Bottle Free

No more washing and sterilizing fifty bottles parts for Mama!!  Mini's last bottle was Sunday and it will be only cups (sippy or straw) from now on.  Mini went on bit of a milk strike but still drinks it.

Mini Elway

Today, Papa went to play in the annual Turkey Bowl. Mini got her first taste of football. Unfortunately, she couldn't get her hand around the ball -- she was still able to get in a nice throw (see below). Anyway, Papa didn't do so well with his bad back and knee, giving up a few touchdowns and throwing a couple interceptions (never was a good quarterback). In years past, he used to be the one scoring multiple touchdowns and getting a couple interceptions. Ah how times have changed -- it's just another sign of papa getting old. Anyway, here's to a future athlete. :)


this ball is bigger than my head

check out the form!

no such thing as a tuck rule

i think that was 6 inches

and there it goes

is that a fumble?

Big cone, medium cone, little cone

now mini is the football

just one cool customer

Mini Chores

As you all know, mini has already started helping with sweeping the floors. Now, she's taken up another chore - throwing away her dirty diapers. Well, really, taking them to put outside the door. Anyway, she'll take them from our room and bring them to the door. Once you open the door, she will place it outside. It's just the precursor to taking out the trash!


open the door

here we go!

out the door

Randall Museum

walking the stairs


watching the animals from a distance


getting the courage


walking around the museum grounds


trying on the new shoes


I love them!
Randall Museum is a free children's museum very close to our house. Mini has gone many times with Mama and other friends but today was the first time (not counting halloween since we didn't see anything) that Papa went. The museum is relatively small but I'm sure it's big for Mini.

First, we took her to the playroom. She liked climbing the stairs up and down. There were other kids but she generally ignored them although there was one other girl that she tried to hug. There is also an owl stuffed animal that sits in a nest on a fake tree. She seems to have a memory of it because not long after entering the playroom, she started pointing at the tree. Me, not knowing what she was pointing to, picked her up near the tree but it wasn't what she wanted. A few minutes later, Mama told me about the owl and when I picked it up, she started nodding. I gave it to her and she hugged it closely and carried it around with her. She put it down on a chair and Mama put it back in the nest. A few minutes later, she was pointing at the nest again. I guess the little one has eyes like an owl. :)

Later, we took her to the petting zoo. They have some rabbits, hamsters, and a duck. At first, Mini was a little bit scared of the animals. We looked away for one moment and she took a sip of water from their water bowl (yuck). Not sure if the water gave her courage, but then she went up to go pet the rabbits. 

As far as animals go, Mini recognizes the common ones and will point when asked to identify cow, horse, dog, cat, duck, etc.  She's also good with face and body parts now.

Afterwards, we went shopping -- bought her some snow boots in preparation for our annual Christmas Tahoe trip. When we got home, we tried them on with a snow outfit from Cousin E. She enjoyed walking around in them and spent a lot of time admiring herself in front of the mirror.

Horizon Addiction

We've always been buying horizon organic milk for Mini. They come in the red/white cartons that Mini likes to play with and she has become very attached to them (see October 30, 2011 post). For the past couple weeks, there has been a shortage or Horizon milk at the supermarket so we ended up buying a different brand in a gallon container. (BTW, it sounds like Horizon claims of being organic are widely disputed).

Anyway, I feed Mini her milk in the morning, and she is always excited when she sees those milk cartons, pointing at them and nodding her head. For the past couple of weeks, sans Horizon, she would shake her head, quite vigorously, whenever I grabbed the "other" milk jug. She would still drink it but she was obviously wanting the Horizon. Today, she finally nodded her head again. It is a new jug of milk today with a red cap so not sure if that's why, but it seems like either she's accepted other types of milk or she's forgotten her old addiction.

Also, one other thing of note -- horizon branded items have a cartoony cow on them. Now, whenever she sees a cow on the touchpad or computer, she will lean in and kiss it. Cute -- but makes you think about how powerful branding is eh?

