Lego Mania

I have been building with blocks since I turned 1 year old and got my first set of Lego Quattros. I play with Duplos most of the time because they are safe around Trinity. However I absolutely love regular Legos. Last year I started getting Legos in an advent calendar. This year the advent calendar has Star Wars Legos in it. I have been slowly building the sets each morning as I receive a few more pieces. I also dragged out one of my Creator sets and have been following the instructions myself. Daddy let me play with the box of small Legos yesterday and I built some cool things all by myself. Daddy and Mommy said they were super impressed by my Lego skills.

Whistle While You Vacation

I am on vacation and staying at Uncle Mike's right now. Tonight we had dinner with my great grandparents at the campground. We just got back and I whistled for the first time ever. I cannot do it again, but I'm trying. I'll hopefully have it down pat here shortly. Tomorrow we head to the Gulf of Mexico for Thanksgiving. I'm having lots of fun with all of my family!

Halloween

I was a bug chef for Halloween and I also dressed as a toad for school. I really enjoy Halloween and am already asking to be Speed Racer for next year. I still have candy left and am slowly working through it. I am actually sharing my candy for the first year with my parents. Oh and Nanny was here for Halloween which was so much fun. I wanted Papa to be here too, but he had to work.

Karate update - I earned my second belt on Monday. I'm now a full yellow belt.

Birding & Math Skills

I have been enjoying watching birds for quite a while now. I impressed mommy this morning by identifying a bird on our back porch, picking up the bird book, and finding the corresponding bird in the book. If you don't have a bird book at your home, I recommend this book and of course I'd get the one that is designed for your particular state. If a 4 year old can look up birds in this book, anyone can!

I am learning some addition skills. Daddy was impressed the other day when I correctly answered several addition questions while playing a game on the Handy Manny website. I also did some math with mini marshmallows this morning. I picked up one marshmallow in one hand, two in the other and told mommy that 1 + 2 = 3.

I Got a Belt!

No, no, no mommy and daddy didn't get the belt out after me. Don't worry! I tested for my first belt in Tae Kwon Do on Monday. I was able to complete all the requirements including a pictorial essay about why I am taking karate, what I like and dislike about karate class, and my goals in karate. I also broke my second board. And I had to wait two days to find out if I had passed my belt test and guess what? I DID! I was awarded a yellow belt with a white stripe on Wednesday. Wednesday was also bring a friend to class day and I managed to get four of my friends there. It was so cool and we had so much fun! I also now am the proud owner of a uniform.

So Embarrassing...

Daddy and Mommy are so embarrassing. They put on a CD called U2's The Joshua Tree in the van yesterday. I told them it was embarrassing and boring. They laughed and I don't think they understand that their music is so old.

Today I was playing an intense game of Connect Four with Ethan in the Kids' Clubhouse at church. I told Ethan to put on his game face. Ethan told me that he was putting on his happy face. I think that guy is so cool. He's going to join me and be a big brother here in a few days.

INK - Not a tat shop

This morning I had my 4th birthday party at INK in Gainesville. INK stands for Interactive Neighborhood for Kids, it is not a tat shop. A lot of my friends and their parents came to the party. We had so much fun going through the museum and playing. We took over the museum for the first hour or so and then more people started coming in for other parties. We had a room to ourselves. We ate the WALL-E cake mommy made me and opened presents. The pictures are available here. I'm busy right now exploring all the fun things. I didn't know I was going to get so much stuff and love it ALL! Thank you to all my friends and family for making my day so special. Oh - did I mention that I got my very own REAL desktop computer?

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday I turned 4. I had a great day. Mommy made me pancakes and bacon for breakfast and chocolate chip muffins to take to pre-school. I picked a present out of the birthday box at school and took in the snack bucket containing the afore mentioned muffins along with Cheetos and Capri Suns. For lunch I requested leftover chicken noodle soup with star shaped pasta. We played with my new toys like a scooter, chalk tools, etc. outside. And last night we went to Kado Sushi & Steakhouse for some hibachi table action. Great Grandma Speed had never been before and she enjoyed it too. I had a great day. Mommy interviewed me for my 4 year old interview and you can compare my answers to the last one she did here.

