I have been paying particular attention to Mommy and Daddy and the Nanny's habits when it comes to child rearing. In doing so, I have found that they are neglecting an entire basketful of individuals in our living room. So, starting the other night I have found the need to pick up on their slack and start giving diaper changes to my friends Mickey, Pooh bear, Agu, Teddy, etc. Mommy helped me out with Mickey's diaper since him and I are the same size. I grab Mickey and put him up on the changing table. Then I take him down and give him a kiss. Then I put his head over my shoulder and pat his back (I see everyone do this to David often) and say "Shhh". Then I put Mickey in the baby walker and get him a bottle. A couple of hours later I start with the diaper change again.

This parenting business is a lot of work. But somebody needs to take care of Mickey!

Daddy Adam

Oh boy! What a Christmas!! Last night Nana and Gpa Dobbs came over and we got to open a bunch of presents. I LOVED present opening!!! I would rip off a little piece of paper and then hand it to Nana to throw away and repeat the process. I loved my gift from Mom & Dad...a broom and mop! I was SO excited when I opened it. Then when I realized I would get more toys with every wrapped box I was even more excited. I got some "Cool Dude" sunglasses, a new toothbrush, outfits, and hershey's kisses! Yummy! I even got to open David's presents and I would give him the ones I didn't want to keep for myself. Then we went to Christmas Eve service. I got to play with my stickers during church and I rocked out to "We three kings."

On Christmas we went to church in the morning and I was a very good boy! I loved the Christmas music. Then we went to Nana and Gpa Dobbs' house. We got to eat more food and OPEN MORE PRESENTS!! I really liked David's mobile. I may keep it for myself. The more electronics in my crib the better!!! I am a little under the weather right now, but nothing will keep me from enjoying the Christmas festivities.

Well, since I can't say Merry Christmas yet I will leave on this note....

HO HO HO

Adam

Since I've last posted I've been working on my communication skills. I have learned that four phrases that can go a long way. Let me give you some examples:

UH-OH: This word can be used in many references. First is the classic I have dropped something and I want you to pick it up. There is also the David is crying Uh-oh. I have also used uh-oh in the middle of my screaming fits "Waah. Waah. Uh-oh. Waah." to indicate I am not happy. If I want out of my carseat "Uh-oh." If I am thinking about doing something bad..."Uh-oh." If I am hungry and waiting in my high chair patiently for food..."Uh-oh."

NO-NO-NO: If I am in a silly mood I will shake my head at mommy and smile and say "No-no-no." If I am mad at mama I will shake my head and scream "No-no-no." If mommy has said no to something I will walk up to it and point at it and say "no-no-no."

UP: This is one of my favorites. If I want to be picked up "Up." When I am done eating "Up-up-up-up!" When I want out of my crib "Up! Up!" When I want to go outside "Up!"

NIGH NIGH: When I want to go to bed "Nigh. Nigh." When someone is leaving I tell them Nigh. Nigh. and blow kisses.

Who needs sentences when you have these four basic phrases. Throw in a few kisses and you are set!

Nigh-nigh.

Adam

Hello world -

Well I thought you are all probably DYING to hear about how cute I am these days so i thought I'd give you a few more of my ADORABLE stories. (I don't want to disappoint the fans).

I love it when mommy sings Head Shoulders Knees & Toes. When she starts singing this song I touch my head and start to run away. When she says "toes" I stop dead and touch my toes. Then I touch my head and start running again until we get to "toes." Then when she says mouth I start to blow kisses until we get to the head part again. You get the idea.

Also, mommy will sing "5 little monkeys swinging on a tree"...(I will wave my hands for this part)..."teasing mr. crocodile you can't catch me"...(I will shake my head no for this part)..."up comes ..." (I get my hands ready to clap at this point and start going sssssss)...."mr. crocodile.....SNAP" (I say SSSSS really loud and clap my hands and laugh. I love it when the crocodile eats the monkeys.

Well that's about it for now. I'll keep you posted as I get cuter.

