A short but funny story...

Yesterday we went to lunch at a place called Uncle Billy's Barbeque. Mom forgot to pack toys and books for us to play with while we waited for the food, so she gave us menus to look at instead.

She must have forgotten how good I am getting at reading because she absentmindedly handed me the drink menu. I reminded her how good I am getting at reading new words when I asked, "Why does this menu say 'room' on it?"

Dad explained that it said "rum," and that is a grown-up drink.

Animal planet!

For months and months, I was really into the alphabet. I didn't really want anything to do with things unless they had something to do with letters. The good news is, I am getting really good at reading as a result of this.

Anyway, in the past couple weeks I found a new interest -- facts about animals! All day, every day I ask Mom and Dad questions about various animals I have seen in my books. Some of my questions, for example, are what upland sandpipers say, what baby yaks are called, and where xenops live. I am especially excited about birds, including vultures.

We've been using the Internet a lot more than usual to look up facts about animals and probably have a zoo visit in our near future. In the meantime, we have been watching fun documentary videos on YouTube. Here's one of my favorites; it makes me laugh, yell and jump up and down.

Hazel, meanwhile, has been using more and more short (almost) sentences. Today she said, "Read bunny book," and she yells at Peepa a lot, when Peepa tries to mess with her food. Peepa is the only member of our family who has not figured out that it isn't smart to mess with Hazel when she's eating. She is pretty serious about food.

It's been cold and rainy here, plus Mom's been working a lot, so we haven't done much lately other than go to school. Hazel and I went to Leaps n Bounds one afternoon this week, which I was pretty excited about. Hazel went through a rough period where she cried a lot when Mom dropped her off, but she is doing a lot better now.

Otherwise, nothing's new! We're just trying to stay dry and warm.

Happy New Year 2011

When we got back from Atlanta, I was super excited to go back to school. It was so fun to see everyone in my class, and we had a holiday party. Then I learned the party was over, at least for a couple of weeks, because of winter break. It turned out all right though. Mom and Dad had lots of fun plans for us.

The day we left for Atlanta, Dad moved Hazel's crib into my room. I didn't know what that was all about, but it turns out we get to share a room! The first few nights were rough but we have since settled in. Hazel always wants to be with me now; Mom and Dad say she asks for me when I am not around. I like it too. One night at bedtime, I said, “Hazel doesn't have to sleep in her crib.” Mom and Dad asked me where she would sleep, if not in her crib. I said, “My bed.” 

We both have been talking a lot more. I have been making up funny stories and words and I have been thanking people when they make me food. Hazel is putting more words together. She said, “Daddy, good job,” and “Peepa, get it,” when she drops food on the floor.

Last week, Dad went back to Atlanta to spend more time with Papa and Bubbe. Dad flew from the San Antonio airport, and we dropped him off so he could catch his flight. On our way home we made a pit stop at the San Antonio Children's Museum. It was great. We especially liked playing on a life-size airplane, a train, and a room full of bubbles.

When we got home, Mom realized we missed a whole floor of the museum. We wanted to go back with Dad too, so we went back today. We had a great time showing him around, but it was pretty crowded by the time we left. We spent some more time on the airplane and playing with a giant white board with magnetic letters. We also explored the basement, which we missed on our first visit. It was really fun – there were a grocery store and restaurant, where other kids checked us out and waited on us, and a cow we milked. Mom and Dad were pleasantly surprised that we forgot about the messy bubble room. On the way home I announced that I wanted to make dinner and while it was cooking, I would vacuum and watch a little tv. Mom and Dad thought that was awesome, but alas, the plan did not come to fruition. Instead, Hazel and I ran around screaming like banshees.

We also went to the Austin Children's museum a couple of times the past two weeks. Mom and I went one day while Hazel was in school. It was a morning when they are open only for kids three years old and younger, which was nice because it wasn't totally crowded and there weren't many older kids to avoid. The second time, Mom, Hazel and I went. It was the week between Christmas and New Year's, when many grown-ups have vacation, and it was so packed we could barely move. We had fun anyway but will be glad when schedules are back to normal.  

We spent a lot of time with my friend Clark and his family last weekend while Dad was gone. We went to his aunt's house for dinner Christmas Eve, then on Christmas went out for a traditional Jewish Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant with Clark, his parents, and his other grandparents. We missed Dad but it was lots of fun hanging out with Clark's family so much.

Dad had kind of a hard time coming back from Atlanta. A huge snowstorm on Christmas led to the cancellation and delay of many flights. Then when his plane was about to finally take off, a bag flew into the engine so they had to turn around, get off the airplane, wait for it to be fixed, get back on and wait in a long line again before they could actually leave. We were not sure whether he would end up coming home the day he was supposed to, and Mom explained to me that his plane was broken. I walked around most of the day telling everyone, including a cashier at the grocery store, that Daddy's airplane needed batteries. At one point I told Mom that Daddy broke the airplane. We were all very happy when he finally made it back.

