Toasty-o's

For the past couple nights mommy has given me these little Toasty-o's to eat. She said it is fine motor skills practice, but I say its just good eating. I pick them up and then have to decide should I eat them or throw them at one of the doggies to eat. Afterward I take a drink of water from my sippy cup. It took me several days to figure out that sippy cup but now I am really good at drinking from it.

Chunky Monkey

Not sure why mommy calls me her chunky monkey. Its all muscle!

I love bath time, my new kitchen sink fits me perfectly and I get to splash water everywhere!

Razzzzzz

Here is a video of Dexter making all sorts of funny faces and noises.

Game day

In Honor of Timmy Tebow’s last game in the Swamp fans are asking people at the game to wear eye black with a saying or bible verse on them like Tim does for each game. Since I cant be there for the game and I am really too young to be putting stickers or black makeup on my face mommy just photo shopped some eye black for me.

GO GATORS!!!

Touchdown Tebow!!

Thanks, part 2

I am thankful for my new IKEA bookcase my daddy put together for me and I am thankful for all the toys that go in it! I went to a new friends house yesterday for thanksgiving and they gave me lots of cool toys they are too big for! Wasn’t that nice of them. Thanksgiving is fun, you get all the sweet potatoes you can eat! I hope everyone else had a fun Thanksgiving full of good food, naps and toys like I did.

Give Thanks

Thanks for giving me great hugs daddy. I love you.

I am also thankful nana's cancer was found only in the uterus and not in any lymph nodes! No chemo or radation needed right now!! I love you.

Livestrong

My Mommy often tells me I am a livestrong baby. Well today my nana needs some of my lifestrong powers since she is having surgery for clear cell endometrial cancer. I really hope it goes well because I love her sooooo much. Hopefully she can tell I am sending livestrong vibes to her :)

Teething

You can’t see any teeth in my mouth yet, but I swear they are coming!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was my daddy's 34th birthday. Birthdays are great, I got to go shopping with mommy and pick out presents for daddy and me! I played with this activity table at Rowan's house when I visited his family and loved it so much my mommy bought me one. It's so fun, I can practice standing up and I love the music and lights!

Petroglyphs

Yesterday I went for a hike! Me, Mommy, Daddy and Grandfather all went to the Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque. It is about 15 minutes from my house. The park has several trails to hike on. We went on a 1.5 mile easy level hike. It was cool to see all the volcanic rocks & petroglyphs, I can't wait to go back again! You cant really tell in this photo but we are about 50-60 feet high which was a fun climb. Overall we were one mile above sea level - the altitude and dry air takes some getting used to. Grandfather left today to go back to Florida, I will sure miss him!

Mommy & Me

I told you yesterday about a large park next to my house, well today I went back. Mommy brought me to my first workout class called "Mommy & me" It was a ton of fun. I got to sit on yoga mats and play with other kids in between putting as many leaves in my mouth as possible! The moms did loops around the park pushing us in strollers and then did various workout drills at stations set up around the park. This picture was taken at the end during stretching & ab work. I am the little boy in blue sitting next to my new girlfriend in pink.

Kirtland AFB

I arrived Tuesday at 6:30 Mountain Time to my new home in Albuquerque New Mexico (the house on the right in the picture). It was dark so I couldn't see much that night, plus I was super exhausted from sleeping all day in the car. To my surprise when I arrived Daddy, Bosley & Ophelia were all here to meet me! Today Daddy showed Mommy, Grandfather and me around our new base. We went to my new daycare and met my teachers and classmates. There are 8 babies (age 6mo-12mo) in the room. I am the youngest. They were all so cool, some could even walk! We walked around the base to a large park where several people were out walking around or playing soccer. We went to the gym, the indoor swimming pool, the bowling alley, the commissary, the VA Hospital and where daddy is going to work. I also rode a pelican...as seen below. Overall a great first day in my new home.

Wedding Site

I wanted to revisit the Baughman Center during my stay in Gainesville. It was the wonderful location of my wedding and even though Dex is little I wanted him to see it. It's such a beautiful location, any visitor to Gainesville needs to see it in person.

My cup

Mommy bought me a sippy cup today. Lately I have been trying to take sips of water from other people's big cups so she thought I should have my own. I am not quite sure how it works, does the water come out of the handle or spout?

more UF pictures

Here I am getting my picture taken with various volleyball players( Anderson, Ward and Cusack), cheerleaders, Alberta and outside the O'Connell Center and inside the Swamp! I am having so much fun in Gainesville!

