February Fun in San Diego

I got my wish; The rains stopped and I was able to go outside and play again!

I never knew sliding could be so fun.

My swing set is so much fun that I ask to go outside and play as soon as I wake up in the morning.

Our family is trying to take advantage of all of the fun things there are to do at Pa's house. Some afternoons we walk down to the "ball diamond" and play baseball. It is lots of fun because the whole family goes- Mom, Dad, Jax, even 4th! Everyone has a position: Mom is behind the plate hitting balls, Dad and Jax are the infielders, I provide backup for any balls that make it into the outfield, and 4th warms the bleachers.

Fielding the ball is fun, but I sure enjoy throwing. Check out my arm:

This month I got to go to the doctor's office for my 18 month check up. I found out that I weigh a whopping 22lbs! Can you believe how big I am getting??? I am almost 30in tall, and have moved out of the 5 percentile to the 10th- woo hoo!

Not only have I grown, but after a somewhat painful and irritating month I have a mouthful of teeth (all but one), and am able to munch on anything and everything. Here I am eating a corn on the cob without help from anyone!!!

After my doctor visit, Pa decided it was time for me to get a big girl haircut. He made me an appointment with his hairstylist, and Mom warned him that if anything other than my bangs were cut there would be trouble (when Mom was little Pa took her in for a haircut and had her hair chopped from her butt to her shoulders, needless to say, Grandma Judy was VERY upset so Mom has issues with cutting hair.)

Mom took a "before" shot just in case:

Here is what I looked like after. As Pa would say, "I sure look like a fox"!!!!

Mom was very grateful that Pa listened to her, and will now allow him to take me in monthly for my trims.

We have settled into a routine at Pa's house, and every morning Pa and I make coffee together. I have it down to a science- I place the filter into the coffee maker, add 2 scoops of coffee beans, a couple cups of water, shut the top and push the on button. Pa says I make the best tasting coffee he's ever had!


I even help Pa out when he is working in his office. From time to time I get into his office supplies, but, as Mom has witnessed, he is more of trouble maker than I am.

Check him out covering me in post its:

Good thing for him I like trouble!

During the week the family takes a walk down to the orchard to pick some lemons (Dad likes fresh squeezed lemonade.) On our most recent trip I took Baby and Elmo with me (since they have to go EVERYWHERE I go.)

I am finally strong enough to pull them off the tree all by myself

The best part about going to the orchard is eating the fruit!!! Sometimes the fruit is a little to "spicy" and I can only eat a couple of pieces. Regardless of the taste, I really enjoy eating fruit off the trees!


Another one of my favorite outdoor activities at Pa's house is jumping on the trampoline. Even Pink Bunny likes to jump with me...

At the end of the month it was time to celebrate Grandma Judy's birthday! We went out to a special birthday dinner for some sushi and had a birthday cake too!

I was fascinated by the candles on the cake, and loved watching Grandma blow them out.

After I ate all of the cherries and most of the cake (mom ate the rest of course), we went back to Grandma Judy's to have some bath time fun. Since I do most of my singing in the tub and car, I sang Grandma the birthday song:

Back at Pa's house we were back to our usual antics.

Who knew a paper bag could be so much fun?

As you can see, Pa and I find all sorts of ways to have fun!

March promises to bring lots of fun. Our family has plans to take advantage of all the wonderful things San Diego has to offer before we leave. Mom says that we have plans to go to the Zoo, Disneyland, and Grandpa Jerry and Cindy are coming to visit me.

Life sure is good!

Rain, rain go away...

February got off to a great start! Mom and I spent a lot of time playing out in the front yard- my Playtown is all set up again, and this time its even better!

We have made some new additions, and I now have a Riley size picnic table where I can color all by myself!

Check out the new swing set I got: Pretty cool huh??? It took a long time to set up, but boy was it worth the wait. It's like I have my own private Donalds in the front yard!!!!

I love being out at Pa's and am learning to use my imagination. I love to explore my surroundings, and have found some fun new things to do. Mom and I go hunting for ripe oranges, fishing for kitties, sledding on the grass; there are endless games to be played.

Just as we were planning all sorts of fun activities the rains came...

Being stuck indoors was no fun for Mom or me. After the first day of the torrential downpour I got really antsy. Out of ideas, Mom searched the Internet for fun places to play indoors. She hit the jackpot when she found out about AirTime. We went the next day, and it was AWESOME! Inside a big warehouse there are all sorts of inflatable jump houses with slides, climbers, etc.

Despite my small size I was able to go on everything!

The best things about AirTime was that Mom and Dad got to go on the obstacles with me!

Mom couldn't tell who was having more fun...

Back at home Mom and I spent our indoor time reading, drawing, and working on my motor skills.

I have almost perfected eating with utensils, though Mom can't stand when I make a mess.

We have found that practice does make perfect, and I am almost there. Mom enjoys the extra time she gets to "relax" while I feed myself.

One upside to being stuck indoors was that I got to watch some of my educational movies. All of my buddies came over to watch the movies with me and we all learned how to count.

By the third day of rain I was bored with the usual activities and wanted to run around and play.

Instead I resorted to stretching on the foam roll for exercise.

At the end of the week Grandma Jean and Uncle Brandon came over to babysit me while Mom and Dad went to the doctor to check up on the new baby. They were thrilled when they came home and showed us the pictures.

Can you believe this is going to be my new brother or sister???

The weekend arrived, and with it so did Valentines day. Mom and I celebrated early in the morning by watching Sesame Street together.

I am working on smiling on cue- almost believable isn't it...

The rain was gone, but we had to spend the day indoors cleaning the house and preparing a special Valentines feast for the family. Daddy brought us home three roses, a red one for Mom, a pink one for me, and a yellow one for the new baby (or new brat as Pa calls it.)

Mom and I even got to carve a pumpkin with hearts in it for a centerpiece!

We spent a relaxing evening at home eating with the family, and Jax and I even exchanged a couple hugs.

The next day the rain had returned and it was back indoors for Riley. While Pa watched the financial channel I pointed out all the letters on the screen for him. I bet he can't wait for me to read sentences so that he doesn't have to wear glasses anymore...

Hygiene has become sort of an obsession for me, and I am fascinated with brushing my teeth. I decided that Bush was long overdue for a teeth cleaning...

After I cleaned up his mouth I decided that Bush also needed a diaper change (he's not doing too well on his own so I am stepping in).

Monday came around, and as Mom promised, we went to checkout another indoor playplace. This one was called Playtown (can you believe it? They ripped off the name of my play area at home!) and it had all sorts of toys inside. Unlike Airtime, this location had cars, slides, trains, and houses.

Driving the bus was a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed playing in the kitchen with the sink, especially since I LOVE to wash my hands (my obsession with hygiene).

Like Airtime, Playtown did have a bounce house, but as you can see there were lots of kids in this one, and I had a tough time staying afoot.

Despite the weather, I have managed to turn what could have been an uneventful couple of weeks into lots of fun, new adventures (thank goodness for the resourceful internet.)

The weather forecast for the remainder of the month looks promising, and hopefully by the end of the week the sun will come out to play. Until then I will enjoy the time inside with my buddies.