Here you can see Daddy doing my 6 month / 2000 hour crib maintenance work.

As you can see he’s lowering the suspension for that cool ‘older kid’ look.

I’m told the work also includes ‘checking the fluids’ (perhaps he meant ‘absence of fluids’?), lubing the drawer bearings, and torquing the fasteners.

That all sounds great, but I decided to decline the optional bumper pad rotation and mattress pad de-pilling, which really sounded unnecessary and even a little suspicious!

And I have to say, are the air tools from Grandpa really necessary for this job?  Well, I’m sure Daddy knows what he’s doing!  Tonight I’m gonna sleep really well!

Today M&D took me to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.  I understand this is technically a ‘museum’ even though Daddy kept saying ‘This place is a ZOO!’.  The museum is evidently very popular since it opened last year – we waited in line for a 1/2 hour outside in the rain before we got in – and M&D had already bought the tickets online!

The exhibit behind us was about examples of evolution found on the Galápagos Islands – finches in particular.  And here’s a Galápagos tortoise:

Remember the Galápagos finch and tortoise in my room?

My favorite exhibits were the aquarium and the alligators!

Other firsts today: My first diaper change in a public men’s room (thanks, Daddy!), and my first trip to San Francisco (and across the Golden Gate Bridge!).

My new year’s resolutions:

1. Learn to crawl.
2. Learn to walk.
3. Learn to sign a few words (I’m working on ‘Eat’, ‘Milk’, ‘More’, and ‘All Done’), and maybe say a few words.
4. Try more solid foods.  I know there’s more than just rice cereal and broccoli to be had around here!  Maybe birthday cake?
5. Gain weight. (Goes with #4.)
6. Grow some more hair.
7. Play more.  (The great Christmas gifts will really help with this!)

As you can see, my list is somewhat non-traditional.  But that’s just me!

(Ed. Note: It appears that in this photo Ben is hard at work on resolution #7.)

Since I’ll soon be out of my current carseat/stroller combo, M&D had to do something to keep showing me off to the neighbors.  They got me a BOB stroller.  Compared to the old one, this one has a smooth ride (thanks to the pneumatic tires and ball bearings), and a great forward facing seat so I can finally start giving directions!

Boy, this all anatomical Christmas wish is really paying off!  Just the other day, I discovered my feet!  Now all this standing is starting to make some sense.  And all those stories about ‘little piggies’… There they are!

Oh, and they taste good, too.

Also, it seems I’ve finally found something I can do that M&D can’t!

M&D wanted me to let everyone know that their Christmas Letter is online here.  Check it out! (It’s mostly about me…)  Oh, and here’s what the card looks like:

Santa is really coming through on my all anatomical Christmas list.  On second thought, if Santa had brought my tooth and left it in my stocking, I bet it would have hurt a lot less.  Hmmm… maybe I need to reconsider this whole ‘teeth’ thing.

Naaaaa.  Today: apple sauce.  Tomorrow: Apples!

M&D decided that I needed to move to the downstairs level on my Pack-N-Play because I was starting to pull up on the sides from the top level.

These digs aren’t bad!  And I can see Atlas better from down here!

Well, that depends on the definition of ‘solid’, I guess.  But M&D have started giving me rice cereal and apple sauce.  So far, I’m batting about .500 keeping getting the food in – beating most major league baseball players.  Even still, M&D keep saying they think I’ll improve.  Sheesh!  Go easy on a little guy just startin’ out, will ya?

Oh, and I like the homemade applesauce (from home grown apples no less) waaay better than the rice cereal.

The other day I got to help make Christmas Cookies for the first time!

Here I am inspecting the final product.  In the future, I’m definitely planning on expanding my role in Quality Control.  Mmmmmm…  (Ed. Note: Is that Uh-huh or Yum?)

I’m also making sure that all the ingredients are of the highest quality.  This year, we started with determining how child-proof the packaging is.

And in other news, Atlas moved on to taking over my swing after M&D took the bouncer away from him.  Cheeky Cat!