Thursday, June 26, 2003

Napa Photos

The long awaited (by my Nainnie) photos from her visit to see me in May are ready now. These photos were taken in a park and at home in Walnut Creek and at various wineries along the Silverado Trail in the Napa Valley. We visited the Trefethen, Stag's Leap, Silverado, Mumm Cuvee Napa, Duckhorn, and St. Supery wineries during our day trip to Napa. Click here for photos.

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

A trip to Little Farm, Berkeley


Today I journeyed to Tilden Park in Berkeley for a group playdate and picnic at Little Farm. Little Farm boasts cows, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, and bunnies. My friends, Sophie, Emme, Shaelynn, Lauren, and I brought celery and lettuce to feed the animals. I said, "Moo!" at the cows and "Woof! Woof!" at the goats. I didn't like the geese very much because one nipped at me, but I did like watching the other animals chow down on the celery I'd brought from home. After we fed the animals, we fed ourselves in picnic fashion. We were pretty tired by then, but we also went for a brief visit to the carousel that's located in another part of the park. When Mommy said I was going to ride a horse, I ran toward the carousel and wanted to jump on immediately, but it was moving so I had to wait. I rode on a horse with Mommy standing beside me and then we rode a goat together. You can see some pictures from my day out here.

Good Morning

Many things in my life are ritualized (I like consistency) and getting up in the morning is no exception. This morning Daddy got me up in his usual way. I'm pretty much awake by the time I officially "get up" so I get to pay careful attention to what's going on. First, Daddy lifts the shade to reveal the sunlight pouring through the window. This is another exciting instance of a light, so I point and say "ight" at the window. Next, he sings the parts of the good morning song that he knows. He sings it like this:

Good morning, good morning! We danced the whole night through
Good morning, good morning to you
Good morning, good morning! It's great to stay up late
Good morning, good morning to you!
Bonjour, buenos dias, buongiorno, guten morgen
Good morning, good morning to you!

(Of course, like most of my Daddy's attempts at song lyrics, his version is both incomplete and wrong. Here are the correct lyrics.)

Now it's time to get out of my crib. I like the freedom of getting out, but I'm reluctant to part with all the nifty objects that are in there with me. Daddy hoists me over the side and I instantly reach to get my stuff. One blanket pulled through the bars of the crib. Then another. And another. Now I'll get the ears of Pat the Bunny and pull him through (he's kind of big on the bottom so it's not so easy.) Now I'm happy. I'm free to run around and I have all my stuff.

Good morning to me.

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Stomping and Splashing

Today was my day to get wet. Mommy and I started off the day meeting Sam and his mommy at a local shopping center. The Rite-Aid store there has a garden fountain on display out front. Since I was already in my swimwear in preparation for later water play, Mommy let me splash my hands in the fountain to my heart's content while we waited for our friends. It was lots of fun. Once Sam and his mommy arrived, we drove to Central Park in San Ramon, where they have a cool waterplay area. There are lots of shallow areas (about an inch or two of water) that are great for stomping your feet, splashing, or sitting down in. Eventually, the shallow areas lead to a larger, round wading pool that surrounds a large mushroom (taller than mommy) that spews water down like a shower. This place is fun for kids of all ages. While I was nervous at first, I became accustomed to the water with the help of a yellow plastic, truck-shaped sand mold, which a nice lady let me use. I put it in the water on its "wheels" and pushed it around in the water making truck noises. I figure that if a truck likes the place then it's good for me too!

After the park, we came home for my nap, and then Mommy and I went out to play in the yard. Remembering how much I enjoyed wading at the park, Mommy filled my little pool with an inch or two of water and threw my beach ball in. At first toe-touch to water, I complained bitterly, but soon changed my mind when I saw Mommy stomping her feet in the pool and pushing my ball around. The two of us had a fun time spinning my ball in the water and stomping around. Maybe my pool isn't so bad after all.

