I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus!

Once Upon a Time my Mommy and I went to the mall to escape from this big Iron Bowl that everyone wanted to see. Is that like the iron skillet we use to make cornbread? So, while we were at the mall, this really nice man said he wanted to meet me. I know he really liked me because there were not any other kids around anywhere. He lived in a really pretty house with a big chair and lots of lights. He let me sit in his lap and told me that he was going to bring me lots of new toys on Christmas. Oh, boy! This was the best person I had ever met in my life, so I asked Mommy to have our picture made together. I didn't know when this Christmas was going to come. Maybe tomorrow.

Nope. Christmas was not the next day. I still had no new toys. I had to find these curtains to play with in the living room. I got the idea from watching The Sound of Music with Mommy. I found out that you can hide under the curtains, and you can scream into the curtains, and you can pull really hard on the curtains. That's it. That's all you can pretty much do with curtains. Hope that Santa man comes tomorrow with those toys.

Nope. He is still not here. I got out this book to read while I was waiting. You can look at the pretty pictures in books, and chew on books, and there are a lot of words in books. Then I realized something; I don't know any words yet. That's it. That is all you can do with books. Where is that Santa with those toys?Nope. Still no toys. I got Mommy and Daddy to take me to the Hoover ballpark to play baseball. There is a lot of dirt to fall in, and there is a really fun home plate to sit on, and I got to wear my new sweatshirt jacket. That's it. There was absolutely nothing else to do. Guess what? Baseball season is over! I forgot. Okay, Santa...

Nope. Nothing today either. I thought that maybe if I started to use my old toys in a new way, they would be more fun. You can put them on your head,ummm, that's it. You just put them on your head. Nothing else happens. I am not sure that I like that old man at the mall anymore.

Okay, we got the Christmas tree. So, it's Christmas right? They keep saying Santa Claus is Coming to Town on the radio, so where is he?
Wait! I got a dog. Oh, no, that is just Lucy. I guess she is waiting for her presents, too.

Oh, do I have the most wonderful parents in the world. They felt so sorry for me because that really old, mean man at the mall lied to me about bringing me toys on Christmas, a day he made up I think, that they got me an Exersaucer! That's right, it has toys everywhere! Everywhere! I don't know what to play with first, or second, or last, or now. You can make animal sounds, and play music, and chew on the star, and read the dog and duck book with NO WORDS, and move the balls around, and play with dragon puppets, and make a lot of noise. Oh, my, this is the best thing I have ever had in my entire life!Oh, my parents are so much better than Santa Claus! Look what has happened now. I just talked and talked about the Exersaucer so much that they brought in the Jumperoo! Oh boy, Oh boy! The jumperoo! I just can't even talk about it. It lets you jump, and jump, and jump, and jump, oh, and chew on the dragon fly and listen to Rainforest music. Oh, my, this is the best thing I have ever had in my entire life!

I was so busy exersaucering and jumping that time flew by and I just gave up on all those new toys. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Nicole came to visit. It was a big surprise to me because they never tell me anything ahead of time. We decided to go to the Zoolight Safari at the Birmingham Zoo. Just when we got there, it started to snow. White stuff was falling from the skies! Oh by gosh by golly! Daddy told the lady at the window we were all senior citizens so that we would get a discount. That woman is crazy because she did it! Uncle Tommy and I watched the snow. He walked me into the zoo. It was very curious. It was only snowing at the place where you payed money. I didn't know that snow could do that.The first thing we did was visit this person's house. They weren't home, but it had a nice view from the window. After that, we rode the train all the way around the zoo. I was so excited because we were finally going to see the animals. I have never seen real animals before! But, just like that Santa person at the mall who has turned out to be a big disappointment, there were only animals made out of lights. They all think that I am not smart enough to know this, but this was the silliest thing they have tried to pull over on me yet. I was not going to tell them that I really liked it and had a lot of fun on my first train ride. I didn't want them to think that they had tricked me.Here we are after our train ride with the light animals. We looked at the lights on the lake and visited the petting zoo. Wow, real animals were there! I was kind of too tired to look at them though. I hope they take me back some other time. I learned that the animals smelled really bad. Way worse than my diapers!We saw this very handsome giraffe. I am sure you don't have anything like this at your zoo.

