My life is so very full of new adventures, sometimes I just can't keep up with it all! My mommy and daddy are making up for lost time, that's for sure. Highlights this month: eating solid food, my special baptism ceremony and sailing in San Francisco Bay.
Is this an optical illusion? Can you find me in this picture? Look closely. Here's a hint: look for knee dimples. This is a cool outfit that was a gift from one of my sweet nurses at the hospital so long ago. It's an outfit with matching blanket. My Daddy just couldn't resist lining me up, "Where's Waldo?"-style, and taking these photos.
I started eating cereals this month, both rice and oatmeal. I love them! They're especially yummy with my fingers dipped in them.
I have even more fun in my highchair by putting my feet on the tray as I munch on the spoon. Why not? I'm little enough, plus it helps me do leg strengthening exercises. You should see the size of my thighs!
I enjoy my crib in the mornings, always taking time to play quietly by myself before Mommy and Daddy wake up. They appreciate that.
I'm getting better at this sitting stuff. But I'm really becoming an expert foot-grabber. I even decided to try multi-tasking: foot-grabbing while drinking from a bottle!
I received a special box recently from my Aunt Tracy. She sent a special bonnet and set of booties made by my mommy's grandmother, my great-grandmother, who is no longer living. Abuelita Tila as Mommy called her, made these things for my cousin Lorenzo, son of my Tia Selina and the first grandchild of my Abuelita Tina. My mommy's siblings are passing these around so that all of Abuelita Tila's great-grandchildren get to wear clothes made by her.
Mommy loves to garden and her favorite plants are blue delphiniums. We have a giant flower pot, many times bigger than me, bull of delphiniums. Mommy introduced me to these soft, blue flowers and let me touch them but not eat them.
We took these family pictures because we were having a nice "Team Sato" kind of day at home. It's like a huddle, where a team puts hands together and yells a cheer. We put our hands together, since we're in this adventure together, and didn't yell, just took photos. Then I fell asleep again in Daddy's arms after eating. My mommy really, really likes these pictures.
I practice scooting across the floor with what used to be my breastfeeding pillow. It's fun to move around the room, but then I get tired.
My Abuelita Tina and Abuelito Arturo stopped by on their way back from Mexico enroute to home in Spokane, Washington. I played with my Abuelita and pulled her hair hard! But she wasn't mad of course and fed me afterwards. In the mornings, my Abuelita would encourage me to jump into bed with her and Abuelito for a while before my parents woke up. It was fun and cuddly to be there with them.
Check out the baby shades! Since my eyes are very light sensitive, my parents bought these for me. People say I look cool in them. I only know that they're handy to have when I feel like chewing on something.
Mommy and Daddy had something special planned this month that took me by surprise.
My Abuelita Tina made a beautiful christening gown for me. I mean it is BEAUTIFUL!
On a beautiful, warm Sunday night in late August, we went to mass at my local church. Father Terry, the priest who baptized me in my incubator way back in October, created a baptism ceremony for me that we will never forget.
He actually had us all process in before the mass with him and introduced me to the parish. During the mass, I was brought up to the baptismal bath and baptized with oil and water, in the arms of my grandparents now godparents, the way it's supposed to be (vs. with a tube of hospital sterile water).
Father Terry held me up at the end of the mass, introduced me to everyone as he held me up, and people clapped and cheered! These beautiful folks have been praying for my parents and me since I was born. They were so very happy to see me be baptized in the church, where they all could share in the joy.
I adore Father Terry. He's been there for my mommy providing key moral support and faith since before I was born.
My mommy's cousin Nancy and all her family drove up from San Jose and attended my baptism ceremony. This was also the first time they all met me!
Auntie Ikuko was also there and videotaped the whole thing for us. Thanks Auntie! Of course I also had to be photographed with my parents and grandparents. I was a beautiful night. Then we all gathered at my house for freshly made menudo and tamales! Thanks Abuelita!
Abuelita's friend Candi made this incredibly gorgeous peach-colored dress with crochet stitch. Amazing!
My friend Cielo returned to my house for a great visit. She' is doing very, very well, crawling around, pulling herself up on anything and everything. We pulled at each other's clothing, rubbed each other's heads and faces and were the subject of many photos. I think she got a little mad when her mommy decided to feed me a bottle! Then our families had to pose all together since we're keeping a good record of all these visits together since leaving the hospital.
Okay, the grand adventure of the month came on the 29th. Some beautiful tall ships came in through the Golden Gate to San Francisco. Mommy was hoping to take my grandparents for a tour of one of these ships, but we ended up taking a two and a half hour sail on one! I loved it! I loved the wind on my face, my shades on my face, my warm fleece bunting on my body. The views were spectacular and the mock cannon fire didn't even scare me!
Halfway through the cruise, I ducked below deck with Mommy and Abuelita and got some play time in on a nice mahogany table. I also had my dinner and learned a couple of new faces that I hadn't discovered before.
Afterwards, we took the MUNI train and BART to the Mission district so that the adults could enjoy a nice Mexican meal and I could sleep. It was a full day and I slept all the way from the Mission district in San Francisco to my house via two train rides and a car ride. I do enjoy my sleep!
What a month, an amazing, fun-filled, smile-filled month!
