i tend to go through phases regarding my favorite activities. for a very long while i only and always wanted to play with my building blocks. first thing in the morning i would be in the living room and take the blocks out of their tub and start building. another phase was my puzzle phase. i would bring a puzzle to anyone in sight and start fitting the pieces together and could do it seemingly for days.
my big thing now is books. i have already gone through this phase and am now revisiting it. i have a ton of books and i think dad’s job has something to do with books (i wonder if he publishes elmo? i’ll have to remember to ask him). now the first thing i like to do when i get up – as well as what i enjoy throughout the day and as the last thing before bed – is grab a book and read it or have it read to me. my favorite is to have it read to me, but i know that momma has to balance both luke and i, so i read on my own as well. i am pretty hard on books, though and have had some disappear (read: thrown away) because i had ripped them or something. i have gotten over my eating books phase, however, which is good.
my favorite 2 books are saved for bedtime. usually dad reads them to me on the bed in my room. i drink my milk and have a “curious george” story read, and then we follow it up with “baby bear, baby bear, what do you see?” every time after we are done i am bummed and ask for more, but dad always limits it to those only. i do like all my books, but those two are my absolute favorites right now.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: video, body, play, places, friends, outside, mischief, sibling
a few various and asundry things have happened this week. momma caught me playing in the porch pretending to be on the phone (which i didn’t realize until after i “hung up” boy was that embarassing…and lucky for me the whole thing was captured on video so the world can see (check it out below).
i also have been playing around with clothes…mostly putting clothes on, but in some instances taking them off. i tried on luke’s pants – at least one leg of them (see picture to the left), as well as one of dad’s socks. dad had come home from work and took his socks off. i found them and put them on like i was wearing a pair of full arm mittens. it was a lot of fun. with luke’s pants, he had taken them off (rather, momma did) because it was warm and muggy, so i snatched them up and fit my right leg in them.
on thursday, we had a playdate with one of momma’s friends from high school she reconnected with. she has 2 boys the same age as luke and i, and we went over and played with them at their house and at a nearby park. unfortunately, i was so busy playing that i didn’t notice a stair and i fell. luckily something broke my fall, unluckily, that something was my face. i got up and had a bloody mouth with a cut underneath my upper lip. it was teeny tiny and after a little bit i forgot all about it. we went to the park from there and played so hard that i passed out on the couch we we came home.
i also have been trying to relive my baby-days. i remember all the fun i had playing on the playmat that luke now lays on. i used to lay under there and love it. i still love it now, in fact. however, luke seems to hog the mat, so a couple times when momma is not looking i pull luke off the mat and lay on it myself. momma doesn’t seem too pleased when she finds us, though.
over the weekend we had a blast with all the mussers. we set off some fireworks, we went to the zoo, we played at home and we played at a couple different parks. my bedtime was later than normal each night and i learned that i am not all that fond of ranch dressing. (i prefer to spit out my carrot bites without the ranch hanging on). i showed isai all my toys and he really liked the microphone, the jump and spin zebra, and the trucks. he even got me to play with my trucks when he wasn’t around. i saw how he played with them and how much fun he was having and wanted to get in on that action.
luke and jude had fun around one another also. while it is too soon to say that they had fun with each other, they were happy while laying next to each other (granted that star was lighting up and playing music). they were both pretty content to lay down on a blanket outside as well. they both pretty easy-going at this point. so while it is too bad that the mussers had to leave, we had so much fun with them while they visited. here are a couple videos of us all playing together. the first is jude and luke doing some “star-gazing”. the second is isai, matt and i building a block tower together.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: friends, isai, mischief, outside, places, zoo
monday we took isai and jude (along with matt and emily) to the zoo. it really is one of my favorite places. isai and i were so excited that we kept running ahead to see the next thing. we started with the wallabys and then to the lemurs and some birds, and then came to the little petting zoo area. isai was still playing on the big wooden train, so i hung out and talked turkey with a chicken (ok, that was bad…). we entered the petting zoo and there were only goats there this time.
i walked right up to them and touched them, and they didn’t mind at all. i also found this white hard stuff in a bucket that uncle matt thought probably was their salt lick – (who would want that as a snack? i don’t…and i know, because i tasted it. i stuck my hand on it and then onto my tongue, blech. (i know, i know, i’ll try that but not normal food, get over it).
most of the animals were sleeping – the bears, the lions, even the monkeys. evidently they were resting after partying all weekend. the ducks were not sleeping, or at least if they were, i surely woke them up by chasing them around. i ran after them and quacked at them, but they didn’t seem up to talking. here is a video of part of the visit to the zoo on monday:
while jack has his lair, i have a den. just as with a lair, a den is defined as “a habitation of wild animals”, but also as “a room that is comfortable and secluded”. my room is all put together and for the past 4 nights have been sleeping in a nice big crib, not a pack-and-play (thanks aunt tana and uncle matt!). and let me tell you how much i enjoy that crib. 2 of the 4 nights i have slept through the night. and not just how books classify sleeping through the nigh (midnight to 5 am), no, no. i have slept from 10pm to 5.30am 2 of the nights and the other nights only have gotten up one time in the night, but that was just because my tummy was rumbling and i needed to feed it.