Photos Part 2

I've upgraded one of the photos from the miniature horse show and added a shot of my recent trip to Paris. You can find them here.
Food, glorious food

As most of you know, I like to mostly stick to tried and true foods in the beige food group (cheese, bread, crackers or various sorts, cereal, and bananas). Lately, however, I've decided to broaden my horizons. Mommy calls it my "food renaissance." I've been eating watermelon for about the past week or so and love it despite its non-beige color. In the last few days, I have tried a bunch of new things: pastas with tomato sauce (spaghetti & shells), ravioli, cucumber, dill pickles, and green beans. I've actually had small tastes of all these foods previously, but found them to be yucky. I think they must have reformulated the flavors of these foods into "new and improved" versions since last time since they tasted really good (except for the cucumber, which was still sort of yucky). I also tried grapefruit for the first time and rejected it and sampled diced pears, which I'm not sure about texture-wise.

Sunday, June 22, 2003

Photos

I've posted a new batch of photos from the miniature horse show. You can find them here. There are a couple of leftovers from earlier as well. My favorite is the one of the snail. He was crawling around our patio one evening. The boy in the big Stetson was one of the handlers at the show. He was competing in the only category I was eligible for---handlers under 7. Unfortunately, no one would lend me a horse to show. Enjoy!
Happy

Lately, I've been finding it easier and easier to acquire new words. Words are useful---currently, I have to express lots of feelings using only "words" like "Eeee" and "Eh Eh Eh." Anyway, I learned a new word that Mommy really semed to like. A few days ago, she was hugging me and kissing me and telling me what a great little guy I am and how much she loves me. Now, I really like it when she says this, and I've finally figured out something to say back. As she paused between saying nice things about me, I looked up at her and said just one word, "Happy."

Saturday, June 21, 2003

All the Pretty Horses

This morning we all went together as a family to a miniature horse show in a local park. Miniature horses are not too big---no more than 3 feet tall. Here's a site describing them in more detail. Despite their small size, they can do all sorts of things. I saw one pull a person in a little wheeled cart. Lucky for me, I'm small enough to ride one of these guys, but Mommy and Daddy didn't think that was a good idea at all. I loved being close to the horsies.

Friday, June 20, 2003

If I Had a Hammer

Mommy got me a new toy yesterday. It's a kind of ball maze, but with a twist---to get the balls to go down the maze I need to use a hammer to pound them through the holes. It's kind of like this toy. I've encountered these while visiting friends houses at several times in my life. When I was a little more than 1 year old, one of these toys was at the joint 1-year-old birthday party for one of the playgroups I am in. At that time, I had no idea how to use this toy. To me, the best thing about it was simply rollling the balls along the hardwood fllor and chasing them. A couple of months later, I encountered one of them on a playdate with Athena, who lives down the street with me. Her maze was such that, by pushing hard enough, I could get the balls to go down with my hands. I enjoyed doing this. Most recently, I was out on another playdate and was fascinated with the toy---including using the hammer to make the balls go down. As a result, Mommy got the toy for me to play with at home.

At first, I still couldn't get the link between the hammer and the balls going down the maze, but I learn fast. By yesterday evening I was a pro at it although I mostly prefer to use the side of the hammer rather than the tip of it for ball-pounding purposes. Eventually, I even started to use the "business end" of the hammer to pound the balls down. One of the best things about this toy is that, when the balls come down from the maze, they bump into my feet, which is extremely funny. I really like this toy.

Saturday, June 14, 2003

Stonehenge

Today my Daddy was in charge of taking care of me, so that Mommy could have a much needed day off. While it was always the case that when Daddy is in charge, we end up spending most of the day outside, now we end up doing a lot of walking. This is fine with me because I'm happy for the independence of walking as opposed to being pushed around in a stroller. In the morning, we went to a park across the street. Daddy carried me across the street, but after that I was on my own to follow him around the park. We walked for a fair distance until we came to an open, grassy ares with benches. There are lots of interesting things in this area. The benches are interesting, and I made a thorough investigation of these. The benches consist of slats of wood held together with nails. I was especially intrigued by the nails and asked over and over what they were. The other interesting feature of the benches are the gaps between the slats. I asked about these and Daddy told me they were "gaps." After a couple of tries, I found that I could say this word too. I pointed to the empty space between the slats and said "aps!". Daddy seemed quite delighted at this new word.