Winter Wonderland

Mini experienced falling "snow" (actually flaked bubbles) at the Academy of Sciences this morning. It took her a while to understand this was meant to be fun. She did start chasing the bubbles around at the end and running into other kids. To finish off the wonderland festivities, she saw Miles the Reindeer and drank hot cocoa. The turtle is a year-round resident of the museum.

And Then There Was One

The pediatrician and dentist will be glad to hear that Mini is down to one bottle now. Her appetite has been better the past couple days and she's eating more at dinner so this was the opportunity to lose the night bottle. Mini didn't seem to notice or ask for her bedtime milk so it's working out. This will also help with the nighttime diaper leaks. Less liquid, less pee.

Now to figure out to drop the morning bottle which is more of a habit. This one she looks forward to.

Play Date Extravaganza

Mini had a weekend of play dates. Two on Friday, two more on Saturday, and a final one on Sunday. I only heard about the ones on Friday since I was at work.

The first one on Saturday was a Mandarin-speaking playgroup. I was told you were supposed to speak mandarin there so I was a bit worried given my limited skills. Fortunately, there were a couple of white/asian couples and even some full caucasian families. I guess learning Chinese is "the thing" now. Anyway, they had a "teacher" that read some books and sang songs. Most of the songs were translations of english songs and they just don't sound good in Chinese. The main thing of note is that Mini had been sick the past week. She's been having diarrhea mostly. Not long after we got there, she had a particularly large bowel movement that escaped from her diaper. This is the first time I remember this happening while we were out. As such, we didn't even have a change of clothes because we've never needed it. Anyway, she spent the rest of the play date with no pants. She probably loved it.

The second one was the library playgroup. It's amazing seeing all these babies growing up together. Mini spent the entire time ignoring the toys and other babies. Instead, she spent the whole time trying to get outside or climbing the stairs.

Sunday playgroup is the original playgroup that we started going to at around 6 months. It's interesting to see all these kids growing up together. They used to just lie on their bellies or sit and look at each other. Now, they're all walking and playing and talking (well, all except mini). Mini is also the shortest one there, even shorter than the 14 month baby that was there. There was one girl who was a good 6" taller than mini -- looks like she got the height genes from Papa's side of the family.

Bumps and Bruises A-Comin'

Mini is at the stage where bumps and bruises will happen frequently. She's an avid walker now (progressing into a runner) and as cautious as she is, there are times when the wild child comes out. There have been plenty of trips and falls ending in scraped palms and knees. She's ok with it though, not much crying.

On the couch is where she's done the most damage. Mini enjoys the bounce of the couch and loves to run back and forth on it. Sometimes she turns real fast and smashes into the back cushions. Gets a real kick out of it. Today was a bad day as she fell off and landed on her precious little face. Outcome - busted upper and lower lip, slight bloody nose, and crying. And like most kids, she did not learn. Five minutes later, she was back at it. Lots of be-dunks a'coming.

Oh and this one's got a rock for a head. With one of her head butts, she broke Mama's glasses. Got a scolding for this one.

Food Allergies Rock!

Mini's first concert!! We went to a friend's blog launch that centered around food allergy awareness (getallergywise.com). The kids rocked out to singer Kyle Dine while eating vegan cupcakes and tofutti ice cream sandwiches which led to major sugar highs. Mama found a recipe for rice flour playdoh that Mini will enjoy in a couple years, just not now. She seemed grossed out by the texture and wanted nothing to do with it.

Hoover Baby

Mini's got a new thing now. It started when she played with her fake fruit and would bob for apples. She'd pick it up with her teeth to transfer it into the basket. Then Mama found her doing this same thing outside with leaves and rocks. She would get down on hands and knees, lower her face to the ground, and try to suck up small things into her mouth. No no!

To satisfy her need to do this Hoover vacuum action, we've directed it to food. For two days now, Mini eats bite-sized food off the floor or coffee table.