Hello, everyone, and Happy Chinese New Year!  Last Monday marked the beginning of the year of the Ox.  Over the weekend, we went to a Chinese New Year festival with the Orazis.  My buddy Nico and I got to see the lion dance and the dragon dance, and we ate some tasty Chinese food.  I was pretty interested in all the proceedings, and I didn’t want to be cooped up in my stroller!  After the festival, Nico and his folks came to my house for a playdate.  When we were coming in, I made a big mistake and reached inside the hubcap of our van.  I got a pretty bad burn on my right hand, and I was pretty upset for awhile.  But, after some TLC from Mommy and some tasty banana cookies, I got my mind off of it and managed to enjoy playing with Nico for awhile.  I like showing him my trucks and computer, and he showed me that he knows how to really rock out on a guitar! 

We had a playdate with the Orazi’s last Sunday, too.  We went out for dinner at an Irish Pub, and then back to their house to play.  I liked playing with Nico’s toys, and I’m really interested in their two dogs!  I don’t understand the details, but I hear that Nico will be getting a new baby brother in a few months!  Last Saturday, Nana Rosemary came to watch me while my folks went out to a party for their friend Charlie. 

I’m getting pretty good at eating more foods independently now, and I like having big pieces of food that I can take a bite from.  I’ve learned to take bites from sandwiches and cheese sticks, and I even surprised my folks by eating a whole apple!  I usually want to hold fruits when Mommy is working in the kitchen, but the other day I ran off with an apple.  When Mommy caught up with me, she was so surprised to see that I’d eaten a lot of it!  Now she has to watch out for her produce, because I want to try to bite everything from bell peppers to grapefruit!  I’ve also learned to drink from a straw.  Now that I know how they work, I want to try whatever my folks are drinking! 

January 20th was a pretty exciting day!  I was able to enjoy my first snow, and it was the Inauguration of President Obama.  I was pretty excited that Daddy could work from home because of the snow.  Mommy and Daddy let me stay up past my usual naptime so I could watch the Inauguration on TV.  I didn’t really understand what was going on, but my folks were pretty happy.  They assured me it was an important historical occasion, and that I’d be glad I saw it when I was older!  I enjoyed watching the snow fall outside in the morning.  I learned to open the shutters with a little help from Mom, and I stayed right by the windows watching the snow for the longest time!  In the afternoon, I got all bundled up and played outside with Mommy!  I was really brave, and ran right out into the snow.  It came almost up to my knees, but it didn’t slow me down.  We were able to get Daddy to take a break from work, and he joined us outside for awhile!  Daddy showed me how to make a snowball.  We thought about making a snowman, but the snow was pretty wet and it wasn’t working so well.  We ended up making a big snow pile instead.  We had a great time playing outside in the snow.  My folks say that when I get a little older, I can have hot cocoa when I come in from playing in the snow!