Near the benches are rocks used for drainage. These are some great rocks---all rounded and just the right size for picking up. I would pick up a rock and haul it over to the bench on which Daddy was sitting and then place it beside him. I did this for about four rocks. Then I came over to play with Daddy and the rocks. I discovered that rocks are kind of like blocks, you can stack them one on the other and make rock towers. We built several different types of towers together. First the usual ones and then one where Daddy placed two rounded rocks next to one another and then had me place a flat rock as a kind of "ceiling" on top of the two rounded ones. Daddy said we were building something called "Stonehenge" which is a place in Britain. I liked building and rebuilding Stonehenge.

Friday, June 13, 2003

Spinning

I like most everything that spins. When I was a little, little guy, my Daddy used to spin all manner of objects on the floor for me. I would really laugh at that. Now, I mostly just like it when he spins the football around on the floor. I've even learned to do a little of this myself. If I bat at the very end of the football, it spins nicely though not as consistently as when Daddy does it. Sometimes I like to ask him to spin the football for me over and over. I'll sae to him "Eee. Eee. Eee," growing more insistent with each iteration. Usually he gets the hint and spins the football.

You know what else is good for spinning? Me. I like to stand up and twirl round and round. After doing this for a while, I find it hard to walk straight. Mommy says I'm dizzy. Spinning is even better as a group activity. I especially love it when Mommy or Daddy spin along with me as I am spinning. One time we all spun together as a family. Sort of a group spin.

Thursday, June 12, 2003

Giggle Guy

One of my favorite toys is a stuffed creature called Giggle Guy. Giggle Guy is a yellow furry thing with a big smile (sort of like the 70s style smiley face). When you press one of his hands, he vibrates and giggles and says "That's funny". My Daddy thinks Giggle Guy is rather insane in that he laughs and says "That's funny" for no reason whatsoever. Of course, I've found that pressing my hand is reason enough for laughing on some occasions, so I think he's okay. Anyway, last night, I decided to show Giggle Guy to one of my other stuffed animals, a big pink pig named Miss Piggy (not the *real* Miss Piggy (TM) mind you). You've seen her in pictures. Somehow, she seems more "alive" than Giggle Guy, so I thought she might like to make Giggle Guy giggle. I grabbed Miss Piggy's arm and had her press the hand of Giggle Guy so that he giggled. This was fantastic. We all laughed together at Giggle Guy's antics.

Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Are you ready for some football?

I love to play football with my Daddy. Today, I was in the mood to play this afternoon, so I picked up my football and searched for him. He was nowhere to be found. Evenutally, I decided that he must be hiding in the garage, so I pounded on the door to get him to come out---but to no avail. Mommy said that he was at work and that I would have to wait until he came home to play. I looked forward to that time. When he did finally come home, I immediately presented him with the football and demanded to play. While Daddy and I have played football for many months, the game has changed somewhat as I've gotten bigger. In its latest incarnation, I play the role of runner or receiver and Daddy is the quarterback. He'll drop back to pass, evading some imaginary tacklers, and then find me open for a pass. I'm not very good at catching just yet, so I'm allowed to pick the ball off the ground and count that as a catch. I then run around the room for a touchdown. Sometimes Daddy does a little commentary as he goes back to pass. Apparently, the local team here is the Oakland Raiders, who were one of the best teams when Daddy was growing up. Daddy refers to himself as "Stabler" going back to pass to me, who he often refers to as "Casper". Daddy tells me that Stabler and Casper were both fine players for the Raiders in the 1970s. Mommy says that Daddy's commentary is a bit confusing as I'm not used to being referred to by the names of players of yesteryear for the Raiders. Still, football is a great sport.

By the way, the most thrilling part of the whole thing is when Daddy shouts, "It's a fumble!" and we both roll around on the ground in a scrum for the ball. That is absolutely the best!

Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Do not go gentle

I staged a little rebellion last night. I was extremely tired, so Mommy put me to bed a bit earlier than usual. That was fine with me, but about 3 hours later I awoke feeling refreshed but disoriented. To alert Mommy and Daddy to the situation, I let out my best horror-movie victim spine-chilling scream. That brought Mommy. Her plan was to comfort me in my bedroom until I fell back to sleep. Little did she know that I had other plans. After many attempts at comforting, I finally managed to escape her grasp and quickly headed into the light of the living room and started alternating unpacking my toys and reeling unsteadily around the room. I was happy and smiling as long as my parents did not try to move me back into my bedroom. At any reminder of bedtime I would become quite upset and treat my parents to some more horror movie screams. Soon after I came into the living room, my parents had the bright idea of turning out all the lights. They said that they were going to sleep now. My mom lay on the couch and I climbed up and snuggled with her for a bit. Soon after, I became cooperative about going back to my crib and slept until morning.

