Buh-bye Beechcraft Bonzana airplane!

Well, it was a rather eventful weekend for the Fletchers! No, we don't have a new baby yet, but our weekend did end with Daddy's plane submerged at the bottom of the San Francisco Bay. Thankfully, Daddy wasn't in the plane at the time. Daddy's former plane partner and his nine year old son had picked up Daddy's plane and were making a short flight to Hayward airport to pick Daddy up. They were all going to fly somewhere and have a leisurely lunch. However, shortly after their take off from the San Carlos airport, the engine died at about 1000 feet and could not be restarted. Daddy's friend maintained a cool head and, expert pilot that he is, he was able to turn the plane around but had to "land" the plane in the San Francisco Bay as it was the only option available. Although the internet news and newspaper here in SF called this a crash, Daddy's friend says it was more of a "belly-landing" in the water. Everyone is fine and father and son were able to stand on the wing of the plane before it sunk to get rescued by a boat. Fortunately, no one was injured and although they got checked out by paramedics on the scene, they went home to their family.

We are so grateful that no one was hurt and most of all, we are glad Daddy WAS NOT in the plane at the time. If they had made the first leg of the trip to pick up daddy, however, Mommy says she doesn't even want to think that the engine could have then stopped after the second takeoff with Daddy in the plane. Mommy says that she would have definitely had my little brother early if that had happened.

So in honor of the departed Beechcraft Bonanza, Mommy and Daddy are considering naming my little brother "Bonanza"! What do you think of that? (Gather yourself, I am just joking here). Although Bonanza Fletcher does have a certain ring to it, doesn't it?

One of my favorite activities with Daddy is to go to the airport, see airplanes and look at Daddy's plane. (Mommy has nixed any ideas of flying until I am old enough to understand what is going on, wear a headset and make my own decision to fly in the plane - and now after this weekend, I guess I have to be old enough to know how to swim too:)) I guess Daddy is going to have to pursue his quest to buy a new plane now!

In honor of the plane, I have attached an early picture of myself and Daddy sitting in the cockpit of his beloved plane. We will miss the Beechcraft Bonanza terribly as there were many fun memories of it not only for Daddy but from trips that Mommy and Daddy took as well.

Look for upcoming news on my baby brother later this week.

O brother, where art thou?

So let me just say enough is enough. I am up to the 36 inch top of my head with comments about my baby brother and his impending arrival. He just needs to get here and now!!! I know that my mom feels the same way. She has had several bouts of intense contractions and the last set were actually very painful. She says that she would have bet a million dollars that the last contractions were going to turn into the real thing, but they stopped as mysteriously as they started. The good news is that my baby brother is definitely going to be here October 30 as that is when the doctor has agreed to induce labor (unless of course baby bro decides to make his entrance sooner than that date). I hope the doctor doesn't change her mind as I think my mom would go into a complete meltdown, but we are keeping our fingers crossed here in the Fletcher household.

Anyway, I am sitting on ready as I have my brand new long sleeve navy "Big Brother" shirt ready to wear as well as a special "Big brother" badge that mom and dad picked up for me. Mommy and daddy don't know that I know this, but apparently they have been trying to figure out what type of special gift my new brother should bring to me when he comes home to live with us. Do any of you have any good ideas? I am thinking perhaps my very own Peanut sized Lambourghini or Porsche would suffice. Other options would include a Peanut sized Beechcraft Bonanza or Cirrus SR-22 airplane so I can be just like my dad.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Attached is a really bad and blurry picture of just the three of us until mommy recieves a better pic to post on the blog (which she is going to hopefully receive soon from her friend) so just squint your eyes when viewing this one and pretend it is clear. This could be the last official pic of the Teriffic Fletcher Three, before we become the Fantastic Fletcher Four.

Toddler THROW-down

Recently, I discovered the joys of throwing things...and I give equal opportunity to all things, I might add (coasters, trucks, balls, sippy cups, etc.) Mom said she was reading about this out of total frustration and apparently this new skill is something that kids my age become fascinated with - the whole "let me release it as I fling it and see how far it will go - no matter what I am aiming at or who is in the way"! I must say it seems to bother mom and dad as sometimes they jump in fright and take things away from me, but I see it all as a game and it is a very FUN game I must add. What mommy read is that as long as I am not doing it with malicious intent (i.e. purposely trying to inflict harm) that they should allow me to do it, but only in situations where safety is not a concern. I am such a sweet Peanut, of course, I would never do it to intentionally harm anyone, but I must say I do find it lots of fun and it is really cool to throw things and see how far or where they will go.

