Happy Birthday! Now, Where is Yummy Cake?!

Yesterday was the 4th of July. It's the birthday of our country and it's also my cousin Shea's birthday. Happy Birthday!



Did you sing the Happy Birthday song? Whenever I hear the song, I ask Mommy and Daddy for a "yummy cake!" In my vast experience, the song and cakes go hand in hand. But I was at a restaurant the other day and I didn't get any cake whenever the staff sang. How strange!

I am now 20 months old! Only 4 months to go until I turn 2. Wow! I am talking more and more now. In the last two weeks or so, I have been saying "Naked boy!" often. Mommy says when I am wearing only a diaper or a shirt or pants, I'm only almost naked and it's not polite to call shirtless men "naked boy" at parks. But I do anyway.

So speaking of naked, Grandma and Grandpa sent me a waterwheel sand toy. I have been a little busy and haven't been able to get to the park. So I have been playing with the toy in the bath. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa.



This weekend has been all about pool parties. One at Aunt Susan and Uncle Scott's on the 4th and the other at Aunt Celine, Roshan, and Pritam's. I had a great time, especially since Mommy let me eat yummy cakes.





Here are some pictures of Roshan and Pritam who let me play with them and all of their toys practically everyday.









Thank you everyone for helping me celebrate the 4th of July weekend. See you next week!

Happy 1.5 Year Birthday to Soraya

What a week! Yesterday was Soraya's 1.5 year birthday celebration. So here's to the bright-eyed birthday girl! (More on the party later.)



The word for the week is "Surprise!" I tried saying it the other day when Mommy came into the room. I am still trying to get the timing right. So "Surprise!" goes with "Shhhh"?

Plus, I've been known to say, "I see bunny" or "there's man running". But my fascination continues to be trucks. Today was the garbage day. That can only mean one thing -- GARBAGE TRUCK! Let's just say we went around the neighborhood looking for the garbage truck.

OK, back to my week.

The heat wave lasted until Saturday, 6/21/08. So we went to San Jose Children's Discovery Museum on that Saturday. I love it there and it was cool inside. Here is a picture of me and Daddy. Of course, I was driving.


Fast forward 14 years. This would be me and Daddy with my learner's permit!


The next day, I had lots of fun with Uncle Glen, Uncle Wolf and Aunt Eunyong, walking around posh downtown Palo Alto and then having a picnic at Johnson Park. And a strange thing happened. Mommy's camera ate pictures. Pictures of Me! Daddy recovered a movie of me singing and dancing. Yay! I can even compose!



After the picnic, we went by Uncle Glen's new place. And he let me sit on his motorcycle and press the horn!

Then yesterday, we went to Soraya's 1.5 year birthday party at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos. We rode in the green choo-choo! twice. We went on the carousal. It was also a mini-reunion with friends from my old days. The friends that I met when I was 2 -- 2 months that is! Lots of yummy food, cake, arts and crafts. What a party!

Here is Jeremy on the choo-choo.


Jeremy loves fire trucks as much as I do!




Natalie and Leo were also checking out the fire truck.


Here is one more picture of the birthday girl, Soraya, and the boys.


Finally, I'd like to say "Hi!" to our next door neighbors, Aunt Celine, Roshan and Pritam for letting me come over and play every day.

I hope you had a fun week, too and I will see you next week!

It's Hot!

It's been hot around here, reaching 100 degrees. I don't really know how to count to 100. But I do know how to count to 3 and it's certainly been hotter than 3 degrees. The way I know? My car seat has been "Hot!"

To cool off, Mommy took me to a "water park" -- Ortega Park -- today. Then Daddy came home early and set up a swimming pool! I loved it! And then they let me run around the house naked. Well, with a diaper. (Sorry, no pictures!)

Mommy has decided that unless she updates this blog every week, there won't be any 2008 entries. So let's see. What's been happening this week. The themes for this week are heat and ice cream. I'd like to lick everything as though it's ice cream. And oh, Daddy let me taste his chocolate shake. Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! It was yummy. And the burst of energy? Wow! Even Daddy was surprised. The shake was even more yummy than the blueberries that I had the other day.


Hey, I was being very neat!

I'm now 19 months and 3 weeks old. I am full of energy; I love to run ("runnin' fast!"), jump, jump, jump, skip, skip, skip, and order everyone around. I have discovered that I have magic powers. I say, "Mommy! Hand!" Then I grab her hand and lead her around. Sometimes, I give her more instructions -- "Mommy, Sit down. Read book!" "Mommy, That way! Kitchen!" And she follows. Wow! This talking thing is great!

Oh, I still love anything with wheels. My favorite, of course, is trucks. All kinds. Fire truck, tractor truck, dump truck, digger truck, bulldozer truck, big truck, little truck, blue truck. Mommy and I play "I spy" on the road all the time.

At playgrounds, I usually run up to a bicycle or scooter or skateboard. So Mommy got me a scooter. I have to wear a helmet whenever I ride it. I'm still learning. Check back with me in a month or so. I will be whizzing by!


OK. That's all for now. Here is another picture of me -- especially since Mommy and Daddy (aka my support staff) have not sent out pictures in ages!!!



Bye-bye and see you next week!

Word Count

Mommy and Daddy have been busy trying to keep up with me and too busy to help me keep my blog up to date.

Let's see.... Since the last post, I have been running, jumping, and climbing -- stepping up and down stairs like a big boy. Oh, I also like to come down head first on slides!

I also love to read. Whenever we read, Mommy and Daddy ask me to point out, "Where is the puppy?" "What color is the sky?" "What does a sheep say?" You know, if they don't know by now, they are in big trouble.

