Catching Up With Cousins 2

We managed to squeeze in plenty of pool time during our trip! Keeley taught me how to float in style, always keeping one eye on "The Water Monster", Jakob.
Joli is a tiny little Olympic swimmer! She taught me how to use arm swimmies.
But, my favorite trick was learning to jump! I got pretty good at it. Mom would catch me, and before the splash had settled, I was asking "Again?!". For my last afternoon at the pool, we had a surprise: Doe brought watermelon and Marmee brought a birthday cake! It was my third birthday cake in a month- I'm a very lucky girl! The best part was how everyone seemed to enjoy the party... On our last night, we all headed to Marmee and Poppy's house for our own World Cup championship game. Keeley was an intimidating goaltender with her steely game face.Joli acted as the sideline referee, ready to outrun any of us.
And Jake taught me some wicked moves!
I was feeling pretty awesome on the field, until Jakob pulled a Ronaldo! He takes the game very seriously.
After cleaning up in the locker room, we all joined Poppy for Ring Around The Rosey. I can't believe Mom took pictures of us in our undies.
My visit passed much too quickly! On my last night, Jakob taught me about sleepovers. First we helped Marmee give Keeley a bath (while her parents were on the ball field cheering on our favorite Dirtbag, Colin), We played hide and seek while pretending to be dogs,
and he introduced me to the Wiggles! We stayed up super late, all the way to 9:30!
I had such a great time with my Georgia family! I miss them and can't wait to see them again!

Catching Up With Cousins 1

Good Times! Mom and I went up to see my Georgia cousins for a long weekend. We had so much fun! Mom said I should profile each cousin so I will remember how cute they were at this age...First up: Keeley, the sweet and shy one. She was very cautious around us at first, but not afraid to show us her rocking dance moves! She did not appreciate the times that I flexed my 2 year-old muscle... once I smacked her with a toy and she just gave me this pitiful look with her lower lip sticking out. It was so sad! I had to sit in Time Out while Mom hugged her. She got revenge later by taking away my favorite cheerleader doll. We followed Marmee around the kitchen while she made yummy snacks for us. The theme for the weekend was strawberries (Poppy's garden was extra generous this year): strawberry salad, strawberry ice cream, strawberry preserves... we even wore strawberry pajamas!
Then we headed over to Joli's house. She is an independent little nut! Mom was laughing at her constantly- she said Joli has a stubborn streak like You-Know-Who. Here she is standing in her seat, even after her Mom made her sit down 10 times!I was particularly impressed with her technique for eating spaghetti. She told me that it tastes better if you spread it all over your face. Mom says Joli has to be tough to keep up with her big brother, Jakob. He was the star of the weekend, as usual! He had me cracking up with the Master Blaster! Plus, he taught me how to say "arm pit" and "fart". I have to give a shout out to my favorite All Star baseball star, Colin! Mom only has ONE picture of him from the whole weekend because he was busy hitting home runs in a tournament with his team, the Dirtbags. He is sweet and shy like his little sister, Keeley, and I think he gets embarrassed when I follow him around the house smiling. He is so cute! On Friday morning, Mom and Jenny took me for a session with their favorite photographer. That was fun for about 5 minutes. Mom was thrilled with the pictures- said something about how beautiful my "blue Timmy eyes" looked.After all of the modeling, I was ready to cool off in the fountains.
Keeley and I had a snack in our matching shirts (our Moms are soooo ridiculous),
then got soaked!
Keeley was so nice, she even shared her Poppy with me for story time later.
Our next big adventure was the zoo! Mom couldn't get a good picture of the caravan of cars, car seats, diaper bags, and strollers that made up our entourage, but she did get a shot of me in the UGA stroller. Don't tell my Dad!
Joli gave me a few pointers to help me understand the animals. We watched the gorillas celebrate their birthdays, but I got scared when one walked over to me at the glass. He was so big! Now when we read my Good Night Gorilla book, I say "it's not scary", because it was scary!
Then we all got a very close look at the big cats. I call them "jag-u-ars" like Will Farrell.
This is the face I made when Jake told me it was going to eat me.
The petting zoo was fun... until the end, when Mom spent 10 minutes scrubbing and sanitizing my hands, arms, chest, face, and feet.
I should mention that we saw Mawmaw, too. She wouldn't let us take her picture because her hair wasn't done. Mawmaw was very nice, she let me play with her knitting needles, scissors, and loose blood pressure pills. Mom said we would probably just bring Mawmaw over to the child-proofed houses to play from now on. Stay tuned for the second half of my recap, coming soon!