Adam

Oh the knees are aching and my back is sore. I am getting SO OLD! I am definitely a big boy now. I not only walk these days but I am running. Sure I look like I have two left feet (or as dad likes to say like i am drunk) but I can get from point a to b pretty quick these days. I like to run around in the backyard. One of my favorite things is running up and down the hill. I no longer like crawling up stairs. I reach for the arm rail and climb up and down stairs (of course with assistance). Today Mr. and Mrs. Woods were here and mommy opened the door for Mr. Woods to take me outside and mom had to tell Mr. Woods to get me because I ran outside right for the stairs. I've never seen Mr. Woods run so fast!!

One of my favorite new tricks is that I will put my finger up my nose. This makes mom say "Oh Adam No. Gross." This makes me laugh which I always put my hand in my mouth when I laugh...Mmmm...salty!

My vocab includes: Mama, Dada, Day-did, Up, Nigh Nigh, Teet Teet (tweet tweet for a bird), Ticka Ticka (tickle tickle), Uh-Oh, Dah (dog), tink tink (twinkle twinkle), gleek gleek (quack quack), duh (duck).

I love to blow kisses. I also shake my head no and yes. If I'm mad at mama I will talk gibberish at her and shake my head no very adimently..she gets my point! I can also do the chicken dance. Mr. Woods taught me that. My favorite show right now is My Friends Tigger and Pooh. That silly bear!

I've been getting in a lot of trouble these days for throwing food. I will grab my food and hold it over the side of the highchair and shake my head no. Mama will say "That's right Adam. No No." Then I will put the food on my plate and shake my head Yes. And mama will say "That's right Adam. Yes. Good boy." Then I chuck my food onto the floor and mama or dada puts me in time out. Ugh.

Well, I'm looking forward to the holidays coming up. I like all of the bright shiny things that I can get my hands on. Mama doesn't trust me to put them up in our house..but we'll see.

XOXO,

Adam

Well we are back now from the Milwaukee wedding and the MN trip. It was a great time. At the wedding I behaved enough not to have to be taken out of church. I kept pointing at a statue on the wall and talking to it. Every time the organist played I'd head bang to the hymns. At the dinner I sat with the grandparents and I'd clap a little bit and then the whole table would clap and say "Yeah!" This kept going on and on. They thought they were getting me to clap, but I was really training them.

I got to ride in grandpa's truck on the way to MN. That was nice, but I picked on mom a lot the whole way there. She had bruises on her arm from me pinching her because I was throwing a tantrum in my car seat. I was so tired and cranky after such a busy weekend. Once we got to MN I got to play with all of grandma's toys. We went to the zoo (it was David's first time). We visited Great Gma and Gpa Pfaffe. Great Gpa let me play with all of his turtles. I saw all of my aunts and my uncle and even my second cousin Naomi. I took baths in Grandma's tub and had my first "floating poop" in the tub. Oops. Mom was really grossed out. I thought it was funny. I also learned how to climb on and off of furniture without hesitation. I like to walk up and down stairs while someone holds my hand now instead of crawling.

I also got to go Trick or Treating. I was a crocodile. My favorite part was my pumpkin bucket. I liked walking up to houses and going "ooooohhhh" at the decorations. Dada liked picking out the candy to put in my bucket. Hey that reminds me..where's my candy? Dada and Aunt Suzy dressed up as Genevive and DC from Choo Choo Soul. That was funny!

Now we are back home and mama has David and I back on a schedule. Mama went back to work this week so I have been trying to be a very good boy to help her out. Mama is so proud of me. I am being such a good big brother.

Well it looks like Dada didn't fully charge his laptop so I am going to have to leave you all in suspense about my other developments.

Keepin' it real!

Adam

Yucky, I don't feel very good. I woke up this morning with boogers in my hair. This is not very attractive. I was very fussy all night. I had a doctor's appointment today anyway, so I was extremely fussy all morning. I'm not very patient and I hate waiting in the doctor's office. I didn't have a temperature or anything so it's probably just these horrible canine teeth plus a small cold.

