Back to pool

Michael Phelps isn't the only one who knows his away around a pool. After visiting Audrey and her family in Connecticut, we spent time with Aunt Ileana and her kids Lucie and Andrew. They have a backyard pool, so I went for a dip with Mom. I was finally able to try out the floatie device that Mom and Dad initially got for me (they had ordered it before they found that super-compact one with the canopy that we took to Turks and Caicos).


Lucie was nice enough to let me play with her inflatable pool toys, including a dolphin and an alligator. She also kept entertaining me by doing handstands underwater. I would watch her feet poke out of the water after she went under.

When we dried off, I also had a blast running around their big backyard with Lucie. I just kept squealing and squealing! Here's a video of my pool time with Mom and Lucie:



Between all the fun I had with Audrey and Lucie on Saturday, it's little wonder that I was so tired out that I almost slept 12 hours that night. I slept all the way until 8 in the morning, which is the first time I've done that in months! You're welcome, Mom and Dad.

Joyriding with Audrey

I was visting friends and family in Connecticut over the weekend. Since Mom's friend Kirsten was also in town for a visit, that meant I got to catch up with her daughter Audrey, who's a big fan of my blog. Audrey was nice enough to take me around for a spin in her toy car.


Her brother Carl was also there, and I was fascinated by her grandmother's two dogs. Here's a look at how I did behind the wheel:



We're going to visit Audrey again on Saturday, which should be even more fun.

Ask Julia: 8/9/08

It's been a few weeks since I've done an Ask Julia posting, so I thought it was the perfect way to start the weekend. When I'm done putting this together, I'm going with Mom and Dad up to Connecticut for the weekend. So I don't have a moment to lose.

First up is someone who I haven't gotten questions from in a long time, Grandma. And she's got some good ones:

LOVE your "Fiddler on the Roof" fiddling!! What other musical instrument do you think you're destined to tackle?
This one's easy: piano. I spotted a toy piano in the basement (Mom and Dad are trying to be clever by keeping it in its bag, but I saw it anyway), so that should be next on my list.

Your loyal viewers haven't had a recent update on your teeth! How many are you (and your parents) counting these days?
I know it's hard to believe, but I still only have six visible teeth. There might be some others that are hidden away, but that's all that Mom and Dad can find. That doesn't seem right, considering how much I've been teething in the last month. I sure hope they come in soon, because with all the eating and chewing I'm doing, I need all the chompers I can get!

Also, I know you are enjoying (and loving) lots of different foods now (thanks to your Mom and Babcia), but besides bananas and ice cream, what are some of your other favorites?
Ah, another easy one. Whatever is on Mom's dinner plate, is what my favorite food of the moment is. Every night when she comes home from work and sits down to eat, I manage to finagle my way into her lap so I can help her dig in to her meal. So what if I just ate my own dinner a half-hour earlier?

PS: I'd like to see a picture of you pushing your "corn popper"!
Since you wrote in to me, I guess you're entitled to a request. I'll get right on that one!

Aunt Paula also checked in with a few new questions:

Do you have any more vacations planned?
Sure do. Mom, Babcia, Dido and I are going to Wildwood in a week. Dad apparently would rather work than spend time with me, so he's staying behind.

It looks like you mostly walk now. Do you ever go back to crawling?
Crawling? What's that?

Do you still play with your baby doll?
I still treat my baby doll the same way—i.e. go all Hannibal Lecter on her—but Mom has noticed that I've taking more of an interest in the baby dolls I see at the toy store. So as soon as she convinces Dad to get me a new one, perhaps I'll be a bit more respectful of her facial features.

Are there any new toys that you need?
Need? Nope. But want? That's a whole different story. Everywhere I turn there's something new that I want!

Well, I'm off to Connecticut, so thanks Aunt Paula and Grandma for the questions, and I'll see you next week. Why don't you keep yourself busy in the meantime by sending a few questions my way?

You can't have a pool without p-o-o

This week has really gotten away from me! I'll chalk it up to my elongated sleep schedule this week. For the first few days, I was logging over 11 (and one night, almost 12) hours of sleep. So that's left me with less hours in the day to blog.

So let's get back to it. Last Sunday, Mom and Dad let me play in my backyard pool. And in a daring move, they followed Babcia and Dido's lead and skipped my swim diapers, meaning that I wasn't wearing anything under my swimsuit.


Well I quickly showed them, and went poo in my swimsuit. Mom and Dad watched me crouch over and make a familiar face, then it looked like I had a little tail. It was fun watching them whisk me into the house. I don't think they'll make that mistake again!


But then I was back out, with a new swimsuit. Here's a video of the day, showing both my pre-poo and post-poo outfits.



I still have some Ask Julia questions to tackle before we get too far into the weekend, so I'll try to post those early tomorrow.

Journey to the center of Central Park

Mom and Dad had big plans for us on Saturday. We were going to visit either the Central Park Zoo or the New York City Children's Museum. But then the weather started acting up—it was like a monsoon out there!—and I fell asleep just as we arrived in the city. So the zoo and museum plans were scrapped, and then Dad abandoned us to go see a Yankee game (something called Old Timers Day). But all was not lost, because the weather cleared up and Mom and I hit Central Park with Dad's friends Eric and Sara.


I checked out one of the playgrounds and climbed on some of the statues. Mom, Eric and Sara took turns playing with (and filming) me:



It was lots of fun, and Dad missed out on all of it!

Don't go chasing Waterfalls

I wasn't around to see the last big New York exhibit—The Gates—so I wanted to catch the New York City Waterfalls exhibit this summer, which is a collection of manmade waterfalls constructed around the city. Mom and Dad took me last weekend. We saw two of them close up (with the Statue of Liberty as a nice bonus), but it wasn't the glorious experience I had hoped for.



Sorry, guys, the videos can't all be winners!

Hat girl

I started the week with "bat girl," and I'm ending it with "hat girl." Now that I've grown to love hats so much, I'm no longer satisfied with just my own collection. I like to wear Mom's as well, even when they're so big that they swallow up my whole head:



Before I sign off for the week, I want to make a plea for you to send me Ask Julia questions. I haven't needed any for a couple weeks because I was busy recapping my trips, but I'm ready to tackle some new queries. Especially from those readers who have been silent for the whole summer!