Saturday around campus

Saturday me, mommy and nana spent the day walking around Florida's campus. We saw lots of people young and old dressed up in orange and blue (A true gator fan wears no others, my gator book has taught me). So many people were happy and smiling at me, telling me I am the cutest little gator fan ever! I must agree with them because so many people cant be wrong.

On a very sad note, this Sunday morning my cat Tigerlily died. I knew her my whole life! I will miss reading books with her and petting her. She was a very sweet cat who loved me a lot. Mommy is very sad but glad that Tigerlily is buried in Gainesville and she will always know where she is. She lived for over 15 years and will be missed.

Volleyball

Saw my first volleyball match last night. I really enjoyed all the fans, the pom-poms, Alberta the mascot, the cheerleaders and the volleyball players. I cheered during game 1, got cranky during game 2 and feel sleep during game 3. Luckly the gators are good and beat the Georgia Bulldogs in 3 games (best of 5). Today we are going to walk around campus with mom and nana and smile for people - should be fun!

Happy Half Birthday!!!

Dexter James Karrels ~ 6 months old

Weight: 18.2 pounds (according to a bathroom scale, I wont see my new doctor until late November)

Skills:
Physically: I can sit really well, I can reach for things and bend in all sorts of directions rarely tipping over. I can roll over and get onto my hands and knees but still not crawling forward. I can grab things really well and I am really good at grabbing my pacifier and placing it back into my mouth. I couple times while on my hands and knees and I have twisted and almost landed into a sitting position but toppled over instead.
Verbally: I make all sorts of noises now and love to make razz noises lately where I stick my tongue out and close my lips around my tongue and blow, it can get messy with spit but that makes it even more fun!

Likes:
Going for walks is still my favorite. I try to get at least 2 long walks in everyday. Now that I am on vacation its been nice walking with my grandparents around Gainesville. Its so green here! I like going around town also. I have been in a lot of restaurants and stores and I just love soaking in new environments.

I like eating solid foods. I am still drinking breastmilk 6 times a day but now get food for breakfast and dinner. My favorite meal is oats & banana mixed together for breakfast. I have had a lot of new foods since I started eating. I have had: grains - rice & oats, fruits - avocado, banana, pears & apples. Vegetables - sweet potato, squash, green beans & pumpkin. Next up for food: grains - barley; fruits - peaches and plums; vegetables - peas and carrots. My mom worries about me being allergic to foods like she was as a baby, but so far no allergies!

I can entertain myself well now. I like to sit up and just play with toys around me. I look around every once and a while to make sure mom or dad is still watching me but then I go back to playing. My mommy really likes my independence. A new game I started playing with my grandfather today is rolling a baseball back and forth with him. My rolls are a bit more spastic than his but I enjoy it.

Dislikes:
Hum...I don't dislike anything this month! Perhaps hour 7 of a 8 hour car trip, but I just show my dislike by falling back asleep. That car motion is hard to fight!


Highlights of the month and what is to come: This month was all about change. I said goodbye to Dayton, Ohio and all my friends and teachers at daycare. I got to see some new relatives and meet my great grandma. I have now met 34 relatives of my mommy and I have driven in 9 states (Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virgina, Maryland, Virgina, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia & Florida) and will drive through 6 more on my way to New Mexico (Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico)
Sadly I had to say goodbye to daddy and our dogs for 3 weeks but I get to talk to him everyday on the computer and I still get to play smile games with him, but I miss him putting me to bed every night like he has since I was born.

Hats

I really enjoy wearing hats, floppy hats or ballcaps will do.

This is one of many pictures taken of me by Heather's friend Carolyn on my last day in Ohio.  The weather was super nice and we all went to a park and played for 2 hours while she took pictures of us.  She has a really, really nice camera that mommy hopes to have one day as well....are you listening daddy?

Meeting my family

Me and my great grandma!

Me and my great Aunt Beth

I had a wonderful two day road trip with my mommy.  I got to meet my great uncle Mike and his wife Shoko, my great aunt Beth and her husband Shane and her kids - Cynthia, Shawn & Amanda.  I got to meet my great grandma and her husband Clint. And finally I landed in this town called Gainesville that I have heard so much about to stay with my grandparents and their two cats.  What an exciting time!  I cant wait for two weeks from now when I travel across country again and meet more friends and family along the way!!

Road trip

Yesterday I visited Mike & Shoko and Beth, Shane, Cynthia, Shawn &
Amanda. It was a great visit and now we head through the Carolinas
and tomorrow we will see my nana. I figured Dexter should take his
turn driving.