Apology Tour stop #2

After I visited Aunt Jess, Dad took me down to see Grandma and Grandpa for the second and final stop on my Apology Tour. I had a chance to spend some quality time with them without any of us being sick, which was really nice. Grandma and Grandpa have some great toys for me to play with, including a firehouse, but at the moment my favorite toy at their home is the big box of jewelry, with kid-friendly necklaces and bracelets and silly glasses (I think Aunt Jess used to have this when she was a kid). I have a similar box at home that I play with every day, but Grandma and Grandpa's is much better because it has cool stuff like this:


In addition to making up with them, Dad took me back to two of my all-time favorite places: the Please Touch Museum (where I got myself soaked playing with the rubber duckies in the water and went on the carousel four times) and the G-Boys Christmas store. I watch that G-Boys video everyday so I know every inch of that store now! This time I kept going back to the dancing Santas and the giant snowman lawn display, so Dad edited those portions all together in this video of my triumphant return:



Have a great weekend everyone!

Apology Tour stop #1

My Apology Tour was a big success. The first stop was visiting Aunt Jess up in Connecticut. Her apartment is really nice and very big. She had the coolest refrigerator magnets that I kept playing with. In one magnet set, you could dress Reese Witherspoon in different outfits (I kept saying "Reese! Reese!"), like a wedding dress and then jeans. Dad said he had got it a few years ago to promote her film Sweet Home Alabama. Anyway, I easily spent over an hour playing with the magnets, and taking them off the fridge and moving them elsewhere in the apartment.

But even better than the magnets was the location of her apartment. It was literally next door to the West Hartford Children's Museum. And you know that I can't resist going to a children's museum, so I dragged Mom, Dad and Jess there and had a blast. Here's a long video from my day there, but the best part is at the beginning, when I touch the baby dino. I loved that so much that I kept coming back there all day long!



Aunt Jess seems to have forgiven me for getting her sick over Thanksgiving, so I hope she invites me up to visit again soon.

My new friend Santa

Last year, my fear of white and grey facial hair guaranteed that you wouldn't catch me anywhere near Santa Claus. But a lot has changed since then, so Mom and Dad were curious to see how I would react to Santa this year. So last weekend they took me over to the local baby boutique, where Santa was making an appearance. I went on Friday afternoon with Dad, who took a long weekend and spent five whole days with me.

For the past week or so, I've been recognizing Santa everywhere and saying his name alot, but it's a lot different to actually see the real guy. So when I first saw Santa at the store, I was freaked out and wanted Dad to take me away pronto. Then when Santa started talking to me I actually broke down and cried (I was still about 10 feet away from him at this point). Finally, I calmed down enough to give him five before we left. But a funny thing happened when I got home: I couldn't stop talking about Santa and how he gave me a candy cane filled with M&Ms (whatever those are) and I gave him five and he was so "nice" and he said "ho ho ho!" I forgot all about how I was scared of him. So Mom and Dad took me back to the store two days later to see him again. I was still afraid at first but this time I actually posed for a few photos with him (and got another candy cane). A huge improvement from Friday! Take a look at this video, which includes the aftermath of Friday's meeting and what happened Sunday when I went back to the store.



You don't see it in the video, but Santa even gave me a kiss at the end! Today, Dad took me back to the store to do some shopping, and I was so disappointed that Santa wasn't there. The workers at the store gave me a third candy cane and said that Santa wanted me to have it. So I spent the rest of the day telling Mom and Dad that Santa was "gone." They told me he's very busy this month but that doesn't change the fact that I really miss the guy. I hope I see him again soon!

G-Girl

Though I was sick for most of my visit with Grandma and Grandpa last weekend, I was well enough for Mom and Dad to bring me to G-Boys, a garden center that puts on a huge holiday display every year. Dad has been going there every year since he was a kid. I can see why, because it was so much fun. Between the trees and the Santas and the other decorations, I had no problem getting into the Christmas spirit:



That video left out the best part, which is the store's Winter Wonderland. Mom and Dad promised we'd see Santa at the end, so let's see how that turned out:



So Mom and Dad seemed disappointed because they said Santa wasn't there like he was supposed to be, but I don't know what they were talking about because I saw a bunch of Santas in that store. But they keep talking about the "real" Santa, whatever that means. Maybe I'll find out in the coming days.

