Getting Caught Up for the Holidays

Hi there! I see you. Sitting in your warm living rooms, bedrooms, and offices, surrounded by holiday cheer, and silently grumbling about missing out on my latest adventures. You say, "Azja! You said you'd keep a blog going so we could keep up with your activities and continually get new pictures of your smiling face and cute outfits. And where are the updates? I check your blog site and keep seeing the same post from HALLOWEEN! HALLOWEEN! Thanksgiving has come and gone! What gives? You are a cute little girl, so I can't be mad at you, but you have to understand - we don't see you everyday. Help me out here. Throw me a friggin' bone." I see you. I hear you. And I apologize. I've been growing like crazy, and I've been busy with new toys and sights and people and whatnot. This is a poor excuse, but it is all I have right now. But with this apology, I bring pictures. Lots of pictures. And unlike last time, most of these pictures are me! So without further adieu, let us get started.

So what has been going on since last we exchanged stories? The first interesting thing is the change in what is referred to as a 'season'. It seems that the out of doors is not always the same. When I was born, it was warm and sunny a lot. Sometimes it was downright hot. Lately, however, the hot has given way to windy and cool. Some days have even been cold, which seems to be the opposite of hot. I don't know that I necessarily like the idea of the out of doors changing. Although, I have been able to wear some new outfits lately that cover me up more. I may not love the cold, but I do love footy pajamas! They are very comfy and often have fun animals on my feet. Since my feet don't serve much of a purpose outside of kicking things and flailing around, it is nice, at least, to give them new interesting looks. And when I want my feet actually exposed, I have these sweet colorful leg-warmers to keep the rest of my lower half warm. They say leg-warmers are a bit retro, but the 80's were so long ago that I don't think anyone would have a problem with me dipping my toes (or legs) into the retro pond. Especially when I look so cute in them. I also have some fun blankets that get more use at this time of year. When in doubt, blanket. What? Do expressions have to rhyme?

Another thing that happens during this change is the shedding of leaves by all the trees around us. And I don't mean they drop a couple leaves. They go bald! There are crackly, brown leaves all over the place. Well, Mom and Dad were not too thrilled about their nice walkways being obscured by a crunchy, dirty blanket of leaves. Plus it made navigating the front steps an exercise in agility (and while Dad may be agile on a computer keyboard or on turntables, he is not exactly agile on his feet). So their solution was to collect the leaves into piles and then collect the piles into bags. For two weekends in a row, Dad worked in the yard on this de-leafing project. But these were nice weekends, so I got to go out there with Mom, as well. It was, as the Brits say, a jolly good time.

What else is new? Well, I've been getting this hand-eye coordination thing down somewhat. Which means I'm starting to understand the concept of interaction in exciting new ways. See, up until this point, my idea of interaction mostly involved looking around a lot, sometimes letting my gaze settle upon some object being shoved in my face for a short amount of time, moving my arms and legs around and finding excitement should they accidentally bump into something, and sometimes - if you got lucky - giving you a smile in response to your hilarious efforts to produce said desired effect. That's right, I knew how to smile, I just enjoyed all the silly work you put into bringing it out of me. But that has changed recently. I learned that I could put my fingers in my mouth to help alleviate my oral fixation in lieu of a bottle or pacifier. With this knowledge came the realization that it might be fun to put other things in my mouth. But how to get them there? And then one day I realized that my flailing hands that would from time to time bump into an object within my targeted visual realm could actually be directed! I could bump them into these objects on purpose! I wasn't just floating in some projected world-scape with limited interaction ability, I was grounded in a physical reality responsive to my will! What an amazing realization! Someday this knowledge could be put to use guiding the path of my very destiny towards pre-visualized goals of personal attainment! But for now, I just needed my hands to grab objects and bring them to my mouth. And then two brand new training instruments arrived in our house. One is called a "jumparoo". I would naturally assume its primary objective is to help a baby achieve the coveted "jump". I don't really care too much about that right now. It may be fun later, but for now, I just want to be entertained by the objects around me (now that I realize we both exist within the same physical web of reality). And this thing entertains! Lights, sound, music, and all kinds of objects that spin, rattle, dangle, spring, and otherwise titillate the expanding baby mind. It is quite wonderful, and I enjoy my time in this seat. The secondary need that I have at this point, however, is to take my enjoyment of these objects to a new level by grabbing them and bringing them to my mouth. This is difficult in the jumparoo currently. Which is why my other new piece of training equipment is so awesome. It is a mat placed on the floor with arcs suspended above. Hanging from the apex of the wire-frame dome is a set of toys that dangle precariously close to my face. Perfect! I have started to master the grappling of the duck on this toy chain, and I'm now even getting to the point where I can bring him to my mouth! It is spectacular. Only problem is that the motion is restricted. I can't keep him in my mouth for longer than a few moments, as the device springs him back into the air. But the important part is that my motor skills are developing. So now when Mom and Dad hand me other objects (like my new favorite doll from Grandma Dunham we call 'Creepy Christmas') I can hold onto them and actually get some personal enjoyment without having to rely on the constant guiding hands of others. I'm in the middle of an interactive revolution, and I'm pretty stoked about it. And the bigger news is that I think I'm approaching a locomotive revolution on top of this. On my playmat I have recently been able to partially roll my body over. Someday I will be able to decide which position I most desire and execute the gymnastics necessary to achieve it! Growing up is so exciting!

