I've been playing with my Gymini for several months now but every month I get better hand and finger control which makes it more fun to play with my things.

I'm practicing my conversation skills each day and take great happiness in hearing myself make a lot of different sounds. I'm a little chatterbox and I'm especially happy looking out the window at the trees that line the creek behind my house. I get really happy and excited.

Okay, here I am modeling the latest in baby "Retro" fashion. Does this look like a dress that Mary Tyler Moore might have worn in the sixties? Well, that's because it is! This is an outfit my Abuelita Tina saved for me, an outfit that my Mommy wore as a baby. I'm sure she enjoyed it as much as I did.

I'm getting close to being an eleven pound baby this month and I'm getting physically

strong enough to do new things with my body. I'm starting to practice not being on my back as much

and instead seeing the world from a sitting position. Sometimes I'm not happy practicing though and I let my Mommy and Daddy know about it.

On the 28th of June, one of my Mommy's best friends from high school, Claudia, came to the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. On their first day here, they immediately drove over to visit me. It was Claudia's birthday too, so it truly was a special occasion. We enjoyed a nice Indian dinner at home, with special birthday cake too. I met her three children too and they all played with me.

The day after Claudia and her family visited, we took off on my first major roadtrip, up north to my house in Spokane, Washington. It was 1000 miles each way. We rented a nice minivan so my parents could fill it with my toys, clothes and diapers to ensure a smooth vacation. We stopped only when I wanted to eat, first in HOT north-central California at a random rest stop. Mommy breastfed me, then Daddy gave me a bottle. We stopped in Weed, California too, to snap a photo of us with beautiful Mt. Shasta in the background. I traveled very comfortably, napped a little bit, and played with my different toys, like giant straws.

After spending the night in Springfield, Oregon, day two found us traveling along the beautiful Columbia River, in Oregon. I requested lunch and Mommy and I enjoyed breastfeeding on the riverbank. Dinner was at a beautiful park along the Columbia River, in Washington's Tri-Cities area, only three hours from home.

After dinner, and when only two hours away from the house, my mommy finally called my grandparents in Spokane to tell them we were coming. They didn't know—it was a surprise! We planned to arrive at our home in the forest at nearly midnight. Time was irrelevant--my grandparents were so excited that they drove out there from their home 20 miles away. They were waiting for us as we pulled into the driveway. My Abuelito Arturo couldn't wait to hold me. He hadn't seen me since February when I was a six and a half pound baby. He was amazed and showered me with kisses, as did my Abuelita Tina.

I had traveled over 1000 miles in the final two days in June, without ever fussing or screaming. I just enjoyed the time with my parents, the changing view out the window and the toys my mommy gave me along the way. I could get used to this traveling stuff!