13 Months

Hi Everyone! It has been a while since I wrote my own post. Oh...this is Baby D...or D, as I'm sometimes known. (My Omma needs to come up with a new nickname...since I'm getting bigger & bigger...and less & less of a "baby" these days.) In case you missed it on my ticker on the right...I'm 13 months old now! (My Omma cannot believe a whole month has passed since my Tol.) Anyway...I'm here to tell you what I'm up to now that I'm 13 months old.

* I'm walking more & more. I think my record is about 20-some steps or so before going down. The other night I walked from the far corner of our dining room all the way to the bookcase by the sun room. (I know this doesn't mean much to most of you...but my grandparents will understand and be pretty impressed.) I think I'm walking about 1/2 the time...sometimes more. Sometimes crawling is still faster and more efficient (especially if I see something I REALLY want). Everyone who sees me crawl comments on how fast I am, which makes my Appa & Omma laugh...because they are used to my speed.

* I regularly use several signs. My favorites are: more, shoes, ball, airplane, milk, & outside.

* I am obsessed (yes, that is a big word for me...but it is appropriate) with any and all vehicles...the bigger the better. My faves include trucks of all sorts, buses, tractors (I have a killer sound effect that goes with tractors...just ask my Appa), trains, and noisy cars (you know, the ones that need a new muffler...I like 'em loud!). I make different sounds for tractors, trucks, planes, & trains...because they are ALL different, you know.

* I love books with pictures of babies...I laugh & laugh (sort of a "fake laugh," Omma says...whatever) when I see them. I like to point to the babies on my yogurt containers. They make me smile. One of them kind of looks like me...he's my favorite, of course.

* I have 8 teeth now (the 8th one just popped through, so I say it counts).

* I wanted to brag about sleep, but my Omma won't let me. She said something about how when other Ommas talk about sleep on their blogs...it jinxes things...whatever that means.

* I love to use my sippy cups now...but I prefer Pedialyte to milk so far...go figure. I also am getting better at feeding myself more things (small cooked carrots, small pieces of fruit, and of course puffs & Cheerios!) .

* I love my cat, Kenya. I make a high-pitched "meow" sound whenever I see her...which is usually before Omma & Appa even notice she's around. She is tolerating me more & more. I told her we're going to be best friends very soon.

* I HATE having my face cleaned up after I finish eating. What's so wrong with having sweet potatoes, carrots, milk, and applesauce dried & stuck on your face? Sheesh.

* I like coming downtown with Appa to meet Omma for lunch at her work. We go once each week. We eat in the cafeteria in her hospital. It is big & noisy...giving me a lot to look at while I'm supposed to be eating. I prefer to smile and flirt with all the people walking by me. I even got this grumpy guy who manages the cafeteria (Omma's words...not mine) to stop, smile, and talk to me a bit. He let me play with his name badge. I think Omma just needs to work on her smile more...it always works for me when meeting new people.

Celebrating Family

Saturday evening (and by evening I mean total "early-bird special" time...that's how we roll now) we met some friends at a Korean restaurant to celebrate their family day anniversary. They have been a family for ONE YEAR now. Yay!

Here is a bird's eye view of some of the food we enjoyed. Yes, SOME...there was more. Yum! Are you hungry yet? What's in the red bottle? Ketchup?...nope...it is Korean hot sauce, of course.

Somehow...even though it wasn't his special day...Baby D scored another gift. It was for his birthday. Our friends couldn't make it to his Tol...as their little one was sick. Here D is "reading" his card.

Baby D is checking out his new toy (still in the shrink wrap) and J is trying to escape.

Whack Away, Baby D...whack away! Who needs a stinkin' hammer anyway?! J isn't quite so sure about your techniques with that toy...but he's giving you the benefit of the doubt.

A, D, & J: Thank you for inviting us to celebrate with you on this very special occasion. Hope to see you again soon!

Give-Away Winners

OK folks...it is time...we have 4 winners for the BABY BIB BONANZA! We had 25 entries... Woo-hoo! Without further delay...the BIBS go to:

1. Amber

2. Elizabeth F.

3. Kris

4. Bekah
(See the video below! Thus the reason for the practice video earlier today. Sorry I didn't mention everyone's little one's names...for some reason Olive's name just blurted out of my mouth...and it isn't like I could do a second take. Oops...you can tell this is a low-budget production.)

