Futon Blvd. is cruising right along with no delays.  Watch out for the Mommy exit, as a few unassisted steps are required.  Expect to crawl from milepost 7 to almost 11.  In anticipation of the Christmas Season it is best to travel on foot whenever possible, and to stay focused.  
This has been a Periodic Traffic Report, brought to you by Mommy News.


Remember to watch out for firetrucks (or just ding the bell on the firetruck whenever you can get close enough), and join us for the get demolition derby next week where the "beat-boxing Tonka truck" is expected to bonk into a lot of other toys and furniture.

From Mommy:

Out of nowhere Preston took his first steps today!!  He was playing with John in his room. I went in to see what was going on, and I sat down on the floor next to the futon.  Preston cruised his way along the futon towards me, and when he got to the end he let go and took his first three steps into my arms.   John saw him do it, too.  I wouldn't exactly call it walking, but it's "baby steps."  I guess it's time to get ready for a lot of falling.  I am so proud of him!  

In other news, you might as well re-name me Crafty Carrie.  I've been working on a ton of projects lately.  I finished an adorable pink fluffy knit hat over the weekend for a friend at work.  Last night I made a wreath out of dried oranges and lemons (I dried them in the oven over the weekend), and tonight I made John a scarf that matches the pea coat that I made for Preston a few weeks ago.  I'm staying busy in the evenings, and it's only going to get busier in anticipation of Christmas.

Now that I'm getting to be a big boy, I like to do more things by myself, especially when it comes to eating.  Mom likes to give me mushy stuff on a spoon.  That's usually yummy, but it gets boring, and I hate having to wait for her to give it to me.  Of course I still love cheerios and other snacks, but it's getting to be time for me to do it alone.  So Mom has been giving me more and more foods that I can pick up.  The other night I was eating chunks of banana.  Those little buggers are so slippery; I was having a hard time picking them up.  Mom rolled them in rice cereal to make them finger friendly, but it also made them super messy!  
I also should mention that I LOVE to squish things in my hand, and bananas and definitely squishy.  Then, for added effect, I rub them all over my face and into my hair.  I also wave them around, paint them onto my high chair tray, and generally gooify everything in sight.
Mealtime is the best!

Here was the outcome of feeding myself cereal covered bananas.  I also ate a few sweet potato fries, so there is some evidence of them as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a lovely time at Aunt Luann and Uncle Charlies house.  We spent the night at Gigi and Grandpa's house, had pancakes for breakfast, and then headed to dinner!  
I got to sit in my Sassi seat for dinner, romp around with my cousins and Uncle Joe, and eat turkey.
Check out the 2 new videos. ---->

Mom has been telling everyone that I have 4 teeth, but little did she know that I was keeping one a secret!  Grandma suggested that the next tooth I would get would be the top left, so Mom checked to see if anything was happening... and SURPRISE!  There was a toothie there.  And it wasn't just a brand new toothie; it was pretty far down.  Mom thinks that my mysterious fever of last week was actually related to getting Toothie #5, she just wasn't looking for it to be a top tooth.  


Today was another busy day for me.  I went with Mom to church this morning and hung out with a few other kids in the nursery.  I love rooms with new toys and kids, so I had a fun time in there.  Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch.  I got to spend the whole afternoon with Grandpa!  We went for a long walk, played in some leaves, and enjoyed some great conversation.  Here's what Grandpa had to say about it:
"We had a lively conversation.  Preston now will parrot multiple sounds back to me, and when I change the sound, he switches too - he's paying attention.  I started with good old reliable "DA", then switched over to blowing raspberries (with my tongue out). ( I think raspberries are our joint favorite sound to make back and forth together.)  But then I switched over to Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma, and Preston immediately followed suit, then we segued to BA - BA -BA, and closed with me telling him to Whack-Whack-Whack, which prompted some good whacks with his hands on the tray of the stroller."




Tonight I was playing with Daddy and standing up on the sofa.  I got distracted and let go of the sofa... and stood up without holding on!  I was so proud of myself!....Until I realized that i wasn't holding on to anything and fell over.  It was the first time Mom and Dad saw me stand by myself.  I'm still not great at this whole balance thing.  I have a pretty big head to control.  Luckily I have super chunky legs that counter the hugeness of my head. 



Anyway, there is no rush to learning to walk since I can crawl at the speed of light.  The key to crawling fast is panting and making as much noise as possible.  It also helps to not wear pants, and chase a kitty while you are at it.  I encourage everyone to try it, and be sure to post pics, too, so we can all giggle at you!



We're all excited for a short week... and TURKEY DAY!  



Daddy says I look different in this photo from the past few week-photos, like I'm looking less like a baby and more like a big boy.  What do you think?  

On the first Thanksgiving the pilgrims shared a meal with the Native Americans, and gave thanks for bounty of the earth.  Today I celebrated the first of my first Thanksgivings at Mema's house.  We had a feast of food, and a great time with everyone.  I even had some turkey.  After the big meal we went for a long walk, and I took a nap in the stroller (turkey makes me sleepy).

