Wheels for Prince

Prince took everybody for rides on Christmas day. I had to go on each ride or else I would scream and cry...I really like my pony cart!

Christmas card photo outtakes...

Merry Christmas!

I like the idea of Santa, as long as I don't have to touch him. I met him twice and cried both times, so Mom decided that was enough until next year. Here are a few other photos of our holiday activities...

I really like "CAAAAAAAN-DEEEEEE!" and yell for it every morning at breakfast time (and throughout the day...). I liked helping Dad decorate the gingerbread house, but it was hard for me to remember to put the gumdrops onto the house instead of into my mouth.

I helped Dad drag the tree to the car after he chopped it down. I was all bundled up because it was very cold outside!

I like to copy what Dad is doing...here we're trying to get the tree straight in the stand.

Pony Jewelry

Mom helped me make a beautiful pasta necklace for Prince today at baby school. It fit him just right!

Poe-eee! Poe-eee! Poe-eee!

This morning I looked out the window and saw that Mom was in the yard with a mini horse for me! I started yelling "Poe-eee! Poe-eee!" so that Dad would come see it too. I ran over to the front door and found Prince standing on the porch. My very own pony!!

Prince is an 11-year-old miniature horse gelding. His fancy registered name is "Whispering Firs Prince Valient". He's registered as a "B" mini because he's 36" tall (the "A" ones are shorter). Mom says that he pulls a cart, and she can't wait to buy one for him so we can drive around the neighborhood. I walked Prince around the yard a little with Dad's help - I'm so little that Prince couldn't feel me pulling on the rope!

After that, I took him for a test ride and kept saying "mow-wah, mow-wah" (more! more!) when we'd stop since I wanted to keep riding longer. Mom let me ride without my helmet today since Dad was hanging onto me, but she said from now on I'll have to wear my helmet when I'm on my pony.

Prince settled in quickly...he even let Campbell (the cat) rub on his legs while he munched hay!! Dozer and Bandit were very curious and sniffed Prince's nose through the barn window. Prince is going to live in the petting corral part of the barn for now until Bandit goes to his new home.

Prince is the nicest pony that I've ever met - I'm so glad that we get to keep him!!

Campbell the Cat

On Wednesday, Grammie came to visit and we went to the Everett Animal Shelter to pick out a friend for Eddie. Adult cats are free there every Wednesday and they come neutered, microchipped, blood-tested, de-wormed, flea treated, vaccinated...a pretty good deal! We played with a couple and picked out a really nice grey tabby boy. He was already neutered, so we got to take him home right away! He sat in his carrier on the floor next to my carseat and I dropped pacifiers on his head the whole way home. The people at the shelter were calling him "Willy", but after hearing his story, we changed his name to "Campbell" (plus, we already have a sheep named "Willy"!). Campbell was brought to the shelter by the Everett Police Department...apparently he had a soup can stuck on his head when he arrived, so they had to put him to sleep to remove it. The shelter people said that he was starving and got his head stuck trying to eat. Campbell is pretty skinny now, but he has a big frame...we think he'll be a huge kitty once he puts some weight back on! He's very loving and likes to rub on me...I wonder where he learned to like people so much?

Old MacDonald had a sheep...

I was a sheep for Halloween this year. I got to wear my costume a bunch of times and really liked it. My favorite part was the hat...I wouldn't leave the house without it! I practiced trick-or-treating twice at baby school, once at the zoo, and once at Dad's work, so by Halloween, I really had the hang of it! I can only say "treat peas" (treat please) though..."trick-or-treat" is still too much of a mouthful for me. My favorite treat is chocolate...I ask for it everytime Mom opens the pantry where my candy is stashed! Dad dressed up as Old MacDonald when I went to his work...we had fun walking around the office together and playing with the other kids.

20 Months

I turned 20 months old in October and, in spite of what my mom says, I can't really be called a "baby" anymore! I can climb into my booster chair and clip the seatbelt all by myself now. I can climb up into Mom's bed now too...actually, I can (and do!) climb just about everything. I'm not supposed to stand on the dining room table, so I wait until nobody's watching to climb on that. Mom can usually tell by listening if I'm doing something naughty since I mumble "No! bad baby" while I'm doing it.

