Loads of Summer Fun

Well hello again,

I know, I know, it's been a while, a long while cause I'm now 20 months old. But at my age there's a lot of things I've got to do and not nearly enough time to do them, especially with parents who are constantly trying to find ways to feed me. I mean, seriously, can you think of anything that wastes more time than eating? I can't.

So, what have I been up to? Well, let me try and show you just a few of the things I've been doing...

Well, there was laundry day, and there's nothing like running and throwing yourself into a giant pile of laundry. I had loads of fun. I've have become aware that my Mom and Dad seem to go through a lot of clothing items as well, though they seem to have a much greater variety of things to wear. I, myself, find a sturdy diaper (size three for now) and a pure cotton undergarment (some might call a onesie) more than sufficient for the activities I find particularly entertaining. Although, Mom has been putting more and more clothes on me as I get older. Shoes, she seems oddly fond of these days, buying two and three pair at a time if Dad will let her. Odd, strangely heavy things I find them, though essential for some environments that I am now drawn to explore. Clothes...something I shall have to look into more, but later.

And, not long after laundry day, we loaded Grandma Jacobs up in our sweet Honda vacationing ride and went to Disneyland. It was my first time. Pirates of the Carribbean, Small World, Jungle Cruise, come to think of it, just about everything we did had some kind of boat involved. I finally passed out in the bjorn, but not after eating the littliest amount of food I'd ever eaten since leaving the hospital (2 ounces), finishing my day at 8.25 ounces of food total. Sadly, I've not been eating happily recently and my personal low is something that has my Mom and Dad on edge every time that magical feeding hour comes around. Then there was traffic on the way home and I cried, and Mom cried, and Dad, well Dad just tried to hang on desperately as our world spun wildly out of control. I heard Dad keep saying, "Apparently, Disneyland isn't the happiest place on earth for this family." He's really good at bringing a smile to your face, most of the time. That day was an unusually tough day.

But back to my Grandma Jacobs, she is the best grandma ever. I especially like going over to her house on the weekends. I spend the night there cause my Mom and Dad both work during the night on the weekends, so Grandma and I get to hang out. I always let her know when I get to her house by ringing her doorbell and then tapping on the front door. My Grandma is the coolest lady ever.

So after our week trip to Southern California, we were off to Santa Rosa, California. Mom had some schooling she had to do for work, so Dad and I tagged along to keep her out of trouble. Truth be told, I don't think she's very good at life without us, so while she was in school Dad and I made the most of each day by going to the pool, or on a walk, or just hanging out in the room where I discovered how much I love EVERYTHING cold. I'm not joking! There was this glass table in the suite we stayed in that was always cold and I would climb right up onto it and just lay there with my face pressed firmly against it. Then I began to experiment. There is a whole world of cold things out there that you can only truly appreciate by putting your mouth right on them. It's probably one of the two things I love having in the mouth: something cold and my Binky. And that's what started my love of a wet, cold washcloth. Absloutely the most amazing treat ever. If I'm unhappy, just give me that wet, cold washcloth and I will be in heaven for the whole thirty seconds it takes me to suck it dry and then give me it again. I mean, wow. No body ever told me how amazing water is. Cold, refreshing, easy to swallow, did I mention cold?

Speaking of Santa Rosa, one of the days we were there, Dad took me to a comic book store. Comic Book stores are cool, especially my Dad's favorite, a place he calls Flying Colors. He and I were there together not long ago for my first ever Free Comic Book Day. It was very exciting, lots of people, free comic books, and cake. Oh yes, there was cake, but if you haven't caught on yet, I DON'T LIKE FOOD, not in my mouth anyway. Dad was having a heck of a time trying to keep me from climbing out of the bjorn while grabbing his favorite reads and as we were walking up to the register, he stopped to let these older ladies batt their eyes at me. They just thought I was the cutest thing ever, right up until they shoved a piece of that blue and white cake at us. I let them know exactly how I felt about that by sticking my left foot right into the corner of the frosted beast they'd cut the smaller piece from. Blue and white frosting went everywhere as did the oogling ladies as they were trying to find something to clean up the mess. And there was no more offering us cake like it was the next best thing to a wet, cold washcloth. Ooooooo, wet, cold washcloth. Now that sounds good.