Favorite Food: spaghetti with no sauce on it, just butter
Favorite Drink: milk when the chocolate is in it
Favorite Song: ABC's (same as last year)
Favorite Book: Farm Animal book that makes sounds
Favorite TV Show: Little Einstein's
Favorite Movie: Wall-E
Favorite Animal: Dinosaur
Favorite Bug: Grasshopper (likes to hold them and find them in the grass)
Food You Don’t Like: I don't know, that's a tough one - sandwiches
TV Show You Don’t Like: Football
Favorite Place to Eat: Moe's (same as last year)
Favorite Store: Publix (same as last year)
Favorite Shoes: Light up sandals
Favorite thing to do with Mommy: Rub her elbow (same as last year)
Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Wrestle
Favorite thing to do at home: Watch TV
Favorite “fun” thing to do: Play on the computer
What do you want to do when you grow up?: Firefighter
Are you going to have kids when you grow up?: Yes (same as last year)
How many?: 6 - I'm going to have 6 kids to help me put out some fire (last year it was "a lot")
What kinds of things to do you think about a lot?: Doing what is wrong
How does it feel to be four?: Super cool
Is there anything else you want to say?: Yes, I just want to say "Thank you God for our food and our many blessings. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen."

My First Day of Pre-School

Today was my first day of pre-school and I had such a good time. On the way to school mom was talking about all this stuff like listen to the teacher, mommy won't be there, behave, etc. Well I asked her to please stop talking and she laughed. So we rode the rest of the way in silence. When we got there we met up with Ethan and went into the classroom. Ms Angie said Ms Sandi would be there tomorrow and she led the class today. We made an art project which was basically a little paper me. We did circle time and had snack as well. I also was able to play with the play kitchen. I asked mommy when we left if I could have one at home so we'll see. I had a great day and am ready to go back tomorrow!

By the way, we had a great time at the lake. I played in the sand, went down a huge water slide, jumped on and off of a water trampoline, and had a great time with the family. Great Grandma Speed came home with us and she actually watched me last night when mommy and daddy went to open house at school. Mommy told me that if Grandma had to get onto me I was going to get in trouble and I told her that if Grandma was bad she'd get in trouble too. Mommy didn't like that.

Going to the Lake

We're about to head to the lake. Granna asked if I was bringing a book to read and I said no because I don't want my books to get WET!

I'm super excited that my great grandmother will be coming home with us for a couple of weeks. I have agreed to give her my bed while she is here.

Daddy took me to see Clone Wars the other day. Mommy checked the ratings first and agreed that I could go. Finally - a Star Wars movie I could watch. I loved it and have told many people about it already.

Yesterday was my last day at Gymboree. But I'm not too sad because I am going to SCHOOL next week! Pre-school - here I come. They better be ready for me!

Have You Called Jenny Yet?

Mommy was telling daddy this morning that she had some weight to lose from when she was pregnant with Trinity. I looked at her, scanned my commercial memory bank, pointed my finger out, and said "Have you called Jenny yet?" (from the Jenny Craig commercial)

I really like to watch the commercials like daddy. He was the kid who didn't watch the show, only the commercials. I'm following in his foot steps. I like to call up my grandparents and tell them that a 15 minute call to Geico could save them more on their car insurance. Sometimes when mommy asks what I want to eat, I say all-white meat chicken nuggets, crisp apple slices, and white milk from McDonalds.

Mommy has made several cakes lately. She practiced for a cake last weekend and made two today. She let me help last weekend and on one cake today. I love helping her decorate cakes.

Daddy took me to see the new animated Star Wars movie today. It was cool! The regular Star Wars movies are too slow for me to watch right now, but the animated one was pretty action packed. I'm building light sabers and such out of my Legos now. Here begins my Star Wars obsession.

The Land of Georgia

I'm the King of Dragons, Mommy is the Queen of Elbows, Trinity is the Royal Blesser, and Daddy is the Eagle in our Land of Georgia.

My Shiner

I had a great time with papa, nanny, and Austen the last couple of days. I am the proud owner of a shiner courtesy of my cousin. I am so tough and it shows my toughness. Austen didn't mean to do it and I'm not mad at all. We were going to have a shoe fight, but now I know that isn't a good idea. I did throw something at Ethan the night before so turnabout is fair play mommy says. She also says boys will be boys!

(Mommy will try to post a picture later.)

Happy 90th Tata

That's "tay-tay". She's my great, great aunt but more like a great grandmother. We went to Florida to surprise her with a birthday party. We started with a night in a hotel which was great fun. I had a yummy breakfast at the "diner" at the hotel. Then we spent the day on Thursday with the Hardmans. We ate seafood, drove go carts and water bumper cars, and finished our visit with some good ice cream. We had a low key 4th of July with fireworks with daddy and Pappaw and a cookout at Granna and Pappaw's house. I got to meet my new cousin Foster! He is so cute and I gave him some toys. We took a walk that night and saw a crab, snake, bat, and millipede. Saturday I had my picture taken with Foster and Trinity and then we headed to the party. I played with Landon a lot and enjoyed the bunches of balloons. Oh and the cake wasn't bad either. We had a quick beach visit and I even got in the water and was stung about 4-5 times by jellyfish but that didn't stop me! I never even complained about the stings. I was worn out! After picking blueberries with mommy for blueberry buckle Sunday morning, we packed up and headed home. I can't wait to see mommy's side of the family again when we go to the lake!

Day 'O Fun

Yesterday was a jam packed day 'o fun. Mommy took me to see Bee Movie with a bunch of friends. That was the 3rd time in 4 days that I went to the movies. I doubt I'll ever do that again! After the movie, we picked up lunch in the food court and took it to the fountain at the mall. I played in the fountain and had my lunch for about an hour. And then I went to Gymboree. Mommy brought along her camera and got some good shots (Ms. Theresa took the fountain pictures - thank you!).

WALL-E

I want to say to the people of Pixar and Disney, "Thank you for WALL-E. E-V-E was great too! And daddy liked Mo."

Mommy and Daddy surprised me Saturday morning by taking me to see WALL-E. I already have WALL-E toothpaste, a toothbrush, and swim trunks. I've also been playing around on the official WALL-E site for months. I'd like to have a WALL-E robot of my own to help me clean up the house.

Trip to See the Fam

We just went on a trip to see our family. We spent Sunday through Friday of last week at Mammaw and Uncle Mike's. There isn't much to get out and do in the city of Palatka but we managed to have a great time. We went to Angel's one morning with daddy for breakfast. It is the oldest diner in Florida and it is an old train car. Daddy had to leave after that for his conference in Orlando. So we went to WalMart. Uncle Mike has a new jet skit and he let me sit on it and crank it. Then I got to play in the wet dirt. Of course I was dirty so Uncle Mike hosed me off. Then on Tuesday we drove to St Augustine to meet Papa for lunch. We felt bad missing his Father's day and wanted him to have a special time meeting Trinity for the first time. Wednesday there were really bad storms so we stayed inside but our cousin Mary came for a visit. On Thursday mommy took me to visit my Great, Great Aunt Gertie's house. I played with her dog Hannah. That afternoon mommy took me to Dollar Tree and Publix, 2 of my favorite stores. We left on Friday for Papa and Nanny's. Aunt Mimi, Uncle Billy, and Austen were there. We swam, played, and had a good time just being together. Austen even let me play his Nintendo DS for a little while.

On the way home we ate at Cracker Barrel. I took one of the golf pegs in that triangle game they have on the table, crubmled a piece of straw wrapper on top and announced, "Look at my invention, golf!"

I also told mommy one morning after she told me that she loves me, daddy loves me, and that God loves me, "Don't tell me you love me, just love me. Just tell me one time, that's the rule."

I Wish There Was A...

Cooper Day. If I had my way there would be a Cooper Day and I would get all the things I want. I want all the things I see. See like today we were at Target picking up Trinity's photos and then we shopped the clearance. You never know what will be on clearance at a Target. So we happened upon a set of Bocce balls that IIIIII waaaaannnnnttttt! Mommy said, "Ok, let's get them for daddy for Father's day." Now this started me thinking what about this Father's day and Mother's day, there should be a Cooper Day! If you're on board, check out the link on the right to my Amazon wishlist.

DISCLAIMER - Don't worry about spoiling daddy's Father day. He already got a WiiFit and he never reads my blog. Apparently he doesn't read anyone's!

Gymboree Spirit

I have been attending Gymboree classes for over two years now. I used to go to music, art, and play class, but since I turned 3 I go to "drop off" classes - Fitness Fun and Art. We have snack in between classes. Mommy can stay or go away during the classes. Yesterday she left and had Trinity's pictures taken. Today she was asking me about how class was yesterday. She asked me what I said when Ms Lindsay asked me at the end of art class where is my Gymboree spirit. Well this spirit of Gymboree moves around in me and yesterday my answer was "my booty".

Lee Wii

We have a Wii. Daddy bought it a few weeks ago and I'm really getting the hang of it. I like Super Mario Brothers Party a lot. We also have Carnival Games, Sports (I'm good at golf), and Go Diego Go. I bought Go Diego Go with the money I earned from the yard sale we had a couple of weeks ago. Oh and we have Wii Fit. I'm learning how to keep my balance and all kinds of other things. Daddy decided that I'm good enough at the Wii to earn my own controller, so he took me to WalMart and got me one of my own the other day. He also let me decorate it with stickers!

What I Learn in Church

On Sundays mommy asks me what I learned in church that day. I think she's trying to make sure I pay attention. Of course I do even though I'm in there acting like I'm not listening sometimes. Yesterday she asked me what I learned so I thought I'd post about it.

I learned about happy, peaceful, patient good, gentle, quiet (not loud), thankful, self control. She says these must be fruits of the Spirit. I told her these are things about robots.

Mother's Day Preparations

We're getting ready for another Mother's Day here. I just figured out what I want to get mom. I just asked her to make a Mother's Day breakfast for herself. She laughed at me! Can you believe she laughed at my thoughtful gift?

Sharing Conversations & My Good Friends

I'm learning about sharing but I'm confused why daddy & mommy always tell me to share & then take things away. Granted usually they are things like scissors & permanent markers, but why not share everything? Below is an example of some of the sharing conversations going on around here. And yes, this is an actual conversation occurring merely hours ago.

Me: "Thank you for being a good sharer mommy."

Mommy: "Oh yeah...What did I share?"

Me: "Your drink."

Mommy: "Oh, I didn't know I shared my drink with you."

Also today I told mommy that we're good friends & that daddy is also a good friend of mine. If you can't be good friends with the people you play with the most, then you need to change your attitude I say!

I Miss My Granna

Granna came and we did lots of things together. She read to me, let me sleep next to her, took me to see Nim's Island, blew bubbles with me, and much more! Daddy was gone though and I missed his rough play. I am ready for my life to get back to normal. Pretty much mommy feeds Trinity all the time. And if we go anywhere it takes forever to do anything because of the baby. Sometimes I like having a little sister and sometimes I'm tired of having a baby. I am told she will grow up though and it won't always be like this. Before Granna left she took this picture of our family. We're silly!

Big Boy Cup

I just drank out of a big boy cup without spilling. Now you wonder why this event should require a posting...but you must realize the big boy cup I'm speaking of is also known as a gallon of milk. Granted the jug was only 1/4 of the way full but it was fun to drink out of the jug, no middle man cup to be washed! I don't know why mommy isn't super pleased with me but she seems to think a cup is required. But little does she know I am now capable of doing all kinds of things she deems as gross. So if you come over to my house for dinner, just remember I call dibs on the jug of milk.

My Dogs

At dinner the other night we were discussing brothers and sisters. I learned that Aunt Mimi is daddy's sister. I knew Aunt Jamie was mommy's sister but learned that Uncle John is her big brother. I told mom and dad that I thought Parker and Ethan were my brothers. They said no they aren't. But then I replied "Ethan and Parker, those are my boys. I gotta take care of my dogs." I didn't understand why they laughed at that, but it does make me happy to make people laugh.

I Am A Big Brother!!!!

I had a little sister named Trinity on Saturday. My first words to her were "She's cute". I love her so much already and am going to stick up for her and take care of her. I'm so glad she's here. We had Pappaw, Granna, and Aunt Jamie here for a while before she was born and until she came home from the hospital. Now Nanny, Aunt Mimi, and Austen are here. I'm having a great time playing with my oldest cousin.