I still sleep in my crib for most of the night since I haven't discovered how to climb over the rail yet. Mom and Dad usually let me come snuggle with them in the morning when I wake up early. I love to sleep in the big bed and will let Mom sleep in for a couple extra hours if she shares it with me. I recently switched to one one-hour nap a day. Mom would like me to sleep longer, but I always wake up crying and don't want to lay back down. If I wake up at night, I can usually be talked into going back to sleep as long as my babies all have pacifiers and my light-up music player is on.

I talk a lot at home, but don't always feel like talking around other people until I've warmed up to them a little. Mom says that her favorite words that I've started saying recently are..."aah-bo-CAAA-do" (avocado), "buts" (boots), "muss" (moose), "caaks" (Crocs), "aah-low" (yellow), "grow-ber" (Grover) and "Ow-mo" (Elmo). I love being read to...my current favorite book is "Go Dog, Go!" that Grammie McMahon brought for me. I make a "ssh" noise everytime I see a sleeping character in a story. At bedtime, my favorites are "Goodnight Moon" and an ABC book about bunnies. I really like the alphabet and ask Mom to sing "ah-beh-seyz" all the time.

I'm getting better at communicating what I want, so I don't have to cry and get upset as much as I used to. I like to wear my Crocs everywhere I go, but will settle for my rain boots if Mom says that it's muddy outside. I'm not too picky about what I wear yet, but I make sure that everyone is wearing a coat before they go out. I look forward to going to play with my friend Nadia ("Nah-ee-ah) and like to run in crazy circles when I get really wound up!

I like to pick raspberries to share with my mini-chicken , Takaye. She comes right up and eats them out of my hand. The other chickens like to hang around me too, but nobody wanted to play when I found two cornstalks in the garden the other day...

Ice Cream and Ponies

Today we went back to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe to see some of the miniature horse show. I liked waving to the ponies, especially the ones that whinnied in their stalls.

My favorite part of the fair was going on a pony ride. I got to ride "Whisper". I looked very professional with my cowgirl hat and I wasn't scared at all. I can't wait until I can have my own pony!!

After the ponies, we walked around the other animal barns. I was wild and crazy and tried to touch all of the animals. I didn't really understand why I couldn't go into their cages...I get to run around with the goats and sheep at home, after all!

Dad wanted a "Purple Cow" ice cream float, so Mom got a kiddie cone for me. I'd never had my own cone before, but I knew exactly how to eat it and finished it off in just a few minutes!!

Pucker up, Prince Charming...

This is the frog that we found while picking rhubarb in the garden today...I kissed him on his little frog lips a bunch of times before he finally hopped back into the flowers.

I've been having such a fun summer that I haven't found any time to update my blog in the past few months! A lot has changed with me since my last post...I can communicate with words much better now. My favorites are "neuuuu" (no), "cheese" (please and/or cheese), "maaa" (more), "shit" (sit), "dah" (down), "ahsaye" (outside), "ahdah" (all done), "haata" (hat), "dahts" (dance), "chee-o" (Chino), "doe" (Dozer), "skooo" (school), "huppy" (we're not sure what that means), "uppa" (up), "ahsta" (pasta), "jue" (juice), "wawa" (water), as well as lots of animals sounds including "moo" (cow), "woo woo woo" (dog), "mee-a" (cat), "hee hee hee" (horse), "baa" (sheep), "caak caak" (duck), "doot doot" (chicken or any beepy noise in the grocery store). I'm pretty good at repeating names now and regularly say "Mama" (Mom), "Da" (Dad), "Na-ee-ah" (Nadia), "Nammie" and "Bampie" (Grammie and Grampie). "Toot" is one of my words with multiple meanings...it could mean that a train is going by, that you need to check my pants, or that I just picked up a chunk of dog poop.

