reserved for going to the park or elementary school. Sometimes we take Zadie on a nice walk down at Shoreline park in Mountain View. There are always lots of wild birds down there. I don't know the species, but my parents don't either. They are reduced to wading birds, herons, seagulls, pelicans or ducks. I am sure there are others but we'll learn their names later. The esteemed ornithologist, John James Audubon would be unimpressed.

Football playoff history

Congratulations to the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts for winning their respective conference playoff games this weekend.

Congratulations too to Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy, the two head coaches for guiding their teams to victory. What makes this event notable is they are the first African-American head coaches in the history of the NFL to make it to the Superbowl. Not one, but both of them - and they are longtime friends with the utmost respect for each other. That's cool. That's also why I am doing my best to impersonate the big linemen on the field. I am down in my stance getting ready to tackle someone, maybe Zadie dog if she isn't careful. I may not have the intensity of Brian Urlacher, but I am surely cuter than him. See you on the 4th of February for the big game.

Active bath

Remember way back, when bathing was more of a passive process? I would lay in my bath hammock in the kitchen sink and get my parts washed. It was sometimes fun, sometimes not. Well not now; bathing is always fun. Especially in the big bathtub with either Mama or Papa. I like the anticipation - getting in the cool white tub, pretending to know how to run the faucet, and the feeling of warm water from the duck.

Mama has taught me how to say bubbles, the fleetingly transient and transparent balls that she blows. She has also shown me the letters of the alphabet in their colorful and foamy state. I like to play with my tugboats from auntie Pattie. Just ask me how much I like to splash the water out of the tub. I tolerate getting my hair washed and figure it's a small price to pay for the rewards of bathing.

It's a long weekend to honor the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Enjoy it, I know I will.

Sliding and standing

Over at the elementary school, on any given sunny afternoon, one will find lots of kids climbing on the playground equipment. If you are lucky you'll find me, Mama and Papa there too. I have taken to the slide like a fish to water. It makes me very happy to slide down by myself, head-first if possible. I have been able to climb up the stairs by myself too. If you haven't been down a good slide recently, I highly recommend it.

If you haven't noticed, some of my recent pictures suggest that I have been standing on my own. Perhaps even walking a little. Well, on the eve of my 16-month birthday, I can honestly say that I am on my way to being a full fledged walker, a categorical toddler. For long distances, say from the couch to the love seat, I'll still get down on all fours and crawl. But on the odd occasion bipedal transport seems the better option.

And some recent vocabulary as of today. Moo are the animals that look like dogs but are much bigger. Neigh (horses) are animals that look like dogs but are brown. Duck are the small yellow animals in the bathtub and kitty cat is just too darn hard to pronounce.

Happy new year

We had a nice quiet New Year's eve. In fact Papa was tired and went to bed before midnight. It was after the Times Square ball came down but before it was 2007 in California.

That's ok, we had a busy day. I played with Zadie dog. I am pleased that we get along so well, or rather, she tolerates my antics. She doesn't mind too much when I pull her tail, pet too hard, or bite her stuffed snake. She's a good doggie. I bet she wonders when I am going to stop growing. We're already about the same weight and I am definitely taller than her when I stand up.

Happy New Year everyone. 2007 is going to be great.