June 2005

Father's Day

For Father's Day, Mommy and I made Papa a special breakfast. In the afternoon, we went to the Buckingham's house to celebrate the high school graduation of Jeff and Kyle Buckingham. It was a warm, sunny day, so Papa let me splash in their newly landscaped waterfall. Eventually, I took off all my clothes but my hat and sandals and climbed right in [below right]. It was great fun!

First splash in a pool

Lucky Joseph: his mom got him a kiddie pool early in June, and on one of the first hot days of the summer, she invited me over to play in it with him.

I'm a big bath fan. I love playing in my bathtub, and I don't mind water in my face (probably because Papa has never been careful to keep it out of my eyes when he washes my hair). So I l-o-v-e-d the pool! I put on my swim diaper and swim suit and splashed and danced with noisy enthusiasm.

Joseph wasn't as sure about it, especially with me making such a commotion [below]. He was happier when I climbed out of the pool to explore, and he could spin his pool balls without the risk of a wild woman getting his face wet.

First trip to the zoo

Mommy, Papa, Cameron and I made our first trip to the Woodland Park Zoo on June 24th. We spent the afternoon visiting the elephants, lions, tigers, gorillas, and orangutans. I recognized animals that I'd seen in my books and Baby Einstein videos [right].

I enjoyed getting out of my stroller and walking through the park. Cameron is an old pro at the zoo, and he showed me around [below].

I liked the zoo a lot, but all that walking made me tired—and we didn't even see all the animals! Fortunately, Mommy and Papa bought an annual family pass, so we can go any time we want and see just as little or as much as I can handle.

I'm excited to go again!

17 Months Old, End of June

I continued to average a new word a day through the month of June. My new vocabulary included the English words juice, shoes, cereal, hippo, up, and rock; the Dutch words auto, vis, kaas, kikker, aap, olifant ("olie"), and buiten; the language-similar words ice/ijs, circle/cirkel, octopus ("oh-pus"), hello/hallo (pronounced "allo" like the French), and water ("wah-kah," which has some people believing that Papa is giving me vodka); the sounds for an owl, horse, bee, donkey, elephant, snake, lion, and bird; the ASL sign for airplane, and the sign for help, which is very, very useful. I also like to play peek-a-boo and say, "I see you!" (pronounced "iz-a-boo"). After months of using the word "Mama" to denote not only Mommy but also Papa and Cameron, I finally figured out how to call Papa by name. (I still call Cameron "Mama.")

Although Mommy and Papa haven't set up a kiddie pool like Joseph's, they did get a small sandbox for me to play in on our deck [left]. I accept it as a interesting challenge to spread the sand as widely as I can, including into my clothes and diapers.

In June I decided that it is very nice to snuggle and give hugs, and I like to give kisses not only when asked but sometimes just because I feel like it.

I also began to enjoy "helping" Mommy and Papa; for example, I like to put my binkies away in a drawer after I wake up. I also like to try holding a kleenex to my nose and blowing, and picking up a toy phone and saying, "Allo."

Cameron taught me about circles, and I like to find them and point them out everywhere.

Finally, I began to try my hand at what Mommy and Papa call "tantrettes" (mini-tantrums). The best tantrette is when I collapse flat onto my back on the floor and cry loudly [right]. Unfortunately, Mommy and Papa mostly ignore them.

[ Home ] [ Our Travels ] [ Family Features ]