Happy Birthday, Noah!

A friend of mine celebrated his third birthday yesterday. His name is Noah and he lives upstairs on the fifth floor. He has a new little sister named Margot. I wonder what it would be like to have a little sister. Hmmm. Anyway, the party was a lot of fun. There was music and it's just like the music class I go to on Wednesdays. We played with shakers,


and scarves.


After the music was over, it was time for the cupcakes!


Noah's mommy and daddy put out all these cupcakes onto the table and we were allowed to decorate them. So that's something I want to talk about - decorating cupcakes. Dada put some colorful little sprinkles on my plate and said I could use them to decorate my cupcake. Why would I want to do that? I mean if you had your choice between one snack and two, wouldn't you choose two? Right, so you see my point. Why not keep the sprinkles on the side and then when you're done eating the cupcake, move onto the sprinkles? It was a pretty easy decision for me.


After we ate our cupcakes (and sprinkles) Noah's daddy brought out the cake. All the mommies and daddies sang to Noah and then he blew out the candle. I felt so lucky to be sitting next to the birthday boy.


Speaking of birthday boys, someone is getting ready to celebrate their second birthday. Dropping subtle hints here in LANDEN'S WORLD!

Splashy, Splashy

Today was my very first day of swim school. They call it school but I really don't know what I learned other than you have to wait a really long time before you can actually get in the pool. Perhaps mama and dada can hold off on getting to the pool so early next time? The class started with some clapping and this lady walking around asking everyone's name. Then once we all said our names it was FINALLY time to get in the pool. Dada let me sit on the edge while he got in, then he turned to me and it was my turn. I was all for getting in the pool but there was this bucket of balls off to the side and I mean c'mon, let's have the best of both worlds here and put the balls into the pool! Dada finally caught on and grabbed me a ball and I was able to handle the rest. We did bubbles, we bounced up and down, we kicked, dada did something weird with his arms (reach and pull, reach and pull?), and we stood on the edge a couple times and jumped in. No, I didn't jump in by myself. Dada caught me. Oh! And there was this one point where dada tried to get me to lay flat on my back. Yeah, not a big fan. Let's try to remember that for next time.


After swimming we took a stroll over to the park. First the pool, then the park. This was shaping up to be a super day! I did my usual stuff at the park - went down the slides, climbed up the stairs, played with toys that weren't mine, tried to get on someone else's scooter. You know how it goes. Now this park that we went to, there's this swing with a huge green wheel that you sit on. It sits off the side and I've always seen it out of the corner of my eye but never bothered to check it out. Well today was the day I thought I'd see what it was all about. Kinda fun, nothing too crazy, had about enough when dada tried to get me to sit on it with him.


Towards the end of the day I got to relax a bit on the couch with mama. Oh and not just relax watching the TV, but I was eating pretzels too! Pretzels! If only I had some hummus. Dada said something about lunch tomorrow with soda. I love soda. Looking forward to soda on Sunday in LANDEN'S WORLD.


p.s. go cubs! (dada made me say it)

Movin' On Up: Part III

I'm starting to notice that I get a really good reaction out of mama and dada when I wear their clothes. Let's see, there was the time I wore dada's shirt. I mean I didn't see what the big deal was but dada was running around trying to find the camera to take a picture. Then there was the day mama let me wear her sunglasses. Now I had always been trying to get to her sunglasses because she puts them in this cool case and I really just wanted to play with the case but when I saw there were sunglasses inside I thought OH, bonus! Well one day I think mama finally gave in and let me try on the sunglasses and wouldn't you know it, just like dada she was running around trying to find the camera.


Okay so we have this closet where we keep all our shoes and coats and one day the closet door was open. I went in, grabbed dada's shoes and thought, I could wear these. Again with the camera here in LANDEN'S WORLD!

Courtyard Cleaning

I like to help out around the house like everyone else. I mean dada works hard to make sure all my pacis are in order and ready for me in my crib while mama works hard to keep pictures of me all over the house. So if they can work hard, I can work hard, which means cleaning up out in the courtyard.


We were having a BBQ the other day and before things got started I expressed an interest using the little pool. Well it had been a few days since anyone in the building last used it so it needed a good cleaning. Dada and I got out the soap, hose, and sponge and went to work. Earning my keep here in LANDEN'S WORLD!

