Purple Yogurt

I've long been a fan of yogurt, but, as I've grown older, my tastes have become more refined. First, I'm very brand loyal. I only eat Danimals yogurt. Other competitors, such as YoBaby, are distinctly inferior and I refuse to eat them. Now, I've refined my taste even among the Danimals. The six pack of Danimals consists of three purple yogurts and three orange yogurts. I've now decided that only the purple ones are edible and not the orange ones. Sometimes Addy tries to sneak an orange container past me. But I'm very alert. When he brings me an orange, I tell him forcefully "purple, purple"---of course, the way I pronounce it, it sounds more like "people, people" I've noticed that the orange yogurts are starting to pile up in the fridge. I wonder what will happen to them?

Sentences

While my conversation is always sparkling, I've decided that Mommy and Daddy are finally at a stage where they can handle some increased sophistication. I've now started making three word sentences instead of my usual two word sentences. However, so as not to change things too radically, I'm still confining myself to only imperative statements. Here are some examples:

"Ball in holes" (Refers to the fact that if there is a hole around, such as in one of my toys or on the putting green, it is necessary that balls be placed in it.)

"Aidan apple all done" (Aidan is all done eating pineapple)

"Two piggy off" (The two piggies need to get out of the crib so I can play with them)

I've also discovered the joys of the possessive case. I'm very big about ownership and property rights, so for many objects I identify them by owner: Mommy's, Addy's, Aidan's, and sometimes, for some items, Nainnie's.

I'm feeling more urbane and sophisticated every day.

News Flush

Over the weekend, I successfully used the toilet on several occasions. Of course, these were mingled with a fair number of "hanging out" toilet experiences, but Mommy and Daddy are quite impressed at my progress. Saying "pee pee" is easily the fastest and best way to get them to drop whatever they're doing and pay attention to me.

Brought to you by the letter D

I learned a new word this weekend---or perhaps a new acronym is more like it---now, whenever Mommy or Daddy put a disk in our home theater, I exclaim "DVD, DVD." I sort of got to know this word through repeated viewing of my Elmo DVD. Mommy and Daddy have both stressed the differences between VCR tapes, which I can put in myself. The word DVD is also useful since it has helped me to key in on the letter D. I can now spot D's quite readily and I proudly announce "D" whenever I see one.

A Mystery

Last night, we were reading a story about Winnie the Pooh. While the story seems to be about a bear, I kept pointing to the toilet every time Addy said the character's name. Why would they name a bear pooh? It makes no sense.

Royal Vista

Yesterday, the whole family went to Royal Vista golf course to hit some "ballf balls." As we arrived, I noticed a couple of abandoned ballf balls in an ashtray. I absolutely had to have them, so Mommy and washed them off and gave them to me. The first part of our time was spent with Mommy hitting the ball and Addy supervising me. I found lots of good stuff around the driving range. In addition to the two ballf balls, I found a couple of tees and a broken rubber tee thingy used for the mats of the driving range. One of my favorite activities was to put a wooden tee inside one of the rubber tee thingies, pull it back, and then make it fly. "Whee," I said as the tee sailed away. I also pulled out some of Mommy's clubs and hit some balls myself.

After we were done driving, we went over to the putting green. I was initially helping Mommy and Addy to putt. They would hit a ball toward the hole, and I would intercept it. Then I would pick it up and deposit it in the hole. This way, Mommy and Addy made every one of their putts. Surprisingly, they didn't want this help even though it meant sometimes (or most of the time) they would not make their putts. Instead, Addy took me over to look at the big lake surrounding the 9th green. We saw lots of waterfowl there: herons, ibises, pelicans, ducks, and, my favorite, swans. Later, the swans came to visit us. They were eating grass on the ground. I was so excited by the swans that I decided I wanted to be a swan too. I got down on the ground like a swan and pretended to eat grass just like they were doing.

After my big morning, I fell asleep soon after we got into the car to drive home.

Toilet

One of my new favorite pastimes is to hang out on the toilet. Or, more accurately, to get on and off the toilet repeatedly. To initiate this game, all I have to do is loudly announce "pee-pee". This then sends Mommy and I to the bathroom where she helps me up onto my special seat on the toilet. Then I hang out there. Mommy seems to expect me to do something other than just look around when I'm on the toilet, but I don't quite get what else I'm supposed to do. Then I try to get down from the toilet and---the best part---flush the toilet. I love flushing. Once that task is accomplished, it's time to get back up on the toilet and start all over again. Happily, Mommy really seems to enjoy hanging out with me as I sit on the toilet.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Last night, Addy put me to bed. This is, of course, not my preferred option. Whenever I hear that we're going to bed, I race over to Mommy and, if she's sitting down, I tug at her leg and say "off, off." Mommy wouldn't do the whole bedtime thing last night. Eventually, I went into the bedroom and Addy read me a story---one of my favorites---"Ten in the Bed". My initial reaction was to lie in the doorway as far from him as possible while still being in the room and cry. The story, however, is so compelling (three stuffed animals have been pushed off the bed...what could possibly happen next?) that I quieted and eventually listened for a while. But not for that long. During the "slow" parts, I would run out in the living room to check if Mommy was around. Addy eventually grew tired of this and put me in my crib, which was not what I wanted. I complained for a while.

