Very Sleepy

When I'm tired I rub my eyes with my fists. Sometimes when I'm really tired I rub mom & dad's eyes.

It's extremely cute, or so I'm led to believe.

Some Words and also Hats

I learned how to do "nose-y nose-y," which my mom is very happy about. I also learned a few new words: "brr" for fan or anything that blows at me, and "moke" for the remote controller to the broken DVD player. I called the kitty "yuck" today, and I say "ball" almost constantly. When I go in the backyard now I sometimes insist on the "wing" (swing) and sometimes want to go in the "wa-ah" (water - in the blow-up pool.) And I almost always want to wear a hat now. This morning in church I took my grown-up friend Mike's hat from the pew in front of us and wore it while we sang our hymns. I like that. Here's a picture of me in my current favorite hat, pausing for a drink of water. Oh, and I can say "ot" (hat) too.

Frothy Chunky Foamy Green Stuff

Guess what I did at school today? I ate a big chunk of green sidewalk chalk! It was a very interesting experience. No one was too worried because it was non-toxic, but they didn't let me munch it either. I just sort of chewed it up and felt the chalky flavor as I looked, curiously, up at mom. Mom sorta flushed my mouth out with lots of water after fishing out the chunks. I wonder if I might have to try it again?

Happy Today

I LOVE these Baby Einstein books. One of my babysitters got me the Birds book, and when mom went to Tucson she found the Dogs book in a used book store. Now I look for them all the time, and take turns reading one & then the other, and I would love the other books in the "series." I think there's one about Cats (and we have cats, so that would be extra fun) and one about Babies (and I'm a baby, so I'd like it a lot, I'm sure!)

The Birds book has a page that says "this bird can swim" and I always know to say "duck!" when we get to that page. The Dogs book is very interactive, because I bark at almost every page, I say "walk walk" at the page where the dogs go for a walk, I pant with my tongue out, I snuggle or put my head down on the pages where the dog gets attention or wants to sleep. So fun!

Today was a fun and busy day. I went to summer camp again, as usual, and loved it. There were two balls there that were sorta flat, so I used them like pillows and put my head down. When I got home, I used my non-flat balls as pillows too, but I rolled off them most of the time. Then I got ahold of mom's hat and spun in circles. I'm not sure why those are related, but they are just more fun together. I'd put mom's hat on my head and then spin, falling often b/c I can't see with her hat on. I also put on mom's shoes & clomped around. I like to play dress-up already! I can tell we're going to have to get me a wardrobe of big things very soon.

Summertime means Watertime when you live in New Mexico

It's summertime in Silver City! And that means finding creative ways to get water in to my body. Here are a few photos for you, of me doing just that. I drink it, I squirt it in, and I absorb it by surrounding myself with it. It's HOT. Thank goodness for the altitude here, or we'd just burn up. Mom went to Tucson last weekend with one of my godfathers, Tyler, and she said that he said it was soo hot!

I'm almost halfway through my second week of summer camp at the school. For some reason, I say "no" everytime they have water play time, so I never get into my bathing suit to play. I really like my new friends, though. And all the balls they have to play with.
Right behind the outdoor play area for me & the other toddlers is a goat pen with two grown-up goats and three little baby goats. They say "maa-maa" all day long. As soon as mom picks me up I point over to them & say "maa-maa" too. I don't mean "mama," it's very clearly different. I mean I want to go see those goats! Today mama brought me over to see them, but she wasn't sure if we could touch them so we stayed back far enough to just look & talk to them. If it's okay, we might get to touch them tomorrow.

I've been getting very good at being gentle. When mom tells me to be gentle with the kitties at home, I pet them very softly. Or when I sometimes play too rough with mom & dad and they want me to stop being so feisty, she says "be gentle" and then I pet their arms & I'm very gentle.

One of my new favorite things to do is to walk/spin in circles. I mostly keep one foot planted & then walk around in a circle with the other one - like a compass drawing a circle. And I giggle a lot. I think I'm pretty funny.

And I like to run. I run all over. Mom tries to take me downtown to visit Tyler at his store, the Curious Kumquat, and we almost always have to go outside. I just run from room to room in the store, and sometimes I take things off shelves. Mom is getting very good at spotting which things are fragile and which things are safe, so she knows when to jump up super fast. I don't like it too much when she stops me from getting to the shelves that look fun to me, but I like being outside too. Today I found a big piece of tree bark & started taking big bites out of it. I could tell mom & Tyler were trying not to react, but they thought it was funny & gross, so I kept doing it! That was a fun game. I got huge mouthfuls of crumbly bark before mom gave up & started fishing it out. So then I chewed on sticks. I love to play outside!

First Day!

