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

If I Could Talk To The Animals, Just Imagine It

My Mama told me I was procrastinating again since I hadn’t posted anything on the blog lately. I don’t think I’m procrastinating though, I just keep putting it off. There are a lot of other things lately that catch my eye so it’s tough to want to sit down at the computer and type it all out. But, then again, so much has been catching my eyes that I have a lot to talk about so I should sit down to write about it. I want to tell you about my last trip to the zoo with Dylan and his parents. I had been to the zoo once before with Daddy and Grandma in Indiana, but I was smaller then and couldn’t see so much. I also got boreder when I was littler. But this time I saw lots of animals, and I even got to pet some!

At first, I thought we were going to a rock concert. When Mommy and Daddy took me into the zoo we went straight to this concert by a group called the Sippy Cups. My parents were so excited, and that’s where we met Dylan and his parents, and they seemed super excited too because they were talking really loudly. But the music was so loud I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying. And then there were all these huge balls floating around and one came close to me. I was so scared even though Momma hit it away, I just didn’t want to be there anymore. Luckily we didn’t stay at the rock concert too long and instead went out into the quiet zoo.

First we went to the petting zoo where I made friends with goats and sheep. They had these really big horns but I wasn’t afraid of them. Especially when I could get down to their level and look them in their eyes. I’ve heard that’s what you have to do with wild animals… stay very still, and catch their eyes so they know who is boss. Well, I’m the boss.

After that we walked all over the rest of the zoo where we saw lots of monkeys, giraffes, penguins, big cats, and gorillas. I really wanted to pet those animals too and I don’t understand why they didn’t have them in the petting part with the goats and sheep. Especially the gorillas, since there was a baby gorilla who was not much bigger than me, and we could have played together. I read Goodnight Gorilla at least once a week and I know for a fact that gorillas can sleep in beds, so he could have even come home with me. The last part of the zoo trip ended like the beginning – with something loud and scary. Dylan’s dad and my dad took us on a “carousel”. It looked fun at first – there were lots of colors and animals that we could sit on. I was hungry and was even drinking from my bottle on one of the animals. Daddy was super excited. But then it started moving and holy moly it was fast. We were spinning in circles and Mama kept going by, then Dylan’s mom, then Mama, then D’s mom.. you get the picture…over and over again. I did not like it. I hoped if I cried really loud they would stop it so we could get off. Daddy took me off the animal and held me in his arms but it didn’t make the spinning stop. Finally, after what felt like forever, it stopped and I was able to get away from that thing.

I think my trip to the zoo would have been perfect without the rock concert at the beginning and the spinning ride at the end. It doesn’t take all that much to make me happy.

The Zoo Boyz

I'm The Boss!


Takin a Ride in The Wild Wild West


"Hey Goat! Stay Away From My New Shoes!"


Before The Nightmare Began

Peek A Boo

This morning I decided to play a trick on Mom. I wanted to hide from her when she went into the kitchen. I was in my bedroom, so I crawled to my bedroom door and shut it so that when she came back again she wouldn’t be able to see me and wouldn’t know where I was. But, as I was waiting for her to come back, I just got too excited about my plan. I was trying to be very quiet and not let any giggle escape, but as soon as I heard her start to look for me I couldn’t keep quiet! And then, when I heard her coming, I wasn’t really sure if she was coming to my room, or going into her room which is right next door, so I kept peeking out to check. I think she saw me, but I’m not too sure. What do you think?

Travelin Man

Hi Everyone!! I bet you thought I forgot about my blog didn't you? Don't worry, I didn't forget about it, but I have been busy with a lot of other things lately. Especially MOVING. Holy moly our house is big. When Mommy and Daddy would carry me from one room to the other I never thought about it, but then when I started crawling from my room to the front door it put it all into perspective for me – it is HUGE. It takes me a long time to crawl across the house, and I remember the first time I did it two weeks ago, I had to set little goals for myself in order to make it. I would roll a ball off of my hand so that it would go a little ways in front of me, and I'd tell myself "I'll just go to the ball, and then I'll stop if I want to". Then I'd get to the ball, and I would take a little break, and then roll it away again to move further on. A couple of times I wanted to give up, the ball just looked too far away, and I'd turn around to go back to my room. But then Mommy would roll it back a little closer to me so it didn't seem so far. Daddy was with me the whole time to cheer me on too. That first time was the hardest, but since I made it all the way to the front door, then I thought I may as well crawl back right? And I did! Ever since then I've been practicing crawling every day and I'm getting a lot faster (if I do say so myself). In fact now, I don't even need the little ball to set goals for myself. Like today, I crawled to Zimby who was sitting in a box, and I pulled her towards me so I could pat her head.

Although I think crawling is super fun, it doesn't even compare to standing! It makes me feel so tall, and I see more things now. I'm also learning that if I put my foot out that I move forward. I like this a lot better then crawling because I don't get so dirty on the floor. Plus I can take these really giant steps and go a lot faster. I'm glad Mommy and Daddy still like to hold on to me when I walk because I feel like I'm going to topple over. But sometimes I get into a rhythm and think, "I can do this!"

So, I hope you can see that I've been pretty busy lately with all of the crawling, standing and walking practice. I can't wait to tell you about all of the exciting adventures I'm going to have once Mommy and Daddy let me explore on my own. My first plan is to follow the cats into their little room...

This picture was taken early last week when I was still nervous about standing

Welcome to my Big Home!!

Here's a video of me on one of my first walking adventures. I'm not sure why Daddy makes me use the walker when I could just hold on to him.