Finally, success!

I knew that with perseverence and a little muscle I would eventually conquer the safety lock on the kitchen cupboard. My hard work finally paid off. For all those other toddlers out there who have been locked out of their kitchen cabinets, just keep pulling really hard and at some point the plastic just breaks.



I found quite the treasure trove once the cupboard opened. No wonder Mommy and Daddy want to keep me out of there. There's all kinds of fun stuff for me to break, tear, throw, and possibly hurt myself on.



Here are the spoils of my success.

Seahurst Beach

The Sunday before last was a beautiful sunny day. Mommy and daddy thought it would be fun to go to Seahurst beach and walk around to enjoy the weather. Unfortunately, I took an extra long nap that day and we got to the park just before dusk, but we still managed to have some fun as the sun got ready to set.

My favorite things were the birds and the muddy leaves that lined the walkway.

I love being outside and I was so excited to be in this new place that I just wanted to run everywhere. But I'm not very good at running yet, so daddy had to hold onto me and make sure I didn't fall over.

Bad Boy Radar

Daddy says I have a "bad boy radar." Anytime I'm supposed to stay away from something, I automatically head in that direction. I can't help it if making things off limits makes them more interesting. Climbing in the fireplace (no fire burning) is too cool. And if a cupboard is left unlocked I figure it's because Mommy wants me to get something out for her. The garbage in the bathroom sure is harder to reach when it's on the counter. And if the gate to the stairs is left open then I'm guessing I'm supposed to climb the stairs, whether or not someone is around.

On New Year's Eve day, Daddy decided to paint the inside of our front doors. Mommy kept me out of the house for most of the day so Daddy could get this done. I thought for sure Daddy would want my help, but apparently not. At one point during the day, I was confined to the stairs so that I wouldn't get in Daddy's way.

I thought the gate was supposed to keep me from going up the stairs, not coming down.

Later that day when the project was finished, Daddy kept trying to divert my attention away from the front door because it was still sticky. My bad boy radar kicked into high gear. I wasn't sure why I was supposed to stay away from the front door, I just knew there must be something really interesting over there. So when Daddy wasn't looking, I snuck over to the door, spread out my arms and threw my whole body against it. Luckily the paint was already dry.

Did I mention that under the bathroom sink if a fun hangout?

Christmas

Wow! It has been a busy couple of weeks! We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house opening presents with my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

When I woke up Christmas morning, mommy and daddy gave me my very last bottle ever! They kept telling me to enjoy it, but I didn't really understand why until I woke up the next morning and there was no bottle waiting for me. Oh, well. Sippy cups are just as good.

Then daddy (with a little help from me) started handing out the boxes that had been sitting under the tree for weeks. I was glad to see we were finally going to do something with those!

So, it turns out, you're supposed to tear the paper off the boxes and underneath are new toys and books for ME! (Although mommy and daddy got a few toys for themselves too.) One of my favorite presents was a cell phone that looks just like mommy and daddy's!

Can you tell what daddy got mommy for Christmas? I bet she didn't have a clue what it was until she opened it because he did such a great job disguising it. (And even though it looks like it's a diaper bag, it's actually just a giant purse that she can put all of my stuff in along with hers.)

I was too tired to stay awake for long, so mommy and daddy put me down for a nap and finished opening presents without me. They sure made a mess! Looks like daddy needed a nap too!

Mmmm....sweets

I love sweets. When Daddy gets a Frosty from Wendy's or a Slurpee from 7-11, I make him share it with me. If Mommy is eating a cookie, I want some. I recently discovered donuts and gingersnaps. Mommy and Daddy had put a plate of leftover cookies from my birthday party on the end table, and when they weren't looking, I took three gingersnaps. YUM!

Apparently gingersnaps are pretty messy.

When my Aunt Kari came for a visit, she and Mommy bought chocolate donuts as a special treat for breakfast. They were delicious!




It turns out donuts are messy too.

By the way, did you notice my new haircut? Daddy told Mommy that we should just buzz it off because it grows so fast anyway. So while Daddy was at work, Mommy took me to the hair place with the nice lady who usually cuts all of our hair. The lady asked Mommy if Daddy knew we were there (Daddy usually comes with us) and mommy said yes. Then when Mommy told here to buzz off my hair she said, "Does Brian know it's going to be this short?" Mommy said yes again. Apparently the lady didn't really think Daddy would like it. I started having doubts too and made it very difficult for her to cut my hair. It turns out Daddy was very shocked to see my hair so short everywhere. He thought mommy would get the back buzzed but keep it a little longer on top. Ooops. I guess next time he should be more specific about what he wants.

I have a secret...

and Daddy's trying to shake it out of me.


But you can probably guess what it is if you look closely...

This is the first picture of my new brother or sister (Daddy swears it's a brother). He or she is due June 19th. I'm going to be a big brother!

What's a big brother???

Happy Birthday to me--sort of.

I turned 1 on Thanksgiving, but there wasn't much of a celebration. This is how I spent most of my birthday:

I was miserable. I started getting sick on Tuesday afternoon and just kept getting worse. I had a fever on and off, a phlegmy cough, no appetite (highly unusual!), and I couldn't stay awake for more than an hour at a time. Even when I was awake I didn't want to do anything except sit in mommy's lap. That is completely unlike me--normally I can't sit still and love to explore. Cuddling isn't really my thing. I slept through almost my entire birthday--no cake, no presents, nothing. Finally at 10pm, mommy and daddy woke me up to change my diaper and try to get me to eat something. They thought I seemed a little better since I wanted to walk around, so they helped me open one of my presents--it was from Grandma and Grandpa de Jong.

Less than twenty minutes later I was ready for bed again. Mommy and Daddy thought they might have to spend another Thanksgiving in the hospital, but when they called the 24 hour nurse she said I could wait to see the doctor until Friday.