I started "school" today! It's actually called Toddler Summer Camp, but it's at the school so it's similar. The first picture here is me last night, trying on my big boy "outdoor shoes," and saying "cheese!" The second picture is a close up of my fancy shoes. Mom's cousin Jacki lives in England, and when she came to visit me last year she brought me these great "Ketty Ketty" sneakers from Italy. They're very fun, and shiny, and it was a little hard for me to walk in them at first. Not only because I'm used to softer soled shoes so I can feel the ground better, but because they are so cool I just wanted to sit down & look at them & play with them instead of wear them! I got it figured out though, and I wore them to school today with pride. Thanks Jacki!

The next two pictures are me today with my brand new backpack. Mom bought it for me so I could take all my essentials to school with me - my water bottle, my diapers, extra sets of clothes just in case I'm really messy, my bathing suit & towel for when we have water play time outside, sunblock, indoor shoes, and a sunhat. Dad tried to put my backpack on for a picture before school this morning, but I had woken up just a little earlier than I wanted to, so I was resistant. Mom took a few pictures after school instead, and other than the sidewalk chalk dust on the knees of my jeans and one shoe being untied, I don’t think there’s much difference. I had a good day, although mom doesn't really know what I did exactly. Mom & Dad both came to drop me off, but it was a little anti-climactic, and I didn't even really notice when they left. There was a girl in there and a grown-up lady, and a toy with a ball. What could be better? When mom came to get me about three hours later, I was happily playing with a truck outside, and I wasn't even all that excited to see her. I got to play with my friend Joseph, who turned two in February. He's in this first session with me, and I remembered him right away when he showed up with his mom & dad. I'll probably learn a lot from him over the next two weeks since he's so much older and smarter! Now it's time for an afternoon nap. More later!

Some Lists of Ten

10 things I like to eat:

• peanut butter, as you have already seen
• bananas. I take very big bites, and sometimes squish them back out of my mouth. Then the banana gets taken away.
  
• cheese. Dad tries to give me cheese on crackers, which is fun, but I don't eat them together. I like crackers too, but mostly I use them as shovels for other food. If my cheese falls off my cracker I will diligently pick it up & put it back on the cracker, and then I'll "pour" the cheese off the cracker into my mouth so I can use it as a shovel again.
  
• goat milk & goat yogurt from Martha & Aaron's goats (friends of my parents)
  
• sweet potatoes, especially when they're blended up with goat milk or goat yogurt
• whatever everyone else is eating at church in the fellowship hour
• Honey Nut O's from the Co-op
• pears
• cheese sticks from Papa John's. Mom is always very reluctant to let me have any, but I insist. In fact, she's embarrassed that I'm telling you about that one.
• whatever is out for a sample at the Co-op when I'm there helping mom shop

*Incidentally, with the exception of the cheese sticks from Papa John's and the church snacks, (depending on who brought them) all of my favorite treats are organic!*

10 things I like to read:

• Goodnight Moon, which I tend to call "ma ma money." When I want it read again I say "more money."
• I'll Love You Forever, which I refer to with a song & dance. In that book there's a little song that the mom sings to her son while she rocks him "back & forth, back & forth, back & forth" and so that's what MY mom does when she reads it to me. So when I want to read that book, I hold it up & sing a little "la la la" while I rock back & forth. Smart, huh?
  
• Bugs Are Vegetables Too, the book about Tadbit the frog. I call the book "yuck" because Tadbit eats bugs and then when the bunnies watch him eat they all say "yuck! That's not a treat!" So now all bunnies are "yuck," accented with the shake of my head.
• Oh, The Places You'll Go! but only with dad. It's the longest book that anyone can read to me & still keep my attention the whole time. Dad is very active when he reads it - he reads some parts really fast, and some really loud, and I think he gets really tired when it's over. Mom always chokes up & gets teary when she reads it. I don't know why.
  
• Kiss Good Night because I get so many kisses!
  
• Is Your Mama A Llama? I do kind of say "llama." It's kind of just "mama" but with my tongue out, so it sounds like "lala."
• the hymnals & the Bible from the pew in church. I'm not a very quiet reader, though, so I don't usually get to read those for long.
• The Belly Button Book, which dad reads in a crazy way. He always yells "bee-bo!" really super loudly, even though it's supposed to be quiet. My godfather Tyler read it to me once and whispered "bee-bo" like you're supposed to, and sang the belly button song in a very silly way. I liked that a lot.
  
• magazines! I really love mom's Mothering magazine b/c there are so many pictures of moms & babies & num-nums in there.
  
• my newest book, Caps For Sale, because the man and the monkeys get very crazy, swinging their arms, pointing their fingers, and yelling at each other. Tsz tsz tsz!
  

10 things I like to say:

• "wing! Wing! More wing!" when I want to swing.
• all sorts of animal noises. Animals are named by the sound of their noises or what they do. A cow is actually a "moo," a kitty is actually a "meow," a kangaroo is a "bah bah" (bounce bounce.) Oddly, a duck is actually a "duck," although if mom asks what the duck says I will say "kak kak." Bunnies are all "yuck," however. Blame Tadbit for that.
• "bye," although not usually when people are leaving.
  
