The Holiday Season, Times A' Flying...

When last I blogged about Jimi Victorino Campos Hoff, he was almost a month younger. Two days after Christmas, he will be marking his 18-month birthday, a year and a half old, mind you. As everybody knows, Jimi is the Energizer Rabbit, and when he is with his cousin Mark, they both generate enough energy to light part of the city of Carlsbad for about two days.

Jimi is developing and growing rapidly right before our very eyes. His language ability is astounding as he communicates with everyone around him. Sometimes when our dog Damu is standing solid like the flume in the middle of the living room, Jimi goes up to him, tries to push him out of the way, and says what sounds like, "Damove."

He and Daddy Darren still seem to have a very close relationship. He tells Darren when he wants to go to their house, when he wants to go "bye," and his always favorite, "no night, night." A surprising behavorial change that I have noticed (and Carol has noticed the same thing at ther house) is that Jimi, the great lover of water, baths, and taking forever to get out of the tub now doesn't want to take baths. This switch is about as dramatic as if I told Chris that I didn't want to eat enchiladas anymore.

The other day, in the living room, Jim was sitting with Darren on the floor. Suddenly he gets up and tells Darren, "Be right back." Of course, he calls Chris "grandma" and me "grandpa" in that cute little toddler whisper that melts our hearts. Whenever Carol drives up and I tell him that Grandma Campos is here, he starts to run crazy around the living room and when she comes in he starts to twirl around in a little symbolic dance that he sometimes ends with a collapse of joy on the floor. To make sure that I don't feel left out, he quickly appeals to my grandfatherly emotions with a quick wave of his hand and that singular word of exit, "Bye!"

Jimi surprised me the other day from his highchair. I made him cereal; he wouldn't eat it. I dished him out some yogurt; he pushed away the bowl with the contempt of internationally known eater of high falutin foods. I scrambled him an egg; he delivered it to the floor with tiny, but repetitive throws, for "always-up-for-eggs" Damu. I toasted him a piece of bread with special toddler toppings that I am not in a position to make public. He scoffed and with the gentle wrath of a toddler not to be messed with further, he said, "down." When I carried out his request, he returned to his toy trucks that he enjoys driving through Chris' Nativity scene in the living room.

In the picture to the left, a picture I call, "Eating Noodles in my Headband," you can see that he can eat robustly. Like Grandpa, he loves blueberries. He calls them "blues." Sometimes "blues" zip through his digestive system and arrive suddenly at the "food drop off" terminal, well...I best not be too vivid in my description.

Jimi loves to brush his teeth and probably would brush for an hour and ten minutes if we would let him. His hair he arranges with just one brush semi-stroke, confident that he looks good. And he does-he is such a handsome baby. The first thing that we do in the morning when we wake up (well almost the first thing) is to check in the bedroom mirror to asks two questions: where is the handsome baby (and Jimi points to himself) and where is the handsome grandpa (to which Jimi says, "Maybe on Greene street, but not on Sandia)

Yes, the Holiday Season Times are A' Flying. As we count our blessings, of course, we remember Mark and Jimi. These two guys are something, are they not. In the picture to the left, I asked Mark if he was enjoying having me hold he and Jimi at the same time--and he said yes!" Jimi caught Mark's wink, but I didn't notice it until just now.

Chris and I and the family wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let me share with you one of my favorite 2006 pictures of Jimi Victorino Campos Hoff as I end this blog:



BEST WISHES FOR A GREAT 2007

Bob