Fear no more!

There is a park that we like to go to in a neighboring town that has a little bit of everything that an active little boy loves to do. It has a water area, a sand area and several sets of play structures. There are also swings, a see saw, a merry-go-round and little springy cows that you can bounce upon.

Just last night we took our friend Carter and his mom and new little sister along with us and we had a blast. Everything I did, I wanted Carter to experience with me - there were many times where I yelled "Carter, come back!" I wanted him to come right along with me to experience the slides and everything else the park had to offer and he was up for the adventure.

It turned out that having Carter around was just the trick to help this usually brave little Peanut take the major step of going down a closed-tube whirly slide that generally causes me to tell mom and dad "I'm scared". Carter climbed up and went down the slide without a second thought (well, he is a whole 3 months older than I am, give me some slack here). Anyway, once he went down, I went after him, (I must say with a gentle push from Dad which resulted in a scowl at Dad from my mom) and my whole world changed. I must have gone down that slide a million more times with Carter during the remainder of our visit. We had so much fun and I was so tired by the time we got home that evening that I could barely keep my eyes open.

I am "2" cool for school!

So today, September 5, was a big day in the life of this little Peanut! Not only was today my second birthday, but today was also my very first day of preschool. We started the day at 7:30 - mom had to wake me up by singing this silly birthday song- and then we had breakfast and watched a little Curious George as per usual. Mom then got me dressed in my shorts and blue polo shirt and she said we were going to school. What?

Now, she has said that to me a few times lately, and I wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about, but after today, I certainly know what "school" means. Upon our arrival at school, mom signed me in and I proceeded to whirl around the outside playground like a human tornado, while mom went inside and made sure everything I needed was on hand for the day. Mom talked to my teacher and hung around for a bit, then she said goodbye. I gave her a kiss and said "Ok, see you later!"

Mommy doesn't want me to know, but secretly I know that she shed some tears about leaving me when I wasn't looking, but we all survived.

The teacher said I did cry for a few minutes a couple of times, but that was because I didn't want to come inside after each of the two playtimes outside (imagine that). She said once I was engaged in something else, the tears stopped and I was a happy little boy. She also mentioned that I wanted to eat the snacks the entire time I was there, but that was okay because they had lots of them. Now, who would ever guess that I would want to eat the whole time?

All in all, a good day, and mom says we are having a treat and opening presents this evening to celebrate my second birthday. We will take a few pics and post those on our next posting.

See attached pic of me taken just a few weeks ago. I am changing so much and becoming so grown up. I am talking up a storm, so rest up, as I will wear you out with conversation next time I see you!

Spray and Play

So, yes, it has been a while since mom and I posted to the blog. Believe me, it would have been sooner, but mommy has had a very rough month. She is feeling better now and I believe it all had something to do with that "baby" she says she is carrying in her tummy. I love my soon to be baby brother and say hello to him and "listen" to his heartbeat with my stethoscope about once a day. I am looking forward to his arrival (at least I think I am)! I know mom is too.

So what have I been up to you say? Well, lots of things, but I thought today I would tell you about my trip to the "spray park". I am not really sure this is exactly what you call it, but it is simply a park with structures that spray and squirt water all over you. The best part is that you can run over to the playground and play on the slides too, and then come back again to cool off when you get too hot.

Last time we went, Daddy came with us and something very funny happened. You see, some of the sprayers are sensitive to motion, so they come on when you walk over them or touch this funny pole. Well, Dad was walking behind me and walked right over a sprayer that proceeded to SPRAY him and wet his shorts. He was quite surprised, to say the least, and mom found this to be quite amusing. Dad, on the other hand, didn't seem to completely agree with her reaction.

Anyway, see the attached pics of me playing with the water and also taking a break to play peek a boo with dad and slide down the slide. Don't you just love my swimsuit and my camaflouge bucket hat? Mom says it would just not be possible for me to be any cuter.

And don't forget to check back soon. I have a lot of exciting events coming up including my 2nd birthday and my first day of prep-preschool. I am sure to have lots to talk about.

Mmmmmm....Tastes Good!

Well, no one can say that I have not started to express myself verbally. I am now talking in two, three and sometimes four or more word sentences now. It seems like everyday I throw out a new word into the mix and Mom and Dad are amazed at my abilities and how much I understand about what is going on around me. Just the other day, I told my dad that something was "upside down", which if, you ask me, is a somewhat difficult concept and word to understand.

Each morning, it seems that it is a Peanut must to perform a verbal dump of the words that have built up in my little self overnight. If you greet me in the morning, be especially prepared for some intense conversation and catching up as we begin the day.

When out and about during the day, everytime I see a truck, I say something to the effect of "Man drive truck, big truck, keys, wheels, yellow truck" or when we are driving I like to say "Mom/Dad drive, keys, car". When passing by the cows, horses, sheep and donkeys that live on the road out from our house, I like to let everyone within earshot that cows, horses, etc. "eat grass" and I also like to point out if there are any baby moo moo's or neigh-neighs to be seen.

