Chiefs vs Broncos

Living in Kansas City sometimes we have to suck it up and root for our team - even if they are 0-3. And what's the best way to root for your team? Wear the colors proudly! Uncle Eric bought this jersey for Daphne when she was little and it's still way too big for me, but I wear it to show my spirit. Thanks Aunt Leah for this cheerleader outfit for Daphne!
But Uncle Eric is a feisty one. He lives in Denver and wants me to know which team is 3-0. My Dad has threatening to burn these clothes...
And this weekend, these two teams will battle it out. Maybe my prayers will be heard and the underdogs can pull out the win!

Big Bob

I thought Big Bob was just a used carpet store, but I found out he is really a big 2,000 Buffalo on the Duncan Ranch! My parents work with Laurie Duncan, who raises buffalo with her husband! My parents wanted to show my big sister Daphne and I the buffalo, so we stopped off at the Ranch. I was tucked in deep in my sling, so I couldn't see much but I tried to look at the buffalo and the horses.

Bearcat Land

Since this is my mom's last week of maternity leave, our family is making the most of the time by getting in all the things we didn't do the first seven weeks of her time off. First on the list was a journey to the 'Ville to visit Bobby Bearcat's home...aka the campus of Northwest Missouri State University where both of my parents attended college. It's a beautiful campus, chuck full of trees (as it should be since it's a state arboretum) and old brick buildings. Pictured below is the big Admin building in the center of campus adorned with a "Welcome to Northwest" banner for all the new and returning students.
My mom is rather cheesy sometimes and wanted a family photo in front of North. That's the dorm where both her and dad lived and where they met! Dad lived on the second floor - his room was just behind that tree past Mom. Mom lived on the fourth floor, in the room with only two windows just beside Dad's head. The dorm is now the home to the Missouri Academy, a Math and Science advanced school for high school junior and seniors.

Just behind Colden Hall is Colden Pond and the Kissing Bridge. Mom wanted to get some photos of me and my sister in this area of campus since she said it's so pretty. She said she always loved to take photos in this area of campus. See how good I am holding up my head now?
We walked all over campus. Imagine the look on all the student's faces seeing two strollers and four red heads walking around.... And Daphne wanted to play with everything, so her and Mom would wander off leaving Dad with the two strollers (me tucked safely inside the big one sleeping most of the time). And someONE kept getting hungry for his bottle. Hmmm, wonder who that could be? So dad and I went inside the student union to eat... Well, I ate, everyone else was still full from the Pagliai's (pronounced like Poly Eye's) Pizza, the best pizza in the entire world!
Just outside of the union is a statue (it wasn't there when my parents were students) of two college students - one from 1905 reading from a book and another from 2005 typing on a laptop in honor of the NWMSU Centennial. I was put in the arms of the 1905 student for some odd reason...
After walking...er riding...around campus all day, I was sure ready to get out of this stroller and enjoy the comfort of my parents' arms! I'm not sure I'm quite ready for college life just yet...

Kiss and Tell

I always enjoy relaxing on the couch, especially if the ceiling fan is on or if it's bright outside. Both of those things give me plenty of eye candy to enjoy. But if I'm on the couch, never fails that Daphne joins me soon. Probably because she knows a camera is close by...

Most of the time Daphne is nice to me....but occasionly she gets a little rough. Case and point...

But don't worry... I already control her. I'm the alpha child here. I tell her to back off, and she leaves me alone. For a minute at least.
My peace doesn't last long... There is a saying not to kiss and tell, but Daphne doesn't understand the concept. She kisses everyone. Including me!

Oh no....................... Mom, did you get that kiss on camera??!?!!?! I must erase it before it makes it on the blog!

Smile

About a week ago, I discovered if I flex some muscles on my face it causes my lips to curl upwards. Apparently, it's called a smile. And when I do it, I get a whooping reaction out of anyone within viewing distance. Occasionaly, I do a lopsided smile. When I smile with only half my face, I get an even bigger reaction from my spectators. My mom keeps saying some of my expressions look just like my cousin Ethan when he was a baby, which was confirmed tonight when Aunt Kathy came over. She agreed that my lopsided smile looks just like Ethan when he was my age.
FYI - as you can see, I have a very full face now. Everyone laughs at my double chin. But I am yet to have a fat roll on my arm or leg... They are skinny as can be. Strange.