Eventually, Addy came back in and I realized that story reading with him was not so bad after all. We read several stories together and Piggy sang the A-B-C song to wish me good night. At that point, I wasn't sure I wanted to go to sleep, so I turned the light of the room on. (I can reach the switch from my crib.) Addy turned it back off. So I turned it back on. That was enough for him. I got to go to sleep with the light on.

People's Republic

I've got a new favorite in the video department. Elmo is out. Ernie is out. Wiggles are out. Now what's cool and fashionable are People. "People" refers to the videos accompanying the many Little People (TM) items I received over Christmas and my birthday. These videos consist of short vignettes where the Little People do different things. Each vignette is preceded by the dulcet tones of Aaron Neville singing the Little People song. I love it. The cars--vroom--the people, the music. Best of all, the Little People like to watch themselves on TV.

While Mommy and Addy initially liked the Aaron Neville song and the cuteness of the People, I think they're kind of sick of it by now. Addy says that he feels like he's living in a "People's Republic" these days.

Sick

I hate being sick. Not only does it make me miserable, but I miss out on lots of exciting social opportunities. For instance, yesterday I was due to go to my first day of Kindergym this semester. I was especially looking forward to the tunnels there. I was also looking forward to using my newfound climbing skills. But, to no avail. I got sick about 20 minutes before we were due to leave, and I had to stay in all day. Today I was supposed to have a playdate, and that was cancelled too. Being sick is no fun.

A Night at the Opera

Last night, Mommy went with her friends to the San Francisco Opera where she saw La Boheme. Since I'm not yet an opera buff (and since Addy is a Philistine), she left the two of us to hang out at home. Initially, I was pretty distraught about Mommy leaving, but soon enough I rediscovered the joys of the Little People and was happy again. Addy has a much different management style than does Mommy. For instance, in eating, we mostly shared everything. Addy had cheese and crackers as a kind of starter and so did Aidan. By the way, the trick of balancing the cheese on the cracker is a tough one. I used to have a terrible time with this, but I'm getting better. The secret seems to be not to turn the cracker to a vertical position when inserting into one's mouth. Later in the evening, we had pizza. Now normally I sit in my high chair with my own tray. Tonight, however, Addy wanted a dinner companion, so he pushed my high chair up to the table, removed the little tray, and had me eat directly off the table. He offered me a host of different choices, but pizza was my preferred option. I especially like the cheese on the pizza. The crust, however, is nothing very interesting.

After that we had a bath and then Addy read me stories. I like my bedtime routine with him to be different than that with Mommy. For instance, Mommy has me sit on the big chair with her while she reads stories. Addy tried to do this as well, but I didn't like it since it reminded me that Mommy was not there. I preferred to stand next to him and check out the stories on my feet. Later, he tried to sing to me before bed. I didn't like this either. What was okay was when he put me in my crib and had Piggy sing the A-B-C song.

A Day on the Links

As you know, ballf is a big part of my day-to-day routine. One of the best parts is the ritual associated with getting all the equipment together for a day of golf. Yesterday morning, I had it in mind to play. I quickly found the box of golf balls and placed this in the middle of the living room. Next, I knew we needed golf clubs. Since Addy was sitting on the couch, I immediately ordered him "off, off" and scurried to the closet where the clubs are kept. We picked out the putter---our usual club---but this was clearly not enough clubs for the task. "Two, two", I said. Addy pulled out a 7 iron as well. Two is, of course, the right number of clubs (one for each hand). I dragged both clubs back to the living room. Next, we needed a hole to hit the balls into. I ran into the bedroom where the putting surface lives under the bed. I got it all by myself and carried it into the living room. I carefully set it down and then unrolled the 9' felt green so that we had a proper putting surface. But, you cannot play golf without tees as well. "Tees, tees!" I said. Daddy produced a couple of indoor tees to place the balls on. These tees are not as much fun as the pointy outdoor tees, but they do work better on carpeted surfaces.

Finally, it was time to get to work. I hit a couple of balls then handed the putter to Addy to hit with. I placed a ball in front of his putter and then went to the hole to watch the results. When he would hit the ball in the hole, I would say "Yes" and "bye bye" to the ball. Sometimes, however, Addy would miss. In that case, I would shake my head at him and say "nooooo". Addy says that this new form of feedback from me increases the pressure on him to putt successfully. Still, Addy did make most of the putts, so there weren't too many "nooos" from me.

I love ballf!