My new "friend"

Daddy brought home a big Dora The Explorer balloon the other day. It's as big as I am! She's my new friend.

And Daddy even lets me play with her, even though she's on Nick, not PBS... 

Supper serenade

I like singing a lot these days. Here's a video of some of some of my favorites.
Viewing guide
1. The first song is "Rock-a-bye baby" or, as I like to call it, "Ba ba ba baby".
2. Then I move on to "Twinkle twinkle little star", although I know it best in Spanish ("Brilla brilla estrellita..."). I've learned some of the ASL signs for the song too, as you can see.
3. Finally, Mama tries to get me to sing the song from the Barney show ("I love you" but again in the Spanish version, "Te quiero yo") and for some inexplicable reason (it's usually my favorite and I make Mami sing it until she wants to pull her hair out!) I don't want to sing that one. The words I choose to sing, by the way, are usually "Mi mi mi, mi mi mi...", although I do keep the tune pretty well.


I do love music!

An amazing discovery

I discovered the most fascinating thing the other day: that big toy box I've had under my window for, like, ever, actually opens up. And there were things inside!
Nobody tells me anything, I've got to figure it all out for myself.

I came across many toys that I'd forgotten about.
I found this phone and talked on it for a while.
(Ever since daddy went away last month, I seem to associate talking on the phone with talking to him. Even if he's right there next to me, whenever I pick up the phone I say, "Daddy? Hi! Daddy?")

All these fun toys! One by one, I threw each of them out on the floor.

And then didn't really know quite what to do with it all when I was finished!

Perhaps if I just stand here it will clean itself up?

Stayin' cool in the heat

A baseball cap provides great protection from the sun's harmful rays.
(Especially if it's a size or two too big.)
And fashionable denim never goes out of style.

Silver Springs

Since we left the beach early, we decided to stop at Silver Springs on the way home.
We took a glass bottom boat ride around the springs to see fish and alligators and turtles and birds... Of course, this is still at the dock, once we got moving Mama and Daddy had to be very careful not to let me fall out!

There was a big giraffe there too. Mama even fed him!

I also drank some lemonade because it was so hot - but it was just a little bit sour!

It was a nice way to end our mini-vacation.

My first beach experience

So yes, this past weekend was my first trip to the beach. We had a very nice hotel room with great big mirrors. That part was great.

When we got there I got to have a little picnic for dinner too. Nothing beats a little ham and cheese on the floor.

I got this awesome fish floaty thing for the water and was very excited to go to the beach the next day.

LET ME OUT! I WANT TO PLAY!

Well, it turns out that I don't really like the ocean. Hard to believe, I know, but I cried and wimpered and wouldn't let go of Daddy in the water. Even with my very pretty bathing suit and my supercool aquasox.

I contented myself with playing in the sand and digging things.

I set off to make my fortune in shells, but then Mama and Daddy said the sun was too hot and we had to leave. I could have been a wealthy little girl...

This fountain in front of the hotel was, in fact, the only water I wanted anything to do with. No oceans or pools for me! (I'll give you one guess who picked out the shoes I'm wearing in this picture!)

So we actually came home from our trip a day early. . .
Maybe when I'm older I'll learn to like the beach better?

Happy Birthday CCA

Last Friday was the one-year "birthday" of my daycare, and to celebrate we had a pajama party. That means that we all could go to school in our PJs! So I did, but I insisted on wearing shoes with them (even though they're footies)!

(You should have seen my first shoe choice - white sandals - but somehow Mama convinced me that sneakers would be bettter...)

New shoes

Check out my new "AquaSox!" Aren't they cool?

I'm going to the beach tomorrow and the sand can be really hot, so now I have special shoes to wear. I love them too, I didn't want to take them off for bed!

~~Stay tuned for posts about my first beach adventure.~~

18 M O N T H S !

I got my box of crayons out so I can tell you how old I am...

18 months!

I can hardly believe it - I'm a whole year and a half old. I have to keep checking that sign to make sure it's true.

Better add some orange to that blue, Go Gators!

Peek-a-boo!

I was playing a great game of peek-a-boo with Mami and Daddy yesterday morning. They were in the kitchen, and I would go in and say "Bye!" to them, then run around the corner and hide over here. Then I'd run back in to the kitchen and scare them! I don't know how Mami figured it out, but she managed to find me here and take this picture of me hiding... BOO!

Potty... "familiarization"

It's way too early to start potty training, but Dr. Grooms suggested we at least get a little potty for me to get used to.
So far, it seems like a nice place to sit and rest when I get tired.


It's also a good place to put your book for the perfect reading angle (if you're my size, that is).


AND I've discovered that you can hide things in there. This is the wolf, who (oops!) "fell in".


The big noisemaker thing didn't quite fit.
(Or am learning how to plunge at an early age?)


Beba got some practice sitting on the potty as well,

although she's also a little too big to fit inside.

(Poor Beba! The abuse she takes...)

Never-ending house chores

I figured I should be responsible for cleaing my own room, so we got out the Swiffer to clean the floor.

I was working as fast as I could, but it seems like Mami and Daddy always have yet another chore for me to do!

PS - The vapor you see in the first picture is not our house on fire, it's the humidifier we have in my room.

PB&J

I'm definitely my nana's granddaughter, because boy do I love a good PB&J sandwich.

That's nana's favorite lunch too.
I wouldn't mind eating it for lunch every day either!

18-month well visit

I went to the doctor for my 18 month check up on Friday (a few days early). I'm always nervous about getting on the scales, but it turns out I'm VERY healthy!

I weigh 22 pounds and am 31 inches long! That's 25th percentile for both of those. Remember when I was so tiny I was only 5th percentile! I'm growing!

We were in the turtle room, which is one of my favorite rooms. I climbed up and down on to the table,

And Daddy and I practiced our ballet moves until Dr. Grooms came in!

There's a duck pond outside the doctors' offices. We went to look at the ducks but they're very fast! They ran away from me.

A trip to the musuems

We went to the Butterfly Rainforest on Friday. OK, so I was a little more interested in the water and the fish, but every now and then I'd stop to look at the pretty butterflies, like this one that landed right in front of me.

But I had more fun sneaking into the office where I shouldn't have. Grandpa had to come rescue me.

And then we sat together and read about butterflies. We had so much fun!

There's also a kids' room at the museum, where I played for a little bit.

I took very seriously this rug that looks like water and a bridge - I had to cross the bridge to get to Grandpa!

My grandpa came to visit me!

On Wednesday my Grandpa Dick and Eleanor came for a visit! It had been over a year since I last saw my Grandpa. I was happy to see him, but not happy that I had to go to bed while they all stayed up talking!

But I managed to convince Eleanor to spend some time in my room with me before bed. We read lots of books together, and she speaks Spanish too!