Drumroll please....

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have a walker!!!!

Yesterday, she took 25 steps from the dishwasher to the kitchen table area-all on her own (no tempting teasing or luring by me or any other third party). She has really started taking at least a few steps on her own from the standing position before she goes off crawling.

She is also loving standing up (without using anything but muscle to pull herself up). She was going through all of Darwin's Pooch Cafe page-a-day calendar and pick each one up, standing up, throwing the paper to the side, and repeating the process.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, by luring her with some goldfish before bed, she took 57 steps!!!!!! That's right, that number is not a typo. Fifty-seven. I decided at that point, it's kinda silly to count the steps, so we have deemed her an official walker!

Now, it is time to prepare for the big 1.

Walking?

Ginny is 11 months old now (getting ever so close to that 1 year mark) and is trying to learn to walk. She has been taking a couple of steps here and there.

This past weekend, though, she took FIFTEEN steps! Followed immediately by ELEVEN steps! She sure is getting the hang of it. We'll post some video and a pic of her in her super cute Chargers cheerleader outfit later.

Another Birthday Surprise!!!

For my birthday I planned on taking Ginny with me for a Daddy-Ginny day at Disneyland while Missi went to work as normal. Little did I know Missi and her family had other plans...

That morning as I was getting the diaper bag ready to go I look up and see Missi in denim capris. I think to myself "It's a weekday, why isn't this girl in a suit?" So I asked her, "Why isn't this girl in a suit, it's a weekday?"

She replies, "'This girl?' You mean me?"

I exclaim- "Yes, woman!"

"Oh, she replies innocently, don't you want me to go too?"

So that's how I thought I learned it was going to be a Bustarde Day. But as we're driving up to Disneyland I realize that neither Sarah or Emie had texted or called to wish me a happy birthday. So I ask Missi "Why hasn't Sarah or Emie texted or called to wish me a happy birthday? Are they coming too, so that's it'll be a Bustarde plus more day!?"

Consequently, my thought process went as follows, "They always text or call pretty early to wish me happy birthday, well it's still early in the day, but why does Missi have a funny smirk on her face? What's the answer to this conundrum? Ask more questions!"

A rapid exchange between Missi and I then took place. While Missi's trying to avoid my questions I notice a curious tugging at the top-left corner of her lip. "She's hiding something!" I think to myself. I decide to let the issue drop during the rest of the drive as I try to analyze the birthday texts that come in as we're riding up.

Sure enough as we walk into Disneyland I see Emie, Sarah, Ken and Laura lounging on a bench on Main Street. Ah-ha! I was right! What a fun surprise!

Boy, was it hot though. Here's me and Ginny beating the heat by waiting for big splashes from Grizzly River Rapids. We got soaked pretty good.Ginny got to meet Aladdin on this visit.
She rode on Pirates, the Haunted Mansion and got to ride in the sliding cars on the Fun Wheel for the first time too.
She got a little scared from all of the movement on the Fun Wheel. I don't think Granny Laura's screaming was very reassuring to Ginny. ;-)
Ginny had a good time playing with Auntie Em on opposite sides of some glass.
Pappy's excited cuz Ginny was lot more comfortable being held by him that day.
Ginny loves her Dada!!
We were able to take her on Dumbo too! She loved it!

Thanks to the fam for taking the day off to help celebrate my big 2-1.

***

This past weekend we celebrated Joshua and Zoey's August birthdays. Here are a couple of photos from the party.

I like this picture because I think Ginny is gonna give her Auntie Em this look for many years.
Here's Noah kissing up on Ginny, "Hey! You're related!" I wonder where Noah learned his technique? :-) I blame the programs on the television machine and Marilyn Manson. Won't somebody think of the children!

Surprise Party to Celebrate the Onslaught of Old Age!!!

They say you shouldn't disclose your private information on the web, and I fully agree. That's why I will strictly enforce the prohibition of anyone mentioning my alleged age on this blog. Suffice it to say that my friends and family threw me a surprise birthday party to test the strength of my heart in my old age. I passed with flying colors, in other words I lived through the trauma.

Missi successfully hid her planning from me. She fed me a story about how we were going to one of her client's restaurants to have a work-dinner. I believed her. Here I am immediately after the shock.
Chris and Missi enjoyed pulling one over on the old man. As did my loving sisters.
Elliott took the time to feed his cousin some food during the party. Ginny is so trusting she didn't question how he got food considering that he doesn't have a job or any means of purchasing food.
Mama and Ginny enjoyed surprising Dada for once.
I got some great gear out of my cardiac event. Go Chargers! (thanks Chris and Anh!)
If you notice a sly smile on Sarah's face it's cuz it is a sly smile. Little did I know I had another surprise on my actual birthday. But that'll have to wait for another post.

Many thanks to everyone who helped ease me into my twenties! The dinner was great (special thanks to Sarah and Emie) as were the chocolates that Jon and Sheona got me. Thanks to Matee and Kelly for getting me a great helicopter that Mulan loves to chase around. I've already bought a bunch of songs from iTunes thanks to Lolly and Gary. I'm gonna enjoy using the BestBuy gift card that was bought by Van, curiously not from BestBuy. And, thanks to my bro, Jess and Elliott I'm gonna be able to put up another post about how I bowled a 300 or maybe even 3000! Good times.

Rattlesnake!!

Here is a picture of a Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis). You must be wondering why we posted a picture of some snake, well, because it was right outside our backdoor!

It all started with Mulan running outside barking up a storm, much more urgently than we've heard before. Normally Mickey will nonchalantly walk downstairs to join her but this time he ran at break-neck speed downstairs. I got up to check out what was going on and noted that I heard Mickey touch the rubber doggy door flap but he didn't go out all the way. As I got into the kitchen Mickey was sticking his head in and out of the doggy door. Without really looking I opened the backdoor and saw Mulan barking toward me wildly.

That's when I heard a funny sound, you might call it a rattling sound. Sure enough I see the snake three feet away from me. I was able to get Mulan inside. Fortunately, the snake didn't strike at me and neither of the dogs were bitten.

Missi came downstairs and called the fire department. They responded very quickly. Three firemen went out and took care of the snake.

Many thanks to the firemen of Fire Station One, and of course our hero Mulan and sidekick Mickey! Look at how vigilant she is!

Here's a short video of the snake:

P.S. Ginny slept through the whole thing.

Standing Queen

Ginny had a great session of standing this evening. She stood for 4 to 30 seconds once and then stood again for 5-37 seconds. The time discrepancies are the result of the application of the theory of relativity, as put into practice by the two time-keepers on hand (me and Missi). Without disclosing who guessed what time I can let you know that the following exchange took place...

Parent A - "How long did she stand?"
Parent B - "4 seconds about!"
Parent A - "What! That was more like 30!"
Parent B - "..."

The slightly longer second standing attempt, which is memorialized pictorially below, yielded the following exchange...

Parent A - "How long was that!?"
Parent B - "I don't know, about 5 seconds?"
Parent A - "That seemed longer than before."
Parent B - "37 seconds!!!"

When I Say "Mama," You Say "Mama"!

Yesterday, Ginny began saying Mama clearly and distinctly over and over again. Yay! This morning she continued repeating her new favorite word. We managed to catch one of her soliloquies on camera.