Night night

I'm learning all kinds of things in daycare. I can do "high-5's"now, I can say milk, hot,bubble, ball, up, bye, make the sounds for a horse, cat, elephant, monkey, dog and sheep. Whew- no wonder I'm exhausted! My new favorite thing to do is put everything down to "ni-ni" (Night night). I learned this in daycare too. I put a blanket over something, pat it and tell it "ni-ni". I can put anything to bed. My stuffed animals, Ailana at daycare, dad's leg, mom's hands, Daisy, my bath toys, the bath water. This keeps me occupied for many minutes during the day, which is good for mom. It is one of the few times she isn't chasing me around, keeping me out of the toilet, from falling in the tub, crawling out the doggie door, crawling up on furniture, playing in the garbage. The dirtier, the better I say!

We are heading up to Grandpa Vern's place in Show Low in the mountains for the weekend. We are very excited to get out of the heat for few days and hang out with grandpa. Check in with you later!

I love the weekends

We are a little lax this week in posting the excitement of our lives. Mom and dad had a long exhausting week. Mom's back is all better now, but it made for a very tiring week. We made up for it by having a fun, relaxing weekend though.

On Friday, dad had to work. Mom and I did our usual run and even though her back was fine, I got to listen to her whine the whole time about her painful hip. Not so much fun for me, but what can I do when my parents are old. We went to the mall to get me some new jam-jams as I've outgrown my other pairs and mom had to cut the feet out. I was looking a little to "street urchin" for mom's liking. We stopped at the Germ Zone while we were there and made it about 45 minutes before the place was over-run with kids. When I have to start fighting for a place on the slide, it is more than time to go. I was to tired to really have that much fun anyway. We came home and I slept for two and half hours. I needed all that rest because my friend Madeline and her mom came over to play for awhile. It was the first time anyone my age had invaded my turf. I wasn't so sure what to think at first but then I decided it was all kinds of fun to show her ALL my stuff, then show her ALL my toys in the toy box and then ALL the stuff in the kitchen. We had lots of fun. Friday night, we made a family trip to Costco. There weren't any snack-ladies there so I stayed in control (most of the time).

On Saturday, dad and I had our daddy-daughter day. He took me to the splash park, where I made some more new friends and got really, really wet. Thankfully, dad is more prepared than mom and brought me dry clothes and diapers. After that, we sat and watched the soccer game and ate my snack. I love watching soccer much to dad's dismay. He doesn't want to have to coach my soccer team- softball, maybe but not soccer. Saturday night, dad and mom went out to dinner with the neighbors and Grandma Sue came over to babysit. I was so exhausted that I was in bed by 7. I'm workingon some more teeth, so I was tons of fun for Grandma. Not a lot of quality time for Grandma but we love to see her anyway.

Sunday was a fabulous day. We did absolutely nothing. We slept in, mom made cookies, we swam, we played, mom and dad caught up on cheesy movie watching during my nap, we caught up on our rest. Aaahhh, we love days like this. Hope everyone has a good week.

