"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun..."

This past week and a half has been so busy! I feel like I have barely even stopped to take a breath. The hives, thankfully, have gone away, but not before a trip to the doctor. It has been decided that the hives were an after effect from the stomach virus that I had the previous weekend. The doctor, whom I had not previously met, commented on how advanced I am because I use the word please very well and appropriately, and I now tell Mom and Dad when I have gone to the bathroom; I know those of you without kids are way excited to hear about that one. Mom says that as soon as it gets warmer, I am going to start using a potty; we shall see who wins this one.

Back to the fun part, we've had two awesome playgroups in the last week and a half. The first one was at my house, so I got to show off, and share, all of my toys. It wasn't so bad; the only thing that I was not thrilled about sharing was my little bike, over which Boris and I shot each other several nasty glances. Lucas had a ball with my shopping cart while Selina and Jackson greatly enjoyed the swinging chair. We older kids stayed in my room a large portion of the time; we're just too cool for the little kids, and the Moms, at this particular point. A new friend, named Bryson, joined us; he is only 3 months old, so we won't overwhelm him quite yet. Marley and Colt even got to stop by towards the end of playgroup. I wore my St. Patrick's Day shamrocks, and I even ate some, or most, of Jackson's snack: Thanks for sharing your puffs, Jackson. I also prefer to only eat what Mrs. Allison puts on her plate. I hope everyone had as much fun as I. Thank you for the videos, Mrs. Allison. I'm so lucky to have such great friends.

The next playgroup was at Mrs. Lindsi and Jackson's house. Jackson had a tunnel, and Lucas and I had a fantastic time, like always, climbing through the tunnel and running into each other. At one point, we even both got in and laid together in the middle. Jackson had tons of new toys from his birthday party the previous weekend, and we made sure to get ALL of them out. Selina practically got inside of the toy bucket to retrieve the ones at the bottom. At the end of playgroup, Lucas and I gave each other a huge hug and refused to let go for at least a minute. It's good to have a best friend, and I have the best one. Thank you, Jackson, for letting us play with all of your new toys.

Speaking of Jackson and his new toys, I was one of the many excited guests at Jackson's first birthday party last Saturday. We were a little late because Mom didn't read the invitation; she thought that the party was down the street at Jackson's house, but when we got there and saw no cars, we called Mrs. Allison who let us know that the party was in Roswell at Jackson's Grandma's house. Good job, Mom! The party's theme was balls: soccer balls, bouncy balls, beach balls, etc. Luke even found a baseball, which his Mommy quickly confiscated. During the party, we each got to decorate our own beach ball to take home, which left a permanent marker stain on my shirt, but it's a small sacrifice for the fun memories. Jackson wasn't so sure about his cupcake at first, but then he gave the cupcake a round of applause. I, on the other hand, don't have time to clap for my cupcake; I just want it to "get in my belly!" Everyone was really quiet and paid attention while Jackson - well, actually Jackson's Mom - opened all of his gifts, everyone except for Lucas and me. Instead, we kept the party going by jumping on the couch and falling all over each other. I was even the only kid who took advantage of the tissue paper as it came out of the packages; I was literally diving into it at one point. It must have been the sugar from the cupcakes because Lucas and I are never wild... Mom even chased me around the island in the kitchen, which caused me to laugh hysterically. At the end, I got to take a ball, a lollipop, and some cookies home! The party was a ball - ha, ha - get it, a ball, but really, I had an awesome time. Happy Birthday, Jackson!

I hope you got some good cupcake practice, Miss Selina; I'm looking forward to your birthday party this Saturday.

Aunt Mal came and watched me on Saturday night so that Dad and Mom could go to a St. Patrick's Day party thrown by one of Dad's co-workers. Most of the SoloHealth team was there, like Jemel, Eric, Bart, and Dad pictured below, as well as their wives. Mom and Dad seemed to have a good time. Thank you for coming and hanging out with me, Aunt Mal. I hope everyone had a happy St. Patty's Day!

Yesterday, Lucas and I went to our first Gymboree class. The playing part was so much fun, but I wasn't stoked about the actual class part. The whole idea is that we get to play for about 5 minutes, and then the teacher calls the class over for about a minute of activity; this week's activities revolved around the concepts stop and go. I had such a great time playing on all of the slides and steps and ramps and beams that I pretty much refused to join in on the activities. At one point, I even pitched a bit of a fit and shot the teacher a nasty look before turning and walking the other direction; Mom took me in the corner and asked if I wanted to keep playing, to which I shook my head yes. Then she told me that I needed to join the group if I wanted to keep playing, to which I shook my head no. Like anyone is surprised that I can be stubborn! I reluctantly joined in when we got to bang on the tube, and I was actually excited when the teacher brought out the bubbles and the parachute, but the rest was a struggle. Why would I want to follow directions when I could just run around and be wild on all of the fun stuff? It seemed to me that the other kids were the ones who weren't getting it - sheep. I'd rather just play with Lucas. Lucas did much better with the activities, so I think Mom's goal is to get me to join in a little more next time; I'll let you know who wins that one as well. Lucas and I have signed up for a month. My favorite things were the tunnel and beam. I was one of the few kids who could easily crawl all the way across the beam without falling. I even figured out the wall with foot holes on the first try. Another highlight is that I got a sticker with my name on it; "say my name..." - oh, never mind. The class is for kids 16-22 months, so I was one of the younger ones; however, I was one of the taller kids...with the least amount of hair, go figure. I'm already excited about next week.