i clearly am comfortable in my room and enjoy it. so let me take you on a tour. on the walls are clings of various african animals that make me smile when i see them. there are elephants, monkeys, giraffes and a lion. the elephant and monkey over my crib almost always make me break out into a smile when i see them. i also have a wooden monkey wall hang from my grandma holly that matches the lion she got for jack in his room. i have a soft, fuzzy green monkey blanket and the changing table has polka-dots on it and a stripe on the middle where i lay that is fuzzy like my blanket. i also have a great big dresser that fits all the clothes people have picked out for me. it is really a great room. here are some pictures:
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: family, holiday, house, isai, outside, sibling, video
yesterday was the 4th of july and luke and i marked the occasion by lighting off fireworks with jude and isai. dad and i picked out a big box of fireworks the other day and last night he and matt lit them and gave us all a show. we all sat in our chairs facing the driveway and watched the show. there were strobe light ones and ones that sent out streams of lights and small pops. there were ones that had the same streams of light but also made big, loud pops (i didn’t care for those ones so much).
at first i was very interested, but about halfway through there was a loud one and i wanted no part of that. i went off to play by my crab sandbox. i didn’t want to cause a ruckus and everyone was enjoying them. every now and again i would peek over, but pretty much after the loud one went off i was out. luke ate through most of it, with nothing but the finale disturbing him, and jude slept through the entire show. isai liked to watch as long as his momma held her hands over his ears.
here we are enjoying the fireworks show:
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: family, friends, house, isai, mischief, play, sibling
thursday night was filled with the sounds of toddlers laughing, playing, running, whining, and laughing again. it’s funny to see how toddlers act especially when they are around their own kind. i’m sure when i get to be a toddler next year that i will not be the weirdo that my brother jack is. matt and emily musser came into town yesterday and brought their tribe with them…at least their immediate tribe. jack and isai were shy at first around both one another and the adults, but as the night grew on, they opened up and let their true selves show.
not that that is a bad thing – they mimicked one another going down the slide (isai followed jack going headfirst), eating chicken nuggets (jack followed isai in eating them), and if one of them didn’t get their way and whined a tiny bit, the other followed suit (both). i on the other hand got along famously with little baby jude. i am 2 weeks his elder and showed him where the real fun is…underneath the light-up musical star. we both gazed at it for a while, and even once i grew tired of it, jude laid there quite content. we even had a mini boxing match. jude reached over his tiny fist and tapped me on the chin a few times, but eventually i gained the upper hand and returned the favor. all in good fun, of course.
isai and jack did get along well, and aside for isai being a better listener, you would never know that they were 6 months apart. they were running around in the backyard, they played on the porch, they climbed the stairs and played in jack’s room (sharing toys even!). jack did let his over-tiredness get the better of him towards the end of the evening and he pushed isai, but isai was the bigger toddler and let it go. this is shaping up to be a fun extended weekend.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: body, friends, places, plans, sibling, sleep
i do apologize for the back-to-back posts revolving around bodily discharges, but in all honesty, other than sleep and eat, i don’t do much else. besides, boogie is the nickname that momma has given me, largely because of the amount of production i get out of my nasal cavities. i guess with jack the nasal aspirator never had to be broken out, but with me, we’ve already worn out 3 of them…just kidding, but we have used it a good deal. not to make momma too queasy, but at least they aren’t all runny; they do have a bit of substance to them.
anyway, that is my momma’s nickname for me, and i don’t mind it. she calls me boogie, jack calls me uke, and dad calls me sir. you would think i could get some consistency across the board, but i cannot.
i am looking forward to this weekend where i will not be the youngest in the house. the mussers are coming and their little guy, jude, is a few weeks younger than i. we are planning on hitting the zoo, the grandparents pool, another friends place up on the lake, and some other things. it should be loads of fun…at least the bits i stay awake for.
jack and i were talking the other day and he noted that i don’t tend to do something that he did nearly every time to momma. in fact, i have only done it once thus far, and that was on dad’s watch. he was talking about how he would pee just as soon as his diaper was off and squirt all over the changing table, the wall, even momma and dad themselves. it was a regular occurrence and momma thought that it happened nearly every time she changed jack for the first several weeks. while the only time that i have done it was i think my second or third week. i must be a better baby (i’m just sayin’). speaking of being a good baby, here are some pictures momma took of me enjoying life and smiling:
it took them about a year to figure out, but finally momma and dad have solved the answer to my finickiness at meal-times…lack of condiments. monday at dinner (as i always do) i reached out for the ketchup bottle (and i don’t just limit it to ketchup, i’ve been trying to get musturd, bbq sauce, a1, all to no avail). for whatever reason, dad squirted some on my plate. finally! i dunked my waffle fry into the red stuff and licked it, and lickit it again, and again. they had to refill me with ketchup for the rest of my fries.