&*%#&** weekend

I had a great weekend and learned a few new words to boot. Mom and dad on the other hand didn't have such a great weekend. It started innocently enough on Thursday afternoon when mom picked me up from daycare. No sooner did we leave daycare and pull out onto the main road when mom hears a "thump thump" coming from our right front tire. First new word learned. We pulled over and she got to inspect only to find a HUGE metal spring poking out of our tire. She gets back into the car and we proceed to drive very slowly toward the tire shop near our house when we hear a rather loud "pop". Second new word learned. We pulled into the nearest strip mall to call dad (because mom forgot her cell phone- of all days!) Mom got out again to look and heard the very pleasant "pfffff" of air streaming out of our tire. No new words learned, just exasperated sighs. We called dad from the Wild Bird Store and when it became apparent that I was in a search and destroy frame of mind, we quickly left and wandered down to the next store front. Much to our delight, it turned out to be a JW Tumbles which is an indoor kids play gym. Our limited run of good luck continued because when we walked in, there sat Kate, one of moms PT friends from work, with her two kids. Then we found out it was free play/open gym, THEN we found out it was free for me because it was my first time there, THEN in walks Vicki, another therapist mom knows, with her 18 month old daughter. Whew- that made mom a little happier. We were happily playing along when our hero of the weekend, my dad, drives up. He changes mom's tire lickedy split (in his work clothes no less, only to discover that there was no air in the spare). She managed to drive the 300 yards to the tire store- which she probably could have done to begin with, but then we never would have seen Kate or Vicki. 45 minutes and $300 dollars later, mom rolls home, ready for our weekend to begin.
Saturday began well enough. Mom went for run while dad stayed home with me and made muffins. Upon opening the cabinet, a big, open bag of brown sugar fell out landing all over the stove and floor. So, while I was screaming for my breakfast, I learned another new word. Mom got home and dad was getting ready for his bike ride when he hears MORE new words coming out of mom, very loudly. He comes running to find mom toppled on the floor and me standing over her. Apparently, I'm getting a little heavy and mom was using bad, bad body mechanics and hurt herself pretty good. She spent most of the morning crawling around on her hands and knees because she couldn't stand up. Finally about 1, with a lot of help from dad, she was able to stand and an hour later, with help from walls and furniture, she was able to take a few steps. Dad was to the rescue once again and took care of both mom and me all day. They were so glad to see the end of the day.
Saturday dawned a little nicer with mom able to stand almost upright but not quite. I got to spend most of the day with dad again as mom had to teach a (get ready for this) healthy back class at work. I'm giggling just writing about that:) Anyway, not much to report for Saturday.
Sunday, dad got a much needed break and raced in the Mt. Lemmon time trial. 12 miles uphill and he finished 9th out of 77 riders. Not to bad dad- maybe you should take care of us every weekend! Mom was feeling well enough that we walked over to the park for a little dog park action and a little late morning swim. I got plenty of rest as well- daycare continues to wear me out. So, I learned alot this weekend but mom says I'm not allowed to use any of it until I'm out of the house. P.S. Anyone who is interested in following Heidi's family adventures in France, can check them out at texkids.blogspot.com.

Au Revoir to the Shenks!

Mom's good friend Heidi (the uber mom) and her family are moving to France- TODAY! Her husband Josh is an engineer at Hill-Rom and will be working at the French division for 3 years. All 4 of their kids are going to French schools and Heidi already has a basket on her bike for the daily shopping trips. They will be living on the Brittany coast near Vannes. Sounds like a whole lotta fun! Good luck Shenks, and enjoy!

New routines and new chores

I have my first official chore now. I have to collect the dogfood dishes and carry them to the laundry room (where we keep the dog food) and help fill them up. I carried one back and put it down but I got a little overzealous and threw the bowl down, spilling the food. It's OK though because Daisy will eat her food out of the mud if she has too. I think I need to work on my skills a bit before I earn my allowance.
My latest routine: I figured out pretty quick that I get to eat (my favorite pastime) my dinner when dad gets home. Now when I hear dad come in the door, I run to him, give him a kiss or a slap (as in a" high five" on his knee) and then run to my drawer where mom keeps my bib. I pull one out, wrap it around my neck, run to my chair and start rattling it around. If I don't get dinner lickety split, a tantrum insues. Mom and dad think it is all pretty cute except for the tantrum part but life can't all be fun and games!
I'm getting a few more teeth which explain the restless nights, snotty nose and massive drooling. They are the bigger teeth now so it still isn't much fun. Mom always feels bad that we young ones have to go through such misery and aren't able to tell anyone what is wrong. A few more years mom and then I'll be telling you everything you do wrong!

Mom and me

We had a nice, fairly fun weekend this time around. Dad was in San Diego doing his track racing( he did pretty well for never having ridden before- came out on top in the 1 kilometer and finished second in another race) so mom and I were on our own.
Mom worked on Friday so I got to go to daycare which I love. She came to pick me up just as I dumped a huge bucket of sand on my wet, sweaty head. How much fun is that! She took me to Target looking like that and then we stopped at Boston Market so she wouldn't have to cook. The only thing I really got excited about there was the creamed spinach. That might be on par with the luscious cupcake. The rest- eehh- I've had better.
On Saturday, we headed out for our usual run by the river (still with water!) and ran into mom's old friend John, his wife Annette and their teeny, tiny 2 month old baby girl. She was kind of interesting. Being the super nice people that they are, they invited mom and I over for dinner because I'm sure they had nothing else on their plates what with a new baby and all. So, we went on our merry way with mom getting of cooking yet again. In the afternoon, mom took me to my first play. I'm thinking I need a few more months before that is of any interest. Mom included the only picture she could get of me as I sat still for about 5 minutes of the show. We ended of leaving early because apparently, you're not suppposed to talk to the actors while they are performing. After that we headed to John and Annettes for a super supper. They were very cool because, much to mom's chagrin, they let me have run of the house and John did his best to get me all riled up. So much fun!
On Sunday, Grandma Sue came over to babysit so mom and her friend Jen could go for a bike ride. It ended up being more flat tire changing and tire pumping than bike riding but still fun. (Good thing Jen knows how to change a flat because mom was useless!) Grandma and I had a great time and I kept her busy with swinging, blowing bubbles, chalk drawing. In the afternoon, we went for a nice swim as it is 108 here. We were humming along nicely when BAM! The power went out. AGAIN! This is the 3rd time in less than a month that it has gone for no apparent reason. It was out until 8:30. Let me tell you, 108 degrees and no power don't make for good combo. I really didn't notice but mom was in a tizzy. She was trying to channel my indifference but it didn't work to well. That about wraps it up for the weekend. We are just waiting on dad's triumphant return and hoping the power stays on! Sleep tight.

Cupcakes!!!!

It has been another fairly quiet week around here. The big excitement of the week is that I got my very first taste of cake. One of the boys in my class had his birthday and his mom brought in cupcakes for us. I had no idea what I was missing! I picked that luscious cake up with two hands and jammed it all in my face. I had frosting up to my eyes and there are pictures to prove it. The only thing that would have it better is if it were MY birthday cupcakes, since I missed out it. Stupid stomach flu.
Dad is heading to San Diego this weekend to do some velo track racing. Mom is going to bed early tonight to gear up for her solo weekend. Wish everyone luck!

Happy Birthday Auntie Dana! (Belated)

Last Friday was my Aunt Dana's birthday. She is my cousins Brooke and Faith's mom. We are a little late in posting our happy wishes as I was a bit distracted with Nana here. We hope your day was great and that you enjoyed your night out with Uncle Tim!

Were they gone?

Well, we all had a good time this weekend, just not in the same place at the same time. Nana D flew into town on Thursday night, so that is when my fun began. Mom and dad left Friday morning for a camping trip with a bunch of their friends. I guess it was a REALLY long drive to get there but so worth it once they finally arrived. It was very relaxing without me to chase all over the place. I think they were kind of bored, actually. That isn't what they say but that is my take on it.
Nana and I had a really fun time and we didn't even hardly leave the house. Our one adventure out was to the Children's museum but Nana didn't have any change for the parking meter, so off we went to the germ zone at the mall. Apparently, Nana was a little afraid for my life in there with all the big kids running amok but I did just fine. After that adventure, we just decided to make our own fun at home. We sang and danced and colored and learned about my "head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes", took a long walk with my stroller, cuddled and all the good stuff Nana's do. She was impressed (astonished) at how much I ate and true to my form, I woke up sick for her on Saturday with the snotsies. ( It seems to be pretty mild, so no worries) On Saturday afternoon, Grandma Sue stopped by also so I had not one but 2 grandmas doting on me. It doesn't get much better than that! Mom and dad came home Saturday afternoon and, really, I could have used another day without them. I love them and all but Nanas are much more fun.
We took Nana to the airport this afternoon and I was a little despondent but she promised to come back soon. Maybe mom and dad will head out for another weekend away- hint, hint!

Picasso! Da Vinci! Goedel!

So here is a picture of my very first art piece. Mom was so excited to bring it home and put it up. You can see the fabulous framing and hanging job she did. I have many other pieces coming down the pike. I'm planning on a show later when I have a bit more to my collection.
I'm gearing up for a fun weekend. Mom and dad are heading out for an adult camping weekend with some of their friends and Nana D is flying in to attempt to manage me this weekend. I hope Nana brings her energy pills. Last time she saw me, I had the stomach flu and was pretty quiet. Whoooo boy, is she in for a treat now!