Mama is trying to keep me away from David so that I don't get him sick. This I find annoying as well. Pretty much everything annoys me these days.

Anyway, writing this blog is annoying me. I'm going to whine and then go to sleep.

Ehhhh!

Adam

I just had a fun family filled weekend. We kicked off the weekend with a Costco trip. This is always a sign of a good weekend. We loaded up on diapers and formula. On Saturday, Dada took David and I out for a walk to Petco where I got to point at the animals and buy Leonard crickets. It is getting very cold outside so David and I have to spend the first 15 minutes getting bundled up. My coat makes me look like a marshmallow. My arms don't go down all the way to my sides when I am in it. But I don't care because it means i get to go outside. Later that day we went to Nana and Grandpa's house. Mama and Dada went out for a little bit to work on their computers and David and I stayed back to play. Then we had a nice dinner and headed home. I fell asleep in the car and woke up in my crib the next morning. Mama & Dada got David and I ready for church and we were off. After church I took a nap and when I woke up Nana, Grandpa and Great Gma Shum were here. We ate a nummy dinner and I watched Grandpa blow out flickering lights on a chocolate cake. Cool! Later Nana, Grandpa, Dada and I went to the pumpkin farm. They had hay rides, pony rides, a train and little chicks that I got to touch. I had SO much fun. Now I'm sleepy again...I wonder what I'll wake up to tomorrow....

Other news - my top two canine teeth have now cut through. Ouchie. I am extra drooly these days. I also like to say "Up" and run up to mama and say it over and over until she picks me up. I also say "Uh-oh" after something is dropped on the floor (usually by me). My vocab is quickly expanding.

That's it for now. Nigh. Nigh.

Adam

Well, despite all of my protesting Day-did is still around and don't tell him this, but I'm kind of fond of the little guy. I mean he has a lot to learn before he is as charming as his big brother, but he has his moments. Whenever I hear him crying I try to find a bottle lying around and give it to him. Sometimes I'll even lean in and give him a kiss on the head if I am in a good mood. Mama has to stop me when I grab his shirt and try to pull him out of the bouncy chair. I guess that's not allowed (yet...you just wait Day-did). This morning I was sound asleep and then Day-did started crying and mama could hear me over the monitor calling out "Day-did. Day-did. Day-did."

I am excited because Becky and Trevor are coming in one week. I can't wait to play with Trevor. He will have to tell me all about being a big brother.

Dada just bought his first Mac. It's a macbook pro or something like that. I like it because the buttons are extra tempting. I find it big of dada to sacrifice his time playing with different kinds of computers so that he can be educated about what kind of computer he should buy for me down the road. Mama is a slacker when it comes to my future electronics.

That's it for now,

Adam

I am now 15 months old and I've decided to try a new tactic to win over my parent's affection. I figured it was time for me to start giving hugs and kisses. At first I would only give Mama kisses. Of course this melted her and so I could get away with a lot more if I follow it with a kiss. This was my strategy all along. Next, I started giving baby David kisses. Now I also kiss my stuffed animals especially Bananas and Mickey Mouse. Poor dada. He's been trying to get a kiss but I snub him every time. I know my kisses won't manipulate Dada they way they manipulate Mama so I'm saving them for a time I'll really need to use my charm against Dada. Plus, it's not very manly. So, Dada and I will stick with wrestling and fort building. I'm getting used to this big brother stuff. If I see a bottle lying around I will grab it and stick it in David's mouth. Mama likes this sometimes and doesn't like it at other times. I think she doesn't get a kick out of it if the bottle is a day old or something. I say what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger...

Well, Dada left for Texas this morning. Mama's rule was that he doesn't come back sleep deprived because there is enough of that going on in our house these days. I don't know what she is referring to. I sleep great every night.

Speaking of...it's time for my afternoon nap. Nigh. Nigh.

Adam

Well, this David character has been around for a week now and it doesn't look like he's going anywhere. If anything more and more of his stuff keeps popping up places so it looks like he is sticking around for awhile. Last night I decided I really need to kick into big brother mode. After my nap I went over to my books and read it to myself. I had aunt Suzy cracking up because I would read to myself and then laugh before I turned the next page. Then Grandma put me in my highchair to eat dinner. She just put the plate in front of me and gave me a fork. I just started scooping the food right in my mouth with the fork. I'm a hungry boy. I don't need to wait around for these adults to feed me.

David is getting baptized on Sunday. I have a fancy new suit to wear. I'll try not to drool too much all over it. Dada and I have a game. Dada says, "Slime. Slime." Then I dip my hands into my drooly mouth and go and touch something. It's great. Dada and I also play "The Claw" game. He grabs me by my legs and dips me into my toy bin and I grab out a toy. Then he dips me back in and I grab another one. I love all of my games with Dada. Someday I'll have to teach them to Day-did.

Take care,

Adam

Well, life around the Dobbs house is awfully interesting these days. I spend a lot of time contemplating how I feel about this David character. He has been home for four nights now. Mommy looks a little more tired these days but she seems happy. Daddy is always on his computer so nothing has changed there. My eye teeth are finally breaking through so I have more chompers in case I want to bite anyone (umm..I mean anything).

Mama will ask me "Where is David?" and I will point to my brother and say "Day." I like the fact that David comes with so many toys. They are fun to try to sit in and collapse.

Okay..it's getting close to nap time for me.

Adam

Grandma is at home watching me today. She keeps telling me that David is coming home with Mama and Dada today. I don't know who this David is, but I suppose we have spare room in Leonard's cage or possibly one of my toy bins. Dada stopped by the house today and picked up my old car seat. I don't know what he's thinking. I won't fit in that anymore. These crazy parents.

I went to the hospital yesterday to visit mommy. She was just lying around in bed. Is that all she's been doing these last couple of days? I was okay with it though because her bed had all of these fun buttons that I got to push. It was great. There was also this little thing in a blanket that would move occassionally. I poked at it a couple of times and then returned my attention to the buttons. Maybe Mama's bed's name was David. That would be cool if she brings those buttons home.

Love,

Adam

Aunt Suzy, Aunt Sarah and Chris (aka DC) left a few days ago. I was very sad to see them all go. It was so much fun having an entourage the last 2 weeks. There was always someone at my beck and call. And they took me fun places too. We went to the zoo and to the children's museum. I had SO much fun at both. I laughed a lot at the Tiger at the zoo. He was the best playing around in the water. The children's museum was a blast. There were all of these toys everywher and they let you play with them too. I got to play with a larger than life Lite-Brite and be inside of a bubble and go down a wind tunnel with goggles on. GREAT STUFF!

Anyway, as my aunts were trying to distract me with these outings they couldn't fool me that something is going on. Aunt Suzy was putting smelly stuff on my walls one day and Nanny Lois had to put me in a crib in a second bedroom. Hmmm..where did this crib come from? I didn't realize I had a backup. Then after the smelly stuff went away there was a lion and a leopard and a panda and birds looking into my crib. Where did they come from? I guess they were lonely and wanted to hang out in my room. I enjoy pointing at them and making the "Tsssss" noise (okay people..I can only make the snake animal sound). The next day I noticed that Aunt Suzy was putting smelly stuff on the second bedroom walls. These were much more boring than my exciting animals, but i went in there to check it out and there were all of these multicolored squares on the wall next to the spare crib. Hmmm....what is going on?

Now I suddenly have this new toy in my crib. It has Agu in it and a fish and bubbles and blue dim lights and plays rainforest noises. I like to contemplate this toy at night and turn it on and off before bed. But, then I heard mommy tell daddy that she hoped I wouldn't be mad when they move my toy to the other baby's crib. What other baby? Hmmm...I am getting very suspicious.

I am continuing to get more teeth. I'm getting some pointy ones now. I'm going to have a full set of chompers ready for this "new baby" if it tries to take any of my toys.

