Grandma Deanne's 50th Birthday

June 20, 2010

Grandma Deanne turned 50 on Father's Day this year. To celebrate, she and Larry threw a big party at George's Hideaway in Guerneville. I love a good party! Unfortunately, the excitement of the day caused me to miss my regular nap, so I was a little overwhelmed during the festivities. Nonetheless, I found plenty of things to do and ended up having a great time.

Getting ready to party with Aunt April and Dad:Lovin on mom:

Aunt Julia, her boyfriend Bryan, and Great Grandma Marilyn:

Dancing with Aunt April:

Julia and Bryan:

I like it when daddy kisses my belly! I often lift my shirt up when he enters the room, so he will come kiss it...

Cheeky baby:

Grandma's friends, The Thugz, played for a couple of hours, so there was lots of dancing:

Grandma Deanne is lots of fun!

Grandma dancing with Larry and enjoying her party:

Mom says I do this smile sometimes too:

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Father's Day Breakfast

On Father's Day, dad had to go to the Police Academy in the morning, so mom and I headed up to Calistoga to celebrate the day with Papa. Aunt April had spent the night, so she drove with us. We all met at the Hydro Grill and had a yummy breakfast. Mom ordered me eggs and toast, but I was more interested in her Huevos Rancheros. She gave me some of the black beans on top of my eggs. When she wasn't looking, I grabbed a handful of both, then quickly flicked the eggs off of my hand, so that only the beans remained. Once the beans were gone, I did eat most of the eggs and all of the toast.

We had a busy dad ahead, so after breakfast we all parted ways. It was nice to see Papa on Father's Day though. I just love hanging out with him!

Not quite ready for the photo to be taken...
Being a goof ball with Papa and TeTe:

The Aunties:

Mom and her dad:

Aunt April letting me press the cross walk button (one of my latest obsessions):

When we got home from breakfast, dad soon returned from class. Mom and I got him several red ales to compare to the last batch of irish red ale he made. Don't mind the drool

Grandpa Paul's 70th Birthday

June 19, 2010 To celebrate Grandpa Paul's 70th birthday, we had dinner up at his house. The whole family was there: grandpa, grandma, mom, dad, Aunt Sheila, Great-uncle Elmer and Great-Aunt Lee. Unfortunately, Uncle Kevin had to stay in Los Angeles and work.

We had a lovely evening! Grandma Kathy made grandpa's favorite meal: spaghetti for dinner and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Although I couldn't have the strawberries (mom thinks I may be allergic), I did taste everything else, and it was good! Before, during and after the meal, I found plenty of things to do to entertain myself.

I tried walking around on the grass and going up and down the stairs (with help, of course).

I played ball, tossing it to anyone who wanted to play. The game ended when the dogs wanted to join and took the ball away.

Grandma let me play in the water in her bathroom.

Then, she gave me my own toothbrush to practice brushing my teeth with.

Howarth Park with Violet

On June 16th, mom and I went for a walk around Spring Lake with Becca and Violet. It was a gorgeous day! After the walk, Violet and I got to try out Howarth Park for the first time. Violet wasn't so sure about some of the equipment at first, but I showed her around and by the end she seemed to enjoy herself.

Right before showing Violet my sand throwing skills:

Violet practicing the slide with her mommy:

Ready to go down the slide together:

I loved the water feature at the park. At first I just wanted to put my hand in the water that sprayed up, but by the end, I was crawling around in the water, trying to drink it up. Violet wanted to wait until another time to try it out, so she kindly watched me play.

Using a Spoon

June 13, 2010

Eating with a spoon successfully for the first time.

Still not a clean affair...

Watering the Garden

Dad lets me stick my hands in the water first:
Then, he let's me take over:

Here is what we look like after:

Peggy Sue Cruise

Peggy Sue Classic Car Cruise

Downtown Santa Rosa

June 12th

We ran into one of mom's former students, Ashley, and we were immediately friends. She held my hand as the cars zoomed by. Sometimes I wanted to run right up to them and sometimes I was a bit overwhelmed by the sounds and people. Overall, it was a good time though.


"Oh my gosh, did you see that one!"

