Family Vacation

I just returned from a week's vacation at Grayton Beach in Destin, Florida. I went with Daddy, Mommy, Gigi, Nana, Aunt Kathleen, Uncle Charles, "Grandaddy" Craig, Aunt Cat, my cousin Andrea and her baby Dylan, and my cousin Briana. Our house had 8 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, a swimming pool in the backyard, and it was one block down the street from The Red Bar.

Riding in my wagon to the beach was one of my favorite parts of the vacation!

I had a wonderful time running up and down the beach and playing in the water. The water was crystal clear all week, and my family did lots of snorkeling. We did have to deal with jellyfish a couple of days and had a couple of shark sightings. That was awfully exciting!

I had an absolute blast playing in the sand!

Aunt Kathleen taught me how to build sand castles with my buckets. Dumping the sand out was my favorite part.

Tuesday night we had dinner at the Hurricane Oyster Bar. It is my Daddy's favorite restaurant. We also ate at Cafe 331, The Red Bar, and D&K Cafe.

"Drumming" my lips is one of my favorite activities now.

I learned to say "please" this past week. It sounds kind of like peeezzz. And, I am now calling my blankeys by name - "bees".

Birthday Party

I went to Lillianna's birthday party last week. It was at Rhodes Ferry Park which is on the Tennessee River in Decatur. All of my little friends were there. It was very hot, but we didn't mind. We had a great time playing on the playground and eating pizza and cake.

looking at fish in the river with my Da-Da

playing in that good 'ole Alabama red clay

Lillianna and Sam playing with the presents

"Juice"

I have reached a very big milestone in the past two days. I can now open all the doors in the house! All of the handles are levers (not knobs), so baby proofing them will be much more difficult. I have had great fun getting into new places by myself!

Today I opened the pantry door and found the cooking oils.

Immediately I started saying "juice, juice, juice."

After explaining that it wasn't juice, mommy said that I had to finish my milk before I could have any juice. Not liking that answer, I smiled at her and turned the vegetable oil upside down attempting to pour my own juice.

a few explanations:

pink stains on my face = leftover beets from lunch - "mmmmm"

flip flops in the floor of the pantry = carrying them around with me after my mommy's refusal to put them on and go outside; still hoping she will change her mind after lunch

blankeys on the floor = I was carrying them around the house in a desperate search for my very favorite blue blankey. which is still missing!!!!! Have you seen it?

Rosie's

Rosie's is one of our favorite restaurants. It is located in Madison and has awesome Mexican food! Gigi took my mama and me last week. We had a blast!

Just recently I have discovered the joy of dipping foods. My daddy is a huge fan of condiments, so we always have some kind of "dipping sauce" with our meals. I will dip many different kinds of foods into whatever sauce I can get my hands on. Sometimes I like to lick the sauce off and dip again. The food doesn't always get eaten. Some think that is yucky, which is fine by me, because then I get my very own bowl of dipping sauce.

not too sure about that bite

TUCK!

Stuck is my latest favorite word. I pronounce it - "tuck." The first time I used it was when one of my blocks was stuck inside a toy. Since then I have found many other ways to use it - some applicable and some not. These days I am finding myself "tuck" very frequently in many different places. In these pictures I was saying "tuck" many times, because I couldn't position myself properly to get into the booster seat. I tend to get frustrated very easily and quickly.

Finally!!! un"tuck"

TANTRUMS

I am getting very good at throwing temper tantrums. I certainly have a mind of my own. I know what I want, when I want it, and how I want it done. Can't you see that I'm angry here? Get that camera out of my face! That is not the kind of attention I want right now.

15 minutes into the crying fit......... Ok....maybe I'm finished now. I'll think about it for a minute. NEVER MIND! I'm angry and will continue to let you know that for at least another 15 minutes!

Shhhhhh!

Lately, when I see a baby sleeping on t.v. or hear someone say to be quiet, I've been putting my pointer finger to my mouth and saying "shhhh." I learned this from the gorilla in my favorite book Goodnight Gorilla. (He puts his finger to his mouth and says "shhh" when he doesn't want the zookeeper to know that he has taken the keys to the animal cages.) Today, I was watching Sesame Street while eating lunch. Norah Jones was on the show singing and playing the piano. She was singing to the letter of the day - Y - because Y did not show up on time for their playdate. "Don't know why Y didn't come..." As soon as I heard Norah begin to sing, I looked at my mommy, put my finger to my lips, and said "shhhhhh." Why, you may ask? Well, when I was a little baby I used to listen to Norah Jones in my nursery to help me go to sleep. Am I a smart boy, or what?!

The Dog Food Game

This is my new favorite game! I love to dump all of the food (and sometimes the water) out of the dog bowls. Of course, this has been one of my favorite things to do since I was able to crawl. However, the game has become much more fun as I've gotten older. You see....the funny part is....now I know what I am doing and that I shouldn't be doing it. But it gets even funnier..... I am beginning to do very well at following simple commands. When I am told to put the dog food back in the bowl, I intentionally do it very slowly. So....the impatient grown ups will sit down and begin to help me clean it up. Once we get the majority of the food back in the bowl, I look up, grin, and quickly tump it or throw it all out again. It's a never-ending cycle. What a fun game! Duh...you might say...there could be an ending to this little game. And, yes. The grownups have gotten smarter and started keeping the dog bowls on the counter. Lizzy is allowed to eat at mealtimes (when I'm in my highchair) and at naptimes. But, you see....one of my greatest qualities - my persistance - has been learned from my puppy dog Lizzy. Thus, she barks continuously at the counter when she wants her food and water - long enough to drive everyone crazy. And, as we all know, grownups are very forgetful, and I quickly run to the bowls when I realize they are on the floor. Maybe you can come play this game with me real soon! :)

Terrific "Tommy Toes"

Gigi came in last night with a bowl full of "baby" tomatoes. Immediately, I was ready to eat them and kept asking for "more, more." I still wanted more after they were all gone, so I went outside to find her tomato plant. I decided I could get them for myself. I didn't need any help from those silly 'ole grown ups.

I picked them right off the vine and ate them immediately. They were sooooo yummy! Mom and Gigi had to get a picture of this, because it was such a special moment. Apparently my mom used to do the same thing when she was about my age. Her neighbors had tomato plants. She would walk next door, pick them right off the plant, and eat them like apples. Then, she always wanted "more." Later on in life, she would pick them from her Great Aunt's garden, and they - to this day - call them "tommy toes." I think this will always be one of my favorite things to do! (in addition to watching football of course! )