Scene Stealer

I have discovered that my big sister Daphne is a scene stealer! Here's the story. I was relaxing in my bouncy chair, minding my own business. In fact, I was rather enjoying myself! And then I discovered if I kick with my feet on a certain spot of the chair, it will play music and light up. Well, when Daphne heard the music, she came running. At first I was annoyed at her for interuppting my utopia. But I'll give her something, she taught me to dance.
Keep in mind, I knew the whole time Mom was right there with that camera of hers taking photos, but as soon as Daphne realized the camera was close by she became my scene stealer! She kept jumping in front of me!!
What is it with that girl and cameras?

Cloud Nine

Old Navy is having a huge sale on clothes right now, and my mom went a little overboard. Almost every ounce of clothes I own are 0-3 size, which is fine and dandy becasue they fit me now. But now the problem is that they are all summer styles. And even though it's only September, it's getting cold outside! So my mom went to Old Navy the other day and bought me a bunch of clothes that are long sleeves and had pants. And my mom is a dork, she loves the clothes a little too much. She keeps showing them to everyone and saying how cute they are. Mom's are crazy and I guess I have to learn to deal with it.

Well, anyway, yesterday I was wearing one of the new outfits and mom put me down for a nap on her cloud blanket. (no one say a word, I like to sleep on my stomach. And yes, I can lift my head and turn it side to side, so there is no worry). The colors on the blanket with my outfit was just too much for my mom not to take a photo. Man alive, is the rest of my life going to be surrounded by her always taking photos of me????

Twins!

Our evening in Iowa ended at Grandma's house for a family dinner with Grandma, Aunt Leah, Brandon, William, and Uncle Myles. Completely unplanned - William and I were twins! We had on the exact same onsie and brown pants! I know I'm bawling my eyes out in this photo, but it proves we were dressed the same....

Aunt Leah spread out a quilt on the floor and then her, William and I started a game of Twister. Or at least it looks like it in this photo!
Grandma has this funky orange ball that all the kids loves to play with. Keep in mind when I say all the kids, I mean William and Daphne. So I wanted to see what all the fuss was about - and I tried to reach my hand up and play too!
My Grandma sure is lucky! She has three great grandkids so far... Daphne (19 months), William (5 or 6 months - I am a bad cousin, I can't remember) and me (1 month). The fastly approaching Holiday season sure will be fun!

Aunt Lou Ann's House!

After we left Aunt Missy's house, we stopped off at Aunt Lou Ann's house on the way back to Grandma's. When I get a little older, I think I'll enjoy going over there! It's filled to the brim with little boys! Just my kind of place! Ironically though, I don't have any photos of me with the boys, only photos of me with the LADIES. Am I already a ladies man?

Above, Maddy (Maddie?) is holding me while Aunt Lou Ann watches and awaits her turn. And below, Jenny and Jade are holding me. Jade and Jude. What a pair!

Aunt Missy's House!

On our whirlwind tour of Iowa, we made a quick stop at Aunt Missy's house! Uncle Tim wasn't there, but we got to visit with Aunt Missy and cousins Joel and Lauren.

I was passed around so everyone could hold me, but I must admit...I was partial to Lauren! She held me the longest and I just loved being in her arms! I've got a great cousin!
And then my other Great Grandma showed up! I was meeting lots of new family! She held me a for a long time and I was really enjoying all this new attention!

Meeting Grandpa and G.G.

After an attempt to go to Iowa the week before and failing (see Daphne's blog for the story) we bought a new truck. It took us a week longer than expected, but I finally made it up to Iowa to meet some of my family! One of our first stops was to visit Grandpa and Great Grandma (G.G.) for the first time! I was very happy to finally meet some more of my family! Here I am with my Grandpa!! (See, he likes the Chiefs, too!)

And GG wanted to hold me for a minute, she sure thought I was a cutie!!!
And then Grandpa wanted to hold me again. Everyone loves to hold me! At the time of this trip, I was five weeks old, so I'm keeping my eyes open longer between naps and enjoy looking around. (and speaking of that... My mom thinks I make a lot of similar faces to my cousin Ethan). And even though I think I look like Daphne, a lot of people think I look more like Dad than Mom.
But the happy face doesn't last forever. By the time we tried to do a four generation photo, I was crying my eyes out.
It was a fun trip to Grandpa's house!!!

Bumbo Growth Chart

ONE MONTH OLD!!!!

Per the tradition in this house, each month on the number day I was born I will be subjected to torture. AKA - the Bumbo Growth Chart! Unlike my big sister, I am not a fan of the Bumbo Chair and my mother is questioning how effective this madness will be with me. But we'll try... So above is my first official Bumbo Growth Chart photo! And below are two exhibits to prove my dislike of this tradition...

Exhibit A

Exhibit B