Trick or Treat!!

Guess what I dressed up as for Halloween? A fireman - no, really, how did you guess that one???? I had a really cool outfit with a hat, badge, an axe (what was my mom thinking?), a fire extinguisher and a walkie talkie. It was just perfect for the evening because it rained here a little bit - it was sort of a fireman rain slicker. My mom - she's apretty smart gal, isn't she?

Joshie dressed up as a monkey (this outfit has been worth its purchase price since I have worn it for 2 previous Halloweens myself). He was so cute and miraculously left on his ears most of the night.

I loved saying trick or treat and after each house I ran to Mom and said "Okay, let's go to the next house!!" By the end of the evening I had an entire pumpkin full of candy. Yes, Mommy got to go this year - you might remember that she was laid up at home due to Joshie being born just one day earlier last year.

I was especially afraid of anything spooky this year and refused to go to a couple of houses on our street. I saw a couple of costumes that also terrifed me (one tall kid in a furry ape costume and another kid in the "Scream" outfit). Mom said that particular costume scared her as well!

Joshie and I got to wear our costumes twice this year as we wore them to a kids place and got a reduced admission to play. Also, earlier in the week, we went to the pumpkin patch and I got a ghost painted on my face. See the cute pics above of me and several of my little friends on big night!

Happy 1st Birthday to Baby J

Can you believe that Joshie is 1 year old? His birthday was yesterday and Mommy took him to the doctor for his checkup. Poor little guy, he didn't sleep well the night before (possibly teething???) and then he had to get three shots at the doctors office. His official stats were 31 inches height (85% percentile) and 20.1lbs weight(20% percentile). These were exactly my stats at the same age, but I weighed about 1.5 ounces less. Wow, that's amazing, isn't it? We are just little carbon copies of each other.

Because the little guy was so cranky on his birthday, we have decided to do a little birthday celebration over the weekend - we had thought about a party, but decided against it. We will probably just get a little ice cream cake and sing happy birthday and that will be all. We did meet my aunt, uncle and cousins out for dinner, but it was short and sweet as Little J was not very happy.

Joshie can get just about anywhere now and is very fast with his crawling. He is definitely a climber and can get up the stairs very quickly. He can also stand up and pull up just about anywhere and is now discovering how he can move his feet to "cruise" along the furniture. Mommy thinks it will be about 1 more month before he starts to walk, but with the way the little guy moves around, it could be sooner. He can say about three or four words (Mama, Dada, ball and "hey") and he has waving and pointing completely mastered. He understands a lot of what we say and will point and look at the light in a room when asked.

Happy 1st birthday little J - WE LOVE YOU!!!

Beach Boyz and Water Babies

Mom, Dad, Joshie and I went on a family vacation this past week to Carlsbad, CA. Carlsbad is just north of San Diego and there are lots of fun things to do there including SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park and LegoLand. We rented a beautiful house right across the street from the Tamarack Surf Beach and our days were filled with wonderful views of the beach and surfers everytime we looked out our windows. The house also had its own COOL pool with a hot tub and a waterfall and we swam everyday and had lots of fun.

This was the first real time that I had played on a beach. I had seen the ocean from a distance when I was about 2 years old, but this time I got to play in the sand and run and chase the waves. Daddy and I played "here it comes" with the waves several times and we both got very wet and sandy. I didn't particularly care for having sand in my pants and protested loudly, but after a bath I was okay again.

See several pictures of us all at the beach and pool, a view of the beach from our porch and a shot of mommy and Joshie on his second plane ride. Upon boarding the plane, the captain let me take a look in the cockpit too - that was a blast and I had lots of fun. I did pretty well on the plane with the exception of a minor meltdown due to my ears popping upon landing.

Warning - Polars bears have invaded California!

Just kidding - I just wanted to make sure I got your attention. Please note that there are four new postings here since my birthday. Make sure you scroll down and catch up with our activities since my big birthday celebration.

Joshie bear has a lot less HAIR!!

Joshie got his first haircut a few weeks ago. For a while, many of you may remember, that the little guy was sporting an outrageous baby mohawk. Well, finally the sides of his hair grew in and then he started to get lots of curls at the back of his head. Mom and dad finally took him to get a haircut when it just got completely out of control - Poor little guy, he was starting to look a little scraggly.

