How to get a smile out of Austin...

I don't really give out smiles that easily, but this was a special occasion ... Mommy just told me that I'm going to be a big brother in October. How exciting!

The Vacuum...

Grandma thought it would be a good idea to get me my own vacuum. About an hour, later she regretted that decision...

My Morfar

I'm in Seattle right now with Mommy as my Morfar is in the hospital. Mommy and Uncle Alex have been pretty busy at the hospital, so I've been rumaging through my photos from Christmas last year. I found a few from when Morfar and I were playing "Where's your nose?"

In the end ... Morfar won. I'm hoping more than anything that I get a chance for a rematch.

Eventually all girls will have cooties, but until I realize that, I've been happily hanging out with several beautiful laides. Here's me and Laila catching up on some reruns of Curious George (I love that show!) Notice how my socks match Laila's sleeves!

Also, here's me with my Washington DC buddies Lilly & Molly. (Lilly has the blue hat. Molly the pink one)

How to fight the cabin fever...

It's been really cold this winter in Chicago, and Mommy & I have had to stay indoors quite a lot. To stay in shape, I've been using Daddy's TRX fitness equipment to help build my muscles:

Also, with all this time indoors, I've had to get really creative with my time. I also realized that there is this whole world out there of stuff to play with if I could just explore the house a bit better vertically. For instance, I started out on the floor, and under the bed, I found Mommy's secret stash of wrapping paper and ribbons. I was having a great time, until Mommy caught me. :(

So, with the ribbons now offlimits, I started exploring elsewhere. With a the help of a styrofoam box, I was able to reach new heights, like over the ledge for some avocado and kiwi. Of course, Mommy stopped me as soon as I reached for the liquor!

All these boundaries! Daddy was really concerned about me catching a cabin fever. I don't know what that is, but it must be pretty easy to catch because Mommy says Daddy gets cabin fever all the time. Apparently, to fight off cabin fever, you scare it with music. Daddy has also been teaching me to create my own music with the guitar. This usually keeps me entertained for at least a few minutes...

Hannukkah - 2009

By the time the 8th night of Hannukah came around, I was all about this holiday. And what's not to like ... fried food, lighting candles, and ... PRESENTS!

If you listen closely, you can hear me saying "Happy Chanukkah!" in this video:

And we lit the candles...

and we posed after the candles were lit...

How Austin spends his extra calories...

After dinner, when i have a few extra calories, I just need to jam...

Note: That's right ladies ... the bib says "Chick Magnet"