While You Weren't Looking

So there have been some great moments over the past couple months that you might've missed because, well, I didn't post them.

Here's Dad reading me stories at the end of the night. This book is about Cordorouy's Birthday. His friends get all crazy and surprise him with a birthday party, it's pretty radical. I, however, will never have a surprise birthday party thrown for me because my Dad is a Ninja and I have obtained some of his Ninja ways, and Ninjas don't get surprised by anything.

Here, Eli, you put on my sock and I'll put on your shoe. Let's hit the road.

This is a game we play, Dad thinks of a song and then I play it... he's having a rough time coming up with one in this photo. You know what he chose after finishing this thought? Josh Groban! Josh Groban! I mean, seriously, Dad, you can't rock out on this piano with Josh freakin Groban! If you see an L at any point in the next 30 seconds it stands for Lame, and it belongs to my Dad; please return it to him.

Man, this whole walkin thing is gonna be soooooo cool.

I'll tell ya what else I really love, it's a snack before bed. I mean, bananas, yogurt, deep dish pizza with crushed red peppers, cordon bleu. You name it - I'll eat it, and I'll have a good time doing it.
Wait, did you hear Marquette is ranked in the Top 8 in the nation and they look like Final Four material? Sombeody cue the Marquette fight song and get the car started. I've got my hat on and we're headin for Milwaukee!

We are family - I got all my sisters and... well, I don't really have any sisters but you get the point.

To Lower Wacker And Beyond!

Many years ago when I was a little tike I had a group of toys that I just loved. They kept me company during the day and calmed me down those nights when Dad wouldn't sleep and was up crying all the time... oh wait, that was me, nevermind.

Anyway, these toys were like living creatures, like in Toy Story, only instead of Woody's "Somebody poisoned the watering hole!" or Buzz's "To Infinity and Beyond!" I had Oliver the Octopus who recited the colors of the rainbow... in three languages - English, Spanish and French. "Red, Vert, Amarillo," Oliver would say, and I was content.

Well, when we moved we put my box of toys behind Nana's couch because 1) she had a million toys to play with and 2) we didn't want to get any confused with hers and lost in the shuffle. The other morning Nana was looking for me when she came in the Great Room... and I had found my friends.

I spent hours in the box. I enjoyed it so much that I figure if I ever go homeless I don't think I'll even mind. I'll have my hair to keep me warm and my box to live in. In fact, if anyone's looking for me I'll be down on Lower Wacker Drive. Take that, Buzz Lightyear!

My Moms and Me

No big post here, just a photo of my Mom and me. This is from New Year's Eve when we were in Denver. We had a really nice time visiting Mom and Dad's friends. Dad went skiing and almost killed himself, twice... enough about him, hope you enjoy this pic of Mom and me.

Eleven Months

So here we are, one month short of my 1-year-old birthday and we've got some pictures for you of me with Charlie. So without further ado.

Hey Birthday Cake... I'm comin for ya!

Home On The Range

It was back to Mom's roots for Christmas this year. We left Christmas morning for Midway and arrived in Arapahoe, Nebraska around dinner time Christmas night. Aunt Erica and Uncle Derek and my cousins - Keenan and Kameron - were there, too, so we had a blast.

I'll keep the lingo short because I have a ton of fabulous pictures to share, off we go...

Here's Aunt Erica and I playing Miss America, which I just loved.

Here's Grandpa hanging out with me while I ate breakfast. I'm looking forward to some fishing with Grandpa when I get old enough.

Here's Grandma and I, first reading a book and then at the Arapahoe Warriors gymnasium. Grandma and I had a great time getting to know each other a little better.
I interrupt this blog post to chatter a little bit. One afternoon Grandpa got the key to the gym of at the school where Mom went to grade school and high school and we went over to shoot some hoops and play some volleyball and dodgeball.

And I have to show you what was on the wall. Yep, that's Mom on there, who STILL holds the 100m and 200m school record, still holding up after 12 years - see S. LAMMEL. Yep, Mom's a superstar. Wait, there's more. The second photo is a picture of the basketball records and she still holds the free throw percentage record. An impressive 83% career average... in fact, I think Michael Jordan's career average was 84%, but I bet she's a better Mom than he is.
So I figured why not get a head start on this basketball thing.
And here's me running down the court on a fast break but I think I forgot the ball.

So that was a lot of fun but my favorite thing to do was play with the beads. Grandma had a bin with probably 40 necklaces in it and I loved to sit in the living room and just put them on and take them off.

All in all, just a wonderful trip to Arapahoe. I miss Grandma and Grandpa a lot but I know I'll see them again soon.

Okay, future posts to look forward to are our follow up trip to Denver from Arapahoe and my 11-month photos (which are already four days late, DAD!!)

My First Christmas Gift

My first Christmas was a lot of fun. On Christmas Eve Dad and I went downtown for the day to grab a couple things for Mom. The Skertich Christmas Eve tradition dinner is Mom serves up her unbelievable spaghetti and meatballs recipe that she got from Nonie for the rest of the clan for dinner. So we took care of that business and liked it.

After dinner we took some family photos by the tree and then it was on to opening presents. I got a lot of neat stuff but the greatest of all was my new piano. Remember I told you Ray Charles would love my Christmas gift, well that's what I meant. I immediately started rocking out some Beethoven.
Then, as the night progressed, I went a little Josh Groban on the group and showed my sensitive side. Check it out.

Back to the family photos. We did a group shot with just my cousins and me and after looking at the photos it hit me. I might be a genius of the keys on the piano, but I'm quite certain by his positioning in this photo Eli is going to be the lead singer of a rock band. First, check out this photo below.

Okay, now check out these photos...
Are you picking up what I'm putting down here? Coincidence... I think not. Jon Bon Jovi, Brett Michaels, Springsteen... Eli Skertich. I'm just saying.

10-Month Update

Yes, we're late. We're actually closer to my 11-month birthday than my 10-month, but tis life during the busy holiday season.

So here we go - a few pictures of me with good ol' Chuck from my 10-month photos and a reference back to my 7-month photo so you can see how I've grown.

More updates to come this weekend - like why Ray Charles would've loved my Christmas gift, my official 10th month visited (think John Denver) and how I rung in the New Year.

For some reason, in this next photo Chuck wanted to smell my feet.

And for the record, here's a shot of me in September on my 7-month birthday.