Happy Father's Day!

I love my Dad! Mom and I were out of town for a long weekend with my cousins during the official Father's Day, but we made it up to him last Sunday- I gave him a sweet poem with my footprints in blue paint (he loved it), and Mom cooked him a yummy dinner. I looked at some old pictures of us and decided that my Dad is the best Dad in the whole world! I was so excited when Mom told me that we were going on the airplane today to see Dad... I asked the security guard at the airport "Where's my Dad?". When we landed and I saw him from far away I started yelling: "Hey Tim! Hey Tim!", then I hugged him and laid my head on his shoulder while we walked out. It's good to be home so he can read my bedtime stories again. I love him!

Little Sassy

Mom and Dad have been laughing at my latest comments:

• to my stuffed puppy: "Use your words, Puppy"


• to Maggie: "Hi sweet girl"


• to bee: "Go away bumblebee! Time out!"


• when Mom asked how I'm doing: "I'm fine"


• when Mom asked if I needed to go potty: "No. Not today"


• when something doesn't go my way: "Oh well!"
  

Big Girl Bed, Round 1

The first night in my Big Girl Bed was a challenge, and poor Dad had bedtime duty alone while Mom was at work. He even took notes so that I could use them for my blog: 1 hour, 15 times out of my room, 1 epic meltdown. Each time I came running down the hall, it was a new request, including:

• holding a wet wipe: "Wipe my nose?"
• holding my blanket: "Cover me?"
• holding my lamb: "Sleep with lamby?"
• standing in a clean diaper: " I poo pooed"
• after falling out of bed: "Boo boo! Kiss it? Kiss other side? Put band-aid on it?"
• holding the Desitin tube with 5 fingertips dipped in white: "Put medicine on it?"

Dad said it was impossible to be angry with me, because I seemed so confused. He knew I was tired and ready to sleep, but I couldn't grasp the idea that I needed to stay in the bed. In the end, I came down the hall crying "Close my eyes?!", and he knew I was delirious. He tucked me in for the sixteenth time and I looked up at him with a sleepy smile and murmured "Big girl bed". Luckily, Moxie was guarding the end of the hallway during the whole ordeal. His tail started thumping as soon as my little feet hit the floor, even before I opened my door. It's fun having the freedom to get out of my room! I am a little worried because I overheard people telling my parents to put a lock on my door... I probably won't like that.

Crib Jumper

Last night I escaped from my crib for the first time. It was difficult adjusting to my normal bedtime schedule after all the fun late nights with Nana and Papa. Usually I stall with the Dora-suicide-jump trick (that's her on the floor): Dora jumps, I cry, the adults come running to save her, and I win the battle for more attention. So, last night Mom and Dad shut my door and set the timer to let me cry it out for 5 minutes. They were feeling smug and victorious when the crying stopped after only a few minutes... until my door opened and they found me running down the hall, beaming! Tonight they were prepared, and caught me in the act (that's me balanced on my belly on top of the crib rail). Dad said he was impressed at the athleticism of my escape, and Mom was amused that I stopped to grab Dora before running to freedom.

20 minutes after this video was taken, Dad had converted my crib to a Big Girl bed! My parents are happy that it is less dangerous, but wary that this begins a new chapter in my Bedtime Adventures.

Baptism

Mom and Dad (finally) found a church home and were excited to take me for baptism this weekend. My Nana and Papa were here to stand in for my godparents (love you, Jenny and Robert!).
We spent a few minutes at home taking pictures... just long enough for the boys to swelter in their suits in the unseasonably hot and humid weather. Then we headed off to the service.
I was happy to see my friend, Margaret- she helped me overcome my anxiety about the ceremony. We talked about how the priest was going to "pour water on you", and how it's "not scary". Plus, Mom and I practiced by baptizing all of my bath toys in the name of the Father, Son, and "Holy Spit".
It was a very special morning, and I was a very brave girl! My favorite part was watching Papa carry my banner for the procession, and then obsessing over it: "where'd Papa go?" and "go see my flag?".I barely made it through the long church service, which crept into my lunch and nap time. By the end I was exhausted.Once we got home, I took the best nap of the whole week!