Wanted: Guest Readers

Over the last week or so, I have had several visitors in my house. My grandpa Marvin came for a short overnight visit and then my dad's friend Bob stayed with us for two nights as he was in town for some meetings at work. Each of them "volunteered" to read my bedtime stories to me. I found this to be a real treat and enjoyed every minute of these "guest reader" nights. Mom and dad seemed to enjoy these nights as well as they just sat on the nearby couch and looked relaxed and amused.

Grandpa Marvin and Bob didn't really know exactly what they were getting into, as you see, there are additional surprise talents and traits that one should generally possess when reading books to this Peanut. I must say that Grandpa Marvin and Bob were excellent guest readers and I would love them to return to read more books to me anytime.

For all of you who may be planning a visit to the Fletcher household, here is a list of "guest reader" suggested talents and traits so that you may be properly prepared for your Peanut reading session in advance.

1. Reader must possess lots of patience to endure numerous instances of story stopping and starting to include identification of buttons and pockets on the reader's shirt, identification of reader's glasses (if applicable), identification of reader's watch or jewelry (if any) as well as identification of reader's various body parts such as hair, ears, nose, eyes, toes or feet.
2. Reader must be prepared to perform loud and realistic imitations of the following animals and vehicles: cow, horse, sheep, goat, frog, pig, duck, fire engine, train and car. Additionally, reader should be familiar with Mr. Brown and all the wonderful sounds that Mr. Brown can do.

3. Reader must know to gather all necessary accessories to accompany the reading session to include my coveted Choo-Choo blanket, knitted blanket (lovingly referred to as "hole"), a cup of milk as well as Neigh-Neigh and my cloud blanket. These last two items are not always required but will be requested on an as-needed basis.
4. Reader must enjoy cuddling, hugging and blowing of kisses.

So there you go! No applications are necessary as I love and accept everyone and I look forward to seeing you very soon. Oh, by the way, the last reader requirement is that you MUST have a picture taken with me! See the attached pictures of my two favorite guest readers, Grandpa Marvin and Bob.

Monkey Fever

I love Curious George! It has become a daily morning ritual to plop on the couch after breakfast and get my 30 minute daily dose of George cartoons. He is a very funny monkey and I get very tickled watching him do crazy things and get into trouble. I especially love one episode where George tries to build a fence to keep some cows from eating away a wildflower patch. Mom and dad have yet to figure out why I find this particular episode so amusing, but it makes me giggle and laugh everytime I see it. I get very excited, laugh, point at George and yell "GEORGE" throughout. I just love that little monkey!

In addition to my 30 minute cartoon fix, I also LOVE my Curious George books. I now have about 5 George books and I like mom and dad and anyone else to read these stories over and over. There is a book about a visit to the fire station, a visit to the ballpark and a visit to the train station, etc. Might I mention that these are not particularly short books either (20 pages or more, but including pictures) so a reading session can take close to 20-30 minutes if I request a reading of ALL my George books (which I often do). Nevertheless, I love reading so it is all good.

Mom and dad are thrilled that I have taken such an interest in books and reading, but I heard Mom mention the other day that it might be time for some additional and DIFFERENT George books to read. The last few times we have read these stories, mom seems to not even have to look at the book. She has such a good memory for an old gal....or perhaps these stories are indelibly printed in her brain matter from so many repeats. No matter, I love each story as if I am hearing it for the first time every time.

Here is a treat for you other George fans out there. This is a picture from last Halloween where I dressed up as a monkey myself and carried around my baby monkey as an accessory for extra cuteness. Perhaps this is where my love of monkeys and my love of George originated.

More cheese, please!

So, mom says it had to happen sooner or later. Yes, that is right; we finally went to Chuck E. Cheese. It was a very strangely chilly day last week, so we decided to meet one of dad's friends there with her children for some indoor activity. I sensed A LOT of apprehension and fear from my mom and dad as we approached the door of the building and the horror was evident in their faces as we entered the place. However, after we all three had our hands stamped with a number that glows under UV light (this was so that no one other than my mom or dad could leave the joint with me), it actually turned out to be lots of fun.

There was actually an area of little rides and toys that were just the right size for me and I had an absolute ball, if I must say so. There was a car and a truck that you could get on and ride and a Peanut sized telphone game and a version of "whack a mole" that I took great pleasure in playing with. Although I do enjoy a good viewing of Barney the purple dinosaur at times, the Barney themed ride sort of freaked me out so I stayed away from it.

Needless to say, we DID NOT eat the pizza, but we did order a drink and that made mom happy as they had caffeine free diet coke (you know it is a secret addiction of hers).

I have a feeling we will go to Chuck E. Cheese again one of these days on a poor weather day; however, I think that mom and dad are grateful for our excellent California weather so that maybe that day will not be so soon.

See the attached picture of me on my favorite ride at Chuck E. Cheese. There was a man and a dog in this car and I loved sitting with them and fastening my seat belt. What fun!

I'm a Travelin' Man, yes I am!

My family and I just returned from a trip to Atlanta. Dad had a sales meeting to attend there, so mom and I jumped on the opportunity to visit all of mom's family and friends. She gets very homesick, you now.