I also had my babies - the cat and dog that have been in my belly as long as Trinity was in mommy's belly. When I got to the hospital, they were there. I named my cat Jacob and dog Spot. I love them so much and am glad they are in my life. Daddy had his orange flashlight too. Oh and I gave Trinity a toy and she gave me a Cars car.

This morning daddy and mommy had to take Trinity to the doctor so while they were gone, I took a pen and drew all over my arms. I told Aunt Mimi that I want to be a rock star. I promptly got a bath.

Sickness and elbow thoughts

As I have come down with an illness called strep throat this week I've been doing a lot of thinking. (Usually my thinking is preceded by a phrase I learned from My Friends Tigger and Pooh "Think, think, think".) I just want to share that when you are sick or not feeling well there is nothing in the world like rubbing or scratching your mommy's elbow. I keep it a secret why I like it so much but do share that I like it. And elbow rubbing or scratching is best when combined with a cold cup of chocolate milk. Since Christmas mommy has been only letting me get my elbow "fix" in the early morning. Consequently I run around asking "Is it morning yet" quite a lot. However since I've been diagnosed with an illness I have squeezed a bit more elbow time out of mom. She tells me she's not sharing the elbow with the baby, so I hope she's telling the truth. I don't know what I'll do if she takes away the elbow for good.

I think I'm feeling better finally today by the way. No more fever!

Easter was fun and frustrating

I'm having a problem lately that I need to confess about - I'm greedy. I have been having a lot of trouble lately understanding why I can't have everything I want and when I want it. Mommy tells Daddy that it is just my age, but I'm a business man (as seen in my choice of Easter outfits) and have needs.

Well for Easter celebrations here is what we did. The first egg hunt we had was about 2 weeks before Easter (which by the way was the earliest it has been since 1913 and the earliest it will be for a couple hundred years since it fell on March 23rd) with the mom's group from church. We ended up hunting eggs in Bogan Park because Ms Barbie was so nice to have us over to her house. She has her own personal sidewalk up to the park. I got about 17 eggs and wasn't too happy that I didn't get more. Mommy was not happy with me. The next thing we did was go to our church's Egg Drop. A helicopter dropped eggs out over a field and so many people showed up that I didn't get to pick up a single egg. However there were some nice people that gave me some eggs. The helicopter was pretty cool. Oh and I forgot to mention that I was so unhappy before the drop I cried myself to sleep. The last thing we did for Easter was to go to church which is always fun. And then we headed to Ethan's house for an afternoon of egg hunting (I actually behaved myself!), playing, and eating. Apparently it was Mr Stephen's birthday too.

Other stuff that is going on would include Mommy getting increasingly tired as her belly swells beyond belief. I keep hearing that the baby is coming soon. If that happens I may not get back here to post for a while being consuming and all with big brotherhood. Oh and Ethan is going to be a big brother. I'll have 5-6 months on him to teach him what to do. My cat and dog in my belly are getting very active. Mommy tells me they will be at the hospital when I come to visit my new brother/sister. Another thing going on is that Pumba is sick now. He has bad days and good days but it has been tough since I can't play with him like I used to. We're hoping he isn't in pain.

I Slept Through My First ER Visit

I stepped on the edge of a stool the other night at church group & the other end popped up hitting me in the chin. It hurt right off but didn't bleed too much. Mommy & the other adults thought it looked deep. I thought I needed a doctor to put ointment on it & a bug bandaid. Daddy was flying home at the time & mommy couldn't find any doctor offices open after 9pm. So we headed to the er. Ms Stephanie came too. We had a good time on the way to the hospital listening to music and I went to sleep. Apparently mommy went on and I went to the er. The next morning mommy told me what happened. They thought I might need a stitch in triage so they sent us to a room. I slept on a big table and some men came and super glued my chin back together and put something called surgi strips on my chin. It still is scabbed over a bit, but I'm all ok. I guess I will have to be awake next time I go to see what it is really like.

Chuck E. Cheese

Daddy & Mommy took me to Chuck E. Cheese about a week ago because I had no accidents for a week. I'm now wearing big boy underwear & don't know why I waited so long to do this. I'll probably throw mommy some curve balls when the baby comes. But now I know what it feels like to be big!