When daddy came back from his bike ride tonight we started wrestling on the floor. I get so excited when daddy plays with me. I start running away from him and after a few tickles I scramble over to mommy and practically climb onto her head trying to escape daddy. That daddy is so fast he gets me every time. I'm also really enjoying walking these days. Mama and Dada are so proud of me that I don't give up so easily anymore. I'm still very cautious about the steps I take but I do prefer not to have to get on my hands and knees anymore. (Mama doesn't keep the floor clean enough for my liking).

Okay..back to bed.

Love,

Adam (the "best" baby in this house)

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I have been feeling pretty crummy this past week. I just got another molar on top and there's another one breaking it's way through. But, i think I've made it through my rough patch and I am feeling better. I was nice to mama tonight and we played all night after she came home from work. I brought mama the bag of lucky charms and she pulled out a handful for me and I picked out all of the marshmallows and then let her have the rest. Yup, I'm only one but I'm already picky for just the marshmallows. I'm walking more and more now. I really don't take more than a couple of steps between furniture but I'll get there eventually.

My favorite show is Choo Choo Soul. I like to stand by the TV and dance when it comes on. We sing about veggies and beatboxing and animals. It's great.

Okay, it's past my bedtime. Nigh Nigh!

Adam

Mama is going to be SO OLD tomorrow. I find it funny that my only two uncles share birthdays with my mama and dada. I hope mama and dada don't get any ideas about my future siblings. June 28th is my day and I'm not sharing!

Anyway, I've been a pretty busy boy lately. I talk a lot. I don't really say anything that makes sense, but it works for me. I love to go around the house pushing my cars and saying "lalalala." I also love making the sound of a snake "Tssssss..." Mama was playing air drums in the car today and I just laughed and laughed and then I would make the noise too. Then we were listening to Old MacDonald and I would go "Mmmmmmm" every time the cow said "Moooo." These are great noises.

This morning Mama and I made Dada blueberry scones. We have all of these nummy blueberries from the grandparents and mama is trying to think of fun ways to eat them. She gave me some of the scones and I spit them back out. Yuck. I'll stick with blueberry pancakes. Mama gave me blueberry pancakes this morning and I started throwing them all on the floor. Then she wiped me up and put me on the floor so she could clean my highchair. While she was doing this I crawled over to my collection of blueberry pancakes on the floor and started eating them smooshing the blueberries all over my face. Mama caught me and said, "Oh Adam!" I guess I looked pretty guilty with blueberry all over my face. I'm a boy..blueberry pancakes taste much better after they've been on the floor for awhile. My motto..."What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Dada and I have a new game. We like to have tea parties. But, these aren't those girly tea parties. It's a "Freshly Brewed Iced Tea, No Lemon Party." Dada gives me a big tea glass and I take an imaginary sip and go "Ahhhh." Then I let dada take a sip and he says "Yummy." Then I continue to drink. These parties are delightful.

Okay, well more to come later. I have to get some sleep so I'm not cranky on Mama's birthday.

Love,

Adam

Hello everyone -

Well I finally took my first unassisted steps on Friday night. Mommy had left her desk garbage can in the kitchen and I was busy finding things in the house to throw inside of it (like the camera, my hat, some lipstick, etc). Then I would grab onto chairs with one hand while holding my garbage can in the other. Next thing I knew I was carrying the garbage can with both hands and I took 2 or 3 steps on my own with no support. Of course, I haven't done it again and Mommy thinks it will probably be awhile before I'm full fledged walking. I have this thing where I don't see the point in walking if I'm not holding onto something. Crawling gets me from point A to B just fine.

This morning Mommy and Daddy and I were hanging out in their bedroom and we were trying to get daddy to wake up for church. I was being very lovey dovey and Mommy kept asking if she could have a hug and I would put my head on her shoulder and then look back at her with a big smile. She would ask for a hug again and i would do it again. I was so proud of myself everytime I did it and I saw it made Mommy very happy. Then Daddy asked me for a hug and I just pointed at something across the room. Silly Daddy...hugs are saved for the ladies.