My most amusing remark, however, occurs when I eat some of my favorite foods, which these days is still JUST ABOUT ANYTHING that is edible; however, ice cream, vanilla wafers, blueberries, pears and grapes always seem to get this critic's "Mmmmm...tastes good" comment. I am so cute when I say this and it always seem to get a smile from mom and dad.

Check out the attached pics of me sitting at my very own Peanut sized table and chairs. Here I am eating with my spoon, which I might add, I have become very proficient at using. I am up to about a 90% hit rate on my mouth and I have also begun to use a fork with some precision.

Happy eating.

Put some pep in your step

I named this post based on the first picture above. We visited the Alameda County Fair this year and I was really over-tired by the time we headed back home, in fact, I was pretty tired and cranky and generally a little over-excited by all the activities. I found this "Pep your step" machine close to the exit and it was just what I needed to get my little Peanut self rejuvenated and happy for the next 15 minutes! The little boy on the right hand of the side of the picture was apparently under the impression that all of these machines belonged to him as he would jump onto whatever machine I was headed towards next....but, I beat him to this machine and I wasn't about to move.

Speaking of having pep in your step, I have not had ANY over the last week. Last Sunday I came down with a fever over 101.5 and it continued through Tuesday evening. We had to go the doctor and he checked me out, but other than fever and maybe a mildly red throat I had no other symptoms. Then on Tuesday evening after the fever broke, mom noticed a little red rash on my face. The rash proceeded to cover almost my entire body and as of yesterday I looked like somebody had poked me all over and mistaken me for a human pin-cushion! We think I had Roseola which is a pretty harmless viral illness, but nevertheless, Mom has been keeping me in as not to scare other Moms and their children away (ha, ha). The rash is beginning to go away now, so maybe I will be well again by the weekend and can resume my normal activity and social schedules.

Oh, by the way, my mom says to tell you that we had a "George" fest this week. As I was sick and all I wanted to do was rest on the couch, we literally watched about three days of Curious George. We watched the Curious George movie in its entirety about three times and we watched and re-watched Curious George cartoons over and over thanks to the wonders of TIVO. Whew! I just can't get enough of him and I think mom is addicted now too.

See above for a few other pictures of me at the fair. See me and dad checking out a fire engine up close as well as me and my little friend Samantha inspecting a fire hydrant.

Frick and Frack

Mom and I recently had the luck of meeting a new little friend and his mom that live in our neighborhood. His name is Carter and he is only about 3-4 months older than I am . We have lots of fun together every chance we get. Notice that this blog entry is entitled "Frick and Frack". My mom recently said that Carter and I we were just a little version of Frick and Frack and I had absolutely no idea where she got that phrase from...where does she come up with these things anyway? FYI - for all you trivia buffs know out there, please know that Frick and Frack were a set of Swiss ice skaters that performed as a comedy duo and were known for their amazing tricks and they skated in the Ice Follies for many years. Now "Frick and Frack" is a commonly used English slang term used to refer to two people so closely associated as to be indistinguishable (this is per Wikipedia and, yes, mom helped me with looking this up). Well, I am not sure we are indistinguishable on the outside (other than we are both Peanut-sized), but personality wise we absolutely seem to share a lot of the same traits. We definitely would fit the definition as a COMEDY DUO as my mom and Carter's mom seem to get a lot of amusement from watching us play together. We have lots of fun and as the play date or evening passes, we have been consistently known to start jumping, running, chasing and hiding on and in anything and everything together. Last time we were together, Carter tried to wrestle with me and got me into sort of a mini-headlock. I had never wrestled like this before, but I sure did find it fun and now I have all sorts of moves to bust out next time we play or to save up for my little brother.

See the attached pictures of me and my new little friend. The first is a picture of us sitting and watching Thomas the Train together. I am not sure what was happening in this particular scene, but it must have been very interesting or scary to keep us both in our seat. The second picture is of us playing in some pillows while our parents were "trying" to have some dinner.

I'm feeling hot, hot, hot!

Mom says the temperature where we live has been out of control! I don't really care how hot or cold it is outside....I am game for whatever Mom says we are doing for the day, but I must admit that it was really even too hot for me during the week of July 4. Mom says we hit 102 degrees and I now have new understanding of the word "Hot"! I thought this word just referred to hot food and hot stoves but now I understand it can also describe the weather too. Unfortunately, the hot weather also seems to make my face super red and can cause me to move a little slower (yes, I now you don't believe it, but it is possible).

The funny thing is that only a few days after we hit 102 degrees then we had a string of days in the low 70' and then even into the 60's too. What is up with that? Don't the weather gods know that this Peanut likes to have at least some consistency in his daytime activity plans?

In hopes of warmer weather, but NOT this warm, Mom and Dad purchased a wading pool for me a while back and boy is it fun to play in. We haven't really had much of a chance to use it until recently. One of my favorite things to do is play with the garden hose while the pool fills up and I have discovered that it causes my mom to run and scream when I aim the hose at her and try to shoot her with the water.

See the attached pictures of me playing in the pool and cooling off on a hot day. Mom says I looked very GQ in my matching swim shirt/swim trunks ensemble.