i also tried watermelon with ketchup, but that should just not be paired together – i guess that watermelon has its own juices so adding more doesn’t help. momma was excited because she also enjoys ketchup, and now maybe i’ll eat a chicken nugget (we’ll see). i had fun with the bottle and the ketchup when i was not eating it too. i opened and closed the cap, and tried to squeeze out some onto my plate, but the bottle was almost empty, so i couldn’t get it. you know what else does not go with ketchup? a chewy granola bar. i did try it, but it did not taste good.
now, there is no need to worry about me being all crazy with condiments (even though i did try both watermelon and a granola bar with it) like auntie jamie. she puts musturd on potato chips and grapes and tuna i think…blech. (of course, dad already warned me about tuna and salad you can spread for that matter, so i know to stay away from those). so one small step for momma and dad, and one great leap for a toddler.
sunday night we went over to my favorite park (the very same one we took a hike at on saturday). i had been playing in the backyard after my nap and came up to dad, pointed towards the front yard, and said park. so we packed up a bunch of stuff, stopped by to pick up dinner at some redhead named wendy’s house and proceeded to the park.
but as soon as we walked up to the playground equipment, momma and dad tried to get me to walk past them to a picnic table. they wanted me to eat with them before playing at the park. nuh-uh. i had to sit there and eat chicken nuggets (yuck!) while at the same time hearing the glorious sounds of other kids having fun on the swings, slide, and sand? not even oranges or french fries could entice me at this time. dad did manage to feed me applesauce, but after that they let me go play and boy did i.
i was all over that playground. i was talking (babbling) to other kids, climbing on things, and swinging on the swings. though for some reason i wasn’t in the mood to slide down the twisty slide. i did go face first down the tube slide a bunch of times, but i kept second-guessing myself on the twisty slide, and never went down it. luke started to get hungry (and so did i a little) so we left and finished dinner at the house. it was such a great time – i love going to the park.
saturday morning we went to my favorite park as a family. we were the only people there and i had the run of the park. i played around on the equipment for a while, and went down the slide, but thought better of it after the first time. the sun had already heated up the plastic and it really hurt my legs when i went down the slide.
but behind this park is a great trail and we decided to go for a hike around it. i didn’t stick to the path (as i like to blaze my own trails) but i did stay in line with where momma, dad and luke were walking. after a while of that i took off down the path doing my bouncy run. it was really hot and i started to get a little jealous of luke as he was being carried. my legs were tired, so i wanted to be carried as well. dad picked me up and we finished the hike. it was a lot of fun – i love being outside and exploring. i was exhausted after the morning, and fell asleep in the car ride home.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: friends, mischief, outside, places, play, video
yesterday was a blur…we went to the meijer gardens and met cherith with her three kids, jenny with harper, and 2 other moms with their combined 5 kids, all totaling 11 kids. we played and had fun there and then came home. after i woke up from my nap dad gave me my summer haircut and then after that we went over to the seaberg’s house for a small group cookout. we didn’t get home until 9pm and i was exhausted after the day.
but it did get much lighter yesterday as dad trimmed my hair (i just hope my strength doesn’t come from my hair like sampson). it does feel much better and my head isn’t nearly as hot, but momma thinks i look so much older. (i’m not). i think for having something buzzing around my head and ears i did pretty well, and you can see for yourself below.
i also caused a little bit of mischief amongst all the days commotion. after the haircut and before we left for the cookout, dad was getting my dinner ready, and (unwisely) left me unattended. he had evidently forgotten that i had a crayon from recently coloring a picture of dorothy and elmo. i took my crayon to the wall and made some lovely (if i do say so myself) graffiti. at first i did little marks here and there starting near the frig and working my way towards the stairs. but then at the base of the stairway was a huge blank canvas screaming out to me to be written on. i obligated the wall and drew a nice picture.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: class, discoveries, family, mischief, places, play, video
thursday was the last day of dinosaur class for me. dad took the day off work and went with luke, momma and i. there were new stations there including fossil creation, volcano craft, lava roll, dino bag toss, and spin art. at tuesday’s class momma said i acted like i was a.d.d. as i was roaming from station to station leaving a wake of destruction behind me. i was having fun uncapping markers, taking pieces from one station and leaving them at other stations, and causing basic havoc. thursday i wasn’t near that bad, but still was fairly over-stimulated and constantly on the move wanting to check out everything at the same time.
after about a half an hour of making fossils with plastic dino bones in play-doh, getting more paint on my clothes than my spin-art paper (final product with help of dad to the right), and tossing 2 beanbags into a t-rex’s mouth from 3 feet away, it was time to clean up and sing. the first song we sang was “if you’re happy and you know it”. i liked doing all the motions for this – clapping, turning around, stomping my feet and such. it was also fun to see the other kids do it.
what is that piercing sound!! lights are flashing and some type of alarm persists! kids are scrambling and it is a mad dash to escape the fiery inferno of the school building! ok, maybe a slight embellishment at the end. there was a fire alarm and it was loud and hurt my ears, but everyone made it outside in an orderly manner. while we were waiting, i played on the playground equipment and went down the slide a few times. eventually, we were allowed to go back in (false alarm) but it was near the end, so we just left for home and lunch. but it was pretty exciting to have a fire drill. if you like, there is a pretty random and rough video of my time during class here:
