Taking what I want

In my 10.5 months of life I have learned that if I want something I have to go and get it. Or I have to whine and complain until somebody else gets it for me. And I am real good at whining. But I've been working on going after things on my own. Last week I highlighted my attempt to get the Wall Street Journal and az anyam's computer.

This time I tried to climb Mount Papi to get his camera, but I just couldn't climb that high. I think he foresaw this day coming (ie, the day his 10.5 month old son tried to take his camera by climbing up his belly) and prepared for it for years by consuming massive amounts of adult beverage.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewStrada/Export/photo#5058929440023889938

A man needs a castle

He needs a sanctuary. A castle. A place to get away from it all. A place to rest his weary bones after long days doing what he does. I guess young men (10 month olds, for example) aren't afforded the same respite.



I thought I had the perfect retreat scoped out. I was chillin like a villain in there trying to read my paper and maybe surf the internet when az anyam barged in. C'est la Vie.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewStrada/Export/photo#5057733055408752530

Spring has sprung

It might be spring, but I am so ready for summer.

I'm looking forward to getting out on the beach. Except I have a feeling I won't like the texture of the sand. And I won't like the hot sun. And I won't like the sun in my eyes. And I don't know if I'll like the waves. OK, so I'm not that excited about going out on the beach, but I'm totally psyched about my beach outfits.

Just because my name is Strada

Does not mean I am Italian. The fact that when I get excited I talk with my hands....

That is a gross stereotype of Italians. But it's true. So maybe there is a bit of Italian in me.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5362566212346641879&hl=en

Sleep. Oh, sleep. Why have you forsaken me?

I mentioned two substantial changes in my life last week:

1. I was sleeping really well.
2. I had reached a whole new level of understanding of the world and was able to pull myself up to observe it.

Unfortunately, those two things go together like Bill and Hillary. Two may enter, but only one will leave. There can be only one highlander. You get the idea - one of the two was going to get messed up. So of course the sleep thing got all ongepotchket.

Generally when it's time to go to sleep, I decide that I'd rather stand in my crib and scream. I can stand in my crib, but I don't quite have the getting-down-from-a-standing-position-thing down yet. So I stand and scream and scream and yodel and scream. Either az anyam or az apam will come in and calm me down and then lay me back in bed. And then I'll stand and scream and scream and yodel and scream. And then my parents will come back in and pull some Jedi mind tricks to get me to fall asleep.

Once I'm asleep, I'm disco. It's just getting there that's an issue.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

I had a pretty spectacular day on Saturday. I went to see the godfather (Uncle Piki Bacsi) sing at Carnegie Hall. Well, I went to New York City so the rest of the family could see uncle Piki Bacsi at Carnegie Hall.


I really enjoyed seeing my cosmopolitan, Canadian family who flew into town for lunch and the concert. But what I love best about coming into the city is the food. We all loved the bread at the lovely Italian place we lunched.



Of course, my silly parents bring me to a lovely Italian restaurant and then expect me to eat pureed beef with pureed sweet potato? Fuhgetaboutit. Although Mama and Papa tried to feed me that stuff, really, fuhgetaboutit. Especially after they gave me some of the bread.

Then I was given some steamed broccoli and all was well in the world. I couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge the paparazzi as they were snapping pictures of me.

While the rest of the family went to the performance, Auntie Shirley, Uncle John and I went for a walk around the city. From what I hear Uncle Piki Bacsi just needs to work on his effemination to get in better with the xenophobic judges who could not handle it if a Canadian won the competition. He sounded fantastic - and that comes from no less of an authority on singing than az apam.

But back to the food in the city. The absolute highlight of my day in the city had to be when Auntie Shirley gave me a chomp of her popsicle. It was a red, white and blue frozen sensation. I generally don't like cold food and I made the same face I do whenever I eat something a little funny, but as soon as I tasted it I was ready for more.

I Luv the Liberry

We've been going to the library quite frequently lately. I think it partly has to do with all the rain and the need to get out of the house.



We've been going to several different ones. Each one has a different flavor. The one in Bridgeport can be counted on to have all the good, new books in stock. Fairfield has the biggest selection of books. Trumbull has the ladies.

I'm a big fan of books. I like the pictures. I like crawling on them. They taste pretty good. Some even have good stories.

I will stand on my own

It is that time again - I have reached a whole new level of consciousness. What really triggered it was on Wednesday I learned I could pull myself up on my own. There is a whole new world on coffeetables, couches, the side of the bathtub, etc.

Of course yesterday when az apam tried to film me pulling myself up on my own, I kept ignoring the standing part and dove after the camera. Here I am trying to get the camera on the couch from the only angle I was willing to get filmed at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewStrada/Export/photo#5055105757450464210

I love Broccoli

Yes, I know it's hard to believe. And I love James Bond and that Broccoli too, but I am referring to the green stuff with the weird, freaky texture.

I am currently protesting any food with a funny texture. You may get it into my mouth, but I have a tongue and I know how to use it. That stringy piece of meat or that clumpy piece of blendered fruit is coming right back out. Except for green, stringy vegetables from the cabbage family. Some may say that broccoli is one of the deadliest plants, and it warns people with its bad taste. I say, no! your high vitamin C and soluble fiber content are signs of your true love for humanity.