Let's just say Joshie is a little attached to mommy and upon being put into the car chair at the salon, he waited about two seconds before the tears welled up and the screaming commenced. My mom and the hair lady decided that it might be easier if mom held him, so we went to another chair and he sat in mom's lap. It was unpleasant for everyone, but Joshie looks like a little boy again instead of a little street urchin:).

See the before shot of the back of Joshie's head, the middle of haircut unhappy shot and the final happy result.

My, what big teeth you have!

I visited the dentist for the very first time a few weeks ago and it was lots of fun. As I was sitting in the waiting room, mom yelled out "Oh Matthew, there are wild animals behind the door!". At first I that she had finally gone over the edge, but then I noticed a squirrel's tail bobbing around behind the glass and then I saw a mouse tail. "What is that?". Upon venturing over to the door, I opened it up and met my dentist. You see, they weren't real animals at all, just little puppets.

My visit was lots of fun and I was such a good patient. After letting me play with the dentist chair controls, the water and the suction device, the dentist was able to check out all my teeth, clean them and floss them. For being such a great patient, I got several surprises including a new toothbrush, a little camera from the toy chest and a little stuffed kitty cat. I had a great time and my mom was very proud of me.

See a recent picture of me above where I proudly display all of my pearly whites!!

Happy belated birthday Daddy!

Daddy's birthday was on September 19 and he celebrated his 29th birthday for the 13th year in a row! I am not sure how that is really possible but I believe most of what mom and dad tell me so WHATEVER!

I kept asking Daddy if he was having a firetruck party too, but unfortunately, he didn't and he seemed happy just to share a little cake with his family and wear a silly birthday hat just for me and my brother. I loved the cake and Joshie and I loved helping daddy blow out the candles on his cake.

Mom and dad tell me that Joshie's birthday is coming up next - I hope there will be something exciting planned for his big day, but mom and dad say it will only be just a few friends over for some cake. I mean what else is there to do - the little guy still can't even walk on his own. At least I will get to have more cake!!!!

My three year checkup stats - uh, yes, over a month late!

Mom has been a bit delinquent in keeping up the blog lately. Our last entry was on my birthday and that was a month and a half ago. Give the old girl a break - we have been very busy and I have lots and lots of stuff to tell you about including my 3 year checkup at the doctor, my daddy's birthday, my first visit to the dentist, Joshie's first haircut and finally our recent vacation to the beach in San Diego. Check back and make sure to catch up on all the exciting things going on in me and my little brothers' life as mommy plans to post updates for you regarding all these topics. I have posted a few recent pictures of me and my favorite little guy so you can see how we are are both growing and still getting along...famously! (at least for now until Joshie can defend himself a little better):)

So, my stats at my three year old checkup were as follows: 39 inches height (75% percentile) and 32 lbs weight (55% percentile). I did great at my checkup and I thought it was all fun and games. When the dr. asked my mom if I was talking alot, she didn't really have to answer as I filled the dr in on my swimming lessons, schools, bears, fish, pirates and a whole assortment of other unrelated topics! Let's just say he isn't concerned a bit regarding my verbal skills. This was the first time that the dr. checked my reflexes which I found very amusing. He proceeded to hit me in the knees and elbows with a hammer and it made me jump and laugh. Mom promptly explained that only the dr. was allowed to do that and I shouldn't plan to do the same to my little brother upon my return home.

No shots this time, but I did get the flu mist. It is sort of like a reverse sneeze into my nose. The nurse opened a little vial and then shot the stuff up my nose. Cool!

Happy Birthday to me - I am three!!!

I wish I could have a birthday everyday! What an exciting few days I have had. First, on Friday the 5th (my actual birthday) mommy brought a fruit snack to school for me and all of my little friends. The teacher held a special birthday celebration for me and I got to walk around a candle three times and then practice blowing it out. All of my little friends sang Happy Birthday to me and then I got to give all of them the snack. Mommy brought toothpicks for us to eat with and that was an extra special treat. (We little kids get the biggest kick out of the littlest things).

