Big Blue, a redneck and some cheep thrills

Remember last month when I thought a my first red wagon was the best thing ever? Well, move over little red, big blue is in the house - and he's got horsepower!That's right, my parents got a tractor. So far only me and my dad have driven it but my mom says we'll be "tearing up the place" next week while my dad goes away on a "business trip" to Maui. Poor guy...Check it out, I even get a front seat for once!
And here's another cool thing we've gotten for the farm:Little baby chicks! They sure are cute. And they speak my language - high pitched chirps! I like to go visit them a few times a day. I could spend all day just pointing, staring and shrieking at them but my mom is worried I'll become a "chicken girl" - kind of like those girls who love horses in a weird way, but with chickens. I'm not sure what that means yet but I sure do love them:

Oh yeah, and Onay and Papa came for a visit in the middle of all this farm stuff. They helped out around the farm and helped celebrate my dad's birthday. They seemed happy but I overheard them saying they worried about my dad becoming a "redneck". I'm still not sure what it means but it may have something to do with his new style of dress:And yes, that's another one of my mom's cake creations. Here's a closer look:I promise more real soon now that we can go outside and start "working the land", whatever that means...

Toys for Boys, Part Deux

Grab yourself a snack and get ready for some big and groundbreaking news...

Remember when I got my first Tonka truck and my mom posted a video of me learning to walk with it? Well, you know how she is, always submitting pictures and videos all over the place. I guess she submitted that video to Tonka and guess what? I am now the only first girl on the Tonka website! I'm not kidding, click here to see for yourself.

Did I mention I love dip?

Streaking, scratching and shrieking...

...Those are a few of my new favorite things. Here I am doing two at once:I have found it is quite nice to run around like a banshee after a bath, naked and free. Another thing I'm really starting to enjoy is being outside. Some days I just sit and look out the window and plan my day.Then I head out and get right to work. Here I am helping in the garden.
You may think I am not very fashionable in my overalls and hat, but to be quite honest, some days I like to dress up and run around the house avoiding getting my picture taken. Here I am in my fancy Baby Gap attire.

Oh Hi and the Belly

We took a road trip out to my mom's old stomping grounds the other day. It's a place called Ojai (pronounced Oh-Hi) and it's pretty nice. We went for a hike with some people called "hashers". No, they were not in lingerie for this one. Here I am at the start with my mom:

We walked for a while and then her friend Banana carried me up a big hill, where my dad was waiting at the top to volunteer to carry me down the mountain. My mom made some comment about something called "chivalry". Anyone know what that means? I guess it doesn't matter because it's dead. That's kinda sad...
Dad managed to carry me and his beer the rest of the way. At the end there was a big, nice dog that let me pet him.And of course I brought some beads so I would fit in:I had so much fun I decided to show everyone my belly. I am quite proud of it:
Pretty impressive, huh?

Catching up

Good grief, has it really been more than a month? The older I get the faster time seems to pass...

So grab a chair and get comfy so I can tell you what I've been up to. Ah, that's better. First, I headed up to Sacramento for Thanksgiving. My daddy even bought me a new outfit all the way in Spain for the occasion:Yep, I thought it was cute too, except this part was a bit much:I mean, really, did they have to get tights with a chicken on my butt? (Insert fowl and chicken butt jokes here) The things people do to children are just awful, aren't they?

Then again, I guess people who get toted around on other people's backs shouldn't complain about an occasional silly outfit, right?And then there was the snow incident. Have you heard about this stuff? It's white and cold and turns into water when you touch it. I found it quite unpleasant and cried while walking in it. Or maybe I was crying because I couldn't see anything in my big hat.
After the first snow, Christmas finally came. Boy was I happy with all my new stuff. I especially like my new chair, some old Mardi Gras beads, and my duck-walker.
Finally, in addition to walking more, I've acquired some new skills in the past month or so. I've learned to brush all nine of my teeth,
To help Mama in the kitchen,
That some people have machines that actually clean their dishes for them,
And that I love beads. Wearing them, carrying them, putting them in boxes, taking them out, helping others with them. They are so much fun. I just wonder where my mom got sooooo many beads?
Who knows what 2009 will bring? Hopefully more time to blog. I promise to try.

Green Acres Is The Place For Me...

They say country life is great for kids and I must agree. Forget SpongeBob and Dora and video games...I get to do my own exploring on the farm! Because, really, how many girls get to don overalls and run around in the dirt these days? And how many girls still get to help their daddy drive an old farm truck? And how many kids do you know that help gather wood for the stove at night?
And what about walking? Most kids learn indoors, on even ground. Not me, I run around chasing kitties in the dirt while learning the importance of balance, good footing and getting back up and dusting myself off when I fall (it's not you, the sound is not working):

Yep, when you think about it, a farm is a great place to live, learn and contemplate the big questions in life:

Two weddings and an Ellen show

After our big vacation to Hawaii, we headed up to the Central Coast for MB's wedding, which, by the way was quite nice. No, I don't have pictures of the wedding people, after all, this is MY blog!

I do, however, have a few pics of me from the wedding. Here I am in my best dress:
Doing tricks for Auntie Spotted (I don't know where the carrot is, but it looks like she had one at one time):Posing with the girls:And having a beer with dad:
That wedding reminded me of my first wedding, that being my parents' wedding of course. You may remember from my very first post on this blog that it was a shotgun wedding. Well, if you don't remember that little fact, perhaps this clip from a recent episode of the Ellen show will help you remember:

Yep, my mom is certifiable. She didn't even remember sending the picture in to the show.