While I'm better at expressing my wants and opinions now, I'm starting to get more frustrated when everything isn't just as I like it. For example, if Mom tries to stir the yogurt for me before handing over the spoon, I'd rather throw the whole thing on the floor and cry face-down than have any yogurt at all. I've had a few impressive meltdowns at the doctor's office and the grocery store, but for the most part I'm pretty well-behaved in public. I love going to baby school once a week with Mom and getting free samples at Costco. When Dad gets home from work we dance to Michael Jackson together. Dad is trying to show me how to juggle and I've created my own way to do it...the secret is to wave your arms around but not actually let go of any of the balls. I give nice kisses and hugs, but am very selective about when and where I give them.

Hopefully Mom will help me post more photos soon of all of the fun things I did this summer!

More Chicks!

Look what we found in the barn this morning! There are actually three under there, but the other yellow one was being shy when Mom took the photo. This chicken had been sitting on her own infertile eggs last month, so Mom bought some fertile ones and snuck them underneath her one night. The mama chicken must not have noticed, since she kept sitting on them and three little babies emerged today! There are still a few unhatched eggs underneath her, but we're not sure if they were fertile or not so they may not hatch. These little guys are going to be very cute waddling around on Farm Day!

Nice Zucchini!

Tim Noah

Here's Mady posing with Cindi Soup, Tim Noah and Jude Noah after the Silverlake concert...apparently she's not a fan.

Ridin' Double

Now that I'm a big girl, Mom let me ride Bandit with her. This was my first official ride, since the only other time I sat on Bandit I was only 16 days old and he didn't actually move. We walked around and around and I wasn't even scared! I liked the view from way up there - I could see over to the neighbor's house and kept making "uh uh uh" noises (my version of "woof") towards their dog.

Father's Day

Snuggling with Dada on Father's Day

June Fun

Here are some fun things that I've done this month...

Hung out with my goat friends

Watched the deer that visits our backyard Picked turnips and went on a hayride at Farm Tots

Splashed on the sprayground in Mill Creek

Hold on, Grandma!

Wheeee! I had a fun visit with Grandma and Grandpa Ottele yesterday. I showed them how I can go down my slide like a big girl and how I can kick balls like a Sounder now. I really liked the presents that they brought me from Disneyland - my very own princesses and a cute Minnie Mouse shirt.

Later, I got to play with a baby kitty at Jen's house. I stayed very busy talking to the kitty and sharing my purse with it.

Look who's talking (and signing!)

I'm talking! Well...sort of. You have to listen really closely and use your imagination, but I started saying "ch" for cheese and "mmmm" for moo a few weeks ago. I've been saying "dada" for quite awhile now, and Mom has given up hope of me ever saying "mama". I'm getting very good at my sign language now - I've got over 15 signs that I can do well, and a bunch more that I'm working on! Some of my favorites are 'more', 'all done', 'eat', 'milk', 'water', 'cracker', 'please', 'thankyou', 'dog', 'cat', 'outside', 'downstairs', and 'nap'. It's really nice that I can tell Mom and Dad what I want instead of just whining about it!

I'm sixteen months old now and am very active! I get serious and quiet sometimes when we play with other kids, but I like to run around crazy at home with the animals. I give hugs sparingly since I'm pretty independent (though I always seem to have one ready for Grammie and Grampie!) and I like to wave at trucks. I'm very tough and hardly ever cry when I fall down (which happens a lot!). Mom still takes me to see my baby friends at our Wednesday playgroups and the Thursday toddler class at the hospital. I'm taking swimming lessons at the YMCA and love to be in the water, though I do get a little chilly sometimes. Now that the weather is nice and I can walk really well, I get to 'help' Mom feed the animals in the morning. My favorites are the cats and I like to visit the goats and sheep too. I don't have a special toy or security blanket, but I do like to tote a purse or bucket around to stash treasures that I find (like pinecones, rocks and dandelions). I usually try to feed my treasures to the dog and goats, even though they don't usually appreciate them. I love to dance and do art. I only get to use real paint at baby school...since I eat my crayons, Mom only lets me draw with water at home. All in all, I'm a very happy toddler!

Quadruplets

I found my long lost twins in the dressing room mirror at Kohls...