Man Time

You may have noticed that there was no silly Valentine's Day post this year, and that's because I spent most of the weekend with my dad. And we are men. And we don't care about things like hearts and candy and bunnies - oh wait - scratch that last part.

Seriously though, I have spent a lot of time with my daddy over the past week and we have been having a blast together. It started late last week when Momma went away on a business trip - she was gone one whole night - and Daddy was in charge. I love it when Daddy is in charge - I get to run around the house naked and don't have to worry about running into any girls. He lets me drive the car and takes me to all the best parks. Just this past weekend when Momma was busy playing her loud horn somewhere, Daddy and I went to 6 parks, and that's not including the one we went to more then once. That one is the park behind the library and although it's one of the smallest, I think it's my favorite. First - it's the closest, and Second - we can tell Momma we are 'going to the library' and she thinks we are going to get books, but she hasn't figured out that we are really going to play.

Also, when Momma's not around, we can have eating contests (like who can eat the most salami), wrestle around (see how far daddy can throw me across the bed) and, one of our favorite activities 'torture Mini'. When Momma is here she gets all concerned.. you know.."oh, no, don't give him so much salami, he'll poop"; "oh, no, don't throw my baby - beee carrreeefulll"; "oh, no, leave poor Mini alone"... I know that she means well, but sometimes boys just need to be boys you know? Don't get me wrong, I love my Momma, but, I adore my Daddy. He's the best friend a kid could have. Oh, shoot... I really should have asked my Daddy to be my Valentine.

Takin' the Car out for a Spin

Rockin' out to Loud Music

Unlike last year when I was surrounded by monkeys on Valentine's Day, this year I was like a monkey in a cage.

Just call me the Love Monkey

Driving Lessons

In January I turned 16 months so I started taking driving lessons. When I turned 17 months I was allowed to have someone else in the car while I drove. I've learned to watch where I am going, but you can't always be certain what other people will do so it is very important to honk the horn when you turn the corner to warn others you are coming. I made sure to tell my friend D-Monster this very important lesson before he got behind the wheel. Fortunately, he's a fast learner and we make a good team.

Winter Cleaning

Oh woe is me. I haven’t been able to write in my blog for a long time because I’ve been too busy cleaning the house. It started back at Christmas time when I had to help my parents straighten up and it just seems never ending since then. Part of the challenge is deciding where to put things. Take the shoes for example. When I see the shoes in the kitchen I want to straighten up by taking them all out of their little boxes and piling them on the floor, because then they are all in one place. But then I’m not so sure because Mama’s pretty pink slippers don’t look like they belong with the shoes on the floor so I put them back on the shelf. And then I see my little shoes among the big shoes and I think that they look out of place so I want to put them in my room. But then, on the way to my room, I see the laundry room, and that looks like a good place for shoes too. And that gets me thinking some more…so I go to my parents’ closet where most of Dad’s shoes are and decide that they need to be cleaned. This took me awhile, but one night, I took most of dad’s shoes (one by one because they are heavy) and I put them in the dryer. I would have put them in the washer but I can’t reach that unless Mama lets me sit on the dryer and help her throw things in. Anyway, I put all of Dad’s shoes in the dryer so at least they could go for a spin and maybe get a little cleaner. That was a great idea wasn’t it?

Speaking of laundry – I love doing laundry. That’s my favorite thing of all. I love helping Mom throw the dirty clothes into the washer, and I’m very good at it if I do say so myself. It seems like we could do so much more laundry though, so when I see a pile of laundry on the couch I take the clothes and throw them in the laundry room to help out. I also like to help out with the Tupperware. I can tell Mama likes to reorganize the Tupperware a lot so I will take it all out of the cabinet for her so she can put it back in.

I also like rearranging my drawers. My parents and Nanny always put my clothes away, but they never ask me where I want them to be. For example, they put all the sheets in the bottom drawer that I can reach the easiest, but who cares about sheets? I want to be able to reach my clothes! So, sometimes I’ll pull everything out so that I can reach the clothes better. The socks are higher up and harder to reach too, but I don’t mind that because I know where they belong, so anytime I find socks around the house (in my room, on my feet, in the laundry room) I take them in my mouth over to the sock drawer. Do you see how helpful I am??

And finally, there is the constant clean-up of my formula cans. I have to tell you, I really love these. I don’t know what it is that attracts me so much but I just have to have them. I liked them so much they finally got their own special drawer that I can reach! So, now, I can take them out when I want to, stack them up, move them around from room to room, and when I’m all done I can put them back again. Honestly, I just don’t know what Mama and Daddy ever did without me.

Inspecting my hard work

Washing the Windows

Cleaning out my drawers....

New Year's Resolutions

A few days ago I heard people talking about “Resolutions” so I asked Daddy what that meant, and he said that they are promises of things you will do in the next year. I thought this was a really neat idea because there are many things that I want to do this year!