The BIG day was Saturday - my firetruck party! It all started out very stressful as Joshie decided that in honor of my birthday, he would actually cut three of his four incoming teeth. We thought he had already cut them, but something was definitely bothering him and it was definitely teeth related. Our trip in the car to pick up my special birthday cake was filled with lots of screaming, crying and general unhappiness. But after a trip to the pharmacy for some baby tylenol and a bottle of formula and then some serious hugging and cuddling (mommy included) everyone recovered and we made it to the party on time.

My party was a blast! All my best "peeps" were there and we all went down the slide, played in the rescue vehicle blowups, jumped in the jumpy house and did some toddler rock climbing. At the end of the play time, there was an attempt to take a group photo. One of the parents at the party accurately described this as "trying to herd a group of cats!". The picture you see includes about 3/4 of my guests, but you get the idea. We look tired, don't we?

We retired to the party room to eat delicious pizza and lemonade and then topped it all off with my very special firetruck cake! My cake had a real firetruck and three fireman on top of it. I loved it all. I especially loved licking the icing off the feet of the fireman (again, the little things).

Thanks to all my little friends and their parents for making my third birthday such a wonderful day that I will talk about until my FOURTH birthday party (ha, ha).

Ride the BART-A, it will make you smarta!

In addition to my overall obsession with cars and trucks and airplanes, many of you know that I also love trains! As a special treat (I really know that they were just bored and didn't know what else to do) mom and dad took me for a very special train ride. At least I thought it was very special train ride - we rode on BART!!! Whew, what fun.

First of all, we parked the car in this huge parking lot in a virtual "sea" of cars. Mom says they are building a parking garage for those cars at the Dublin BART, so it was extra fun as there was construction all around as well (and you know how I feel about construction trucks in general, right?) After walking into the terminal, we had to purchase a special ticket at a machine and mom let me put in the ticket, help her add money and then push a button to get the ticket back. Next we got to use the ticket at this weird gate where you had to push a bar as you walked through. Next we walked up to the fabulous platform. From my many readings about Curious George at the train station, I knew not to stand too close to the edge - it was all very exciting to me. When the train arrived, the doors opened with a big hiss and we got in to choose our very own seats. Once the train started moving, I must have said over and over a million times, "Where is the train going?" I am sure this annoyed all the other passengers, but mom and dad thought it was very cute. The other highlight of the train trip was that I found some sticky gum in the window sill and asking about it occupied my 15 minute train trip back in the other direction.

What fun I had on the train! Even Baby J had fun and loved the train as much as I did. See the attached pictures of me and J having fun, a big smile from J and me and my favorite girl sitting in our train seat.

PS. Mom says to tell you that she knows that BART doesn't have the A after it, (see the title above), but the rapid transit system in Atlanta is called MARTA, so this was just one of her awkward attempts at humor:)

Preschool is cool!

So, I am such a big "boi" now, I have officially started preschool. As many of you know I was in a "Prep" preschool all of last year to prepare me for the difficult curriculum that I am about to encounter now that I am a big boy and attending preschool (Ha!) Things are a bit different this year, but mom says that I seemed to be okay with the changes and on my first day.... I looked a bit apprehensive to mommy but I just gave her a big kiss and a hug, trusted her judgement and said "Bye, Mommy, I'll see you after school!"

I have a bigger classroom this year and I also have several new teachers to get to know better. I hope to meet lots of new friends. The biggest change this year is that mommy can stay in the car and the teacher will come to get me from the car. (Mommy is happy and sad about this as she likes to take me in and give me a kiss through the gate, but also, this means she doesn't have to haul Baby J out of the car, etc. everytime). We haven't actually done this yet as I think we are both afraid there will be lots of tears, but I am sure it will be okay. I will let you know next week how it goes.

If you didn't remember, my third birthday is next Friday! I am going to be THREE years old! Can you belive that????? Stay tuned for updates on my big FIRETRUCK themed birthday party and my three year old checkup at the doctor. Talk at you later, Fans!

Baby J update - 9 months

Baby J is on the move now and just visited the doctor for his 9 month checkup earlier this month. He will be 10 months old at the end of this month - my how time flies when you are having fun!! His stats this time were height 29 1/2 inches (90th percentile) and weight 19.02 pounds (30% percentile) which are almost identical to mine at the same age. Good thing as the poor little guy has to wear all of my hand-me-downs, although I noticed that mom has purchased him a few new little outfits which he speedily outgrows as soon as he wears them once.