And just so you know, Sarah Palin is a wedding crasher. She wasn't even invited to my parents' wedding, let alone asked to bring her gun! Maybe that will make tonight's news...

Toys for Boys?

Some of you may know my mother, and if you do, you know she used to be a heavy equipment operator in the Seabees. So I guess it's only fitting that rather than buy me a nice pink and purple My Little Pony or Fairy Princess walker toy, she'd buy me a Tonka dump truck walker, right?

The good thing is that I'm a baby and I don't notice anything but the honking horn, colorful parts, and toy compartment under the dump bed. So to Tonka's "Built for Boyhood" campaign I say "pffft" and request they add "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" to their list of songs played by the dump truck.

Yep, all hell is about to break loose once this princess starts really walkin'.

My Second Fair, Stairs, Pianos and More!

Remember when I went to the State Fair last year? Yes, that was a lovely picture, and no offense to Mom, but I think I look much better in the butterfly this year:
Dad is in Spain or something so Mom and I headed up to Sacramento for the long weekend to visit Onay and Papa and Grandma and Grandpa (who work the fair but insist they are NOT "carnies"). We stayed with Onay and Papa and had lots of adventures. We even went swimming for the first time. My mom didn't get any pictures because she was in the pool with me and no one has forwarded any yet but I'm sure they will soon. Trust me, folks, I looked pretty cute in my new Speedo swimsuit.

Since there are no pics of me in the pool, here's one of me in the bath with Onay. You can see how much I like the water:
And here I am with my first homemade hasher-style pancake. I went straight for the eyes and nose but was not allowed to eat them. What a tease that cook is!
Onay and Papa had some pretty neat things at their house. The first was something called stairs. I headed straight for them and right on up. Then I practiced every day, many times a day. It sure was fun:

When I wasn't working the stairs, I practiced piano with Papa. I think I'm pretty good...
We also went on some walks to see and feed ducks and play on the swings and even went swimming with a cute boy named Lance. That was all good, clean fun.

And then there was this:

Those are my cousins Alex and Griffin. Alex is the nipple-lover. Griffin is engrossed in the TV. My mom has already warned me about this sort of thing and now I am pretty sure I will never understand boys.

Catching up

Seems like nearly a lifetime since I last posted. Sorry for the delay but I've been busy. In addition to learning to crawl and eat anything found within two feet of any floor surface, I've done the following cool things in the past couple of months:

First, me and mom and dad went to Monterey to a place where they have windows you look into and see fish. Here I am looking at some interesting and colorful fish:


And here's a video I'm not in but of something really rare that we saw. It's called a Sea Dragon:
After a day and night in Monterey, we met up with my cousins, aunt and uncle, and Onay and Papa for some camping at Big Basin in the sequoias. Here I am with my cousins Griffin and Sidney. You can tell a lot about our personalities from this picture: After camping we went to Sacramento for a few days and saw lots of people. Then me and mom and dad went home for a week. Then Onay and Papa came to visit ME!!! You wouldn't know it from this picture, but I was quite happy to see them:
I love that picture...but I was sad to see Onay and Papa leave:
Thankfully, my parents had the intelligence to get me out meeting new and exciting people in fun places, like drainage tunnels:
Actually, I felt kind of like Cleopatra crossing the river stinks here:
Finally, I've been spending lots of time with my daddy since he hasn't traveled in months. I think we're both enjoying it.

What do a pirate and a raspberry have in common?

Me.

Hey, it's tough to come up with titles when you're only 8 1/2 months old...

I went on my first camping trip with my folks the other weekend. It was one of their running club deals and it was at El Capitan State Beach. The theme was Pirates.

I guess everyone was supposed to dress like a pirate and drink beer on Saturday. I refused to put on my pirate costume but here I am with my parents in their somewhat unconventional Pirates attire.
Oddly enough, no one else was dressed like them. In fact, most folks had baggy clothes with stripes and frill and kept saying "Argh" and calling each other "Matey". Go figure.

Camping was fun. I got to wake everyone up in the middle of the night with my mom for once. I'm sure they appreciated it. And I got to ride along the beach in my baby jogger. And eat avocado. And see some old friends. What could be better?

In other news, I'm learning to communicate. It involves pushing air and spit through your lips while your tongue sticks out. It feels kind of funny and makes my tongue numb when I do it for prolonged periods, but it seems to be the only noise my mom and I share in common at this point. I hear there is an easier, less messy way to get your point across and am hoping to figure it out real soon.

Here I am communicating with my mom over lunch. Note to babies: this works best with a mouth full of something orange and gooey and when your parent is in close range:

Oh yeah, I heard about you all laughing at me practicing sitting (Cousin Griffin?!?!). Just so you know, I'm now doing it much better and am even starting to crawl forward!

Next week is my second camping trip and I heard we might go somewhere called an aquarium.

The importance of posture

So I'm learning to sit up all on my own pretty well. To you it may not be that impressive but I've only been able to hold my own head up for a couple of months and it's a pretty big step. Here I am peeking at my mom from my high chair.
And here I am practicing sitting up by myself. Don't worry, it's a short one:

Hey, don't laugh, it's really not as easy as it looks. Balance is key. On minute you're smiling and happy, the next you're toppled over not knowing what hit you.

Oh, and by the way, this learning to crawl before you can walk thing is serious and frustrating business. More on that next time.