Dad has a long vacation weekend so he's taking me on what he's calling the Apology Tour: visiting all the people I got sick last week so I can apologize and have some fun with them. Tomorrow we're seeing Aunt Jess and Sunday we might be seeing Grandma and Grandpa (and going back to G-Boys in search of this "real" Santa). Hope you all have a great weekend.

And by the way, have you all forgotten how to send me email? I haven't gotten anything in weeks!

Tree's company

Let me start off with a health update. I'm feeling much better. I'm still not able to have any dairy products yet, though I hear I might finally have some yogurt coming my way this afternoon. And Babcia dropped off my "samples" at the lab today, so we'll know in a couple days whether I'm completely in the clear or not.

I was back at the doctor's yesterday, but this time it was for my 18-month checkup. I did great as always, and even kept it together during my three vaccination shots. Mostly I just wanted to get back to the waiting room, to see the fish in the big fish tank and play with the toys. As for my latest stats, I actually lost a little weight—this virus apparently turned out to be quite the diet. I'm 27 lbs. 7 oz., an ounce less than my last checkup three months ago. I did grow an inch, so I'm now 35 inches tall.

Now on to the good stuff. When we got home last Saturday, Mom and Dad worked hard Saturday night as I slept to put up the Christmas tree so I could be surprised on Sunday morning. As you can see, it didn't quite work out that way...though I did eventually come around.



My favorite ornaments are the Dunkin Donuts coffee cup, the Sesame Street characters and an ornament of a ski resort that moves and plays music. I love running over to the three and looking at all of them!

Check back tomorrow for even more Christmas-themed videos.

Keep on truckin'

It used to be that when we went into town, I had a one-track mind about getting myself over to the toy store. But now, I'm even more interested in going to look at the fire truck (or as I call it, "engine"). The problem is, most of the time when Mom or Dad takes me down to the firehouse, the trucks are gone. Where did they go? "Zoom!"

But when we got home after Thanksgiving, Dad took me down there and lo and behold, the truck was right there. I was so thrown off my game I didn't even know how to react. So while I always say "touch!" whenever a fire truck races by on the street, I got cold feet at touching it when I was finally up close. Take a look:

Going viral

This is a pretty historic photo, and not just because it's my first time eating an ice cream cone (which I did last weekend). It's also the last time in about a week that I ate pretty much anything, especially anything dairy.

Yes, my stomach virus is still going strong after a week, and I've managed to infect just about everyone who has come into contact with me. After rebounding a bit on Thanksgiving Day I backslid the following day. In a repeat of Wednesday, I was lethargic all morning Friday and then vomited up my lunch...and soon after I threw up a second time for good measure. So Mom and Dad took me to the doctor—actually, it was the office of Dad's pediatrician. The doctor there prescribed me a pill to help with the vomiting, but said otherwise this thing had to run its course.

So, I missed Thanksgiving dinner except for some potatoes. And how did I repay Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Jess for being so nice to be and nursing me back to health during my visit? By passing along my stomach virus to all three of them Friday night, then leaving them behind Saturday morning as I headed back home with Mom and Dad. So the final tally is six people I infected: Mom, Babcia, Dido, Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Jess. Sorry guys, and I'll get you next time, Dad!


Now, I feel much better and am getting my appetite and energy back, but I haven't completely shaken this thing. I still have diarrhea today so I had to go back to the doctor's office. They said they need to analyze some stool samples, which means that Mom, Dad, Babcia and Dido have a lot of fun ahead of them in the coming days! I also can't have dairy products for a few more days, which is not good news to someone who demands yogurt and milkshakes on at least an hourly basis.

Let's hope I finally kick this thing, because I have big plans for the coming weekend and I'd hate to have to miss them.