Damien is 10 Months Old

Well, Damien is almost 11 months, and mommy is just now getting around to posting about his 10 month milestone! At least this time, mommy took notes. Our big boy is continuing to grow and progress beautifully. In his 10th month Damien learned how to stand holding on to something unassisted (for a few minutes), he learned to waive hello (but only does it sometimes and mostly to strangers), he learned to make raspberry noises, and he learned to shake his head side to side to say no (he learned this from Grandma Linda). Some of his favorite things right now are playing picaboo (gets huge smiles and often giggles), playing ball - he can throw and catch the ball sometimes, loves to bang anything and everything and the louder the noise the better. His favorite foods are hummus (especially on a carrot), avocado and mac and cheese! He's getting close to crawling, he'll get up on all fours and reach (sometimes pretty far) to grab something, but then sit right back down.

Another photo shoot in the garden mom?

Ppppleeeph, that's what I think about this.

The elephant did what? That's sooo silly Mom.

Ok, Ok, you got me, you got a smile, can I go now?

Damien Hangs with the Kleins

Way back in early August, the Kleins came to visit their favorite little boy. Grandma and Grandpa let Momma and Papa go away for their first night away - a night in the Napa Valley. Momma and Papa enjoyed champagne, oysters and sleep! While Damien got to enjoy Grandma Linda, Grandpa Richard, Aunt Pamela and ALL the new toys Grandma Linda brought (they had to tie a big bag to the roof rack!). A great time was had by all.

Enjoying his new "car" and silly Grandma

Enjoying new bowls and a smitten Grandpa

Damien loves balloons.

Up to some mischief with his monkey and another new "car"

Lookin dapper boys

The proud grandparents with their angel

Showing Grandma his favorite sandbox

Snuggles with Auntie Pam

Damien loves to give open mouth kisses!

Damien Plays with His Girlfriend Maya

Damien had a few more (play) dates with his girlfriend Maya. For one of their dates, the two met up at Totland in Berkeley, which is a great park for kids under 5. They have swings, play structures, and lots of toys for the kids. Damien hadn't been there for many months because of mommy's bad back (and back to work schedule). Damien had a BLAST, he loved playing with Maya as always and loved riding in the car. On another date, Damien hosted Maya at his house where they played with Damien's toys and shared an avocado in the yard. They are so cute together.

Bumper cars - in color coordinated cars!

Whoa, check out all that traffic out there.

Damien loves to touch Maya.

And take any toy out of her hand, luckily she doesn't mind Damien's aggressive ways.

Who knew the floor foam parts would be their favorite toy!

Damien's pure glee when Maya is over.

The more advanced Maya using Damien to pull up.

Hugs!

Maya and Odessa, a beautiful pair.

Damien Is A Ham

Little D is such a sweetheart and quite a smiley little dude. He loves to laugh, giggle, smile. He is so much fun. Lately he's been really exercising his evil laugh, this evil sounding cackle that is hilarious. He is so amused with himself when he does it. He's been going to day care every now and then when one of his regular caretakers can't and they always comment on how happy and sweet he is. Yes, he does cry, and he does fuss. But, Momma tends to only break out the camera when he is in a good mood (it just feels wrong to take his picture when he is crying). Here are some of the latest great D shots.

Well rested after a nice 11 hour sleep, and happy to be reunited with his toys again.

This is yummy.

I love playing in my room.

Mommy, you are soooo silly.

I don't know what this silly thing is, but I will smile if it makes you happy.

Wanna play ball?

I love cups!

Aren't I the cutest thing?

Damien Celebrates Cousin Mariano's 1st Birthday

Cousin Mariano had so much fun at Damien's 4th of July party, he wanted to come back to celebrate his first birthday. Damien was happy to host. He loves guests and parties - a true Craig. It was a nice small little gathering. The weather wasn't as hot as it could have been but still nice. Damien had a good time playing with cousin Mariano. But, he was his usual brutish self, taking Mariano's toys whenever he could. Luckily, Mariano is a sweet and easy going guy who didn't mind sharing - even his new birthday toys! Damien is lucky to have such a great cousin. Here's to many more birthdays together.

Did someone say party? I got my party clothes on.

The birthday boy and his momma.

Damien delights at taking toys.

The birthday boy gets his birthday ice cream sandwich.

Which he LOVED!

Damien watched with glee & loved playing with the balloon.

Mathias with his nephew.

Damien manages to hoard all the accessories for Mariano's new workbench.

The boys love, love, love to play with balls. Boys will be boys I guess.

Damien Gets Slightly More Mobile

Well, 9 months and no crawling. D still really does not like to be on his stomach, unless he is sleeping! But, he's getting slightly more mobile. He can scoot around in circles to get toys, and he can lunge forward and reach pretty far. Occasionally, he'll end up on his hands and knees and then his stomach - but at this point it is more a surprise accident than calculated attempt to get on his stomach. He'll usually give it a second or two to reach what he is trying to pursue before starting to cry and beg for someone to rescue him. You can tell he'd like to be more mobile. He's just not sure how to get those hands and feet moving. He also likes to stand a lot, and can stand holding on to something unassisted for a little bit. Although he will torpedo himself backward, stiff as a board nonetheless. When he is in his jumperoo now he likes to run and kick a ball (soccer player maybe?), so he does a lot more than just jumping up and down. He actually tries to go somewhere, only to get whipped backwards! It seems like crawling or walking is far off, but it will probably be here before we know it.

Playing soccer with Papa.

Our little Tarzan.

A new way to enjoy the jumperoo.

Intrigued by the lamp.

He managed to slink his way forward a few inches!!!

Damien Does Daddy Day Care

As you dear readers know (thank you Michael Suave for always giving sweet comments) Damien gets to kick it with his Papa on Thursdays and Fridays. Daddy Day Care! The boys usually have a grand ole time. The rules are relaxed, PJ's all day, no problem, no sweater, no problem. Papa is proving to Momma that she may be a TAD, and only a small minuscule tad, over protective. Here are some fun shots from a day when D also got to hang with our favorite and frequent (besides Grandmas of course) house guest Brian Wenzl.

Damien loves to ride on Papa's shoulders. "Howdy Ya'll"

Wow, mind if I touch it? What is this?

Conducting his kitchen opera.

Grocery shopping with Papa, a man's job.

All loaded up, this is going to be one hell of a party, if only I could attend.

Give me toys or give me death.

Who me? No, I didn't do anything with the toys, I swear. I dunno where they went, toy fairy?