• "no!" especially when I either have just done or am about to do something I shouldn't.
• "yuck" instead of "yes." Dad will ask me to say "yes" and he'll say it really slowly & emphasis the "s" at the end. I'll say, also very slowly, "ye-" but then I'll end with "uk" and laugh. It's great fun.
  
• "mama" & "dada," but I refuse to say "Simon." I just say mom & dad's names back to them instead.
• "book" whenever I hand over something I want read to me.
• "Ah la la" in the same vocal inflection as my parents when they say "I love you" to me. Gimme a break, it's all I can manage right now. They know I love them!
• "nigh-nigh" when I'm talking about my green silkie blanket that I must have before going night-night.
  
• "bowl" when I'm hungry - and I point at my tray where the bowl is to go.
  

10 things I like to do:

• blow the kitties' noses with my tissue.
• toast my toast, and anything else. Daddy taught me to click my sippy cup of water or juice or milk up to his beer and say "cheers!" But now I like to toast everything I eat or drink with whatever mom or dad are holding.
• sputter bubbles on the floor & then wipe it up with my tissue. I get a lot of mileage out of tissues.
• hand a ball to mom and insist that she throw it to dad. Then I walk over to dad, take the ball from him, and bring it back to mom. Then I insist that she throw it to dad again. We play this game over & over & over...
• identify at least 10 body & face parts.
• walk and run all over the place. We even went to a park a few days ago where the ground was really uneven and full of woodchips, and I was very stable.
• turn around in the pew at church and effectively distract whoever is sitting behind me by smiling at them, waving, and sometimes handing them my bulletin.
  
• go down slides. I'm always a little nervous at first, but then dad will push me down & mom will catch me and as soon as I realize again how fun it was, I say "more!"
  
• beckon with a finger just like mom & dad do to me when they say "come here."
  
• swing my arms alternately when I'm trying to get dad to juggle balls. I also do the same gesture when I'm dancing, or saying "yeah yeah yeah!"
  

10 things I do NOT like:

• meat in any form, really. Although one time I had a little bit of turkey loaf and that was okay.
• my toys to be stacked unless I am the one stacking them.
• mom or dad to leave the room or drive away from me, especially when I'm tired.
  
• my balloons to pop.
• raindrops on my head. I like them on my hands & feet though.
  
• when a kitty jumps down from furniture right next to me. I love the kitties, but that scares me a little.
  
• to be picked up & told I can't go in a certain room. I really don't like it when I'm busy & running around and mom or dad puts up the gate & closes off extra rooms. I don't like closed doors, or being stopped from running everywhere I want to go.
  
• having my teeth brushed
  
• to be fed anything I can feed myself
  
• the ceiling fans being turned off. I like to watch them.
  

*PS. Mom wanted me to tell you that she helped me make these lists, and even SHE had a hard time coming up with ten things I didn't like.*

Saying "Cheese!"

Here's me in a few of the new outfits from my Grandma Lizzy. (She also sent me the Little Caesar's balloon pictured.) Mom told me to say "cheese" - and I did!

Hail Storms, Brew Pubs and People Who Love Me

I only liked the little balls, and I tried to eat them but they were too cold. Dad called them ice, and mom took pictures. This week it's hot outside...but those little hail balls were cold!

I like to swing a lot. That's what I've been doing this week almost every day. I say "wing! Wing!" and point outside. My parents are learning that I know what I want sometimes! :)
And they're talking about some school they're going to send me to. I'm not sure what exactly it means, but it's a summer program for toddlers in 2-week increments. I might go to 2 weeks, maybe 4.

Tonight I got to play with my friends Sylvia & Lily at the Silver City Brewing Company. Mom & dad had beer & pizza & hotwings, and Sylvia & Lily's mom & dad had beer & other adult food. I got to have a few french fries and I really liked them - they were especially good when I dumped them on the ground first & then picked them up to eat them. It was fun to play with Lily & Sylvia. Lily is younger than me - about 9 months old, and Sylvia is bigger (and so smart!) - she's almost three. They both like me, I think, so we had a good time playing with dolls & balls & french fries, and then I poured water all over myself & got very dirty. I loved it!

One of my godfathers, Tyler, came and joined us after a while too. He said something about how I was innoculating myself. I don't know what that means, but I hope it's a good thing. He smiled when he said it, so it can't be too bad. He also let me play with his cell phone for a while. He said it was sturdy, and didn't seem too concerned when I dropped it (more than once) on the concrete. I know he loves me way more than his phone anyway. And he didn't seem to mind at all that I got him all dirty with my messy feet, because he said he had to wash his shorts anyway. But really I know he just means that he loves me more than clean shorts too. :) I love my "uncle" Tyler!

I got a package in the mail yesterday from my Grandma Lizzy & Grandpa Gerry with a balloon (my favorite!) and some clothes. I wasn't quite as excited about the clothes, but mom seemed to be. I think she's probably going to dress me in them over the next few days, and probably take pictures too. It's a good thing I don't mind having my picture taken. Bye for now!