Anyway, I am not sure what changed between now and the last trip to Atlanta in November, but let's just say mom didn't give me a gold star for air travel this time. Don't mom and dad understand that I just have absolutely too much energy to be expected to sit in my car seat on a plane for 4-5 hours? Obviously not, as they seem surprised that I didn't just go to sleep on the plane for three hours like last time . All in all, I didn't think the plane trip was that bad, but I guess 4-5 hours of fussing and stomping all over one's parents in a crowded airplane could color anyone's assessment.

I loved my visit to Atlanta! I got to see my Grandpa and Grandma, my Aunt Julie and Uncle Bob, my mom's cousins Anne and George (I guess this means they are my cousins as well, but I am not sure). My cousins Christina and Eric came by for a visit as well as my newest little cousin, Sydney. I also got to see lots of mom's friends and play with their children as well. Fun was had by all.

By the way, I LOVED baby Sydney. I just love babies and I loved to pet her and talk about her little toes and point out to everyone that she is a "baby". She was a sweet little girl and I can't wait until she will be able to do more than just lay on the couch, drink milk and sleep. Mom and Dad were pleased at my reaction to her as most of you know that we will have our own new baby in about 5 1/2 months. I hope I like our new baby as much as I loved Sydney, but more on that later.

Attached are a few pics of me at a park in Alpharetta called Wacky World. Also attached is a picture of me with my Aunt Julie. She gave me this cool tractor book that had wheels on it. Sorry, but mom failed to get a pic of the grandparents or my new little cousin Sydney. We will have to fix that on the next visit.

I've got the Fever

My mom made me sick! Well, she didn't make me sick on purpose, but over the last two weeks the Fletcher household has been a very unwell place to be. Mom started out with laryngitis and a cold and she coughed and coughed for days. It seemed that my strong little immunity system would once again save the day, but it was too much. I came down with a very severe cold and cough that lasted for days as well. I was a miserable little boy and we had to go visit the doctor as I was coughing so much. The diagnosis was "just a bad cold" but once that all quieted down, unfortunately, it all settled in my lungs and I got bronchitis.

Let me tell you, I was not happy. I would just cry and lay my head down on my blanket on the floor. I didn't eat much at all (YES, ME) so you know I didn't feel well. When I coughed, it sounded awful and you could hear the fluttering in my little chest. Then to top it all off, I had my very FIRST FEVER. Yes, that's right, I waited until 19 months to get a fever. Boy, mom and dad sure have had it easy with me. Well, at least the terrible twos are coming soon, so I can give them a hard time that way:)

Anyway, after a second trip to the doctor on Friday, I received a prescription for Amoxicillin. No kidding, about 3 hours after that first dose, I was feeling better already and I finally ate a good meal for the first time in about a week. I ate a whole slice of bread, three chicken sausages, eight grapes, a strawberry and a few cookies and a glass of milk. We are definitely on the road to recovery here.

Mom didn't take pictures of me sick, of course, but attached are a few pre-Peanut-illness pictures of me in my new "outdoor" vehicle. It is called the Cozy Coupe, but I think it is a truck. I love it and will just sit in it and play for a long time. I love to get in and out and open and close the door.

Child of Nature

I just love running around our backyard. Now that warmer weather has arrived, all the flowers and trees are in bloom and there are lots of things to explore and learn about. My current favorite activity is to pick mom's flowers and steal lemons off her coveted lemon tree. No wonder she follows me like a hawk when we are out back, but I think it is all a fun game. She is quite funny when she is annoyed (ha, ha). There are purple, red and yellow flowers (of course, no matter what color something is I will always tell you that it is "YEWO")!

There are also lots of rocks in our back yard. We have the really big rocks that are great for sitting on and taking a little rest. Of course, there are also lots of little rocks, especially around the drains in the backyard, that are just the right size for collecting in my bucket. Mom says that the gardeners must really love the little piles of "rock surprises" that I leave about the backyard for discovery with the lawn mower.

We also have this beautiful Japanese maple next to the patio and it has really filled out. It was just a giant twig a few weeks ago. As you can see in the attached picture I decided to plop my little Peanut self right under it and create Japanese Maple hair for myself. Aren't I cute?

Easter Eggs and Bunny Hugs

I really love this holiday called Easter! What an exciting weekend I had with mom and dad. On Saturday we went to the Danville Eggstravaganza where I went on an Easter egg hunt. At first, I didn't get the whole concept and I picked up one egg and proceeded to examine it closely...I would have been happy just playing with that one egg forever; however, Mom suggested we look for other eggs and I became a crazy baby egg finding machine. We were limited to picking up 6 eggs, but that didn't stop me. Little did I know my mom was as busy throwing eggs out of my bag as I was putting them in to keep us to our limit. It was all quite comical to onlookers I am sure.

Before leaving the Eggstravaganza, I was able to sit with the Easter Bunny herself and mom has included that picture above for your amusement. Mom and Dad were a little concerned that I would be afraid of the Bunny, but I thought she was great and I just sat there and smiled with her Bunny arm around my shoulders.

To top off the Easter weekend, Mom and Dad invited our Aunt Lori and my cousins, Lindsey and Justin over for another egg hunt and dinner. See the last picture of me taking a rest in our yard and contemplating my egg hunting strategy for next year.

Happy Easter.