It's all relative

We had all sorts of guests over the weekend. They were all family. It is so nice to have family over. They take such good care of me and do all sorts of wonderful things with me. They are each contributing to my development in their own unique ways.

Nagypapa sat and read books with me.

Nagymama bathed me, dried me and got me ready for bed.

Uncle Piki Bacsi put his underwear on my head while I was eating.

It is early. Oh, so early.

We interrupt this posting to note that Friday's post has been corrected for the height and weight info.

I've been sleeping really well lately. I'll go to bed some time between 6:30 and 7:00pm. I may cry for a minute or two, but then I am out like a light. I then generally sleep until about 4:30 or 5:00am when I'll need a diaper change or a feeding. Then I'll usually go back to sleep for another hour or hour and a half.



But sometimes you need to party like it's 1999, like when it's a close personal family member's 30th birthday. Then sometimes you wake up with such a headache and just want to go back to sleep.

And the worst part is that it generally ends up being an awful hair day. Right, apam?

Lean, mean fightin' machine

I went to the doctor last week for my 9 month checkup. I am currently 20 lbs. 14 ounces and 31" long. That puts me into the 95th percentile for height, but only the 50th for weight.

It's disappointing. Every time I go to the doctor, I get worse news for my sumo career. Next time I go, I'll probably find out that I'm not even Swedish dashing my fallback plan of becoming a Swedish supermodel.

Oh my, my. Oh yes, yes. Time to put on that party dress.

I have some gossip. But I really shouldn't share it.

I figure it'll be okay for me to share it as long as I am vague. After all I shouldn't reveal how old az anyam is.

I have it on very good authority that somebody who lives in my house is turning 30 on Saturday.


I'm not going to say who, but it is somebody I love very much. She takes very good care of me. She takes me for walks.

She reads to me and dresses me in quite chichi outfits (as in gens à chichis)

She plays with me outside. We look really cute together.

And as az apam says, "She's smoking hot!"

Rank Cuteness

I have heard that there is nothing cuter than a laughing baby. I have also heard that there is nothing cuter than a naked baby.

I wanted today's post to be the cutest ever. Here is video of a naked, laughing baby:

http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewStrada/Export/photo#5051769865081828802

Tigers and tigers and tigers, oh my.

We went to the allatkert on Saturday. It was wicked cool. Zoos are educational places. You can even learn a foreign language there. I learned that "Mate Strada" is Siberian for "tiger food."



I was chilling, watching the tigers walk around when the biggest, meanest tiger caught sight of my ruddy cheeks and my bite-sized body. He then laid down in front of me in a pouncing pose. At least that is how az anyam and az apam saw it.

I viewed it as the tiger recognizing that the lion may be the king of the jungle, but Mate is on his way to being king of the world. The kitty cat was just paying homage.

Easter - it's like Christmas, but colder

I must apologize for not posting on Friday. I had planned on it, but then I went to confession and it took a really, really long time. Don't even get me started on my penance. I know. You're saying to yourself, "But self, how much can a 10 month old have to confess?" That information will be forthcoming on a subscription blog for only $19.95/month.

We started off Easter by going to the csaladi mise. It was MAD CHAOS. Then I took a nap. Then we went out to lunch (more about that later this week). That was CHAOS. Then I took a nap. Finally, after that nap I got a chance to tear into what the nyuszi hath wrought.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MatthewStrada/Export/photo#5051399567996398258

I got presents from three nyuszik: a Torontonian nyuszi, a Cleveland nyuszi and a Bridgeport nyuszi (fortunately, he had a lenient judge and is currently out on bond).

I got a whole bunch of clothes, some books and several stuffed nyuszik (the plush toys, not the Tony bacsi kind). It took a while to get the books from az apam, but I finally got to dig into some serious nyuszi drama.

The nyuszik also brought me some chocolate. I haven't been able to find it since I got the basket.........

Back to normal, almost

I'm really feeling much better now. It's not so much that my nose has stopped running.

Now that I am crawling, when my nose starts running.........I can catch it.

I think I'm getting some more teeth. I've been drooling like a bulldog in Orlando in July. I've also had the implacable urge to gnaw on my lower lip for the past week.

I'm getting better

I just need the right distractions through the day. When distracted, I am happy. When I am not, I am not. Paper = good distraction. Toys = not as interesting distraction. Big bag of recycling = very good distraction.

How yesterday wasn't

Check out this great picture of az anyam and me. See how we're both smiling, we're happy, the sun is shining. If we had a video of this, you'd hear birds chirping happily in the background.

Yesterday was not like that at all. I was miserable - I cried and complained all day. This made az anyam sad. And the sun was not shining. It was overcast. Birds were not chirping.

My nose is runny. How runny is it? They are going to change the church hymn to, "Peace is flowing like Mate's nose. Flowing out through his proboscis... "

Sick is stinky

I did not have a very good weekend. Yesterday in particular I started feeling under the weather. I didn't sleep very well. Unfortunately, that means az anyam didn't sleep very well either. I'm really congested and feeling blaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. This is what happens when you go to the doctor. You get sick. I went for my 9 month checkup last week and that's when I started feeling yucky. More on that tomorrow.

I've included this cute picture of me today instead of a sick-themed one. Nobody wants to see a sick baby. More importantly, I don't want anybody to see me in a weakened condition. That might embolden those attempting to thwart my plans for world dominition.