Since my usual school has been closed, I really missed it, so I went to Hazel's school a couple of times. The first time I told Mom I wanted to go and joined right in with my classmates when she dropped me off. The second time I was excited again and when Mom picked me up and asked me if I was ready to go home, I said, “I'm not” and tried to run back to my classroom when we were leaving. Mom and Dad are really proud of how well I did and are glad because I will go to school there when my usual school is closed this summer. Meanwhile, I am excited to go back to my usual classroom this Tuesday.

Since Dad has been home, he had a lighter week than usual at work because of the holidays. We had lots of time on our hands, so we ventured to a mall one day to check out a play area we heard about. It wasn't great, but it was too cold to go to a park that day and it was better than sitting around our house. One thing that we noticed was that a lot of big kids were trying to pick on Hazel. Mom said she is going to send Hazel to her old gym, Bruce's Boxing. We probably won't go back to the mall anytime soon.

Another fun thing we did with Dad this week was celebrate New Year's Eve. We started out with a New Year's wagon ride. We tried to wear our New Year hats but they kept falling off. We also had some curly things to blow on, which were more successful. When we got home, we had a yummy dinner, then had a little party. We listened to Auld Lang Syne, which Hazel and I really liked dancing to, ate blueberries and a cookie, and drank sparkling cranberry cider. It was a blast!

Happy New Year!  Here are pictures from the last few weeks.

My trip to the dentist

Here's a video of my first trip to the dentist, from when I was in Atlanta. Everyone was pretty impressed with how well I did. Notice the nice watch I'm wearing, which Papa gave me.

I had a good week back at school. Sadly, I learned that my best buddy from my class was transferred to kindergarten. I am happy for him but keep asking my teachers and Mom about him. The best part of the week was Wednesday, when we had a party. We had lots of good snacks and a book swap. Today was the last day of school for a while. We gave my teachers presents and they sent some home with me. Now Mom is trying to figure out what we're all going to do the next few weeks.

Chanukah in Atlanta

Its been a crazy couple of weeks.  Right after getting back from Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania, we decided to go to Atlanta to spend Chanukah with Bubbe and Papa.  And to make it even more fun, we all drove there.  Hazel and I love a good road trip.

Last Thursday night, Mom and Dad put Hazel and I in our pajamas and we headed out of town.  We drove until Dad got tired and then we stayed at a hotel  Dad found a hotel in Kilgore, Texas, that had a huge suite with a king sized bed  Hazel and I were so excited about our new accommodations and that we all slept together in the bed.  Mom joked that all 5 of us were in the bed together.

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast and continued our road trip.  Hazel and I both did great.  We stopped to play and eat a few times, but overall Dad was pleased with the time we made.  We stopped for dinner at Dad's favorite restaurant, Krystals, and ended our day's drive in Birmingham at Aunt Susan and Uncle Stuart's house.  It was nice seeing them and Aunt Susan, Uncle Stuart, Aunt Pat and Uncle Neal gave us a great bath toy for Chanukah, which we got to use while we were there.  Saturday morning we drove to Atlanta to see Bubbe and Papa.


We stayed with Aunt Laurie and Uncle Jonathan, who have a great, big, fun house.  They were nice enough to spend some time before-hand making the place a little safer for me and Hazel.

I love Chanukah!  I kept getting all kinds of fun toys to play with.  Somehow, everyone knew how much I love letters. I got letter games, a letter robot and lots of other fun toys.  Papa gave me a watch and I love teling people what time it is.  Bubbe gave Hazel a sweater that she knitted herself.  I also liked all of the yummy food I got to eat at Bubbe and Papa's for dinner.

We did other fun things on the trip as well.  Bubbe took me to the dentist office where she works so I could get my teeth cleaned.  Mom and Dad weren't sure how well I would do at the dentist, but I did great.  I had fun telling the dentist how to spell molar and picking out my toothpaste flavors.  The dentist said my teeth looked very good -- the spacing between my teeth is great and my bite is good.  Hazel thought it looked like so much fun that she climbed into the chair and brushed her teeth too.

We went to Papa's favorite restaurant, The Varsity, and had a Frosted Orange milkshake and some onion rings.  We visited Great Grandma Millie and Great Aunt Sylvia, where I impressed them with my spelling and Hazel impressed them with her ability to find every glass and breakable item.  We also visited a fun park where we could climb around.