So, without further ‘adue’, here are my promises for Year 2010:

1. I will learn to take my shirt off by myself
2. I will walk all the way around my block without help (So far I can go half the way)
3. I will learn to run
4. I will figure out how to open doors
5. I will figure out why the star-shaped block will not fit into the square shaped hole
6. I will memorize the words to “Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round”
7. I will figure out how to avoid having my diaper changed
8. My parents say that we are going to Italy this year so I will learn how to say Leche in Italian
9. I will walk up and down stairs (without anyone’s help!)
10. I will learn to ride the cats

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

The Required Visit

Last Friday started out really great. First Nanny came over, and we played with D for awhile until Nanny, Sister Nanny, D, and D’s Mom took us on a field trip to downtown San Francisco. We first took a bus which I loved (because my favorite book is “The Wheels Go Round”) and then we took Bart (which I do not love). However, unlike the last time I took BART with Daddy and got super scared, this time I tried to be braver, and didn’t cry as loud or as long as the last time. Then, once we got downtown it was even better because Mama met us!! They took me downtown to see Mama!! I was so excited … until I realized the truth of our visit. We were not downtown to see Mama, we were down there to see Santa. At this point my excitement dropped like a big heavy rock. Why? Why do parents think we like this??

People say kids don’t know what’s going on – they say, “I don’t understand, why doesn’t he like Santa Claus? He just doesn’t understand yet…” But think about it parents! 364 days of the year we are told not to talk to strangers, let alone sit on their lap and take candy from them. And yet here you go taking us to probably the scariest looking stranger possible. I mean honestly – who has a white beard like that?? Crazy men on the street, that’s who!!

They also tried to convince me that it was a good thing…”Look Jingle… D is okay – see he’s not crying..” (um.. do you see him smiling?? I don’t think so!) “Look Jingle, Santa’s sleeve feels like your stuffed rabbit.” Is that supposed to make me feel better? They may as well have told me Santa ate my stuffed rabbit. After all – how did he get those rabbit fur sleeves anyway huh?

D didn’t seem as concerned as me – maybe he’s not old enough to see all the picture like I am. But when it was my turn to sit on Santa’s lap, I was not going to have it!! First I started with my traditional bucking and screaming and that seemed to work because they pulled me off and I thought we were done. But they didn’t walk away. I willed Mama ‘walk away, walk away, walk away Mama, WALK AWAY’! But no…they were fixing the camera… and then made me try again. This time Mama thought that if she were in the picture with me I’d be happier. But Mama is not supposed to sit on Santa’s lap – he’s not Daddy – what was she thinking?? So – I did the buck and scream again to make her stand up and this time for sure I thought were all done. “Walk Away, Walk Away!” But no, we had to stand there and watch this poor innocent baby who couldn’t even buck and scream be placed on Santa’s lap, I felt so sorry for her. “Look Jingle, the baby’s ok…” they said. Come on guys! The baby doesn’t know any better and she’s not ok because she can’t even get away from Santa!

But wow the adults were persistent. By the third time I thought it might be best just to go along with their insanity, otherwise we never would leave to go to the park. BUT, it had to be done on my rules:

1) Mama was NOT to sit ON Santa’s lap – she could sit next to him
2) I would sit on the far side of Mama, as far away from Santa as possible
3) I would not look at him, I would not touch him, and most importantly,
4) I would not smile.

Need I Say More?

Trip The Fan

Okay, first things first, I was officially bigger then the turkey this year! Last year I remember feeling a little scared that my whole family was really excited to get together and eat a bird that was bigger then I was. I mean, if they could do that – what would they do to little young me? But, this year that bird looked practically like a pigeon compared to me – ha! Take that you big turkey – gobble, gobble, gobble! However, I must say that I have a new found respect for Mr. Turkey. I kept hearing people say he did this trick called “Trip The Fan” which put everyone asleep when they ate his meat. I really wanted to see this happen, but guess what? Mr. Turkey put me asleep by just looking at him! The minute dinner was served he Trip The Fan’d me and I had to take a nap right away – I didn’t even get to eat any of him!

Before that though, I had a great Thanksgiving. I got all dressed up to go to Grandma’s house and wore my best bowtie. (Ha ha! Got you! I only have one bowtie!) When we got to Grandma’s house I was surprised to see a big box of blocks and a train to play with. I walked around the house on the train and said hello to all the people I hadn’t seen since summer time. And do you know what the best part about the party was? I’m starting to recognize people! I may be little, but I think that is something to be thankful for. Pretty soon I will know everyone and I won’t have to worry about walking into a room full of strangers staring at me. Because honestly, when that happens, I wish I could TripTheFan them like Mr. Turkey.

Showing Daddy how to drive the train (but he's not paying attention)

I'll tell you one thing that's not for the birds. Walking!!

Hanging with the ladies

This guy is my hero. No tripthefan for him.

Take that Turkey! Gobble, gobble, gobble!

After my nap I removed my tie, took off my shoes and tickled the ivories!