Sleep Over at a Hotel

Daddy and Mommy did something special for me this past weekend. They got us a hotel room where there was an indoor swimming pool and had some of my friends go with us! Mommy kept telling me that it was a special treat for me because I'm about to become a big brother. I keep telling her that there's no baby in her belly but she doesn't believe me.

Anyway Ethan, Parker, and Lizzie went with us and we had fun swimming, eating pizza, watching a movie, eating popcorn, and playing. We had breakfast about 3 times the next morning including leftover pizza. What's a sleepover without leftover pizza for breakfast? A good time was had by all.

I'm an Entrepreneur

Whatever that word entrepreneur is, that's what I am. The other day Daddy went through MY snack cabinet and pulled out a pack of Pringles chips. I told Daddy he could have them if he gave me some money for them. Now I don't know what all the talk about "Daddy makes the money to buy everything we have" was about because if that were true, he could have paid me some cold, hard cash for those chips. Of course he didn't come through, so I'm currently looking for new business prospects. Does anyone have any suggestions? I tried tree trimming and lawn aerating already so let's keep it to something where I don't have to get outside to do.

Oh and I've also renamed the Kingdom Safari class at church from the "Giraffe" class to the "Jesus" class. Let's just call it what it is folks. I mean we're not there to learn about zoo animals, are we? I guess maybe next Sunday I won't hit everyone so I can actually enjoy myself a little more. I think I was just feeling angst about the class not being appropriately named. :-)

Daddy Taught Me About Fashion Last Night

Last night as daddy was helping me get my pjs on for bed, he gave me some fashion tips. He says you should pull your pants up as high as you can. I frankly think I look silly but if daddy thinks it is cool, then it must be cool. Mommy just laughed at us and said something about making sure she had some bribe pictures for when I get older. Anyway, I wanted to show off my new style. Now I just need to add a shirt that is cut off about 6" above my belly to complete the "Nathan" look. Mommy told me that daddy used to wear his shirts cut off like that when they met. For some reason he doesn't have any of those shirts anymore.

Today is Nanny's birthday as well as Cinco's. We have celebrated by making a doggie cake for Cinco and brownies for us. I sang to Nanny this morning. Oh and it is Cinco's 5th birthday. Since I know some Spanish words from Dora, that means she is as old as her name!

I'm a Big Cousin!

Although I don't really understand this yet, I'm told that I am now a big cousin. Up until Saturday I've just been the little cousin to Austen. But mommy told me that Aunt Amy and Uncle John had John Foster on Saturday. Mommy put a picture here, but honestly I'm losing interest in all this baby stuff. I'm beginning to think it isn't such a good idea after all. Mommy is always teary eyed when she looks at Foster's picture and she only has 4 different ones so far.

An Interview with Cooper

Blatantly copying from Ethan's blog:

Favorite Food: hot dogs
Favorite Drink: milk
Favorite Song: ABC's
Favorite Book: The Man With the Yellow Hat (Curious George)
Favorite TV Show: Jack's Big Music Show (depends on when you ask him of course)
Favorite Movie: Cars
Favorite Animal: Tiny (his stuffed dog)
Favorite Bug: Bumblebee
Food You Don’t Like: Corn
TV Show You Don’t Like: Doodlebops
Favorite Place to Eat: Moe's
Favorite Store: Publix
Favorite Shoes: Tennis shoes
Favorite thing to do with Mommy: Rub her elbow
Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Play Legos
Favorite thing to do at home: Just play with Legos and Special Cars
Favorite “fun” thing to do: Just play
What do you want to do when you grow up?: I want to be a space ship driver
Are you going to have kids when you grow up?: Yes
How many?: a lot
What kinds of things to do you think about a lot?: I think a book that doesn't rhyme
How does it feel to be three?: Feels good
Is there anything else you want to say?: Nope

A Sad Day for Mommy

This morning mommy did something that I am semi excited about and she is semi sad about - she signed me up for preschool. I'll be starting in September and in a 3 year old class. I guess I'll be the oldest kid in the class as I'll turn 4 on the 3rd day. One thing I'm super excited about is that my bud Ethan is going to be in my class!