Need some more exciting adventures? How about an entire garden on the inside of the out of doors?! Or how about Grandma and Grandpa Vogt touring the facility with us?! And then having them stay with us for another week after that?! Yes, these things all truly happened. It has been quite an exciting month. The gardens were called Longwood, and they were somewhere near the Delaware border. We visited them after picking up Grandma and Grandpa Vogt from the Philly airport. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. The place was quite beautiful. Dad's favorite things were the yellow Chrysanthemum shield (created by hilariously named Japanese gardener extrordinaire Tadashi Imafuku), the Venus fly-traps, and the 100-year-old Zelkova bansai tree. The whole place, however, was quite breathtaking. If you are ever in the Delaware/Philly area, I highly recommend it.

The week that Grandma and Grandpa Vogt were here also happened to be the week of Thanksgiving. I could not tell what the holiday was supposed to be about, but it seems to involve ingesting copious amounts of delicious-smelling food and spending time with loved ones. There were games a-plenty as well as some construction work. Mom's parents helped her install shelves along the back wall of the living room while Dad was at work. The shelves look great and give Mom and Dad more room for books they can read to me. I love when Mom and Dad read to me. I also like when they sing to me (don't tell Dad I told you he sings to me). So the living room is really starting to look fantastic (I apologize for not including pictures of the new shelves, but I assure you they are nice-looking). On top of this, Mom was able to start decorating for the next holiday (Christmas) after Thanksgiving was over, so the living room is now happier and more festive than ever. The weekend after Thanksgiving Jay and Hallie came over, and we all enjoyed some out of doors time with a fire and some Yuengling. Jay, Hallie, and Dad were even able to create some music by blowing over the tops of their bottles, a tune called "Beethoven's 5th". It was quite impressive. Then they all played some Rock Band. It was good seeing the old band back together again. Oh, and before you scroll down, I must warn you that Dad included some risque photos of me after a massage, so you are going to see my hiney. Don't worry, I'm a baby, nothing to blush about. Having said that, aren't I a good poser? What can I say? The camera likes me.

Well, that is it for now. I'm guessing my next post will be all about Christmas. From what I've seen so far it should be a pretty amazing holiday. I'll leave you with a picture we took at Jay and Hallie's of the first snow of the season (snow seems to be like rain but lighter, whiter, and stickier). There were these big fat flakes that covered everything in a light blanket that was gone by the morning. But while it lasted it was so pretty. What were we doing down in Reading during a snow, you ask? Mom was getting Dad his Christmas present. I'd show you what it was, but you have to wait until Christmas. You'll be so surprised!

Until we meet again, may all your days be merry and bright. And may all your Christmases be white : )

Azja

Devil's Night Vampire Bytes

Halloween!!! And Devil's Night (the night before Halloween, when we attended the party)!! I'm pretty excited to report about the big party despite the fact that I slept through most of it. I actually thought Mom and Dad would be upset that I slept through the event, but they actually told me I was a really good girl. One man's lazy is another man's good. Although it wasn't laziness on my part, just sleepiness - there was a lot going on the last couple days. So Mom and Dad took me down to Reading on Thursday night to set up for the party, and I got to hang out with Jay and Hallie again. Dad set up his DJ booth, and Jay and Hallie finished with some last decoration details. The outdoor movie projector was set up and tested, and it was soon time to head back home. The next day, Mom helped Dad do his make-up for work. See, this was a special day for Mom and Dad because they transformed into different people. Mom put on her Merlotte's server uniform and became Sookie Stackhouse from HBO's True Blood. Dad freshened up his arm and chest tattoos, put on his make-up and linens, popped in his fangs, and became Godric the 2,000+ year old vampire from the same show. They made a strange couple since Sookie was actually William Compton's girl (and sometimes Sheriff Eric's in her dreams), but love connections are strange affairs. Perhaps she was drawn to his love of humanity and self-sacrifice. And one look into her beautiful eyes makes it obvious why he was drawn to her. Either way, they were no longer themselves by dark. And I wasn't quite myself, either. When we got to Reading I was transformed into a Gothling - an infant with predelections toward the morbid and punk side of life. I wore some sweet leg-warmers and super-sweet purple-stitched black vinyl shoes. And, to top it all off, Mom painted my nails with some dark purple nail polish to complete my "let's visit a cemetary at night and write some poetry" look. We made a dark and awesome family and fit in well within the dark and brooding Corby household. The decorations were extreme and everywhere. You couldn't find a part of the house that didn't contain a figment of a dark imagination brought to bloody, thrashing life. From the mason specimen jars containing bloody body parts scattered throughout the house, to the severed feet hanging from the bloody shower curtain in the bathroom, to the torture chamber in the basement, to the creepy portraits and scratch marks lining the walls, the atmosphere couldn't have been creepier if it were Ed Gein's farm-house. Actually, that place is probably pretty creepy, but the point I'm trying to make is that nightmares had given birth to interior design within these walls, and it made for an excellent Halloween party.