But as the summer progressed, I discovered the ever fascinating soap bubble. Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. I could sit for hours out on the back deck and let them explode in my face, soak my pants, and gather on my fingertips until they're a dripping, sticky goo mess. I love the summer, so much to do, especially in the backyard. I'll push my trike around for a bit, or wander into the grass, but I always come back for the bubbles. Next to my Binky and a wet, cold washcloth, bubbles are my Number Three thing. Ooooo, wet, cold washcloth. That really does sound good. As soon as I finish my little inner monologue thing with you, I'll have to go get one. I say inner monologue cause I have yet to find a need for actual, audible speech. I get everything I need from my ever diligent parents and rarely have to prompt them for anything, so I imagine I'll be content with an inner monologue until I'm forced to express myself through conversation, although Dr. Sultan really freaked my Mom out by suggesting I might have autism. Well, we'll have to see about that. I think Mom and Dad have enough to worry about for the moment.

A couple of months ago, my older twin brothers were in town for summer and we hit the road for a number a thrilling activities like visiting the zoo. Yes, that's me chilling in my roller buggy at the elephant paddock with a wet, cold washcloth. Other than not sleeping, causing a fight between my Mom and Dad, eating very little and then throwing up everything I'd eaten, the trip to the zoo was a pretty excellent one. I wore one of my Dad's favorite outfits, an Oakland A's baseball get-up. He's a baseball fan. I just love any kind of ball I can get in my hands, and I'm quite adept at throwing them as well. But the zoo, fascinating place it is, much more fascinating then say, trying to eat food. What is it with that stuff? Although Mom and Dad, the Boys (my older brothers Ethan and Caleb), my Uncle Jeremy and Aunt April, Grandma Jacobs, Hailey, Hannah, Logan, Miranda, and my newest little cousin, Lauren, all had really excellent looking desserts from a creamery called Fenton's. I watch everyone eat and I wonder, What is it with the sticking of edible stuff in the mouth that gets everyone so exicted. I don't get it, hopefully someday I do though. Mom and Dad really enjoy eating, you can see it when they eat, all dreamy eyed and happy as they clear plates full of food stuffs. Odd my parents, strangely unlike me sometimes, especially in the eating department.

So with my brothers in town, we continued our trek around California looking for interesting places to visit, like Zuma Beach in Malibu. That's right, Malibu and the Pacific Ocean. It was lovely. Water is lovely. Water is Life, and Life was good on Zuma Beach in Malibu.

The waves were perfect, the weather was great, and while my brothers and cousins spent their time getting pounded by waves and digging for sand crabs, my Mom and I just cruised the beach getting our feet wet. Dad was behind the camera taking pics when he wasn't out trying to body surf some of the waves. We had loads of fun at the beach and all took quiet naps on the way home, well everyone but Mom and Dad I suppose, but I couldn't tell you for sure cause I was certainly out. There's a picture of that as well, but I like this one best of me and my Mom at the beach. I'm not one for a lot of sun like my Mom, but we both love the water and the beach.

We made days out of a few other things close to home, like a trip to the Jelly Belly Factory, home of the world famous and original gourmet jelly bean. But mostly, we crashed at the pad, watched flicks (Little Einsteins, Happy Feet, things like that), and hung out in the pool. We got a rather large above ground pool this summer because my bros and I love playing in the water. Hopefully, Mom will soften up and let Dad seriously look into having a pool built into our backyard. That would be the coolest thing ever.

So that was our summer. It was a good one. Things are going pretty well, otherwise, although there always seems to be challenges. We make pretty good use of the time we have together as a family. Pretty good time indeed. It's fun to have fun together and we're good at having fun. Mom and Dad have another project, as if trying to get me to eat wasn't enough, they're now focusing intently on getting me to talk. No words yet, still on a liquid diet, but I'm happy. I love my Mom and Dad. They love me. What more could you possibly want? I know, I know, eat solid foods. Fat chance.

Hunter out.