Busy Little Buddies Pt 1

On Mondays my friend Mia comes over to play at our house. This past Monday I had just gotten a new batch of toys from our friends Doug and Andrea and their two sons Calvin (5) and Finn (3) so we had some new stuff to explore. As you can see in the video, we both had very important projects to attend to separately at first, but then Mia got out Music Turtle and we found some common ground. It was time for dancing! Check out our matching giraffe shoes too!

Beautiful Blue Eyes

In case you haven't been able to see them for a while because of all the video, Mama took some pictures of me eating a pear on Saturday and got some great shots of my beautiful blue eyes...and those LASHES (and some pretty great expressions to boot!). Be sure to click on the photos so you can see the full size pictures!

Wear Em Out

So you saw the video of me in the Bouncy House at the "Wear Em Out" playtime. Here is some video of me playing with a bunch of the rest of the toys. First you'll see me with one of my absolute FAVORITE toys to play with, a toy vacuum cleaner (GranSmoky and Opa will laugh about this and say that I am absolutely NOT my mother's child). You'll also see me stop in my tracks a couple times and check out everybody and everything else around me...I was in heaven! I'd never seen so much space, filled with so many different kinds of toys and so many parents and kids all playing in the same place...I was fascinated!

Again, I was intrigued by the bouncy house. Checked it out 3 more times, but really wasn't ready to go in again. Decided to check out some of the other toys instead.

Mama thought this was the fancies tricycle she had ever seen. It was a Schwinn and the blue paint was sparkly and brand new. I am still a little too small for tricycles, but Mama wanted me to sit on it so she had an excuse to take a picture of it. So, while I was there, I checked it out a little bit. It was pretty cool.


Here I am just chillin' in the fire truck. Kickin' back and watching some bigger boys bouncing balls nearby.

Bouncy House WOW!

Tuesday Mama & I checked out a public playtime that we had never been to before. It was in the gym of one of the newer Seattle neighborhood community centers and it's theme was "Wear Em Out." It was the biggest play space that Mama and I have ever been to and they had so many toys and most of them were almost brand new. There were little cars and trucks that I could get into and drive around by moving my feet. And lots of tricycles and bicycle type things. And things to push like toy vacuum cleaners and kid size trains. There were balls and even a toy gas station for all the little kid-driven cars to fill up at. But most amazing of all was this big balloon type thing that all sorts of the big kids were getting into and bouncing around in and laughing and yelling. Well, I'd never seen one of these things before, but I had to check it out. Before Mama knew it, I was headed inside one of the "port holes." She thought this was amazing and very luckily had her camera ready to capture my very first reactions to being inside a bouncy house.

I wasn't quite sure how to get out, but luckily Mama realized this and showed me the way just at the right time. I checked the bouncy house out a couple more times that day, but didn't really want to go back in. Maybe next time!

Watcha mean it ain't rainin? Pt 2

We played in the sand and laughed at and chased 2 doggies (Athena & Willow) playing with each other. We saw other kids kicking a ball and played on the playground equipment and went down the slide. I learned that it's kind of hard to walk up and down hills. Outside is really fun!

I couldn't decide if I wanted to put the sand IN the bucket or take it OUT.

Here I am playing the playground "chimes" with Papa.

Every once in a while, when I need to get somewhere fast, I'll get down on my knees and crawl...I'm a really fast crawler!

Here's just an awesome picture of a sunny winter day in Seattle.

Watcha mean it ain't rainin? Pt 1

This IS Seattle, you know.

Alas, yesterday the 17th of January proved to be a most beautiful day here in the great Emerald City. Mama & Papa were excited to take me outside in the sunshine. So we went up the street to the local playground. There were lots and lots of kids and moms & dads out. We heard a lot of moms telling their children to soak up as much sun as they could while it was out...it was pretty funny.

It was my first time outside at the playground as a big kid who can walk now. I had to get used to the different textures of the terrain - the wood chips, the gravel, the grass! Wow! It made the whole experience just a tad bit different than usual...and it was really fun!

Here I am discovering some lucky kid's new bike. I'd never really seen a bicycle before - all those wheels! And they all move!


And sticks, leaves, grass, dirt! Wow! So many excellent things to explore!

Boy's Best Friend

Some kids my age have special blankets or a teddy bear they can't survive without. I have something better than either of those things. I have my Jack.

Jack is such a good and unbelievably patient friend. He lets me lean on him all the time and even is a good sport when I take toys or bones out of his mouth and then try to shove them back in again.

Walking Machine!

So for the last few weeks of December I started taking my first steps. I'd take 2 or 3 here and there, but Mama & Papa could never catch it on camera. By Christmas night I was taking steps in front of all our friends, but still, Mama & Papa couldn't catch me on video. Then again on New Year's Eve, showing off for our friends, but still nothing on video. Finally, on Friday, January 2nd, Mama got her camera out in the late afternoon and kept it close by until I went to bed that night.

Mama and Papa tried to entice me into taking a few steps on camera quite a few times - "why don't you walk over and get jack", "come and get your sippy cup", and "Papa's got pretzels" were just a few of their attempts and still they were not able to catch anything substantial. Papa even let me hold on to his leg and we walked all the way across the living room into the kitchen and back again, but I never let go once.


Finally, Mama followed me out to the kitchen where I was "cruising" against the stove at first but then had to let go and actually walk a few steps to my "organizing project" that I felt needed attending to in the recycling bag.

By that evening, I was walking EVERYWHERE and I haven't stopped since. Every once in a while if I need to get somewhere really fast, I'll get down and crawl, but for the most part, I'm done with that!

New Year's Eve Fireworks

So Papa made a little sample of the fireworks we got to see on New Year's Eve. Even though I was pretty tired, you can see how cool they were! Enjoy!

New Year's Eve

So on New Year's Eve Mama, Papa and I got together with Mia and her Mama & Papa, as well as her cousin Ruby and Ruby's Mama & Papa. We started out inside for dinner and playing, then went to watch the fireworks. Here you can see see Mia and I up to our usual cute "tricks". Oh, and then I got to open a Christmas present from Mia and it was pretty cool (Mama & the other ladies went "Ga-Ga").

Here I am all snuggled close to Papa. It was almost midnight and we were headed to the building where Papa had been invited to watch the fireworks from the roof of. It was a bit drizzly and a bit windy, but I was very toasty warm next to Papa.

Here is the big group of us, 3 couples of young parents and the 3 of us toddlers, me, Mia, and Ruby.

Here are our really, really good friends, Sean, Mia, and Lindsay.

And here is Mama, me, and Papa. I was getting very sleepy by this point, but check out those fireworks above our heads! They were being shot off the top of the Space Needle. Very, very cool!

Christmas Night

On Christmas night, Mama, Papa & I went to dinner at our friends Jarrett & Beth's house. Our whole family of friends was there and that made the day even more special than it already was. One of the things that made it really fun is that Jarrett and Beth gave me a present to open and it was a really good one! Check it out!



After all that "popping" around I was thirsty and needed a drink!

You can see I am all dressed in my holiday best.

Xmas day! part II

So here we have a mini year in review, with a special emphasis on the 2nd part of our Christmas morning - including my snow globe, musical turtles and Papa's new frying pan!