So here's the good news and the bad news. The good news - I'm going to let pictures tell some of the story for me, so I included a lot of them in this post. The bad news - I'm not in many of the pictures. Sorry. As I said, I fell asleep early into the evening and that was the end of pictures for me (except for the picture of me cashed out in the yellow sleeper - that picture is from Sunday afternoon, when I got a chance to get some good sleep). So, let me post the pictures of me first. That way, if you are here for pictures of me you can get your fill without having to read the rest. If you are here to also find out about the party, you can do that too, but first - pictures of me:

So those are the photos of me this time around. I hope you enjoyed them. I enjoyed taking the ones in which I was awake. Now for the party. I'll group the pictures into a few different categories. First, the people. Everyone at the party was not themselves. Jay and Hallie, for instance, had become Jessica (the vampire Bill Compton created in 'True Blood') and Tyler Durden from 'Fight Club'. And Dad and Hallie weren't the only vampires at the party. There was also a scary red-eyed vampire who was actually a published author on the subject! Who else was there? Among those in attendance were Quail Man from Nickelodeon's 'Doug', a couple officers of the law, Kevin from 'The Office' (wearing his patented tissue-box shoes), a Mexican Bandito, Charlie, Mack, and Dennis from 'It's Always Sunny' (Green Man also showed up to dance at one point), a hunter, The Wicked Witch of the West, Bat Girl (who was happy to learn from Dad that she did actually exist - in the comics - and was Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara, an intelligent investigator who eventually goes on to become The Oracle after The Joker paralyzes her with a bullet to the spine), The Burger King, a demoness, a monster, and even Borat! It was quite a collection of characters.
Next, a quick look at some of the decorations I mentioned earlier, as this sets the stage on which the cast of characters played the night away:

And even though I slumbered the night away in a bedroom, I was located directly above the DJ booth and was able to hear the music in my dreams. Was it an iPod playlist that vibrated the walls throughout the night? Nay. Well, sometimes. But when he wasn't on a break it was my dad who periodically transformed from Godric the vampire into DJ Hazbro! He does it old-school, with 2 turntables and a microphone:

And one thing I've learned in my short time here: where there is beer and music, there is a party. And in this case, there was a keg, a DJ, a beer pong/flipcup table, an outdoor movie theater (playing the greats like 'Evil Dead 2' and 'Planet Terror'), and snacks. So, yes, there was partying:

And at the end of the night the keg was empty, the records stopped spinning, the characters made their way to whence they came, the lights were extinguished, and the hosts found their way to bed to sleep perchance to dream.

The next day we had a relaxing morning reliving the night and watching YouTube videos (you have to check out 'Chad After Dentist' - the video response to 'David After Dentist' - hilarious!). Dad packed up the DJ booth, Mom packed up the bedroom, and we all went out for Thai with Jay and Hallie, where Mom and Dad learned a fun new knife trick - well, Mom learned it, I don't think Dad ever got it. Then we did a bit of shopping and headed home. Somehow it still turned out to be a long day for all of us, and we only made it to about half-time of the OSU/Texas game before sleep overcame us like an avalanche. The game was getting hard to watch anyway. If you don't know the ending to that story, I won't tell you, as I didn't like it the first time around. And Sunday was a day of rest, where I got to update the blog, and Dad got to catch up on some Ghost Adventures. So far, Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday. But I have heard good things about both Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we'll see how those go. In the meantime, I'll tell Dad to get back to taking Azja pictures now that he doesn't have to practice mixing every night. The next blog entry should be all me : ) Yay!

See you soon,
Azja Kathleen