Monday, June 09, 2003

Hard day's night

I feel just awful today, although better than last night. Yesterday, I started to run a mild fever during the day but didn't really show much ill-effect from it. Mommy was quick to spot that I was feeling a little hot. She gave me grape flavored Tylenol. I absolutely adore the taste of this stuff. The official dosage is two droppersful, but I really wanted more. I held up the jar of Tylenol with my mouth open in hopes of getting some extra. I even gnawed on the top of the dropper a little bit in hopes of wringing more goodness out. But enough about the gustatory delights of Tylenol, on to the night.

The night started out okay, but quickly degenerated. I was up about 1 and feeling really bad. I was crying and crying. Mommy came to comfort me and found that I was very hot with a temp over 102. I found some solace in cuddles and another dose of Tylenol. This kept me happy until around 3am, when I got up crying again. I was really feeling bad and even Mommy's attempts to comfort me were not enough. Eventually, I had a bottle of warm milk and felt somewhat better. Up the next morning and still feeling not very happy.

Mommy took me to the doctor this morning where they told me something we both already knew---I was running a fever. Fortunately, they didn't see any signs of anything more serious, so they sent me home with a happy prescription, more Tylenol. I'm supposed to come back if things don't improve over the next three days. I really hope things do improve becuase last night was just awful for me.

Thursday, June 05, 2003

My dictionary

I thought I'd make a list of the words I know and their definitions:

Bah-oon: Balloon or objects shaped like balloons
Uh oh: Said when something falls to the ground or is on the ground
Boo: The sound objects make when they fall to the ground
Addy: My father
Ma Ma Ma: My mother
Mi Mi: Milk
Ight: Lamps or any light source such as sunshine streaming through a window
Tih Tih Tih: A clock or wristwatch.
Tah Tah Tah: A truck or train
Room: The sound a wheeled vehicle makes when in motion
Aht? An interrogative meaning what's that or how do you call that?
Hi: An all-purpose greeting
Ice: A glass or anything containing a cold liquid

More words as I think of them.

Wednesday, June 04, 2003

Round and round

My play is becoming increasingly active and rambunctious. Last night, Daddy and I played a game of tag. We alternately chased each other around and around the patio dining table. Sometimes I would hide behind one of the chairs. These chairs have a kind of translucent mesh fabric. Daddy would dreep up on the other side of the chair and we'd both put our faces up to the fabric and see each other through it. This was absolutely hilarious! I also spent a good deal of time diriving my car on the patio. I'm still not very good at making it go forwards, but I'm excellent at backwards. I like to make sound effects---vroom, vroom---when I drive.

Tuesday, June 03, 2003

Song and Dance

Many of my toys have songs that go with them. Pat the Bunny has a theme song, my frog has a theme song, my inchworm has a them song, my stuffed monkey doesn't have a theme song but makes a distinctive noise. Now it used to be that my Mommy and Daddy would sing the theme songs to my toys when they wished. I like the songs a lot and have picked up some versions of them that I sing myself. Still, they're better at it than I am. So I"ve come up with a plan. I bring the appropriate stuffed animal to them and sing a few bars of the appropriate somg from them to sing. Then I go "ah...ah...ah...ah" until they start the singing. Once the singing starts I like to flap my arms and dance around the room. Theme songs are great!

Monday, June 02, 2003

Bye-bye

Today my Nainnie flies back to the east. She's been great to have around. Much like me, she's endlessly interested in playing the lawnmower lady game. She also invented some other games. One of my favorites is where we put my blocks in the tracks for the patio doors and then drive the blocks back and forth along the tracks, just like a real train! I also enjoyed building towers with her (also with my blocks). She can build really tall towers, which are very fun to knock down with my nose. I'm going to miss her not being around. I think Mommy and Daddy will too (they could use the help!)