Little Farm

"Quack" says the duck...a horse says, "neigh!". It's quiet now, what do YOU say?

It is a great thing living near Tilden Park and the Little Farm. Here we are last weekend just as the animals were getting ready for their day:

Mine

Recall the seagulls from Finding Nemo...with cousin Joe on the premises, "mine" came out in full force. Here's Micah in a rare gracious moment:

Though all is not as it may seem. Note Micah kicking Joe under the table:


It was so nice having Joe around to teach Micah all about sharing, the joys of ingesting more than 100 calories a day and the dangers of the world. We miss the little guy already. For some real gems of bath time together, check out Joe's blog. I'll leave you with this game of copy cat (Note how each resorts to his characteristic behavior towards the end: Joe with the "no-no-no" finger wag and Micah with his signature "mine."):

Sea Ranch

We've been busy...visit from cousin Joe (and his parents), Sea Ranch, holiday parties, Christmas at the Hawkins', failed Tahoe attempts...you get the idea.

Check out the video on Joe's blog of Micah appraising the new addition to the household that arrived one morning.

Here are some glimpses into our few days at Aberdeen House on the lovely Sonoma Coast:

shoes

We're pretty proud of Micah's da-da. He's getting exciting interview offers for his job search. Looks like Micah has some big shoes to fill. Here he is practicing.





Don't worry. We disinfected Micah's feet afterwards.

train of thought

Here's Micah taking his morning "wo-wo's" (Joe's O's) and perusing the choo-choo literature (Brio catalog).


Looks like he didn't have to wait too long for his dreams to come true. Thank you uncle Richard and Aunt Victoria for the Jungle Safari Figure-8 set. Superbad!! The trains are officially taking over the living room.

fyi

Hanukkah's over. Here's Micah on the last night. (He was content to just sit and say, "candle. hot.")

survey says...

...no choppy!! (As if we were going to listen to some silly internet poll, anyway. But thankfully it justified our decision to let it grow.) Here's a 7am group mugshot. For some readers, this may be the first time you've seen Micah without his makeup.

One...and a half

"I'm one...and a half." Remember when halves and quarters were oh-so important when stating your age? Well here's Micah today: a big one-and-a-half-year-old (yes, I realize the photos in the hat posted below are way cuter, but I am a purist, and this squinty shot with the flowing locks --see poll at left-- was taken this morning).

Here is Micah steadying the leaning tower of Nikko last night at our little gathering (and while some of you might misconstrue this shot to imply Micah pushed him, he was spotting him, clearly. Look at that sweet look of concern and selfless sacrifice of hair):

Mommies, 'kay

Kissy! Kissy! Micah is into giving kisses--to me, his duckie in the bath, his best buddy Abraham (in a sort of comical Brokeback sort of way). Let me tell you, I am putty in my child's hands when he spontaneously leans in for a little kiss. A new bike? Sure! An x-box? You got it!

Also in the "Otherwise Endearing Department": It is a funny thing hearing yourself through your child. Micah has taken to ending most sentences in "'kay" as in, "We're going to take your shoes of, o.k?" or "Let's go to the park, o.k?" which is what he often hears out of my mouth (or "mouse" as Micah calls it). He has also pluralized me. I am now referred to as "Mommies".

Thankfully Micah is on a hat kick, since he can say "hat" and "head" and "hair" all things related are o.k in his book:

modes of transit

Micah has many modes of transit. He scoots around the kitchen on his ladybug, finally getting some good use out of his first-birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa G (thanks!):



He runs around, often just for the sake of it, shouting "run!", and with things in tow, like his beloved choo-choo:



He is a big fan of slides. Today he lugged a large playground toy/cart to the top of the slide at the playground several times, just to watch it go down. Hernia, here we come... Here he relaxes a bit at the top of a wet mini-slide before taking the plunge:

Video grab-bag

Here are some recent videos of Micah that did not make it into other posts.

Hanukkah

Chappy first night of Hanukkah!

Micah enjoyed lighting the candles. We warned him that they are hot, but of course he wanted to touch the flames. He reached for them a few times, but after one good burn (not serious enough so that the stench of burned flesh overpowered the pervasive odor of cooking latkes) he was happy to simply point and say "hot".




Like last year, he really enjoyed the applesauce, but this time he actually got to eat the latkes themselves.

Apparently they aren't as exciting as the applesauce.

After (and during) dinner, Micah opened some presents from Grandma and Grandpa, which included some of his favorite things: books about animals and choo-choos!! Also, they gave Micah his very first menorah. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!! Watch him try to set it up himself:

Break dancing

Hmmm...don't really know what to say about this shot...practicing some break dancing moves? Perhaps an interpretive dance? Yoga?

boy + trains = intense fun

Here's Micah during a bout of some intense train action (I guarantee that this video was not taken on the first loop around the track, nor was it the train's last, either):

Some helpful translations:

hell = help
tan-no = tunnel
gown = down