I loved playing with my doggie cousin, Dutch.  He lets me pet him if I'm gentle, and I even cuddled up next to him because he looked so comfy.  He makes me smile and giggle.

I also loved playing with my kid cousin, Evan.  He and I played hide and seek, chased around under the table, and played catch (and wave the tennis ball), peekaboo, and trucks.  Evan used to be the baby of the family, and I think he likes having another kid around, even if I’m still kind of a baby.  We got along great together. 

When things quieted down, Mema and I read some stories. 

 

So when I was busy blogging (and sleeping) last night, my new cousin was busy being born!  Baby Girl, Liora Brielle, is here, and Mom and Dad say she is a doll!  They went to go visit her at the hospital today.  

Welcome to the world little Liora; I know we'll be good friends and playmates!  We love you!

A few fun things have happened this week.  First of all, I was sick on Tuesday, so I got to spend the whole day at home with Mommy.  I think I just had a little bug, because my fever never came back.  I only had some tummy troubles.  I napped so well for Mommy that I didn’t want to go to bed at night.  I stayed up and played until 10pm!  My parents were crazy to think they could put me to bed at 8 like usual.  Then yesterday and today it was back to daycare, and tonight we did my favorite errand: food shopping at the grocery store!

My two favorite things from my day home with Mommy were the awesome cream cheese toast that I had for lunch and my new favorite book about dogs.  The cream cheese toast was probably the most delicious thing I’ve tasted yet.  Mommy cut the toast into tiny bite sized pieces for me and put them on my tray.  They were so good that I put one after another into my mouth until it was so full I could barely chew!  Mom was there to make sure I didn’t choke, and after that she only let me have 2 or 3 squares at a time. 

The Dog book is an awesome book about – you guessed it – DOGS!  It has parts that move and some fuzzy pieces of fur that I can touch.  I love to read it so much that when mom asks me “Where’s your dog book?” I know exactly where to look for it and open it up to read it.  You would think that with all my interest in my real life kitties, that I would love a cat book, but sadly we don’t have one. 

From Mommy:

I forgot to mention that I got an interesting phone call on Sunday.  I had to go to work for a little while, so when I got there I got a phone call from John.  I thought that maybe I had forgotten something.   When I answered the phone all I could hear was music in the background, so THEN I thought that John pocket dialed me… until I hard Preston say “DUH!”  right into the phone.  That’s right, Preston called me!  John didn’t even realize that the baby had called me until I called him back a few minutes later to see what was going on.  Preston must have hit redial while he was playing with (gooing) the house phone.  I was so cute I didn’t want to hang up!  I hope he calls me this much when he’s a teenager.

I have a fever tonight, so Mommy is staying home with me tomorrow.  But I still have a lot to blog about, because we had a busy weekend!  On Saturday I took my second trip to Hoboken (there is a prize for the first person who can tell me when the first time was).  It was Uncle Ted's birthday!  We had lunch, a short nap, and then went for a walk to a nearby park.   I played on swings, a see-saw, and even a tried a slide!  But my favorite part of the park was the leaves.   I love how they crinkle and crunch and float down when I throw them up in the air.  We had a great day!

On Sunday Mommy had to go to work for a while, but Uncle Joe and Gigi came for Sunday Football!  I wore my football shirt and we had pizza and beer (I actually didn't have either pizza or beer, but someday I'll get my chance).  

Then fast forward to last night.  I didn't feel well, my tummy hurt and I only wanted to snuggle with Mommy.  I eventually fell asleep, but we realize now that I might have been coming down with something, because this afternoon I had a fever at daycare and Mommy had to come get me.  We might have to go to the doctor tomorrow; I might have an ear infection.  I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, here are some photos:

From Mommy:

Preston waves!  We noticed it for the first time on Tuesday when he flapped his hand when he saw Daddy through the window.  We thought it could have been a wave or just an excited hand gesture.  He did it a few times yesterday – that made it a little more convincing, but today I am absolutely sure that he knows how to wave. 

If you read my post on the morning routine, you’ll know that the morning is not a success until Preston chases a kitty around the upstairs.  So this morning I asked Preston where the kitty was (I didn’t know, either, and I thought maybe he would figure it out).  So he crawled to our bedroom doorway and started to wave at the staircase.  He was waving at Jack!  Not only did he find the kitty, but he waved at him.  I was SO excited!  But it gets better.

When we get to daycare I have to sign Preston in at the main office.  The door to his classroom is off of the main office and today it was open with the baby gate up.  I glanced over to see Connor waving at Preston… and Preston was waving back!  I almost cried it was so adorable!  Connor was just visiting from the toddler room, and I think that Preston and he missed each other. 

I put Preston down on the floor, and Connor toddled right over and started petting him on the head.  It’s no secret that Preston has famous hair at daycare, and even the other babies love it.  Then the two boys sat down together in a pile of toys so they could wack each other.  Oh, boys will be boys!  It was a heartwarming morning, almost like a reunion between two long lost friends. 

Now on to POINTING!