I have been working on talking. Speaking so that Mommy and Daddy understand me, that is. I love to say "hi" and "bye". I can sign "more" and "milk". But my favorite word of all time -- for now -- is "drupt!" (That is truck to most of you.) Mommy and I play the spot the truck or bus whenever we are in the car. So what is the count? I can say about 35 words that people can understand and another 10 that imitate sounds like "choo choo" or "hoo! hoo!" Oh and yes, I can say this word:

Three Sprouted Peas

I have been keeping busy in the last two weeks. I've tried out Gymboree and Little Gym. Everyone is impressed how active I am. I whiz around going after balls and toys.

And yes, I have been practicing walking. I am really getting the hang of it.

I also had a play date with Bryce and Lucas today. Mommy tried to get a picture of us smiling for the photo but we were too busy making a mess in Bryce's room.



Here we are me, Bryce, and Lucas. We look a little different from the last time all of us were together. See?!



Daddy titled this picture "Three peas in pods". And yes, we sure have sprouted!

Photo Galleries

Mommy and Daddy take lot and lots pictures. I mean lots of pictures. And every now and then, they pick some cute ones, goofy ones and just plain old handsome ones for my photo album.

Here are all of the photo galleries so far:

September 9, 2007

It's that time again: a new Adam gallery!

Adam's support staff has been a little behind in their work, what with keeping up with him and all... We've finally managed to get the latest gallery uploaded for your viewing pleasure. In it, Adam visits Hawaii and the beach, has more fun with all the grandparents, and shows off his new teeth and infectious smile.

Here is the latest gallery - 8 months to 10 months old

We also finally managed to get Adam to write a little for us (maybe with some help from ghost-writer Helen) on his blog at http://apawliger.blogspot.com Check the latest entries there to see short videos of Adam swimming and - we can't believe it ourselves - taking a few first steps by himself! Good thing we finished the first round of childproofing just in time...

Happy Viewing!
Adam and his proud parents


July 9, 2007

A new Adam gallery: I'm crawlin', yes indeed I'm crawlin'

In this next thrilling installment of brief views into Adam's life and goings-on, Adam is now self mobile! Previously he was content to rely on a proffered (or, more often, noisily demanded) set of hands or fingers to use to hoist himself up on and wander about with supervision. No more. Now he rolls, "GI crawls", and moves with impunity, much to the chagrin of his parents who always felt they had "a few more weeks" to get around to childproofing the house.

Adam has also gone for his first swim, is now a regular at the baby section of the local playground, and has been tirelessly exploring the newly accessible world around him - as we frantically rush to catch up!

We hope you enjoy this latest set of Adam's pictures.

Visit the latest gallery.
And visit the album page for the newest one as well as archives of the previous ones.

--Marc&Helen&Adam


May 22, 2007

A new Adam gallery: "halfway to my first birthday!"

It's hard to believe, but Adam has been with us almost seven months. He now sits up, tries to walk (with a little help from Mommy and Daddy), "helped" Helen celebrate her first Mother's Day, got his first two teeth (with another on the way), is eating solid food, and attempts to see what noise any object makes when banged against the floor. Repeatedly. Usually with vocal accompaniment.

This month Adam went on his first hike, and had lots of fun with the other babies and parents. He's really starting to take in the world around him and it's wonderful to watch. We hope any of you who haven't met him yet will be able to do so soon.

We of course have a new photo gallery. Plus, there is now a "master gallery" where you can see all the previous galleries, too.

We hope you enjoy watching Adam grow up as much as we do.

Helen, Marc, and Adam


March 4, 2007

Four months, and counting!

OK, so Adam can't really count yet, but it could be some of those baby babblings are him trying to count, right?

Adam's parents have been busy lately and wish they could have gotten Adam's next gallery out to his fans sooner, and we hope you think this one was worth the wait.

This gallery includes Adam's "100 Day" ceremony, or "baek il", that celebrates Adam's first 100 days of life. Adam had all his grandparents and even his great-grandmother in town for the big event. It also has pictures with Adam's aunt Caryn and uncle Gary (Marc's sister and brother-in-law) when they came to visit California, bringing unseasonably cold weather with them from Washington, DC.

Well, you know the drill. Visit the gallery to check out the goods. After you've "oohed" and "aahed" you can even drop Adam a line at his new email address: apawliger@gmail.com (Mommy helps him read his mail sometimes :) We know he'd love to hear from you!

--marc

I'm Walking, Yes Indeed!

This just in: I am officially walking as of 7:15pm last night!

Mommy and Daddy wanted me to wind down after a hard day of swimming (more on this later). But I had a surprise for them. I took my first steps without any help. My room was dimly lit to calm me down. Hah!



I have been taking more steps this morning. But I am still much, much, much faster when I crawl. I guess this means Mommy needs to go shopping for more shoes!

Now that I've delivered the breaking news, here are some of my other adventures.

Two weeks ago, I finally made it into the fireplace. Yes, you heard me right. I climbed up our foot high hearth and got into the fireplace. You know, I found a nice little niche there to play -- until Mommy came and got me and put me in the bath tub. A bath in the middle of the day! I wonder why Mommy was so frantic and she regrets to inform you that she didn't have any time to take a picture. See? No evidence!



After that incident, I found a screen by the little niche. I still try to go up there as often as I can. Mommy and Daddy say "No". In fact, they have been saying "No!" a lot. I think I know what it means but I hope they will grow out of this phase with me looking so cute and adorable with my big brown eyes and contagious smile.



In addition to practicing climbing, I go swimming with Mommy every week. Two weekends ago, Daddy took me swimming. I like to splash-splash-splash and kick-kick-kick when I'm in the water. I really impressed Daddy with my moves like this:



I've gotta go now to ride my Radio Flyer Retro Rocket that Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lisa got for me. See you all soon.