A Flower for Grammy

We had a really good day today. Dad has been working out of town this week and he finally came home last night and I was ever so happy to see him. Except that he slept in way too late this morning. By the time he woke up, I was already down for a nap. But I got up, we went to Jerry’s to eat, and then to TCBY for an after lunch treat. When we got back to the house, we went out to play in the backyard. We have camilla trees all over our yard and the flowers will often fall from the trees. Mom brought me one that fell off, but it just fell apart as soon as she put it in my hand. So, then she got me one that was still on the tree. I loved it! I smelled it and it smelled so good. Then I said, “I want to give this to Grammy.” Well, since Grammy is so far away, this will have to do.

Motorcycle Mechanic or Golfer…So Many Choices

I was so excited when I got home today to see Uncle P working on his motorcycle. And of course, I knew that he needed my help, so I rushed to the job.

I had so much fun and the Uncle P didn’t seem nervous at all that I was tinkering with his toy. He is great like that!

I think I could really do this when I grow up. That’s what I will do. I will be a motorcycle mechanic…Oh wait, Dad just got home from New Orleans and what does he have? A new golf club (as if I needed another one of those). But this one is really cool and Dad says it will pass the test to be allowed in the house. I’m sure he should have checked with Mom before telling me this, but it’s too late now!

So, maybe I will be a golfer with a motorcyle repair shop on the side. That sounds like a great idea!!

What a fun weekend!!!

This past weekend was just beautiful!!! It has been unusually cold here, so it was so nice to be able to get outside and enjoy temps in the 60s and 70s!! Saturday Mom and I walked down to the “blue park”. This is my favorite park and the one I always request to go to. Mom tried to take me to the park at Bayview, but they were working on it, so I won again! It was a good thing that we went to the blue park, because we ended up running into my buddy, Lawson, while we were there. We had a good time playing together. I’m not sure what Mom was doing, but she took no pictures of me and Lawson hanging out. I think she was too busy with her little “Mom Chat”. I dread when moms get together and start sharing tips with one another. Lawson and I tried distracting them several times, but something tells me that secrets were exchanged and I am just waiting for something new to pop into our routine this week.

After Lawson left, I had a good time climbing around on the jungle gym. I sure do love to climb these days!

Today Daddy got to go to the park with us. The only problem was he wouldn’t let me play with any of the toys.

Okay, maybe I fibbed a little. I did get to play and Daddy was just showing me how the contraption in the picture above worked (although I was a little bit too little to make it work on my own). I just went back to climbing.

And, of course, a fun day is not complete without a bath. I got a new underwater flashlight this weekend and I insisted on having goggles…and an oven mitt. Don’t ask, I know exactly how useful an oven mitt will be in the open water.

Well, I hope everyone had as fun of a weekend as I did. And I hope you have a great week.

Mom Hijacked the Blog

Yes, I am going to take over today since I know Duke wouldn’t be completely honest about the events of this past Monday. It actually all started on Sunday at church. I worked in the 2 year old room that morning and Duke was having an exceedingly ornery day. I thought maybe it was just due to the fact that he is not used to having me around when he’s around other kids. I guess I can’t be entirely sure that he doesn’t act like this at school everyday. His teachers are so taken with how charming he is, they might just let him get away with whatever he wants. So, Sunday was spent in multiple timeouts, time in his room, toys taken away. Nothing seemed to phase him or slow him down one bit. He did not nap and every parent knows how vital these two hours of peace and quiet are. We put him to bed early, early that night.

So, we had a new friend come over on Monday for a playdate and things went pretty smoothly (as smooth as things can go between two year olds). And then it came time for lunch and nap. Nap, what’s that?!? No nap. So, I took him outside to burn off some energy since his energy was about to destroy the house (climbing up our built-in bookcase, walking across the top of my desk, leaping off the back of the couch). Okay, so maybe going outside wasn’t the best idea. The kid was all over the backyard. I wish someone could have had a video camera following us around because it would have been funny for someone on the outside looking in. I literally was following him around the yard, “Don’t touch that. Stop climbing on that. You are going to fall.” He was jumping off the deck, pulling limbs off the bushes (big limbs), walking along the wobbling stones that outline the flower bed, and never slowed down. He jumped out of the wagon and landed face first on the stone path. I told him not to do it again and he said, “Okay, I won’t”. Then he proceeded to get back up in the wagon and jump off the other side (technically not the same as the previous jump…smart kid).

I finally got him to slow down and play bubbles. So, he was standing out in the yard chasing the bubbles, tripped, fell and hit the deck with his face. Ouch! After all the chasing, he got hurt doing something so simple. One icepack later he was back at it, but we have the marks to show that it probably would have been safer for him to go to school that day.

That night as we were lying in bed. I told him that it was important to be a good listener and we tell him to do things because we want to keep him safe. He looked over at me, put his hands on either side of my face and said, “Let me give you a nice hug and a big kiss.” And I melted…

My Buddy Lenox

I got to go over and see my buddy, Lenox, the other night. Some of you may remember my long history with Lenox.

Lenox has some cool riding toys that he keeps in the backyard. Up until this point in life, Mom and Dad have only allowed me to have the slowest electric four-wheeler known to man, so this was very exciting to me. And could that tractor move!!!

Lenox and I would often switch vehicles with each other. And when we did, we performed some type of celebration dance. The adults really couldn’t figure out what we were doing which just goes to show you how early in life parents stop understanding you. It really is tough being a kid and being so misunderstood.

We had such a fun time and the parents seemed like they enjoyed themselves, too. I hope I can get together with Lenox again really soon.

Hey Mom…Look at Me!!!

So, I was outside playing in the backyard the other day when I got a little bored. No good can come when I get bored. I was playing at the water table and decided to mix things up a bit. I knew Mom wouldn’t want to miss this, so that’s when I yelled into the house, “Hey Mom! Look at me!” This is what Mom found when she came outside.

Yep, that’s right. I had climbed right up into the water table to get more into the action. And it didn’t matter that I was fully dressed or that we were getting ready to go to Ozone to get some pizza.

I had some serious work to do and I just couldn’t get it done while standing to the side of the table.


And I didn’t just stop at the water table. I decided to see just how dirty I could get and moved it all over to the sandbox!!!

Of course all of this fun, was followed by a good bath before heading over to Ozone. But it was totally worth it.

A Belated Christmas Post

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I know I did and it’s not just because Santa loaded me up with lots of goodies (although he did). We got to go to Oklahoma for Christmas and it was so much fun!!! But before we went to Oklahoma, I had to make one last stop to meet with the big guy and be doubly sure he had that Christmas list right. I had asked for candy (lots of it), a golf cart, and cars. These three things I repeatedly asked for throughout the Christmas season. However, I know that Santa has a lot of his plate, so that’s why I had to check one last time.

When we finally made it to Oklahoma, the next agenda item was to get cookies baked for Santa. Santa deserves only the best, so we made cutout sugar cookies. Grammy insisted on helping, so I let her in on the fun.
I did quite a bit of the cutting out myself. Grammy let me pick which cookie cutter I wanted to use. We ended up with lots of candy canes. Hey, what can I say, I love candy!

And then it was Christmas! I thought it would never get here. Mom was a little surprised that I could sense the anticipation of this day since I am only two and a half. But I sensed it alright and I also figured Santa would be so busy the last few days prior to Christmas that he wouldn’t notice if I was being a little ornery…okay, a lot ornery. But as I mentioned before, Santa did good and here is a sneak peek at some of my favorite gifts.
I got a really cool super hero cape.

I also got a remote control monster truck. I had great fun with it for a day and a half until it broke. Luckily, Santa was able to stop by and take it back to his workshop and let me go to Toys ‘R Us to pick out a new one. Man, that Santa is such a good guy.


The next two presents I got when we got back to Florida. Didi and Poppy got me this cool easel. It is magnet and dry erase on one side and a chalk board on the other side. Very cool!!

And this next gift is one Mommy and I look forward to every year. My buddy, Mary Lou, makes me a blanket every year for Christmas and this year was no exception. I always get so excited when I see my new blanket. (I really do. It makes all the adults laugh at how excited I can get over a blanket.) These are so special to me and they are also super cute and very comfy to boot!

So, all in all, our trip to Oklahoma was very fun. I even got to see my buddies, Cade and Coy while I was there.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! See ya soon!

Oh, and by the way, Santa did not follow through on my request for a golf cart. I suppose I will try again next year. Do you think it might have something to do with the fact that I wrecked a golf cart so close to Christmas? I will try to be more careful in the future. And for those who are keeping track…the final bill on Didi’s car was $4400!!!!

Well, unfortunately, Mom was unable to come through on getting pictures of Didi’s car. However, I can tell you that the initial estimate on the car was $2500!!! When I do something, I do it right! So, the car is in the shop and hopefully she will get it back very soon.

The other day we were over at Didi and Poppy’s house and I was just playing out by the water. This pelican came swooping in and hung out with me for the longest time.

I think he thought I was throwing food out, but it was just sand.

Then Mom tried to convince me that Spiderman was hiding inside her lens. Whatever?!? I looked, he was not there.

So, I just went back to my digging.

And throwing…by the way, sand really hurts when you get it in your eyes.

Well, I probably won’t talk to you again until after the holidays. We leave for Oklahoma on Saturday. Woohoo! I can’t wait for all the sugary goodness at Grammy and Papa’s house!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hello?!? Allstate Insurance Agent…My Name is Duke

Did you know that 2 year olds are really fast? I wonder if my dad knew this prior to this weekend. I can be sure that he knows it now. So, here’s the story…

Mom dropped Dad off at the golf course on Sunday so she could go on one of her photo shoots and she dropped me off at Poppy and Didi’s house. Well, Dad promised me I could play some golf when he was finished. So, Poppy loaded me in Didi’s car and we went to pick Dad up at the golf course. Dad let me go to the putting green and for a little ride on the golf cart. We took the cart over to the car so Dad could put his clubs in. Poppy and Dad were having a serious discussion about whether or not the clubs would fit in the car. Dad stepped off the golf cart to check whether there was enough room in the back seat. Poppy yelled at Dad, “Don’t leave him alone in the cart…” But it was too late. I saw my chance and I took it. I slammed that gas pedal down and away I went…right into Didi’s open car door. This bent the door completely back. The jolt threw me from the cart and onto the pavement where I received a skinned elbow (Mommy wants to interject that we are all very happy this was the only injury). It may have been fast, but that was the most exciting 5 seconds of my life(thus far)! Mom says I just bought myself a car door for Christmas, but that’s okay…it was worth it. The Allstate agent said this was a rare occurence. Really?!? Two year olds don’t often take golf carts for joyrides? I cannot believe that. Maybe you will see us all in an Allstate commercialsometime soon. At least that would cover the deductible.

(Mom is hoping to get some pictures of the car. You will really be amazed at just how much damage a golf cart can do. The door wouldn’t even shut for the ride home. Poppy had to tie his belt around it to keep it closed.)

Football Coach

There is no doubt about it. I love watching football with my dad. A few weeks ago, I came across this headset. I put it on and, much to the amazement of my parents, I declared “I’m a football coach”. That’s right. I knew that this is what football coaches wear. Sometimes I like to put this on and boss Mom and Dad around. They usually think it is funny at first, but that never lasts long. Oh well! I milk the cuteness as long as I can.