Mom and Dad insisted I tell one funny story from our trip. Dad was driving around and he had to jerk the car quickly to avoid hitting a curb.  Mom screamed but I liked it. I said from the back-seat, "It's like a Six Flags ride". Mom and Dad thought that was pretty funny. Mom said it may have been the funniest thing I have ever said.

Atlanta is a fun town, and we love Bubbe and Papa very much.  Here are some of the many pictures from our visit.  We have more pictures and videos that we'll be posting later, but Dad was pestering me to do a post now, so we'll put those up sometime in the future.

Happy Thanksgiving

This week we traveled to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving.

Before we left, we had a lot to accomplish. The highlight was I got a haircut! Mom and Dad said I look much older with my new 'do.

We were also really excited and had great weather, so we burned off lots of steam at local parks. We went to three playgrounds we don't go to that often: Central Market, a playground with dinosaurs, and a huge playground with a climbing structure that looks like waves.

Monday finally came and we got up very, very early to catch our airplane. We usually bring a stroller with us but this time we instead rolled Hazel around in one of our car seats we strapped to a suitcase. It was a pretty sweet ride. Then when we got on the plane, we were lucky enough to get four seats (we had only three tickets and though Hazel might have to ride on Mom's lap), so Hazel rode in the car seat the whole time. About halfway through the flight, she fell asleep. I did a great job on the plane too. Mom and Dad surprised me with an early Hanukkah present – a Scribble and Write toy that I used to practice writing letters. I love it so much that, along with some Oreos I talked Mom into sharing with me, it kept me busy all three hours.

Since we have been at Grandma and Grandpa's, we have had a great time. There is so much to keep us busy. Mom, Hazel, Gigi, Grandma and Aunt Lauren got haircuts. We have had tons of fun seeing lots of family. Mom-Mom, Pop and Aunt Jane visited with us; we spent lots of time with Gigi, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Lauren, Uncle Ryan and his dad, Jim; and we visited Aunt Cindy and Uncle Steve at their Irish shop. Tons of other people visited us on Thanksgiving too. It has been great!

Grandma and Grandpa's house is really fun. There are so many good things to play with, like wagons and a firetruck and doggy to ride on. Grandma and Grandpa's kitties are super fun to watch and pet, and we have had a blast running around in the huge backyard. Mom and Hazel even found a bird's nest that fell out of a tree and a bunny. After a few days, I figured out how to get into trouble with things like crawling under the baby gate to get up and down the stairs at will, turning on and off various lights, and going outside by myself to visit the outside kitties.

Also, we have eaten so much good food, it might be easier to roll back to Texas than fly. Grandma cooked tons and tons of delicious goodies for us, we had lots of Rocco's, Pop and Mom-Mom took Dad, Mom and Hazel to lunch at Cross Keys, and Grandma even showed me and Dad how to make pecan pie.

There were a few other highlights from our trip. Last Wednesday Hazel and I went out with Grandma to a recycling center and a hike in a park. Friday we hung out with Dad, Grandpa and Uncle Daniel while Mom and Grandma went wedding dress shopping with Aunt Lauren. It was a good day. They took us out to lunch, where Hazel and I decided to start eating as much ice cream as we could hold in our bellies on this trip. Strawberry is our favorite. Later, Hazel fell asleep on the couch with Dad while I took a tractor ride with Grandpa.

The next day we hung out with Mom and Aunt Lauren in the afternoon while Dad hung out with Uncle Ryan. When it was time for dinner, we headed to the Famous Hot Weiner with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Daniel, Aunt Lauren and Mom. It was very fun and another opportunity for strawberry milkshakes.

Monday we headed to Wolfgang candy factory for a tour and snacks with Grandma, Aunt Lauren, our cousin Mianna, Mom and Dad. We saw how they make chocolate covered almonds and pretzels and then we ate some! After lunch and a nap, we picked up Gigi, who took us to feed geese and ducks some corn. They were very loud and hungry! It was fun watching them. Hazel especially loved it -- she kept calling the geese "ducks" -- and it was nice spending a little extra time with Gigi.

Wednesday we head back to Austin. It is hard to leave all this behind, we have had so much fun, but we are looking forward to seeing Peepa and a visit from Bubbe and Papa this weekend.

Here are the pictures from our visit.

And the tiebreaker is...

...we're having a boy!

For those of you who didn't know, we're getting a new baby and it turns out he'll be a little brother! Mom and Dad are hard at work trying to figure out his name.

When Mom and Dad told us the baby is a boy, I ran to Mom, jumped into her arms, and gave her a big hug. I was excited! When Hazel saw his sonogram photos, she started making monkey noises.

We think he's cute, especially his tiny feet. The doctor told us he is developing normally, weighs 14 ounces, and will double his size in the next month.

We can't wait to meet him! The due date is still April 4.