Picking the grass

June 6th, 2010

I decided Grandma and Grandpa's lawn needed a little mowing, so I started to do it be hand for them.

Mom's sunglasses

I love wearing these things lately!

Playing with the dog's water bowl

What I like to do with Emma's water bowl, especially when mom is looking:

(I don't think she is too serious about the "no" word here!)

Here I am trying not to be wasteful with the water once I've spilled it by licking it off the floor:

Chicken Sounds

As many of you know, we have 7 chickens that live in our backyard. I love them! I get very excited when we head outside to visit them and I like to stick my fingers through the fence to try and pet them. When I see or hear my chickens, I often do the sign language symbol for bird, but now I have also invented my own sound for chicken. It is a clicking sound, that mom thinks reminds me of their clucking.

Feeding the dog

June 6th

I had been watching mom and dad feed Emma for awhile now, and I figured it was time for me to try it myself. On this day, the lid of her food bin was not secured shut, so I went over and took it off. I started by grabbing the scoop, just like mom and dad do. I stuck the scoop into the food, then touched it down into Emma's bowl. After a few attempts with the scoop, I realized that none of the food was getting into the bowl, so I threw it down and used my hand. This is when mom grabbed the camera. I carefully grabbed a handful of food and placed it in Emma's bowl. Emma was stoked! She tried desperately to be patient, but as you can see from the end of the video, she just can't help herself from getting closer to the food. In the process, she stood over her bowl and overwhelmed me a little bit. I just threw the food on the ground and that was the end of our feeding session. While mom seemed to have thought it was very cute at the time, she has not left the lid of the dog food bin loose since.

Angela's Birthday

June 4th, mom, dad and I went over to our friend Richard's house to celebrate my girlfriend Angela's birthday. There were a ton of cute girls there and lots of babies to play with. Richard's nieces, Odessa and Maggie, came and once again I couldn't take my eyes of them. They were fascinating and I was beyond thrilled that they decided to play games with me.

Richard made a lovely breakfast. I enjoyed the grapes, eggs and potatoes the most. Mom enjoyed spending a little time with friends:

The birthday girl with Odessa:

Taking a walk with Maggie:

Playing Peek-a-Boo with mom and Kelly:

Contemplative:

Irish Night at the Ballpark

On June 1st, a large group of us headed to AT&T park to celebrate Irish Heritage Night. I felt right at home, since I am more Irish than anything else. Before the game started, we went to the pre-game party in the parking lot. Everyone got neat Irish shirts and we listened to Irish music. There was a great Irish band and a group of bagpipe players, too.

Once in the game, mom found me to be a little more active than previous games. We sat 25 rows from the field and all I wanted to do was walk down the stairs to get a closer look. Luckily, the game wasn't too crowded, so mom and I got to change seats a lot. That was fun, because it allowed me to meet lots of new people. We would walk a few stairs while the batter was out of the box, then as soon as he was ready to hit, we would find a seat.

The first few innings were filled with walking and squirming, but after awhile, I got a little tired. Mom took this opportunity to explain the game to me. She told me there was a ball that the pitcher threw to a catcher. She made the ball sign, then pointed to the pitcher and catcher. Although I often pick things up quickly, mom repeated these words and signs often, as she might do with her students that are learning English. Hey, it's tough work learning to talk! Anyway, after I learned there was a ball out on the field, I was much more interested in the game. A few times, we even saw it come to the outfield near where we were sitting.

We returned to our regular seats to find some nice ladies sitting next to us. I took this opportunity to explain what I had learned about the game of baseball. I made the ball sign, then I pointed to the pitcher, then the catcher. Which obviously meant, "there is a ball that will be thrown from the pitcher to the catcher." They were very impressed and I think a bit grateful.

The game went into extra-innings again, but I am pretty used to that. This time I did not take a nap in the 10th. I was really hoping to see the Giants pull through, so I stayed up until past 11pm, but alas they lost by one run. I fell asleep in the car as we left the parking lot and slept soundly through the night.
Listening to the music with Papa:

Trying on an Irish hat from a previous year:

Not enjoying the opportunity to try on a panda hat:

I think it looks much better on Papa: