The Surprise

So Avery's parents told us that they had a surprise for my parents that we would get when we saw them last Sunday. But on Saturday, Midge asked us to meet her at Willamette Valley Vineyards so that we could have our surprise early....... We were all in anticipation as we drove up the long winding road to the vineyard..... and walked in the door..... and there, in the tasting room, was my parent's beloved- CARA!!!! I had never met my Auntie Cara. She has been in faraway places like Madagascar and, more recently, New Orleans. Wow!!!! We only chatted for a bit, I showed off for her and all that, then we headed home. The next day we drove to Eugene bright and early to spend the day with Cara, Midge, Jason and my cutie pie girlfriend (I am such a player:) Avery.

My parents have missed Cara very much and my dad was super happy to spend some time with his buddy.

My mom was too, she loves Cara and Midge (though Mom's hair seems to have gotten a bit wild).

I had lots of fun playing with Avery, she is already walking!!

I got an awesome new truck to play with while Avery taste tested her new outfit.

 

And played with Mom's camera.

Then I took some photos of myself (I am pretty talented).

And shared my milk with Cassidy the kitty.

At the end of the day we had to say good-bye to Cara, I hope we see her again soon! I hear that I get to see Avery tomorrow for New Year's- hooray!!!

So THIS is Christmas!

Ahhhh, now I understand what the fuss has been all about. Christmas is fantastic!!! Between the decorations, family time, gifts and yummy treats I was blown away. It all started on Christmas Eve when we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Jim's after I woke up from my nap. Grandma said that I got to open up a prettily wrapped gift, and when I did I found Elmo inside! To be perfectly honest, I was a bit unsure of him at first, well I kind of thought that he was alive.

But after I introduced him to Beary and they hung out to watch me open more gifts, I knew that he was just fine.

I also got an amazing truck that I can play with and ride on, I was too excited to even pose.

Then I ate a bunch of Grandpa Jim's fantastic homeade chili and Grandma's delicious homeade poundcake (Dad helped feed me, even though he doesn't look like he could help anyone do much of anything in this photo).

After this I was so exhausted that I took a bath and relaxed with Grandma until it was time to go home.

The next morning I got up and found that Santa/Grandma had come and brought me a wonderful new toy- a wooden trainset. Even though I was still bleary with sleep, I was super pumped! (ps, thanks for the jammies, Eliana!)

 

We opened up the rest of our gifts and then had some breakfast (not as good as at Grandma's, but I'll take it:)

After breakfast we took a nice walk and stopped at the park to shoot some hoops, it was really pretty out but cold, so I wore my new hoody that Grandma got me.

"Yo, Brandon Roy, over here!!!! "

Anyway, back to Christmas. Well I took my nap and then we drove out to Grandpa and Grammy Steph's house where there was even more delicious food and- get this- even more gifts!!! I almost went crazy!

On the top of my favorite gifts list is this amazing rocking chair.

Wow, Christmas really is a special time of year. I love my family.

Kisses

I have been having a pretty good time lately. The main reason is that my dad has been around all of the time. I love to be with him every second, all day, every day. I love to say "uh, uh, uh" (up) with my arms out so that he will pick me up and then I can hug his head. I am starting to get really into giving hugs and patting backs. I also love to give and get kisses, I kiss Grandma and Grandpa Jim goodbye each time that I see them. Of course, the best kisses are from Eliana.

She and her mom came to the beach house on Friday- boy was that fun! I showed her around the place and when we went down stairs with my dad, I raced her back up. She won.

The next day, we went to the beach. It was overcast but no too cold or windy. A perfect day to chase waves.

And to climb on logs.

And check out the sand.

And throw a little- I could almost hit Kelsey and Mom (sorry Mom, I promise not to do this at Kid's Club:).

