I'm going bananas!

How do adults do it? I've been so busy lately! I'm having lots of fun, but life just doesn't seem to stop! With my Monday night trips to Starfish Swim School (I'm learning to swim underwater!) and day visits on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to Dayton Learning Center (aka Jack and Jill's), you'd think that I would take it easy on the weekend, but no!

Mom went to Winter Park on Friday; Dad said she was long overdue for some "personal time." Dad and I stayed at home practicing my two new favorite tricks: sitting up and the belly crawl!

Saturday, 27 October 2007

4:30am
My tummy usually starts grumbling early in the morning so I wake up and eat, then I go back to sleep for a couple more hours. Today, however, Dad and I just stayed up!

5:45am
Dad and I hopped in the car and went to Boulder. He said that he would drive so I could take a nap.

6:30am
We met a couple of Dad's students and coworkers at Denny's for breakfast. Apparently the students were taking some test called the ACT, but I didn't know that there were special tests for acting. We wished them good luck and dropped one of the students off at the test.

9:00am
Then we drove to Broomfield, up on top of a big, windy hill. It was beautiful outside, a cold mist floating in the air and turning my nose pink. We picked up Dad's friend Kyle and headed back to Denver.

10:00am
Here's where everything gets a little weird. We parked underground in a garage on the 16th Street Mall. Then, Dad put me in a banana costume he made last night while I was sleeping. Then he and his friend put on gorilla suits.

10:30am
Suddenly, there were gorillas everywhere!! They all looked a little different, except most of them were wearing running shoes.

11:00am
And we were off! Hundreds of gorillas all chasing me because I was dressed like a banana! Dad ran and ran, trying to protect me, but there were always more! They were all oohing and ahhing at me, which is something that gorillas apparently do when they think something looks cute or delicious.

1:00pm
After the Denver Gorilla Run nobody tried to eat me because Dad finally changed me out of my costume. The gorillas kept oohing and ahhing at me, though.

3:00pm
We all went home and Kyle borrowed our shower. He was getting ready to go to something called the World Series, where a bunch of Rocks were competing against a pair of Red Socks to see who could hit more balls with sticks and run in circles. It sounded really silly if you ask me, but Kyle was very excited.

4:30pm
Dad loves Mom so much he couldn't wait any longer to see her, so we packed up some clothes and drove up to Winter Park. He did all the driving again while I slept (I'll make up for it when I'm sixteen, I promise).

We swayed back and forth on curvy roads beneath giant white mountains.

6:00pm
Yay! Mom looked prettier than ever.

8:30pm
I fall asleep, dreaming of gorillas wearing red socks hitting rocks with bananas.

Swimming, Relatives and World Peace!

There's so much going on lately! It seems like every day I meet someone or learn something new!

On September 9th, Aunt Suzanne flew all the way from Korea (which is like a hundred miles away or something really, really far like that) to visit me. She was really excited to see Uncle Stanley so she only stayed one night, but we still had fun!


I've been staying with my 3rd grandma, Ghodsi, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. She's teaching me Farsi, so I'll have an easier time promoting international peace when I'm the President or Secretary of State. Speaking of peace, did you know that there's an international ceasefire day tomorrow, September 21? I didn't understand why anyone would set the seas on fire, but Mom and Dad explained that it means some kids aren't as lucky as me to have such a peaceful life. I was really sad at first, but then they explained that we can help by using our own talents to make the world a better place! So, I pledged at peaceoneday.org to use the greatest talent I have right now--cuteness--to encourage world peace! I hope it works!


It's really fun to play with her but soon next week I start going to Jack and Jill's Learning Center, which isn't nearly as bad as it sounds. I don't have to climb any hills or fetch any water, and there are really nice people there that will be sure that I won't fall down and break my crown! There are lots of toys to play with and I'll get to make even more friends, this time with people who are my age!

In case you didn't know, I'm six months old now. Mom and Dad took me to Wash Park Rec Center to celebrate the occasion with swimming lessons! There were lots of other kids there, too, and we all had tons of fun playing in the pool! I don't mean to brag, but I think I'm the youngest person in the class and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who really understands you have to kick your legs to move around. I don't even mind dunking my face in the water, even though Dad says I shouldn't drink too much pool water or there won't be any left for other swimmers...

Grandma and Grandpa J visited last weekend for five days! They took care of me on Saturday while Mom and Dad took a bike ride around Dillon Reservoir. That night I guess Mom and Dad slept for 12 whole hours but I don't really know why--they certainly haven't done anything like that since I've known them. Grandma J and I stayed up late (don't tell Mom and Dad!) and then I slept the entire night dreaming about red and blue birds with buckles on their shoes.

Oh, I almost forgot! Grandpa J turned 70 on Tuesday, even though he still acts like a little kid around me. Happy Birthday!

Uncle Andy visits this weekend. Since becoming the Godfather he's moved to Dallas and bought a really cool house with a nice backyard for my cousin Vegas. We're going to ride bicycles in Fort Collins on Saturday!

Speaking of Questions...

I saw Doctor McGuirk again on Friday! He said I'm "tall and skinny" as "healthy as a horse" and Mom asked, "is that was a good or a bad thing?" She said something about a Glue Factory, but I don't really know what that means. Oh well.

Once again, the nurse poured crazy Rotavirus medicine in my mouth (it kind of tastes like hummingbird food, whatever that is) and stuck me with three needles in the legs. Yes, I screamed, but it didn't hurt as much this time. I'm a big girl now and can handle it.

Speaking of big, I weigh 15 pounds 1.1 ounces! My head is 16 1/2 inches around! And I'm 27 inches tall! Dad says that I should say 2 feet 3 inches because it makes me sound taller but 27 is a bigger number and I've always had two feet, so what's the big deal?

Here's a question: if I'm measured by feet and inches, why are all my clothing sizes by age? Mom says I'm outgrowing a lot of my 6 month stuff and already need 9 month clothes. But some of the 6 month stuff is too big and some is too small. It's all so confusing. Don't these companies realize that not all babies are the same size at the same time?

Speaking of clothing sizes, Mom isn't wearing maternity clothes anymore and she looks awesome! Dad says I have a hot mama, but I don't think she has a fever and she's not wearing a sweater so I'm not sure what he's talking about.

Here's another question: Have you ever seen a waterfall? Aren't they the coolest? It's like this big water fountain in the middle of nature that just keeps running and running! I don't know how it works, but I'm really glad they exist. Two weekends ago Mom and I went to visit our friends LuCinda, Alyssa and Luke in Winter Park and we hiked to a waterfall. It was beautiful!

Speaking of beautiful, LuCinda and Alyssa and their house in Winter Park were really beautiful too! Mom and LuCinda watched romantic comedies (whatever those are) and talked a lot while I played with Alyssa and Luke. I didn't sleep much at night because Mom and I caught a little cold, but we still had tons of fun. Mom says that Alyssa might be my babysitter someday and I think that would be just fine. When we were leaving, Luke tried to kiss me, but Dad says I shouldn't tell that story until I'm a little older. Let's just say that Romeo didn't quite hit the mark, even if he is a good looking older man.

One last question: What's a Romeo?

Grandma & Grandpa D, Happy Anniversary!

Would you look at these two young lovers? Isn't it great? And Grandma and Grandpa D both still look the same, except Grandma's hair is longer and Grandpa's got scared and ran away!

I had so much fun spending time with Grandma and Grandpa D when they visited last week that I can understand why they've spent 36 years together.

But wait, these pictures make me wonder about something--Grandma and Grandpa D said that someday I'll be "quite a catch." Does that mean that I'll turn into a fish? I don't want to be a fish! Okay, maybe swimming in the ocean and eating littler fish would be fun, but the catching part sounds painful! Who wants to eat a hook, anyway? I'd much rather have sweet potatoes or peas!

Good Luck Grandma D!

I hope everything goes really well for you in Philadelphia because I can't wait to play with you the next time you come to visit!

Dad says you're the toughest lady he knows so I'm not worried, but I'm sending all of my good luck in your direction any way!

I love you lots!

An Important Service Announcement from Madeleine

In my last blog, I posted a photograph in which peas were all over my face. I would like to take a moment to clarify that every speck eventually went into my mouth and I ate it all.

No peas were harmed in the the making of that photograph.

Peas are green. They are delicious and Mom says even nutritious.

So, if you are a little kid reading this or having your mother read this blog to you as a bedtime story, please understand that you should always eat your peas. If you're a college student spending all of your cash on Taco Bell and Wendys, may I instead suggest peas. Peas are good for adults, too. And really, really, really cute old wrinkly people out there--you should eat peas too. You can even eat them the way I do, all mushed up.

All I am saying is, give peas a chance. Thank you.

Pass the Peas, Please!

Something had to give. I have taste buds too, you know. Tonight, as Mom and Dad sat around munching on wontons and soup and such at the Ming Garden, I decided to let them know that I was interested. I stuck my fingers in their water glasses. I dragged their plates across the table. I clanged my teeny tooth on a spoon. I reached for every single thing they ate... and you know what? As soon as we got home I got to eat PEAS!

Getting what I wanted was really easy... almost too easy... hmmm....

Oh, glorious peas. They're green. In puree form they slide right down. And most importantly, they have flavor! Sweet, glorious flavor!

Plus, when I eat peas, I look like I have a funny green goatee, whatever that is. Dad says it looks like the creature from the Blue Lagoon got his beard trimmed, but I've never been to a lagoon and peas are green so I don't know what he's talking about.

Dad goes back to work tomorrow. He's acting kind of weird--I think it's called sad. But he says that he'll play with me extra at night and everything will be okay.