Today I...

• went to the swimming pool with my cousins.
  
• used my new favorite words: "Back" and "Front"
  
• drew with chalk and erased with the eraser on my new easel
  
• watched "Elmo's Song" for the twentieth time and smiled and clapped my hand like I do every time
  
• got a time out (A-G-A-I-N) for throwing my food on the floor when I was done eating.  When I'm done, I'm done; get this food away from me!!
  
• took a loooooooooooong nap - close to four hours again

Floss

Tonight I watched my daddy flossing his teeth. This made me want to have my teeth flossed. So, for the first time, daddy flossed my teeth. It wasn't difficult and it didn't hurt at all. My teeth are very small and there's plenty of space between them for the little string. (Right now I have my four front teeth up top, four in front on bottom, four molars, and on the tops my canine teeth poked through the skin just this week. They have a ways to go to be fully descended.) I liked flossing so much I asked for more, twice!

My teeth are clean and bright. Daddy brushes them every day, even when my gums hurt so much it makes me cry and drool. How does he get me to cooperate? He sings me silly little songs that I think he just makes up on the spot. They're very entertaining, and they make me laugh. It's very difficult to keep crying and resist his brushing when I am laughing so hard! And, I like that, when he finishes brushing my teeth, he tells me he's very proud of me and he kisses me all over my face. :)

More New Things

Yesterday I did a couple things for the first time: I kicked a ball back and forth with mommy. Admittedly I bent down and stopped the balls coming toward me with my hand, which I sense is somehow against some rules somewhere, but I don't care. Once I stop the ball, I can kick it right back to mommy. I like this.

Also I sat on the bed with daddy and he held the back of one of his hands with his other hand. He lifted his wrists and bent the hand he was holding in what he called a "stretch". So I tried it too. He did a lot of different stretches, but I only figured out the first one. He said this was "aikido." I have known the word "do-jo" for a long time, so now I'm starting to learn what he does there at his dojo.

Oh, and I learned a new word yesterday: "yawn." You say it, and I can do it!

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PS, Today I sat on the couch and ate ice cream with my dad. I've never done that before! It was delicious, and made me say "more, more, more" (with my hand signals) over and over. To top it all off, we watched Bert and Ernie videos too!

More Firsts

Today I learned to say "Ciao!" Daddy and Mommy and I like to say it to each other.

Yesterday I learned to ask for "Bobby" when dad is watching videos. He says this is the name of the man who sings and taps on his chest and sounds like he's playing lots of instruments at one time, all with just his voice. Sometimes he calls this man "Bobby McFerrin", but I can't say that big a word yet.

I have started spending a couple minutes each day in my time out corner. Sometimes it's for hitting mommy or daddy in the face when I'm frustrated and want their attention, and somtimes it's for throwing food when I've had enough and don't want any more. They tell me I have got to learn to communicate more gently, but they don't know what it's like to be me. I get so exasperated!

My First Summer Camp

Though it is difficult to see mom and dad leave each day - I am having a blast at summer camp. We play in the sand box, climb in the tree house, stretch, draw, and oh yeah my favorite...eat popsicles. I am making lots of friends and watching the big kids to see how stuff is done.

ABC

After over a year of playing with my refrigerator magnet set and my "computer" (a toy that lets me press a key and hear its letter), I sat down with dad tonight and he opened "Curious George's ABCs". As he read each letter, I repeated it after him, all the way from beginning to end. I had only a little pronunciation trouble, mostly with "H", "J", "Q" and "W". But dad knew what I meant. I'm getting the sense that these letters will be useful to me before too long. I like them! Especially the ones one my dad's tee shirts!

I Like Hats

Another First

You know, life just keeps getting easier.  Yesterday morning I figured out I can get out of bed and open the bedroom door and go down stairs and out the side door to find mommy in the garden; I don't have to wait for her to come upstairs and get me.  Why didn't I think of this sooner?!

Firsts

In the past week, I have done some new things for the first time:

• played LEGOs with my dad
• ate Indian food (aloogobi, tarka dahl, naan bread, mixed veggie currie, veggie samosas ... I loved it all!)
• said "Joel" and "Maria" (I've been saying "da-da" and "ma-ma" for a long time now)
• helped carry groceries from the van to the house (I carried the huge bag of corn chips; I love 'em!)
• started saying multiple words at one go, like "Wa-wa eye" tonight in my bath when water got in my eyes.  Did you know that you can put multiple words together and say much more interesting things than a single word at a time will allow?  I like where this is going!

I wonder what's next.  I'm going to sleep now, and can't wait for tomorrow!!!