Dada & Me Day

Dada woke up this morning and told me he'd take me into the city! What a great surprise. I was ready to go as soon as he said the words but dadda wasn't so I had to wait while he showered. Next time dada, maybe you should wait until you're absolutely 100% ready to go before telling me such exciting news. I can get a little antsy. Once we left we were on the subway. Sure are some interesting people down there but luckily it's a quick ride so before I knew it, we were back up top with all the cars. Our first stop? Toys R Us! We rode the giant Ferris wheel, I had my picture taken with a giant giraffe, and I played with the most unbelievable choo-choo set. One thing about that giraffe, dada did some secret special handshake with it. What was that all about?


After some really tasty french fries at the giant M place, I took a little snooze and I think dada did some shopping. Then when I woke up we were at the playground! How cool is that? I mean if only I woke up at the playground after every nap, then life would be grand. Okay but this wasn't any ordinary playground. This was the super cool playground located inside a park that is very central to the big city. What's it called again? Anyway there were fountains and hoses and dadda even took off his shoes and rolled up his jeans and splashed around with me.


After some serious playtime I usually like to cool off with a trip to the drinking fountain. Actually, I usually like to start off some serious playtime with a trip to the drinking fountain. Actually, my serious playtime usually is at the drinking fountain and this day was no different.


I then had some fun in the sun in the sand. This place didn't just have a sandbox, it was more like a sandyard. I mean almost half the playground was filled with sand. There were slides to go down, rocks to climb up, and ropes to play on all around.


We wrapped up our day at the playground by playing in the water some more. There's this one part where you can climb down into a tunnel and for a brief moment I felt really big in the really small tunnel. Then I came out of the tunnel, dadda picked me up, and I remembered I'm not big, I'm just a little guy. Enjoying my trip into the city today in LANDEN'S WORLD!

My Kind of Town

I was on a plane this past weekend. Up, up, up, up up! We went to see Uncle David and Nana Mary in Chicago. Uncle David had, a, triangle? Tricycle? I know I've heard the word before. Triathlon? Triforce? Well whatever it was, he did it. Good job!


It was a really busy trip for us. We stayed with some of mama's friends and they have a new daughter - Aubrey - who is less than a year old. I felt like such a big boy. I sure can learn a lot from her though because when we're at restaurants she's such a good baby. Aubrey, you're doing it all wrong. This is the time to fuss and go crazy because people expect it! As soon as we arrived, dadda said we had to go somewhere for lunch. He was a little silly about it but I'm glad we listened to him because they certainly don't have pizza like this back home in Brooklyn.


Then on Saturday we left the house pretty early and went to visit some of dadda's friends. I met Gary and Jill O'Reilly and Gary let me play with all his cool things. I have a feeling some of that stuff probably wasn't meant to be played with by little kids but has that ever stopped me in the past? After we left their home, we drove some more and stopped in at Dan and Penny Kurszewski's. Wow, do they have a fun home or what! All those toys, and the basketball hoop, and Noah's go-kart. I really liked meeting Noah and his little sister Ava. Penny said Ava was a little sick so we didn't play together as much as I wanted but we did all go to the park.


This was a really cool park.


Back in the car. Seriously though, how many stops were we going to make? At that point I just threw in the towel and fell asleep. Looking back I wish I hadn't because I missed out on Marquette!


Well I woke up just in time because one of our last stops was for ice cream. Oh wait, it wasn't ice cream. That's right because dadda kept saying it was something else very similar to ice cream. Oh whatever it was, it was good and I know why dadda went here many, many times while he lived in Milwaukee. Custard! That's it!


I had a really fun time on this trip. Chicago certainly is a fun place to visit. I'm hoping to go back again. Mama's friend, Sara, said something about coming back next year so my dadda could take me to my first game at Wrigley Field. Until then, dreaming of playing third for the Cubs in LANDEN'S WORLD!

Movin' On Up: Part II

The great thing about being my size is everything that is my size only fits me and most everything that is mama's or dada's size usually fits me. And if it doesn't, I still look really cute in it. Wearing my sunglasses at night in LANDEN'S WORLD!