My Visitor

Last week, Auntie Crystal drove all the way from Coos Bay to come and visit ME!!!!! I was a bit unsure when I first saw her on Wednesday morning, I mean my memory is a bit short and I hadn't seen her for a few months- well, you know how that is..... Anyway, she proved to be a very fun auntie. I made sure to show her all of my new moves and noises. She is very entertaining, a lot like my dad, it is almost like they are related or something. Maybe that is what Dad means when he calls her his sister....

Among other things, Auntie Crystal read to me and entertained me in the car.

She also tickled my tummy.

And helped me put on my shoes.

Thanks Auntie Crystal, I love you! Come see me again VERY soon!!!!

Tree Trimming, Tuesday's and Three-Legged Chairs

This past week has been pretty exciting. Last Friday, we headed to a special place where there were all of these big green trees. Dad said that we got to pick out one to take home!!!

After we picked out our perfect tree, we headed inside where I got to share a yummy cookie with Grandma while Mom and Dad drank coffee. I was pretty pumped, even though my nose was a bit runny.

Here I am with the parentals and all of the big trees. 

 

 

We brought the tree home and it was super, super exciting. Here I am when Dad put the tree up in the house.

Unfortunately, the camera's battery died right after this and we didn't get any shots of us trimming the tree- too bad, because it was AWESOME!!!

Anyway, on Sunday Mom and Dad took me over to Grandma's house and left- for the whole night! Can you believe it?! They went to a Christmas party at Kelsey's house and I guess that Eliana stayed with her uncle for the night. Eliana and I are not babies anymore!!! It was awesome to wake up at Grandma's house, she is the best.

 

 

I guess that Mom and Dad had a nice time at Kelsey's. Though I can't imagine that much of anything happens after 7pm, I mean doesn't everyone go to bed then?

On Tuesday evenings, Eliana comes over to my house while her mom goes to class. I love Eliana. She is the cutest girl in the whole wide world. I try to sit as close to her as I possibly can.

The Uh-Oh Squad

I have perfected the word "uh-oh". I use it to communicate when something falls, when my pj's are tripping my feet, when my video stalls or when something just isn't "right". Like at the beach last week. I was trying to explain to everyone that a spot on the wood was all weird looking so I kept saying "uh-oh" over and over.

The family wasn't much help in resolving the issue but they seemed to think it was pretty funny to see me all riled up and saying "uh-oh" so seriously. I guess that Grandpa used to play my mom a song called  "Call the Uh-Oh Squad" (by Robert Ellis Orrall) when she was a little girl, maybe if I made that call I would get some assistance.......

Besides "uh-oh" I have been trying to say the word "moon". We saw the moon on Wednesday morning at the beach. I got up bright and early at 6:30 a.m. and was able to see it outside the window as the sky was getting light- nice, huh?!

I have also been saying "mama", this makes Mom super happy. I love to run into the kitchen while she is cooking and call out "mama!".

When we are at the beach, we go to lots of restaurants where I get to eat yummy food and use big boy straws and cups to drink my water, totally hip. The best is when I get to do this all while sitting on the laps of my favorite people. Here I am with Grandpa Jim.

Beach days

Mom, Grandma and I are at the beach again, Dad is still super busy but I guess that next week his term will be over- more time for Isaac!!! I love the beach, I have so many fun toys here and I love to see what new adventures we will embark on each day. So far, we have driven to Yachats where we took a walk along a neat wooden path.

The path took us down to a road that went along the ocean, the waves were HUGE!

It was super cold but such a pretty day.

Here I am with Mom and the ocean.

While we walked to go get breakfast we spotted some seagulls- a lot of seagulls!!

At breakfast, I sat with Grandma and ate pancakes, oatmeal and some jam straight out of the container. There were even crayons for me to color right onto the tablecloth.

And there was an awesome view!

We stopped at the store on the way home where Grandma restocked our ice cream supply, I bet she will share with me!!

I am having a great time but it is hard not to miss my dad, he is the most fun in the whole wide world.

I am off for my nap, I hear that Grandpa Jim will be here when I wake up- hooray!!!