So, I no longer want mommy to sing to me before bedtime. I now want to play a new game with her every time before a nap or bedtime. I point at an animal on the wall and I wait for Mommy to make the noise. Then I point at a new animal and wait again. Well, mommy is not quite on the ball with this. This is usually how it goes..She changes my diaper and I point at the monkies. Mommy is very good at this noise. Then I point to the snake. I LOVE the snake. It makes the funniest noise and I like to make that noise too. Then we sit in the rocking chair and I point at the zebra. I guess a zebra says, "Neigh." Then I point to the Koala bears. I guess they make nibbling noises (mama says it's because they eat a lot). Then I point to the flamingo. Mama's flamingo sounds like a chicken "Bawk." I find this very funny because I don't think flamingos sound like chickens. Then I point to the turtle and mama says "Turrrtle, turrtle" in a deep voice. I've never met a turtle before that can talk. Silly mama.

My nanny broke her wrist last week and Mama and Dada told me I'm supposed to be nice. Good thing they got those baby gates to wrangle me in a couple weeks ago. Nanny Lois isn't supposed to put more than 5 lbs of weight on her arm with the cast, and I'm not a light weight. But, we're managing and I'm trying to be a good boy for her.

Well, I am expecting some messages on my guest book now. Come on people! I turn one and you all forget about me?!?!

Love,

Adam

So, daddy and I have this new game that we like to play to annoy mommy. When we are all in the car together Daddy tells me to suck on my big toe. So, then I grab my foot and start sucking on my big toe. Daddy starts laughing and mommy says, "No, no, no, no. Icky." This makes me laugh long enough to put my foot down. Then I grab it again and we go through the same cycle. These parents are hillarious. Mommy says I'm going to be the weird kid in Kindergarten that sucks on his feet around the story time mat. I think that trick will score me lots of friends.

Today I was standing at the coffee table (not holding on to anything) and I started throwing everything on the floor. Mommy said, "No Adam." So, I bent over (still not holding onto anything) and started picking things up off the floor and putting them back on the coffee table. This made Mommy very happy.

I still have a few tricks up my sleeves.

Adam

Well, after two weeks of nonstop travelling and partying I am finally back home again with the P's and my younger sibling just relaxing. Ever since I've been home I've been taking extra long naps and sleeping in until 7 a.m. It's so much easier to sleep without daddy snoring in the room! I missed my own bedroom. We went down to Pigeon Forge, TN over the 4th of July for the Shum family reunion. I had a lot of fun being the center of attention. I would make sure mommy got up extra early every morning. Then we would wait a few hours for the rest of the family to get up. Such slackers!

I got to watch fireworks from the deck on the 4th of July. They were interesting, but didn't hold my attention for long. So, mommy took me back to the bedroom to rock me to sleep. Then we saw the grand finale from the bedroom and I stopped drinking my bottle to watch. When it was all done I started clapping. Mommy thought that was very cute. I glared at her. "Duh. That's what you're supposed to do after a show."

My favorite activity at the family reunion was playing with the boombox. I would turn it on and start to dance then turn it off then turn it on then turn it of then turn it on..... Mommy said I should lead us all in musical chairs.

Last night I was playing with daddy's desk drawers. Then I fell and hit my mouth on the drawer. I started bleeding like CRAZY! This scared mommy. She ran to get a cold wash cloth. Daddy was holding me and when mommy came back daddy's whole shirt was covered with blood. But, I'm a big boy. I just bit my lip. After mommy made me feel better we all went downstairs to play. Mommy put me on the race car toy Grandma Karius got me and started pushing me from room to room. I liked this a lot! Whenever we would pass by Daddy I would lean over and wave at him so that he saw me. Then we'd drive by again and I'd smile and wave. This definitely made my lip feel better.

Okay, well I need to get back to telling the nanny what to do. (I mean..playing with the nanny).

Love,

Adam