Fall 2005

Swimming ("Zwemmen"!)

In September, I began semi-weekly, half-hour swim classes at Northwest Aerials. I liked the water from the first time I jumped in to Papa's arms [above left]; I wasn't afraid at all, and I liked getting wet—even my face! In fact, my teacher said that I was so relaxed that I was forgetting to paddle to keep my head above water, making it harder for me to learn. It didn't matter, though. In the fourth week I finally figured out how to move my arms and legs, and by the last class I was starting to keep my balance and push myself around (with the help of floats) [above right]. Northwest Aerials has an outdoor pool and doesn't hold swim classes after September, but Papa and Mommy found me an indoor winter swim class at the Dolphin Community Pool at Woodmoor Elementary. I can play in the pool all winter long!

New Yard, September

In late September, Mommy and Papa had some men come from the Highridge Corporation and put a whole bunch of plants in our yard. The plants were nice, but what I liked best was the big tractor they used to move all the dirt and rocks and bark in our driveway. The men would line up three wheelbarrows together, then scoop up dirt with the tractor and fill all three wheelbarrows at the same time.

Joseph came over, and we sat in our strollers and watched the tractor go back and forth, back and forth, up and down, up and down. It was great entertainment! Even better, when the tractor was turned off and the men were busy moving dirt in the back yard, Papa helped Joseph and me sit in the tractor [left] and climb on its wheel, which was twice as tall as I. That was fun!

Twenty Months Old, September

September was all about words: talking and singing and making people understand me. A few of the many new English words I learned this month were nappy (nap), knee (“g-nie”), computer, horsie ride (“orsie eye”), dance, sing, pumpkin, trampoline, kangaroo, nakie (naked), burp, another (“nano”), and okie-dokie. Dutch words included tenen, badpak, dolfijn, papier, lopen, tanden, nat, konijntje, spin, eend, zwemmen, bij, kus.

I can say "nano book" and they know I want to read a book. If I say "nano looks" it means I want to watch a Baby Einstein DVD. I can sing pieces of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and the song by Raffi called "Going to the Zoo." If I say "'Scuse me" after I burp, Mommy is very happy. I know the names of some colors; yellow is my favorite. I can also count two objects, and I know the names of numbers 1 through 5.

This month I told Mommy "I love you" as she was leaving for work. She made a big fuss.

These are some of the things I like best:

I love "horsie rides." Mommy gave me my first one this month (I hang on her back while she runs through the house), and now I ask for them from the Papa and Cameron, too. It makes me mad when they tell me they're too tired.

I like to try on Mommy's and Papa's shoes [left]. They're fun to walk in!

I like bees, butterflies, and especially, ladybugs ("lay-la bucks"). I have a book about animals of the forest, and I like to find the ladybugs on every page.

I like to dance. I stomp my feet really fast, swing my arms around my body, and laugh and squeal.

I love books. Every month I find new ones to be read over and over again, and there are piles of them around the house just for me. Sometimes I ask Mommy or Papa to read to me; sometimes I just like to page through a book by myself.

I love to be a "nakie baby" and run around the house in nothing but my diaper.

I like to lay down on pillows, clothes, or towels and pretend to take a “nappy.”

I like Eskimo kisses; that's the special way I say goodbye to Grandma Joanie.

I love “mup-a-cup” (milk). I drink it every day after I wake up and right before I go to bed. But despite what I call it, I refuse to drink "mup" from a cup; "mup" is only good from a bottle.

Halloween, October

Halloween is only one day, but we spent lots of days preparing and celebrating.

First, on Friday Mommy, Papa, Cameron, and I drove to a local pumpkin farm. Among the scarecrows all around, the corn, and the tall sunflowers, we saw pumpkins of all different sizes and colors [right]. There was also a huge pile of hay bales, at least three times as tall as I, and I climbed to the very top—all by myself!

The pumpkin farm also had a complicated maze in a cornfield. It was carved out of the cornstalks to look like the painting "American Gothic," but you couldn't see that unless you were riding in an airplane. (Sitting in my stroller, I couldn't see anything but the mud path in front of us and the green and yellow bottoms of a million cornstalks on every side.) I was glad that all I had to do was ride along and eat cheddar goldfish snacks while Cameron, who had the map, helped Mommy and Papa navigate their way.

On Saturday morning I went to the Oranjeschool. We didn't celebrate Halloween, but we were allowed to dress up, so I showed everyone my pink butterfly costume. The schoolroom is pretty crowded, so I had to be careful not to knock things down with my wings.

Saturday night was for carving pumpkins. Papa carved a big spider in a web on mine (I like spiders). Mommy carved a sad face, and Cameron carved a scary one. I sat and watched, since I'm not yet allowed to play with sharp objects. When they opened up the pumpkins' heads, the orange gunk that came out was disgusting [left], but I liked the finished jack-o-lanterns when they were all lit up.

On Sunday we went to a Halloween party in the neighborhood.

I especially liked playing in the hay pile; better than searching for the prizes hidden within it was tossing the hay in the air [right]. I also liked drinking apple cider, eating cookies, pounding golf tees into a pumpkin, putting my hands in goopy goo, and playing with my friend Joseph, who dressed up as Tigger. I was too small for decorating pumpkins and making goodie bags, but Mom did all the kiddie crafts for me.

Many, many kids (and parents) were there—everyone dressed up in costumes—and it was all very chaotic and messy and noisy. In other words, it was great fun!

Finally, Monday night I put on my butterfly costume once again, and we all went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.

At first I wasn't quite sure what we were doing; I didn't want to get out of my stroller, and I didn't want to walk up to strange doors and wait for strange people to open them. But every time we did, they put small goodies in my bag—goodies for me. After I realized that I was getting goodies, I didn't want to stop! I even found enough voice to say "thank you" once or twice. I decided that walking around in the dark in a costume and knocking in doors is really fun!

Hmmmm. Now that I think of it... whatever happened to my bag of goodies?

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