Utah

Otto, Trevor, Stacy, Ryan and I went to Utah for the weekend and had such a terrific time.  We spent our first evening over at Cori and James' house.  It was wonderful-we played and hung out and ate pizza.  The next day was the Judge and Tooele football game.  After the game Otto and I took photos on the field and Stacy and Ryan raced in the 40 yard dash.  We had a blast then went home and ate Grandma Deidra's homemade clam chowder.  Yum!  The next day Stacy Ryan Otto and I hung out in Park City and then headed up to Sundance to stay at Trevor and Cooper's house.  The four of us road the chair lift up to the top of the mountain and hiked down.  We were a bit nervous with Otto on the lift and we did get lost but both only added to the adventure.  Then we had a delicious dinner at the resort.  Ryan and Stacy left in the morning and Trevor, Otto, and I spent the afternoon with the Cordova and Groth gang.  It was a PERFECT weekend!    

9 month duck photo

Otto is 9 months already.  Where has the time gone?  He's sooooo cute and sooooo sweet.  I love that little boy.  

Anyway...he also got his 9 month check up, an iron test (he passed), and new stats.  

 

Head Circumference: 45cm-43 Percentile

Weight: 19lbs and 13oz-41 Percentile

Height: 30in-94 Percentile

He's tall and skinny just like his Poppa.  

Aunt Janine, Uncle Jim, Kate, and Otto

We've had a busy couple of weeks.  Otto's favorite former publicist and future Trojan, Kate Payne, has officially retired and Otto, Trevor and I went to the 3rd Street Farmer's Market's center bar to celebrate with Kate and friends.  It was a terrific evening and Otto stayed up way too late.  Kate sent us a photo of Otto congratulating her by shaking her finger.  We are all very excited for her new career.  Now that it is pretty hot and VERY sunny out Otto and I have been spending a lot of time at the library.  He loves taking the books off the shelves and throwing them on the floor and I love putting them back!  Even better than the books are the stuffed animals and Otto's favorite is a shaggy pink elephant.  Once Otto sees him he smiles and laughs and starts bouncing.  The photo of Otto in his black and white stripes was taken on the floor of the library.  We rounded out the week at Hudson's 4th birthday party.  The theme was Super Hero's so Otto went as Super Otto Von Monkey.  He wore his monkey suit long enough for me to take a photo and everyone to ohh and ahh and then thankfully I took it off because it was getting pretty warm.  Hudson had a bouncy castle and just like a few weeks before Otto had a ball jumping in it.  He made some new friends and ate some pears and clapped happy birthday and then we called it a day.  It was a first kid party and it was a blast!  The following week Aunt Janine and Uncle Jim came to visit.  We had a blast and seriously covered some ground.  The photo of Aunt Janine Uncle Jim Gram and Grandpa was taken at the Hollywood Bowl where we saw the Philharmonic play Gershwin.  Otto stayed at home with Dad on that adventure but went with us every where else.  We went to Rodeo and Robertson, Larchmont, the Getty, Malibu, Polka Restaurant, downtown, Hollywood and also just hung around home and visited.  A highlight of the trip was going to Mass at Our Lady of Angels, the new Cathedral downtown, where Otto got a blessing from the priest.  The very first photo was taken after Mass in the children's sculpture garden.  Otto seemed pretty happy in the mouth of the fish and really loved Church in general.  It has been a busy but terrific few weeks!!!     

New Firsts

As promised, here are photos of Otto clapping and his first tooth. ALSO, big news...Otto waved for the first time on Sunday, July 25. Trevor and I were shopping for deck furniture and one of the employees at the store we were shopping at walked by and waved at Otto and HE WAVED BACK! And did it again as we cheered him on. He prefers the two handed waving style but will wave with one hand as well. Boy Genius.

Best Summer Ever-first tooth and clapping!

Trevor has dubbed this the "Best Summer Ever" and it has truly lived up to the title.  Now that we are back in LA we are still having a great time.  We took Otto to a little wine tasting in Barnsdale Park with Cooper, Paul Louis, Lisa, Mike, Jesse, Caroline, Aunt Stacy, and Gram.  It was a blast and we are going to try to make it a weekly event.  The next day we hung out at Cooper and Paul Louis' pool with the same crew and Johnny Buell and Sam.  Otto swam and laughed at the dogs and kids.  Then the following day we went to Joey Baldwin's annual Field Day party.  Otto played in the sun and napped under a tree and jumped in a bouncy castle...I've never seen him so happy!  That boy LOVES to jump!  Also there are two big events in Otto's  life...Number one, he is getting his FIRST TOOTH.   His lower left front tooth made it's first appearance on July 9.  He hasn't really fussed about it at  all that brave little guy!  And secondly, Otto has learned how to clap.  We saw him do it at Field Day on July 18 and thought it was a fluke but he has been doing it pretty much non stop every day (all day!) since then so it is official-Otto can clap!!!!  I don't have photo's yet of the tooth and him clapping but I will take some today and post.  Here are a few I do have.  Otto wearing a wig at Cooper and Paul Louis' and hanging out with Gus and Luke Young his twin friends who were born a week before him by Dr. Tusi (the same doc who delivered Otto!).  The three boys were the hit of the Field Day Party.     

Montana

Otto's went to his first of many cabin trips!!!!!  Like we predicted, he had a wonderful time.  He loved all his cousins and their dogs right off the bat but was a little shy around the adults. However it only took a few days before he was in Grandpa Ray's arms giggling and cooing.  We stayed in a cabin with Aunt Cori and Uncle Buck and so our mornings were spent having delightful conversation while drinking coffee, eating squaw bread (Otto had pears and melons and milk), and playing with Otto.  He got his first dose of the dogs every morning by petting Cori and James' dog, Tank.  He would pull his ears and tail and just laugh whenever Tank moved.  Then we would go on little hikes with all 8 of the dogs and Otto would squeal with delight.  Those hikes were the highlight of my trip.  Andreas, Kodiak, Sophia, and Taz are the BEST cousins.  They played with Otto and made him laugh and carried him and jumped on the trampoline with him.  He is one lucky little boy to have such a great family and family trip every year!  This year was unusually cold so we didn't spend too much time by the lake although he did go swimming once and unlike his mama Otto didn't mind the cold water one bit.  He enjoyed the boat and took some of his best naps while people tubed and wakeboarded. Trevor had to go to LA for a few days during our stay so everyone really pitched in and helped out with Otto and I think he bonded much more with everyone because of it.  It was a truly wonderful week!!!  Here are a few photos.  Otto with Sophia and Kodiak, Otto and Trevor on the deck of the upper cabin on the morning of July 4 (we didn't see too much of the firework display because that little guy was afraid of the loud noise), Grandpa Ray, Grandma Deidra and Otto sleeping in my arms on the boat during a cocktail tour of Moonlight Bay, and finally Otto getting dressed in a turtle neck for a chilly day.  

8 months

Otto turned 8 months on the day we left for Montana and miraculously between packing and cooking breakfast and lunch for the landscapers I was able to take his monthly duck photo!  He is getting so big and active as you can tell from this very squirmy photo shoot!