The Holidays, Part III: Buy-the-Christmas-Tree & Decorate-the-Christmas-Tree

Okay, I’ll say it, there’s no use beating around the tree, Christmas is Awesome. And I don’t mean awesome in the way of dinosaurs and Dora. I mean awesome in the way of Daddy and Grandma. You know – they make you feel special and happy, and the good feelings last longer then the time you play with your dinosaur or watch an episode of Dora. Yes, I’ll admit it, Christmas is Awesomer than Dora. And, it lasts forever!!

Right after Thanksgiving was over I started to get the feeling that something was up. My parents seemed really excited and they just wanted to get out and do things. I’m the opposite though. On the weekends, I like to get up early, watch Dora, eat my morning banana, have breakfast and then just lounge around the house. There are very few things that make me want to get out of my PJs on the weekend. In fact I can think of one thing – going to the park. So, when Mama started hinting at “let’s get a tree!” I can’t say I was all that up for it. It had been raining that weekend, and even if it wasn’t, she always makes me wear a jacket and a hat, and it just seems like so…much…effort. But, eventually they got me to go, and I’m glad they did! We picked out our perfect tree at a lot nearby, and then I helped Mama and Daddy hold it on top of the car when we drove home. At that point, I was confused by all the fuss, because then they just left it in the front yard for a while and I thought, “that’s it, we got a tree to stand next to our garbage cans??” But, then Daddy brought the tree inside and I realized that we had just bought a new plant for me to water (I love watering the plants).

But then a couple nights later, it got even better because we decorated it!! Supposedly we had a tree the last two years, but I don’t remember it. But Mama and Daddy kept showing me these ornaments that had my picture on them, so they must have been telling me the truth. I did a really good job decorating my little corner of the tree if I do say so myself. There was Santa, and a reindeer, and a teddy bear, and a picture of Mini… Daddy kept handing me this ornament of Bart Simpson that he was all excited about, but I didn’t care for that one much. It was just an old yellow man holding a mug.

My favorite tree though, was not the one we decorated, but it was the little ceramic one that Mama put in my room. Every night they would turn it on and all the pretty lights would shine. That was my own special tree. I wish I could have it there all year, but I guess then it wouldn’t be special anymore would it?

I have a whole lot more to tell you about Christmas, but I’m going to save it for another entry. Like I said earlier, Christmas lasted forever, and I’m afraid if I write about all of it now, you’ll just think it was like a day or two. But it really lasted for like a month.

Daddy and I picked out the perfect tree.

It's a good thing I came along because I had to hold the tree on top of the car. You see that rope coming into the window? I'm holding onto the other end.

See how strong I am?

Here I am about to hang up a teddy bear ornament.
I really had to concentrate, but it was worth the effort.

Finding the perfect place on the tree...

Admiring my work.
(Pretty good, if I do say so myself)

Christmas is like Grandma -- They both make you feel special and happy!

The Holidays, Part II: Thanksgiving

I’m making my own holiday traditions by posting about one holiday after another one happens. At this rate you might hear about my Christmas after Valentine’s Day! But, I’m really going to try to be better, because I feel like so much is happening and I’m not able to share everything with you it just happens so fast. Right now I’m in Indiana with my Indiana grandparents and we’ve been busy sledding and seeing big cats and opening presents… oh golly, there I go getting ahead of my holidays. I first need to tell you about Thanksgiving.

In the morning, Mama, Daddy and I walked down to ‘Mini Park’ by my house. (It’s called that because it’s named after my cat, Mini.) We walked all around the sand and the logs, and then I showed them my new trick of swinging on a bar. I’ll put the video below in case you want to see it too.

In the afternoon we went to Aunt Stacy’s mom’s house for Thanksgiving and there were a lot of people there. A lot of big people. For the most part I spent the time playing in the office because if I walked around the house I just spent my time looking at everyone’s knees and really – what fun is that? I was kind of nervous that I’d be bored since I was the only kid there, but you’ll see from the pictures below that maybe I was one of the more mature ones there! Everyone talked so much the ‘really big meal’ and ‘ohh, a Turkey….’ that by the time we ate I was over it. There was just so much prep to get the food on the table that sitting down seemed like such a bore. I wanted to play instead. So, I did. Mama and Daddy tried to eat for a little bit but I convinced Daddy that it was much better to play with me then eat. He must have agreed because he ate really fast and joined me for playtime again. I love my dad.

The grown-ups liked eating so much that they stayed at the table and continued to talk to each other. I just can’t figure out what they talk about! I mean, once you talk about what color you’re wearing, where everyone is in the room, and who’s driving the car home – what more is there to talk about? I guess you could always talk about the latest episode of Dora, but somehow I didn’t think those big people with the knees watched that show too.

