Shopping!

Last month my parents were really busy with their activities. I'm still not exactly sure what they were doing but they kept leaving me with Grandma or Grandpop and said they were doing "shows". But now they are done and I was really excited for last weekend because we were going to get to spend a lot of time together. I couldn't wait for all the fun things we were going to do, like going to the park, walking up and down the street, pushing boxes around the house, and playing cymbals. So, you can imagine my disappointment when my mom announced that we were going shopping. "Shopping?!" Momma didn't mention however where we were going shopping...

On Saturday we went to a place called 826 Valencia, and I have to tell you that this is my favoritest store ever. They sell drawers - all kinds of drawers. And the best part is they let me open and shut these drawers as much as I wanted AND there was great stuff inside. There were coins, and lemons, and paper, and snakes. You might think I'm kidding, but I am not. I'm not sure who would want to buy a drawer full of snakes, but what a great idea!

Then, on Sunday, we went shoe shopping for Momma. I must admit - I had extremely low expectations of this adventure. Momma was really excited, but daddy looked pretty ho-hum about the whole thing. And I will believe anything that my daddy tells me - he is my hero. But I put on a face and we all went downtown together. At first it was b-o-r-i-n-g, (that spells "boring") but then I got to walk around, and when I started looking at all the shoes I realized that they were all messed up and I decided to help straighten them. For example, Momma left her shoes on the ground when she was trying on other ones, and I helped her clean up by putting them on the table with the other shoes. Once I started helping out, I forgot how boring it was and actually had fun. In fact, I might even say that it was my second favoritest store - right after the drawer store.

"Bah! Look at all these drawers!!"


This drawer had treasure in it!

Snakes?!

"Seriously Mom? We are going to spend the day shoe shopping?"

That's better - now all the shoes are off the ground


I may have just gone to my two favorite stores,

but nothing, nothing, compares to playing the cymbals

I'm Famous!!

Yesterday I was searching online for a special outfit to wear to the Thanksgiving Party (no! I will not be a turkey!) and I found an ad on one of my favorite sites that is named after me!! I knew that I was starting to become popular around my neighborhood (people often stop my Mommy and Daddy when I'm with them and ask "Is that Jingle?") but I didn't know that The Google knew who I was! I got so excited I just had to tell someone. I would love to write to them and tell them that I like their clothes and I'm happy that they want to use my name. But I also want to tell them to fix their ad because it really should say "Jingle's Deals" not "Jingle Deals". That makes no sense. I copied the ad below so you could see it - isn't it cool?

My Halloween

Early in the day we went to a pumpkin patch to try out my costume but I felt like there was something missing...and I just couldn't put my finger on it....but then it hit me!..

"You know what my costume needs? A Bow Tie!!!"

What do you think? Was I right, or was I right??

Mom made me an iceberg to push around because I'm the strongest penguin ever!

My parents told me my costume had tails, but I don't understand why.

Penguins don't have tails.

We went to D's house to go trick or treating with him and I was so shocked to see him. He was HUGE! I was actually a little nervous to be too close to him since he seemed to grow muscles over night. I was especially nervous to think what he might look like on Monday when I would see him again. I was afraid he would be as big as Daddy. (He wasn't)

I had a lot of fun on Halloween but by the time we went trick-or-treating I was sooo tired! Maybe next year we can go out earlier... (I must be getting old or something!)

It's a Pretty Good Day, I'm Looking Forward To Tomorrow....

When you were littler do you remember listening to music with your parents during long road trips? I do. I remember this one song that Mama and Daddy liked to listen to on our last road trip by Luce and it has the lyrics "It's a Pretty Good Day, I'm Looking Forward To Tomorrow" and it's a catchy little tune. I didn't really pay attention to it when we were in the car, but then yesterday I as having a really good day with Nanny and I thought of the song. Because even though I was having a great time with Nanny I knew that the next day (now, today) would be even better because it is Halloween and I would be with my parents. I haven't done my tricking and treating yet, and i'm saving my costume for a surprise for later, but I did want to share with you my adventures from yesterday.

Our neighborhood rec center had a Halloween Potluck so Nanny and I went together to eat and play with the other kids. I had a really fun time because I love going to the rec center - it has so many cool toys! Big cars and slides and blocks... I can't even remember everything I play with. But yesterday was even cooler because there was also FOOD! Toys and Food... do you see why I thought it was a pretty good day??

I brought brownies to the potluck (and I couldn't wait to eat them!)

There were chairs that were my size there so I didn't have to sit in a high-chair.

I felt like a big grown-up.

"pssst... don't look now but there's a kid wearing a tiger costume to my right"

"Did you see that?? I went down the slide by myself!!"

I'm Walking on Sunshine

Ok, I'll admit it... before today I didn't understand what the big deal was when it came to walking. I mean, why did it matter if I could walk on my own when Mommy and Daddy were there to hold my hands? Oh, but I'll be the first to admit it - I just didn't know what I was missing! But now, I've tasted freedom and it tastes like FREE-dom. I asked Grandma to take a video so I could show you my first steps. The next step is to figure out how to open the front door...

And just to make sure it wasn't an accident, I tried a few times:

My First Birthday

So, I told my parents, “I’m going to be 5 before I get to blog again!” After all, I am almost two already (my first birthday was almost 2 months ago). That got them moving so they finally fixed it so I could type again and share my favorite photos with you. Since I already mentioned my birthday I want to tell you about that special day. Actually, it was a special weekend because Mommy and Daddy took the Friday off before a long weekend and we spent a lot of good times together. On my actual birthday, Nanny and Sister Nanny stayed to help me celebrate with Dylan and his parents. I got my first pieces of cheese and they cheered me off to a nice long weekend.

First, on Friday, we went to the Academy of Sciences to say hi to the fishes and butterflies, and we were also lucky and saw the white alligator. (I’m not sure why we were lucky – it’s the only alligator I’ve ever seen – aren’t they all white?) Then on Saturday, I watched while Mommy and Daddy cleaned all day to get ready for my party on Sunday. It was a really great party if I do say so myself. All my California grandparents came, as well as Aunt Stacy, and Dylan and his parents. Daddy made me special carrot cake and I was so impressed to learn that vegetables could be turned into cake. I think my dad is a magician. But the best part about my birthday, and something that no one bothered to tell me beforehand, was all the presents I got! People gave me things just because! Not only the party people, but also all my Indiana family sent me gifts too. I can’t believe how nice everyone is around birthdays, and it really makes me look forward to the next one! Finally, on Monday, Mommy and Daddy took me to a really nice park in our neighborhood, and since I'm a grown-up 1 year-old, they let me go down a big slide. But, I had to ride with my parents because they were scared of the twists and turns. All in all, it was the best birthday I’ve ever had.

We found this big secret room at the Academy where no one else was and I got to practice walking all over the place with Daddy. You should see me now though, I can almost walk by myself by holding just one hand.

We also went to see a 3-D Bug Movie and I was super excited about the glasses. But no one told me they would turn out the lights and there would be loud noise. I asked to leave immediately.

My parents gave me band instruments for my birthday so I could start making music with them.

We held my birthday party in the backyard (that's me on the far right by the hanging monkey)

That vegetable cake was amazing!

"Um guys, is this really necessary?"

Happy Birthday To Me!!

"Stop Tickling Me! No! Don't Stop! No! Stop! Ha Ha Ha hahah..."

No Computer for Jingle

Hi,

This is Jingle's Mama. He asked that I write a quick note to apologize for his long absence from the blog. The computer that he uses, and the one with all the pictures, has been broken for awhile now so he's unable to do the typing he needs to do. We hope to get it fixed soon for him.
He has a lot of things he is very excited to share with you - his birthday, his recent vacation, and his walking (almost!). Here are a couple of photos I took with the iPhone last week during our vacation so you can see how big he is getting. To quote Jingle on this, "Mamamamamamam".
Hopefully he'll be back online soon.

Tired after a long day at the San Diego Zoo

Having fun at the zoo (not a real cat of course) ;)

Jingle and Daddy at a restaurant along the beach front