He is currently cutting FOUR upper teeth all at the same time. Mom says that teething has not been as difficult for him as it was for me - well, you have all heard the story of how I almost literally ate my crib, right?

The little guy is definitely on the move and into everything, but Mommy says I was even more mobile at this age. He takes off with his super speed "army crawl" and heads straight for whatever he is NOT supposed to get into. His favorites places to go are the messy toy cabinet, the kitchen, through the kitchen gate into the foyer and hall, and around the kitchen island. As he does this I like to say loudly and with enthusiasm "Mommy, where is Joshie going? He is into everything! Joshie is going to hurt himself, Mommy!" Mom says I am like a little built in alert system for baby Joshie - hey, I just love the little guy so much and I want him to be safe!

Additionally, mom says it has become impossible to change his diapers or clothe him as he immediately flips onto his back and starts to crawl away. This is especially humorous to me as generally he takes off with no clothes on and his little bare bottom is in the air and moving speedily away from mom. Mom doesn't think it to be so funny, but it really is.

Here are a few recent and adorable pics of the little guy. He is just "a tiny little baby" as I like to say. I am such a great big brother, mom says. I just love the little guy so much!!!

Rub a dub dub, two Fletcher boys in a tub

Sorry we haven't posted in a month or so. It was an interesting month to say the least at the Fletcher household, but alas, everyone is back in the swing of things and we are moving on!

I have lots to write about including a visit from my aunt and and uncle, and other adventures, including my swimming lessons, but I will start with the latest video of me and my cute little bro. Look for several more new posts over the next few days.

Now moving on......

Mom and dad love to give baths to me and my little brother. That is a good thing because we need frequent baths, especially yours truly. I must say we are a cute little pair and once Baby J can move around better, it is going to get really interesting. Baby J seems to know just how to splash the water to get us all wet and crazy. When you add in the fact that I LOVE to spray my squirt bottle in all directions and at all people in attendance, you have a recipe for absolute wet madness.

I get to sit at the front of the tub on my bottom, but Mommy puts Baby J on a big bear shaped sponge in the tub. I asked her why once and she said "because he slips around on his little bottom and I can't hold on to him - it is like trying to hold onto a baby greased piglet!" She says that once he gets a little heavier and sits better on his own, then the sponge will be a goner. Darn - after baby J takes his bath, I love to soak up as much water in the sponge and play with it. Maybe I can convince her to keep it around.

Clink on the link below and listen carefully - this is sure to bring a smile to your face. Note: I think was doing an excellent job of getting all the potatoes out of Baby J's ears BEFORE mommy tasked me to clean his toes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gprFjQ0LiLM

Cowboys, Coasters, Cars and Cold Drinks!

We made our annual visit to the Alameda County fair this year. I had an absolute blast and I could have stayed there forever, but alas, party poopers that they are, my parents said that we had to leave and we could come back again soon. I had a lot of first experiences this year at the fair, so keep reading along to find out all the exciting things that I did since I am such a big boy now. By the way, I find that getting older is most certainly a wonderful thing. Why are mom and dad always whining about getting older? Life gets better each moment for me as I am able to communicate and do more physical things each and every day.

This year I rode a pony!! I had no fear and just walked to the gate, let the cowboy man lift me onto my very own horse and sat up tall and proud with a huge grin on my face. My horse's name was Honey and she was a sweetie and took wonderful care of me. Even when I had to just sit there on her back for the other kids to get on their horses, I didn't mind, I was just very happy, proud and interested in all of it.

My second big experience was riding a real roller coaster. Again, I had no fear at all and got right into my seat. The coaster looked like a big psychadelic caterpillar, per mommy's words, and it actually went pretty fast and had one really big down ramp which Daddy said I loved. After getting off the coaster, Daddy said my first words were "Let's do that again!".

Next I got to drive a really neat car in a circle with some other kids. (Mom says to tell you that I didn't really drive it all by myself as it was a ride and it just went around in a circle) but I certainly felt in total control and made sure to turn the steering wheel and try to beep the horn.

After lunch and one episode of crying (because I did not want to leave) mom and dad let me have a Cold Cherry Icee drink. I believe mom used the word NASTY when she tasted it and then after Dad's sip he used the word DISGUSTING. However, I would describe my first experience with the Cherry Icee as DELICIOUS and YUM as you can see from my expression in the last picture above. Even Baby J seemed to enjoy it all and loved to watch me all day.

I can't wait until we visit the fair again next year.

Little J is sitting tall and having a ball...literally

Baby J is really sitting up tall all on his own now. Mom says that I have done an excellent job in teaching him how to do this. I am now tasked with teaching the little guy how to crawl and I must say that, excellent teacher than I am, he is well on his way. After he masters crawling, I get to teach him how to walk and that is when the excitement is really going to begin. Mom says that she is resting as much as she can these days in anticipation of that day. Wonder what she means by that????

Baby J is currently also trying to eat anything and everything. Balls, fish (plastic ones of course), blocks and anything else he can lay his little hands on. I am always very careful to help mom make sure he doesn't put anything in his mouth that he isn't supposed to. If Mom leaves the room for a second, upon her return, I always say, "Joshie didn't put anything in his mouth he wasn't supposed to". Unfortunately, for Baby J, I try to take most things out of his mouth, including his food and things he is allowed to put in his mouth. Well, do give me credit for effort!

Here are several cute pictures of my little baby "having a ball", showing off his "Crab Cake" T-shirt and another of the two of us just hanging out and having fun.

Little sports

Mom and Dad both think J and I are really going to be into sports as we get older. Particularly me, as I have already shown lots of interest in driving my cars really fast, swinging bats and hockey sticks, throwing things, tackling and in general just running around a lot! In fact, I think mom and dad are praying that I love sports as it will be a perfect outlet to burn off my abundance of ENERGY!!

Dad, of course, is hopeful that I will become interested in ice hockey. I love to grab his hockey stick in the garage and swing it wildly at any and everything. Hockey penalties are certainly in my future if this continues. Just recently, I have accepted that the point of the game is to hit the puck. However, I just usually hit anything else in the way (for instance, mom, dad, the car, etc.) Ha. Ha. I also love to put on dad's hockey gloves and helmet and I must admit I am pretty darn cute in this little get up. See the above picture. We have been to a few hockey games with dad and I just love to join him in the locker room to hang out with the guys and watch them all put on their gear. Dad was really amused when I saw his skates on his feet and I told him "daddy, I want to wear your hockey feet!"

Although I love sports, I must admit that I still get them all a little confused. For instance, one day I told mom that I was going to go to dad's hockey game and hit the ball with my bat and then skate down the field. I then added, of course, my usual GO BOBCATS!!!! Mom replied "Huh?" In fact, "Go Bobcats!" seems to be the perfect thing to say to daddy ANYTIME we are watching any type or game of sport. It certainly seems to make my daddy happy and annoy my mother:)

So, you may ask what sports little J likes at this point in his life? Well, generally he likes to put his feet in his mouth, be COOL as a cat in his shades and just generally watch me whirl around the room about him while he sits in his entertainment center. Mom and dad say that is enough to make anyone work up a good sweat.

Kissy, Kissy!

So I know that all of you who read this blog (I know I have 6 fans out there at least) have seen this picture before, but mom says she couldn't resist adding it to the blog to officially record it in Peanut history. I figure, as poorly organized as mom is these days, what the heck, this is probably going to serve as my official baby book anyway!

One of mine and mom's special rituals is to give kisses through the gate when I am dropped off at school. My teacher took this picture as she thought this was adorable. In fact, one day, several of the teachers saw this and collectively said "Ooooh! Ahhhh! How sweet is he? Look at that! He is so adorable." Mom brings me to school, signs me in on the log and gives me a big hug. I also give J a huge hug and kiss and then mom says "I will be back to get you after your story time!" I then run over to the gate and stick my puckered little lips through to wait for my little kiss. One day, mom got into a conversation with someone and I just stood there in this position (literally for about 45 seconds) until she started to feel guilty about me standing there and abruptly ended her talk.

Mom says she needs to get this sweetness recorded and documented somewhere as one day - hopefully not too soon - I am going to be embarrassed to give her a kiss goodbye in front of all my friends. I don't think that will happen as Daddy doesn't seem embarrassed to give mommy kisses in front of his friends, and I am a lot like him, so no worries mom!