I pretended like I was tired so that they’d drag me around in my wagon,

but really I just do it because I think it’s cute.

Example #1 of why I might be more mature:
Who has wine and who has a plastic bag on his head?
That's what I'm talking about....

Example #2 of why I might be more mature:
Who is trying to eat my head with a dinosaur?
Enough said.

Here's my trick on the bar. Next up: trying this on more then one bar!

The Holidays, Part I: Halloween

Wow, these holidays are looong. First there was Halloween One, and then there was Halloween Two. After that came Thanksgiving and then there was Buy-the-Christmas-Tree-Day, Decorate-the-Christmas-Tree Day, and I hear that Christmas One, Two and Three is just around the corner. Somewhere along the way we even snuck in a Day-To-See-Someone-Else-Light-A-Tree-Day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining…no, no, no…this is SO cool!!

My parents get pretty excited about the holidays and made sure that I was ready for Halloween by getting me a T-Rex Dinosaur costume. At first I wasn’t sure that I wanted to wear it. Because basically I try not to wear a lot of what my parents suggest these days. The week before Halloween, they took me to a Halloween jamboree at one of my favorite places and brought the costume with us. I refused to put it on there, I mean really… there was so much fun stuff to do, why get burdened down with more clothes!? There was a petting zoo and a jumper, and a little train, and for the first time ever I got to ride a pony!! I also won a spider ring and stickers, by playing some games. (I have no idea what I did, but when it was over my parents shouted, “hooray, you win!”)

Halloween One -- No Point in Wearing the Costume

My first pony ride! I really liked this and hope to ride one again soon.
But can someone please explain to me
the difference between a horse and a pony?
Mama keeps telling me a pony is smaller, but this guy looked plenty big to me!!

"Hi Chicken!"

During the week, Nanny helped Didi and I get into the mood by making pumpkin pictures (it’s still on our fridge). But we didn’t have to wear our costumes to do that. I was relieved that I didn't have to dress like a dinosaur every time someone said “Halloween”, because that would just be crazy.

On actual Halloween they convinced me to wear my costume during the day and we went to the local Rec Center to play more games and see Didi and his parents. Grandma and Grandpa also came and we went out to get hamburgers. You know, sitting on a dinosaur tail is surprisingly comfortable. In fact, I liked my costume so much, I even decided to nap in it that day. That night we went trick-or-treating, and it was fun!! I wanted to make sure I got the best candy, so I agreed to wear my costume hat that night too. I would walk up to people and say “trick-or-treat”. You know – it’s amazing how much you can get by doing that!! Why don’t we say Trick or Treat all the time??

I really wanted to go trick-or-treating at the library because I figured they would give me a book, but for some reason they weren’t open. I kept pulling on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. I finally gave up, but when I ran down the ramp, I dropped my pumpkin and my candy spilled everywhere!! I didn’t want to waste a single piece, so I made sure to pick up every single thing. By the end of the night, my pumpkin was very full, and I was really proud of myself because I carried it by myself all night. The funny thing is, I really don’t remember eating the candy after Halloween, but a few days later my pumpkin was empty. What do you think happened to it?

Napping in my dinosaur costume to get strength for Trick-or-Treating

"Trick-or-Treat"
(This is the beginning of the night when my pumpkin was empty and light)

This is at the end of the evening when my pumpkin was heavy and I dropped my candy out front of the library

Next year I think Mama and Daddy should dress up too.

Do you think these people took my candy?

T-Rex Goes To Work

Last week my Daddy brought home the awesomest present ever – a huge dinosaur! I call him “T-Rex”. I’ve loved him from the first moment that I saw him and he’s barely left my side. I like to ride him like a horse and sit on him like a chair. He sleeps with me every night and I want to dress up like him for Halloween. Although I love T-Rex a lot, I love my daddy even more, so today I thought that it would make Daddy happy to take T-Rex to work. When he was leaving I surprised him and said “take T-Rex Daddy!”. I figured that T-Rex would just keep him company all day and make him smile, like he makes me smile. But T-Rex actually worked!!! All day long Daddy sent me pictures of T-Rex working (via my Nanny’s cell phone) so I could stay in touch and make sure T-Rex was okay. Here is the Adventure of T-Rex!

The Adventure of T-Rex!

Headed to Work

Banging out some quick emails


T-Rex gets into the zone by listening to some tunes.

T-Rex Loves Yogurt!!

Daddy said he would stop working often to stare at my picture. He missed me.

T-Rex liked to pounce on unsuspecting and sleepy office workers!

Roooooaaaarrr! Surprise hugs!

Books are Awesome!


Time for a coffee break

Ha-ha! This is my favorite! T-Rex is copying his bottom!!

A late afternoon meeting, but the boss caught him taking it a little

too easy with his feet on the table

Driving home

Just Kidding!! Daddy really drove home

(Everyone knows a T-Rex can't drive!)

Best Friends Together Again

I hope Daddy and T-Rex enjoyed their adventure today

It was sure nice to have them both back with me.

Jingle's New Bed Top Ten

I have never had so much fun shopping in all my life! When Mama and Daddy said we were going to the store last Saturday, I should admit that I put up a little bit of a fight. I wanted to go to the Airplane Park, or to see pigs, or to Didi’s house, not to the store! They told me they were going to someplace called Eye-key-a to get a bed, but I wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying because I was only concentrating on what I wanted. But wow! Eye-key-a surprised me! They have a slide. No wait. They have two slides. No Wait. They have 2 slides IN THE STORE. Ohhh why isn’t every store like this? I got to play there awhile, but then Mama and Daddy wanted to leave. Next thing I knew we went downstairs and picked up a new bed and a bunch of other cool stuff.

Checking Out with My New Bed

My Very Own Lounge Lizard

Don’t tell my parents, but I’m so happy we went to the store on Saturday. I love my bed. Love, love love it! In fact I love it so much, I made a list of 10 things I love the most.

Jingle’s Top Ten List of the Most Awesome Reasons to get a Big Bed.

10. ALL the big animals can sleep with you!

9. The railings are square so I can line up my little animals too

8.Easy to get out of! Whenever I want to I can go check on mama and daddy to make sure they're safe. I worry about them.
7. So easy to get out of! I can get up to watch Dora at 5:30 any day of the week! Just get out of bed, go climb on the couch and call out "Mama, Daddy, Dora!" They really appreciate me being a big boy and taking matters into my own hand.
6. If I want a bottle of milk, I can get out of bed all by myself to give it to Mama and Daddy.
5. I can get out of bed as early as I want.
4. Mini sometimes sleeps in it! I’m so lucky!
3. When Daddy tells me stories, it’s like having a front row seat.
2. I can reach over and get any toy I want.

1. Slumber Parties!!

Twice the Birthday

At the beginning of the month I had my birthday, and it was so overwhelming, I don’t know where to begin. I turned 2! That means I’m twice as old as last year, twice as tall, twice as heavy, twice as good looking, and I have twice as many cats. Haha, got you on that last one – I had 2 cats last year too! It also means that I got twice as many birthday parties, with twice times twice as many people!

The first party was on my real birthday with my daily peeps – there was Mama and Daddy and D and his parents. Nanny, Sister Nanny, and Nanny Husband also came. This last guy was my guest of honor. He is so cool, he just makes me feel cool being in his presents. He’s tall, plays in a band and wears cool hats. You really can’t get much better then that.

Twice the Love

Twice the Coolness

Then TWO days later, I had a birthday party with more friends. I wish that Nanny Husband had also come to this party to boost my coolness, because there were a lot of ladies at the party and they made me a little nervous. I mean they were older ladies – like 5 and 6 years old!! It made me feel shy because they were so pretty. Fortunately Didi also came to this party and Buddy J was there too, so I wasn’t totally surrounded by the Niñas . And my cousin came too. She’s my age, and I like her a lot even though I don’t get to see her as often. She was the first to arrive and played quietly in my room while I made the decision whether or not I wanted to get out of my crib to attend the party.

Fortunately I decided to get out of the crib. Look how much fun this is!!

Mama and Daddy were so excited. They made the house look pretty with Elmo all around. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that my favorite is really Dora, so I kept that news to myself. But, I wouldn’t let Mama put on the new Elmo shirt they bought me because I didn’t want to betray my love for Dora.

"I will NOT wear the Elmo shirt! I don't care what goofy shirts you choose to wear!!"

During the party, I got to draw, eat cake and watch while my guests picked up toys that fell out of Elmo’s bottom. (haha, just kidding – it was really a piñata!) Then at the end people wanted me to open presents. Luckily some of my girlfriends helped me because it would have been too much to do it myself. I got some really great toys and clothes. The biggest gifts were a wagon and a tricycle!

The Niñas look fantastic in their hats don't they?

Seriously though, doesn't it look like things are coming out of his bottom?

My California Grandparents came over after the birthday party and we went out to pizza. I really wanted to be more entertaining for them, but I was so tired from the day, that I could barely move. I just concentrated really hard on keeping my eyes open so they’d think I was awake, while I dreamed of being asleep back home. Finally we went home, and I was asleep twice as fast as usual, and my big double-party fiesta-filled time was over.

My favorite part of all the birthdays was when people would sing to me, I loved that! In fact you can sing to me all year if you want. But, I think I’ll stay 2 for awhile, because it will take me a long time to build up to three birthdays next year.

A Birthday Kiss from My Cousin

Twice the Man at Age 2