Have I mentioned that daddy has a huge big screen TV that mommy frequently refers to as the "Next Victim". So far, the TV has escaped harm, but I am sure you will hear about it LOUDLY should something happen to it:)

Anyway, since mom and dad's initial TIME-OUT strategy didn't really seem to work with me (I thought this was a hilarious game to play with mom and dad), mom and dad have apparently cooked up a new strategy which seems to be working, FOR NOW. It goes like this....When I get into one of my moods where I like to test my arm strength and the laws of gravity, mom or dad just distract me or give me an opportunity to throw things in a safe way, such as tossing things into a bucket or throwing soft balls and beanbags. This has consistently seemed to satisfy and/or stifle my urges to throw and then I move onto something else fairly quickly.

You will see in the attached adorable pic of me above, that I am wearing my Nike hat and my Cowboys jersey. A friend of daddy's gave this jersey to me as a joke specifically to annoy my daddy who is not a fan of the Cowboys. Maybe it is the influence of this football jersey that has suddenly spurred on my desire to throw and practice for my future football career. The other picture is my bucket/wagon that I am allowed to throw things into. If you haven't noticed, in BOTH pictures, I have perfected my "Who, innocent little me?" look and it seems to melt mommy's heart.

Halloween's a coming.....

This past weekend, I went to a Harvest Festival with my mom and dad. We met my friend Samantha and her parents and a good time was had by all. There was a little pumpkin patch for me to wander and ramble around in, a baby animal petting zoo, a jumpy house and best of all, a churro stand!

I had such fun in the pumpkins and loved rolling around and trying to pick them up. At one point, I just sat down in the middle of them all and laid back to take a little Peanut rest. I must say it is very tiring trying to pick up pumpkins that weigh almost as much as you do.

The baby animals were a big hit and I petted each and every one of them very gently and said "hi there", just as mom and dad instructed. Mom said she had never seen such exotic looking chickens and asked the lady in charge who told her that they were called "silkies". These chicks had long fur and feathers on their feet and it looked to mom that they were some sort of a mix between chickens and poodles! There was also a tiny baby pig and lots of bunnies and ducks to pet and play with. Needless to say, I was basically hosed down after we left the petting cage with soap and purell, but it was all worth it. Unfortunately, everyone forgot to look at the bottom of my shoes until we got home. Yuck!

The jumpy house was so much fun. I had never been in one before and I jumped and bounced around to my heart's content with all the other little kids.

To cap it all off, mom and dad bought a churro for me that was almost as big as me. Of course, mom and dad ate some of it too, but probably only because they were extremely fearful of what all that sugar might do to me. It was very sweet and I must say very tasty.

All in all, a fun day! Happy early Halloween.

See ya later, Ally-gator!

We have been to the zoo several times over the last few months and on our last two visits we have had the excitement of seeing the alligator up close at the children's zoo area. He just sits there in the underwater tank and stays very still, but each time he has seen me, he has decided to swim over to the glass and blink his creepy eye at me. And I mean he comes RIGHT up next to the glass, so I can see his teeth, claws, skin and his long tail. It is all very exciting, but I wonder if it is just because he sees me as a bite-sized, cute, little SNACK!! It's a good thing that the glass is thick and mom and dad are right there to make everything okay and keep me from becoming an alligator appetizer. Because I have been so excited over the alligator, mom bought me a stuffed alligator that I sleep with most nights.

I have been telling everyone about my alligator sightings and when mommy says "What did we do this weekend, Matthew?" I always respond with "Go to zoo, see ally-gator!" It doesn't really matter, if that is what we did that particular weekend. It is very cute, if I must say so myself.

As for the other animals at the zoo, I also love the monkeys (of course) that swing in the trees, the giraffes and the elephants. We also saw a zebra and some gigantic turtles which always get this Peanut very excited.

Attached are a few pictures of me checking out the sites at the zoo. No, the monkey (Leaping Lemur) isn't real, but mom and dad thought this was a cool picture because it kind of does look like I am holding a real monkey. Unfortunately, it has been hard to get a picture of the alligator sinces it lives in the glass tank, but maybe next time.

See you later, Ally-gator. Afterwhile, crocodile.