By the way, Lucas and I tried out Gymboree when we were 6 months old; I can't believe it has already been a year. At that point, we were a little too young to sign up for multiple classes. Check out the then and nows:

Last night, I got to meet one of Mom's oldest friends from elementary school, Mrs. Elizabeth, when we met up for dinner at a little Italian bistro. Mom was so excited to reconnect with her on facebook, and I really enjoyed showing off my world of talent for her amusement. Mrs. Elizabeth is an optometrist who has been at some of the same tradeshows with Dad - small world! We can't wait to get together again, Mrs. Elizabeth.

Today, Mom and I met Mrs. Amber, Jordan, and Jace at Monkey Joe's to play some more. Now, this is more like it - no one interrupting me with frivolous activities. I wasn't so sure about the jump-jump at first, but once Mom got in with me, I was willing to give it a try. I didn't jump very much; I preferred to sit on the alligator and watch all of the action. I really liked when the older girls came into the jump-jump, and I tried to show off so that they would notice me. The older boys were a different story. One of the jumped off of the dragon and practically landed on me. That was the end of my fun in that jump-jump; I refused to go back in and risk getting clobered. Jordan was a little rough, and he kept pushing me; Mrs. Amber said that he was trying to hug me, but I'm not sure I'm buying it. At one point, he shoved me down until I was laying with my face smashed into the jump-jump. After that incident, I screamed every time he came near me. I think that he is just a little too much of a boy for me, and that is saying something. I was really excited to meet Jordan's 5-month-old baby brother, Jace, and I kept trying to climb up onto the stroller to see him. The jump-jump with the slide was my favorite, and I really wanted to go into the older kids' jump-jump, but I couldn't quite make it; there's always next time. Jordan's favorite was the ice cream truck, towards which he kept escaping. I was very good about holding Mom's hand and staying in the kids' area, and I even worked up quite an appetite. Unfortunately, Mom took a bunch of pictures with the nice camera before realizing that there was no storage card in it. The only downfall to Monkey Joe's was that Luke didn't come. As soon as we got in the car, I started saying, "Lu-, Lu-"; I looked for him when we got to Monkey Joe's, and I even asked for him on the way home. In my opinion, Lucas should go everywhere I go. Anyways, Monkey Joe's was a ton of fun for only 5 bucks, so I'm pretty sure that I will be going back...if only to successfully tackle the big kids' jump-jump.



Some other tidbits from the last week and a half:

- I have claimed my throne as queen of the bathtub, and I even have a little built in mirror to check myself out. I just can't figure out why they made the mirror so small!?

- I had an awesome time riding in the back of the shopping cart at Target; fruit chews are the best, by the way.

- Blockbuster can provide some necessary fun on a rainy day; I ran up and down each aisle, laughing hysterically while Mom chased me and jumped out at the end of the aisles. Good thing we were the only ones in there. I can have fun anywhere!

- I found that a Victoria's Secret bag can lead to hours of fun. It was like my own game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, with no tail and Opie as the donkey.


- I learned that one must wear green on St. Patrick's Day to avoid getting pinched.

- I have worked diligently to keep Opie thoroughly groomed, and what I mean by this is that every time the pantry door is opened, I grab his brush and hunt him down.

- I am currently obssessed with climbing up and jumping on Mom and Dad's bed. I prefer to use Mom's nightstand as a stool to get up, but when she blocks it, I have no problem climbing up without it. As luck would have it, Mom caught my first fall off of the bed on tape. Don't worry, folks; it stunned me a little, but I'm fine because I am one tough cookie!

- Did you know that Mom and Dad's laundry hamper, along with my shoes, Dad's socks, the candle in the living room, and other various objects, is, "Ewww, P-U", which I usually say while fanning my nose dramatically. It's my new favorite saying besides, "No, no, no".

- I have a new favorite song, "If You're Happy, and You Know It", to which I like to stomp my feet when I'm happy.

- Like I mentioned before, I have learned to say, "No", amongst many other things. The other day, Mom told me not to do something, and I stuck my finger up at her, furrowed my brow, and said, "NO!" I quickly found out that I'm not allowed to do that; although, I have tried it a couple more times since then. For now, I'll just use my, "No, no, no" on Opie.

- I think Mom is starting to regret teaching me the phrase 'help, please' because I say, "Help, please" or "Help, Mom" 24/7 about EVERYTHING. She should just be happy that I am so polite. I've also got 'more, please' down, and I am working on 'thank you'.

- Dad taught me how to skip in the backyard on Sunday morning. I love playing outside with my Daddy; he can be so silly!

Now, I am just waiting for some consistently sunny weather so that the real fun can begin: oh, spring, where are you? (Yes, those are my sunglasses; they match Mom's sunglasses. I'm a diva!)
Whew! I warned you that I had been busy!