Blog Catch Up

Wow - it has been a long time since I've been able to post something on here. We were gone for a long time for Christmas and then daddy asked mommy to put the laptop in the shop when we got back. The laptop came home yesterday although there are still problems with it, but mommy can at least put up a posting!

Let's see - Christmas was wonderful. I had such a nice time with my family. First we went to Austen's house and stayed the night. Aunt Mimi had her knee fixed while we went to lunch with daddy's friend Mr Cory and his family. Then we went to where the Gators play football at the Swamp! Mommy was snapping pictures left and right and telling me things like "That's where I sat as a little girl and dreamed of going to college at UF." How silly she is. We headed on to Papa and Nanny's. We did things like go to St Augustine (mommy did that "this is where we honeymooned and this is the artist in mommy and daddy's bedroom", etc.). It was all good though because I ate some good fish and had gelato! We also saw Santa Claus come by on a firetruck, saw lots of really nice lights at First Coast lights, searched for Cars characters, and had the Erickson side over for Christmas day.

So Santa Claus came, the elf went back to the North Pole, and I finished my Lego advent calendar. I got all kinds of cool presents like a magnifying glass, binoculars, special cars (Hotwheels), a bike, a bat, balls, and glove, games, a doodlepro, Cars watch, and much more. It is embarrassing really how many presents I got. Mommy and daddy are saving most of the money I got for shoes and clothes too since they think I have too much money in my college fund for a 3 year old.

We saw the Ratliff side at Mammaw's for a night too. We had lots of fun and of course Uncle Mike treated me to ice cream as usual. When we finally came home I was surprised because I thought we had permanently moved into the van. Oh and I didn't mention that we were all sick during the vacation and daddy continued to be ill for a week or so after we came home.

On New Years Eve, we headed over to the Fun Basement or otherwise known as the Lowe home. I played and then Ethan, Parker, and I went to sleep in Ethan's bedroom. Mommy and daddy said I just picked my nose until I went to sleep. We came home the next year they said (although usually when they say that, a year feels like a lot longer).

The weekend of the 13th of January we went to Uncle John and Aunt Amy's new house in Coaling. It is really nice and a lot bigger than their old home. Aunt Amy is going to have a baby that I'm told will be another cousin for me to play with. It was funny to see her belly and my mommy's belly together. They both have what I like to call "speed bumps". Anyway the women all went off to give Aunt Amy a shower, but I think baths are much more fun.

That Wednesday night, I had a first! It snowed here and stuck for a while. We went out before dinner and played in the snow. We threw snowballs at each other and my neighborhood friends were out there to play with as well. It was so cold, but a lot of fun. Mommy said she liked the snow here because it is nice to see but it goes away. We saved some in the freezer!

Mommy told us we weren't going anywhere until our baby comes when we got back from AL. But that Wednesday night, they told me we were going to see Austen the next day. We arrived there in the middle of the night Thursday night and Austen was already asleep. But I got to spend the entire day on Friday with my Austen. Aunt Mimi and Uncle Billy (he let me throw play doh!) watched me while daddy and mommy went to do something else. We had lunch the next day with Mr Jason and Ms Amy. They are so cool and live near the beach. Anyway, when we got home there was more snow and it stayed for like 3 days!

On the 20th, we went to Medieval Times for dinner and a show. We had a black and white knight to yell for even though he didn't win. It was a great time and we had the Stewarts and Greenes go with us which made it even more special. Did I mention that we went to the castle to celebrate daddy's birthday? He is an old man now that he is 30. In fact I have told both mommy and daddy that they are old because I felt they needed to know.

I'm keeping my pull up dry finally. I still haven't given into the whole going number 2 in the potty but I think I might in time. Mommy said that I have to go all in the potty before I start school next year. We visited a couple of schools and mommy says she's signing me up here in a day or two. I don't know much about what to expect but I had fun visiting the school. It looks cool at least.

This morning mommy and daddy were stressed out because I tried to give Pumba some hot water. Some water leaked over the edge and got on the floor. No big deal. Then later mommy and daddy were stressed out because the ceiling in the basement was wet and coming apart. I don't have a clue how that happened, but I'm told it was due to my giving Pumba water but I don't understand how that could be.

Well I guess that's all for now. I hope that my next posting won't take so long.