Summer Vacation is Almost Over

Daddy goes back to school on Friday, so our fun summer is coming to an end. We've really enjoyed our daddy-daughter time together. I've been testing his patience with my crazy nap schedule lately, but I know he's really going to miss being home with me.

Mommy just got back from New York and Nana is driving down with Kiwi, so I will have a new captive audience to wear out soon.

Mommy & Daddy found a cool video monitor on craig's list, so they can SEE me napping now instead of just hearing me throwing a tantrum. I will really have to perform in front of the camera now that I know they are watching. Doggie and I will have to learn a new dance routine or something to really impress our audience. They've already seen his flying out of the crib routine.

I have my big birthday coming up next week. I am so excited to be turning 1! I can stand up on my own now, but I'm waiting to surprise everyone when I decide to take my first steps. I have a lot of visitors coming soon, so maybe I will make my walking debut then!

I'm Everywhere

The Beach, the Aquarium, Santa Barbara, the Zoo and the Butterfly exhibit in less than a week. Where will I go next?

So Cool

Wow. I am so excited I can hardly type. I just got back from my first trip to Santa Barbara and I loved it. Mommy had to do a presentation up there so daddy and I tagged along and boy was it worth it. Aunt Elaine invited us to visit her at work. Now I know that doesn't sound very cool and exciting but she works at............. the ZOO! This was my first trip to any zoo so from that standpoint it was pretty cool anyway but I got to feed the giraffes. Aunt Elaine gave us the behind the scenes tour of the Giraffe enclosure and we got up close and personal with them. They ate right out of my hand and a couple of times they kind of ate my hand too. I wasn't scared though. I'm a Tough Chick that and the fact that both giraffe were very gentle. I was surprisingly gentle as well. We fed them these red biscuits that tasted like really densely packed bran. You are probably wondering how I know that? Daddy tried one because Elaine said that humans have eaten them. He didn't care for it. We got to feed the giraffe for about 10 minutes before we ran out of food. The rest of the zoo was nice but I will write about that later when I have more time. I am supposed to be sleeping right now but I snuck out of my crib to use the computer. Well back to bed for me. Good night for now.

Raider of the Open Fridge

I have discovered a magical place. They call it the "fridge". I don't know what that means but I do know it holds a lot of food. As you may know I am kind of fond of eating. I'm not really a discriminating or picky eater. Basically if you put it in front of me, I will put it in my mouth. Daddy left the door to the fridge open the other day I decided to take a closer look. This was made all the easier since I am now able to stand if I hold onto stuff. In this shot I found a mango. If I have another opportunity who knows what I might find, maybe some turkey meatballs or some blueberries.
With this new power of standing, nothing is safe from me below 3 feet. Yes, I have quite the reach. I love to pull stuff off tables and chairs. Standing has also given me the ability to beg for more food. When mommy and daddy sit down to eat after they've fed me dinner I can just mosey on over, take a look at what they are eating and try to help myself. They call me Kiwi when I do this since he is the king of all beggars.
Did I mention I am almost 1 year old. Yep that's right. In less than a month I will be one and then I won't have to be described in months any more. When someone ask, "How old is she?" mommy and daddy can just say "1".

My Vacation

My life is tough so it was good to get away for a while. I spend 9 days with Aunt Megan, Uncle James, Harrison and Owen in Portland. It was great to have some people around closer to my age. Don't get me wrong. I like spending the summer with Daddy but let's face it, he's no spring chicken. Harrison and Owen get me cause they remember what life is like for me. Aunt Megan took great care of me when mommy and daddy went to Rome. I was on my best behavior. I wanted to be sure that I was invited back once the AC is installed. Now I can't say that I didn't show my dark side while I was there. I just showed it when my parents were around and they weren't too excited about that. I really freaked them out Sunday night after they spent 3 days getting back from Rome. I was a bit perturbed that they ditched me so I put on my best tantrums. They were so worried that something was wrong with me they woke up Uncle James at midnight to check me out. I didn't have a temp and my lungs were clear so they chalked it up to teething. Yup, I have another tooth and I think some more are on the way. I did come down with a runny nose for the flight home yesterday but it didn't really bother me. What did bother me was that I was really tired and I couldn't sleep well on the plane. I'm sure glad I'm cute cause otherwise the folks around me on the plane wouldn't have been so nice. It also helped that I greeted everyone with my big smile as they walked down the aisle while boarding.
I thought I would throw in a great pic taken by Aunt Megan of me and the boys on the lawn. We had some good times and lots of fun.

Aquarium

Had a really cool day today. Daddy took me to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It was sooooooo much fun. I got to see jellyfish and a turtle and fish and well lots of neat stuff. I saw the Bat rays fed up close. So close they splashed water all over daddy. I saw some big sharks and some little sharks too. Daddy wouldn't let me pet the stingrays because he says I'm not gentle enough yet. Whatever! I bite his arm really hard one time and he thinks I'm going to pull a stingray's tail. He is right though. Those tails looked so grabbable. Maybe when I'm older. I like watching the seals and sea lions zoom by. I think my swimming abilities are not quite as good as theirs but I'm getting close. I was very impressed with the clown fish. They made me giggle. I can't wait until I can go SCUBA diving with Mommy and Daddy. Since I enjoyed myself so much, Daddy got us a membership so we can go back all the time. Yeaaaaaaah!
I'm looking froward to getting on a plane this Sat and heading up to Portland to see my peeps. Megan, James, Harrison and Owen I hope you are ready for me cause I'm gonna bring it.

My fun weekend

It's a heat wave!
We went for a long walk to the Hawaiian festival and the park on Saturday. I got a pretty new aloha dress.
I went swimming in the ocean with mommy & daddy after church on the beach on Sunday.
I was scared of the waves at first, but then I saw some nudie doody kids swimming near by and I decided to show off my swimming skills. I ate a lot of sand! It was a great weekend.

Getting Into Mischief

I'm ready for vacation!

Mommy has been prepping me for my big Portland vacation in a few weeks. She left me with my best buddy, Finn & his daddy yesterday while the mommies went shopping in Bev Hills.
I was the perfect house guest. Finn was napping when I got there, but I didn't mind. I entertained myself with his toys. When he woke up, we happily chased each other around the room, screeching and fighting over toys. Then I went down for my nap, just on time, like a good girl. No problem. I had my doggie there to cuddle with, so I was fine. Later, we danced to music & had a snack. Finn showed me how to get into lot's of trouble, crawling up onto the couch, around the barriers and down the hall so we could play in his room. His daddy got it all on video so mommy could get a good laugh.
Finn spent some time at our house last week and he was not as happy. He was scared of me and missed his mommy, so he cried and they had to come back for him. I think he likes it better when I visit his domain. I'm easy, I like to play anywhere. I'm a tough chick. As soon as I got home, I decided to show mommy what I'd learned. I crawled up the stairs on my own for the 1st time. Watch out world, here I come!
I'm quite the social butterfly lately. I've been on play dates at the park and house parties all week! It's been exhausting, but so much fun!

Happy 4th of July!