We'll go in the order the names were chosen in terms of who gets first, second, third, and fourth choice of the four bibs. The colors are below (and mentioned in the previous posts). Let us know in the comments which is your choice...first Amber, second Elizabeth F., third Kris, & fourth Bekah. Then send me a private email (myseoulsearching at gmail dot com) with your mailing address. The bibs will hopefully go out this week...but possibly not until next week. It all depends on how busy my little elves are at home. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Trying A Video

This is an old video of D...from sometime in October. It is short. It is sweet. It's purpose here is to see if I can figure this out...since I haven't tried videos on here yet. Let's see...

If this works...this may be the beginning of a new format for some of my posts...heh-heh...look out.

Holiday Baking

Yesterday morning another thing that kept me busy and in the holiday mood...was baking cookies. I LOVE TO BAKE! Obviously, I don't have as much time these days for cooking & baking...but I wanted to make time. I decided I would participate in the cookie exchange with my brunch babes this year. So...I softened the butter (LOTS of butter) and then got to work while Baby D was napping.

I decided to make Russian Tea Cakes (also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes and probably other names too). These are one of my favorites...only consumed during the holiday season. There are tons of recipes for these cookies, but I chose this one. Figured I couldn't go wrong with a classic: Betty Crocker.

Here they are baking in the oven. These bake up in a snap and are super easy to make.

Here they are cooling after the first coating of powder sugar. Yep, FIRST coating. You coat them twice. Sweet. No wonder I love them so!

Close up of my creations. So...how many did I make? I needed 7 dozen for the exchange, so I doubled the recipe...and ended up with 8 1/2 dozen. That means there were some for us to keep at home...some of which we've already consumed. Yummy.

After their second coating of powder sugar (after they were completely cool)...into the give-away containers they went. I'll exchange with my friends today at brunch. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the nice arrangement of cookies we'll end up with at home this year. These ladies can bake!

So...what is YOUR favorite holiday cookie? Happy baking!

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Today after Baby D's nap and an attempt at lunch (but someone was still fussy from a nap that was shorter than it should have been)...we headed off to meet SANTA CLAUS. Now...I was all ready for this to be a horrible experience. I envisioned long lines, a crabby little boy, and then possibly terror or at least tears when he met the big man in the red suit. I'm happy to report it went MUCH better than I expected. First of all, there was NO LINE to wait to sit on Santa's lap (well, OK...there were 2 kids in front of us...siblings...who were out of there in no time). Then...it was our turn. D's first visit with Santa went something like this...

We walked up to Santa who was sitting in a Cadillac-sized chair made of really questionable plaid. We waved at Santa...we got closer. So far, so good. Then...it was time to make the transfer to Santa's lap. At first he was a tad serious when we set him on Santa's lap...as we slowly backed away. He looked up at Santa. He looked at us...then back at Santa again. There were NO tears...no reaching out for us...he just looked at Santa...and then at the woman with the camera.

Then...after one "practice" shot (the first photo)...he found his classic happy-boy smile...and really hammed it up. He had everyone laughing and commenting on how happy & cute he is. We couldn't agree more. There was no one waiting after us...so he had a good, long visit with Santa. I didn't hear any words from D...but I did see some cute glances exchanged between D and the big man in the red suit. Awe.

Then it was time to purchase the photos (or "the racket" as my DH called it). But really...it wasn't bad at all. We decided to get a few prints...since this is his first Christmas with us after all. (That plus the ones we took with our own camera were not nearly as cute as the "money shot" above.) The line to purchase the photos (and have them printed out right there) was pretty long and slow-moving. But...Baby D was content to sit and shake & occasionally chew on the candy cane in the plastic wrap (from Santa, of course) as we waited our turn. (Don't worry Mom...I was keeping a close eye on him...no one was injured...and no plastic wrap was ingested.)

So...our first Santa experience was WAY better than I thought it would...how great is that? Oh...grandparents...your copies of the photos will be mailed out soon. We have to send these prints to SOMEONE, don't we? I think that is in your job description now, right? Yep! Ho-ho-ho!!

Baby Bib Bonanza - SOON!!

The drawing for the BABY BIB BONANZA will occur tomorrow morning. I know I originally said Saturday...but...we've had a very busy day around here (more on that later)...with even more fun things still to come. Therefore...the posting of the winners will not occur until tomorrow. So...just to remind you...and in case somehow you haven't entered yet...here are the bibs for the give-away...

Rainbow of Colors

Blue-Green-Purple

White-Blue-Green-Yellow

Pink-Orange-Yellow


And...to keep your interest (and to thank you for your patience)...here is a sneak peek at some of the fun & cute little Korean items that will get tossed in with the bibs for the winners...

Ta-daaaaahhh!!

So...stay tuned...

If you haven't entered...I'll extend the time until tomorrow morning (because I'm in a Christmas-like mood...more on that later)...simply go back to this post to enter. I'll get the names from there.