When we got home from the zoo with no animals, I got happy again. Even though it was way, way past my bedtime, I got so excited because Santa was there! Nope, it wasn't him after all. It was even better. My Grandpa had come to see me. Everybody says that they are staying at my house for Christmas. I guess I haven't missed it after all. Mommy and Daddy took me to church the next night. They said it was Christmas Eve. There was a Christmas pageant that was pretty boring, but there were some really neat things, too. Mommy had on a really, shiney cross necklace that was so much fun to pull on while they talked and talked. Daddy kept picking up this book and then starting to sing with Mommy. I really wanted to play with that book and rip out all of that paper, but they would not let me. I got so mad at them. That is when Mommy took me out of the church to visit with the people outside. We had a much better view standing up in the back of the church. We met up with Daddy to go and see the priest, Mr. Charles. He gave me a blessing and Mommy and Daddy a snack from a big cup. After that, we didn't stay anymore, and I went home, took a bath, Mommy and I read the Christmas story about Baby Jesus, and I went to bed.

It's Christmas! It's Christmas! I know there are toys in that big sock. What I don't know is why Uncle Tommy wants to take all of these pictures and no one is letting me get the toys out of the stocking. How long do I have to wait? Uncle Tommy was mad too, though, because everybody spent all of this time getting showers and putting on clothes. He said that everybody had to stay in their pajamas all day. Nobody listened to him. Even Aunt Nicole said that she was going to take a bath!

I am more of a follower than a leader, so I got good and clean, too. I was kind of stripped down and forced into the water against my will, but that is just kind of how things gotta go when you are six months old. They haven't steared me wrong yet, so I just go with the flow. I kind of liked the pajama idea.

Then, Daddy said,"Alden, it's time to open presents!"

Grandpa gave that idea a thumbs up. He armed himself with his camera. Mommy helped me with my stocking. I am so excited. I think I see something...

Please let me introduce you to my friend, Sophie the giraffe. I love Sophie. This is the best thing I have ever had in my life!She doesn't mind at all if you chew on her, and she squeeks back at me when I play with her. Mommy says I can take her everywhere. This other thing over here is really interesting. I think I can chew on that, too, but I have no idea what it is. The last thing in my stocking was a book about farm animals. We read it to together. Wow, that was a great Christmas. I am so glad that Santa came and that I was patient and waited on him to get there. I never, ever doubted that he would come and bring me toys.Wait! Hold on just a minute! You mean that on this Christmas other people bring you presents, too! They get hand delivered in your exersaucer. That makes me so excited that I think I just...Yep. Sorry about that, Mom. Time for a new outfit change. Good thing I have more than one Christmas outfit to wear today.

Uncle David showed up from Georgia. He just started bringing in all of this stuff from the car and giving it to people. He was not big on putting things in that paper like everybody else. I don't know all of the stuff he gave to the other people because I wasn't paying attention to that, but I know he gave me this hat. It is the best thing I have ever had in my life! It is supposed to keep me warm. How do I look? He also brought me a Mickey Mouse and an Eeyore that were bigger than me!

Outfit number three of the day. This one was a little more manly for Grandpa. I am not sure Mommy should smock him anything to wear. I was all cozy in my wool pants and sweater vest when I opened my new ball from Aunt Nicole and Uncle Tommy. Boy do they know how to pick out the toys. I still love playing with my O-ball they sent me from Oxford. This ball makes Mommy happy because it is wooden and BPA free. It is the best thing I have ever had in my life!Grandpa gave me some new lullaby cd's of U2 and the Beatles. I don't know who they are, but Mommy and Daddy were excited. We put them on my Ipod right away before my afternoon nap.My turn to open more stuff for me! I like the presents with the paper. It is double the fun. Actually, don't tell anyone, but sometimes the paper is the most fun! Please try to ignore the outfit. I know, we are on number four. It is kind of getting embarrassing.Wait a minute! Daddy took my toy away. He cannot play with my toys before me! It is the best toy I have ever had in my life! Even if I do have ten or twenty now. He must be checking for those BPA's. Don't worry, he doesn't really care about that stuff. All I have to do is start crying, and he will give me anything to make me be quiet.There were just too many presents to open. It took us four hours! Uncle Tommy is really slow at opening his presents and savouring Christmas. I have news for him: When I take over, we are ripping that paper off as fast as possible! I had to stop a couple of times to take a nap in between. They let me save this really big one for the next morning.Alright, I decided to do one more thing at Christmas. It got too hard to open these gifts and play with these new presents from Santa laying down on the floor. Plus, they were filling up so many trash bags that I was kind of afraid I would get lost in the wrapping paper. I figured if I was going to play with the big people, I better sit up. It is pretty tough to do for a really long time, but the world looks a lot different from up here.

Month six was pretty cool. Now that all the excitement is over, I will enjoy sitting around with Ted, play with all my new toys, and chill.

Pumpkins, and Solids, and Teeth, Oh My!

Fall must be a very busy time of year. You will not believe the things I have been up to. Since I left you last, I have gone through my first Halloween. I hear that you are supposed to dress up as something besides yourself. Is being a baby not good enough? I was told I had to start my day out early. I go to bed at 7:00 p.m., so I decided to Trick-or-Treat during the day. My Mom put me in this outfit.

I was not so very sure about this costume. I am sure that I looked adorable, but this frog head had to be put on with these horrible strings tied around my neck. I am not so big a fan of that. It also had frog flippers that tied on to my ankles. I don't know why I was being punished. I went along with it for a while. I went to Merrill Lynch to see Daddy.I am not sure if they know that I am not an amphibian! They started taking my photo with other animals.By 11:00 a.m., I had enough of that hat and outfit. I decided to throw a major and very loud fit at Dad's office. The brokers, excuse me, I am being corrected by Dad, "financial advisors," began to close their doors so that they could hear the people on the phones. It was great! They had me out of that tied-on hat and feet very quickly. But, they just dressed me up like something else!

For the second half of the day, I had to be a baseball player. They really like baseball at my house. This outfit was much better. I think I could be a great baseball player one day. The only thing is, how am I supposed to play with this little dinky bat? Even though I went all around Birmingham in these costumes, no one gave me any Neutramagin in my pumpkin bag. Or rice cereal. Around 5:00 p.m., I just gave up on this. I decided that I was going to let them know how I felt about it. I did for an hour. That is my usual way to get Neutramagin, and it worked a lot better.Mom and I celebrated the season by going to visit Aldridge's Gardens. We walked around the gardens and saw all of the plants. They had all kinds of scarecrows for Halloween that school kids and business people had made. They were so funny to look at. I liked this guy and asked him if he would take a picture with me. I sat down so we could have a little pumpkin together.

It was a good thing I got rested up after Halloween because the big events kept coming. On Tuesday, November 2, Mom and Dad and I got out really early in the morning to vote for the next President of the United States. We went over to the Hoover Library and stood in a really long line. We were standing for so long that I fell asleep for a little while and took a snooze. Mom and I voted together. I know that I voted becuase when Mom and I put the ballot in the machine, the man gave me a sticker that said, "I Voted!" I was glad because I had been watching CNN for months and months preparing for this day. Don't worry, Mom and Dad didn't influence my decison at all! I know I am not supposed to say who I voted for, but...He won!!

Lately, I wake up and practice all of my new tricks. First, I roll over and over on my playmat. Yes, I roll over all the time. I am very good at it. I love to be on my stomach and look around. I even roll over and scooted my way over to the dog bed and the hardwood floors. Mom and Dad come and get me and put me back on my mat all the time. They won't let me go anywhere.

I also enjoy chewing on my feet for just a little while. Who knew you could put them in your mouth? I am not a major fan of socks because they cover up my toes! I usually just take them off and chew on them.
Reading is one of Mom and my favorite past times. Books taste great, and they are entertaining, too. The only thing is that sometimes it is hard to stay awake for the whole thing. I surprised everyone and dog in my house on election night by holding my bottle all by myself! I did it in celebration of my big win, but that was the end of that. You know, being able to do it is one thing, but when people will do it for you, why put forth the effort? I really didn't mean to let them know I could do that yet. I was just caught up in the moment.

Then came this very strange Sunday. Morning came so soon! I got up at my usual time, and it was dark and an hour earlier. This has really upset my schedule. It worked out though because we had to get to the church this morning. I was so excited that I was going to be Baptised!I got all dressed up in this beautiful Christening gown that my Sugar made for me. Isn't it beautiful? I thought it was so amazing that I tried really hard not to spit up on it. I only got just a little slobber on it the whole day. I drove to the church in my pajamas and got fed in the parking lot before they put me in it. We weren't taking any chances! Check it out, they let me wear a baseball hat to church!These are all the people in my family that came to watch me get Baptised. I was very good. It was fun to sit on the front row and watch everything that was going on. I fell asleep during the sermon and boy did I get surprised when I woke up! All of a sudden, the priest poured all kinds of water and oil on my head. What was that about?! If they wanted me to wake up and pay attention, couldn't they have found an easier way? I screamed for a minute, but the the choir started singing "Jesus Loves Me," and the priest let me go down the steps and show off my cool outfit to all of the children of the church. They were all sitting on the floor in front of me. I liked seeing other little people.

These are my wonderful Godparents: Elizabeth and Matt and Lindsey and Paul. They came to help me get Baptized, too. I heard them say a whole bunch of stuff that day, but the only thing I remember is that they are supposed to give me presents. They also hold me and talk to me, so I think they are pretty cool. They are standing in front of my special banner made just for me. It got paraded up the aisle with the choir and the priests and everything. They let us keep it. I have been looking for it around our house, but I don't think Mom has put it on the wall yet. I am sure she will want to hang it somewhere special like the living room.

This is big! This is huge! Guess what? I hate from a spoon. They tried to trick me with this thinking that I would not be able to do it very well, but I showed them. I am a DuMontier! Food never scares me! Since it was Thanksgiving, Mom started me out on sweet potatoes. I love them. Then, our housekeeper, Carol, told her that that was the worst food she could have started me with because it causes gas. I don't know why that is so bad. It always comes out one way or the other. Are you not supposed to do that in public?

The food kind of makes a mess all over my face. I have a little bit of rice cereal and some fruit or veggies. So far, I have liked carrots the least, but hey, it's still food. Peas and Apples are okay. Pears are the cat's pajamas! Tomorrow, we start butternut squash. I'll let you know.

Don't worry. They still give me a lot of Neutramagin to wash it all down. That is my favorite part. I can see that bottle coming from a mile away. Yummm!!!

I really like my schedule. I wake up every morning at 6:00 and have my bottle. I take an 8:00 catnap just to pass the time before I get to eat the big boy food at 10:00. At 12:00, I get tired of waiting for my 2:00 meal and snooze a little more. By 5:30, it is lights out and bottle for me. I just can't stay up for the 6:00 news. It is on too late for me! I think that I am very organized like my Mom. Don't mess with our schedule people or you will have to pay! Just ask my photographer that tried to take my photos at 12:00 during catnap time!!

What a month! Wow, there was this other holiday they called Thanksgiving. But, they were still making me wear pumpkins, so I don't know the difference...

Anyway, I am not sure what the big hype is about this one. It was just a regular day. Matt and Meredith were at the big parade instead of Studio 1A, but other than that the world was pretty much the same. Dad was home and Mom was actually cooking! We had some fun visitors. My Grumps played with me a lot, and I got to watch Dad and Uncle John play football. Sugar visited with me as well, and they all watched this parade and ate a lot of food. I, as you know, had my cereal and sweet potatoes just like the big people.At five months old, I also got two new teeth. They are growing very fast! It was not fun at first because it hurt a lot, but that only lasted for a day or so. Now, I just love showing them off. I also have much more hair. You actually have to brush it now! For real, not just for pretend. But, I still need a hat to keep my head warm. Look closely at this car seat. I am hoping this is the last time you see it. I am really tired of it and ready for my new one. That is why I have been packing on the pounds to make it heavier for Mom to carry around. Man, she is strong!This is my dog, Lucy. She is doing what she normally does, not like me very much. Everyone else thinks I am cute, I don't know what is wrong with her. I tried to reach out and pull her ear a little closer to talk to her, but she ran away and hide from me. How rude! I think that sometimes she hides my toys, too, but I can't be sure until I can get up and go find out one day. Oh, the limitations of rolling as your main form of transportation.Month Five was quite exciting, huh?! I don't have an update on my weight and height because I haven't visited my doctor in a while, but I know that I am bigger than Teddy and growing on Mom!