Thanksgiving

Mom, Dad and I went to Bellingham, WA, for Thanksgiving. We stayed at Nanny and Papa's house the whole week. Avia flew from Colorado to meet us there and Uncle Ty Ty and Aunt Sara are living there now, too. Uncle Logan couldn't make the trip because he's Canadian now. We also got to see Auntie CaCa (Nanny's sister), Nunu (Nanny's mom), and Sara's whole family: Sharon and Rick and her brother Zack.

I had the best time ever. Every day I was surrounded by so many people who love me. Every half hour someone new would walk through the door and I would greet them with an enthusiastic rendition of their name.

On Tuesday, we went to Canada and I got to ride a Skytrain. We went to Science World for a few hours and then headed into downtown Vancouver for dinner.

On Thursday, we ate more food than I've ever seen in my entire life. Uncle Ty Ty is a chef and he and Sara orchestrated a beautiful meal with turkey, mashed potatoes, two kinds of stuffing (we had two turkeys), a squash casserole, a green bean casserole, two jell-o molds, a salad, gravy, apple pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie. I ate a little bit of everything, but I did not have seconds...until Friday morning.

I've started talking in short sentences more often this week.
"Ae Saar go wis ew?" - Translation - "Aunt Sara go with you (aka me)?"
"Mamee wa mo tukey." - Translation - "Mazie want more turkey."

I also walked into the bathroom and pooped in the shower. I came out and told everyone, but no one really believed me. I should mention that I also pooped in the potty a couple of times this week -- this is a hobby I've been working on for a couple of months now. I think I'll probably stick to mostly using my diapers for a while, but it's fun to pee and poop in the potty every now and then.

All in all it was a great trip. Now I'm back home with just Mom and Dad and my dogs and cat. It's nice to be home, but I'm sure going to miss having so many loving faces around me. Thank goodness for Skype!

True Broncos Fan

Mazie's Dad here:

After a wonderful Thanksgiving meal we walked to a local bar here in Bellingham, WA to watch the Broncos game. When we arrived, there were only two other patrons and they noticed, with lighthearted displeasure, that we were Broncos fans.

Sometime in the second half of the game Mazie wandered over near the two gentlemen and I said, "Careful Mazie, those are Giants fans." Her face immediately turned from happy to sad and she was genuinely scared of the two men. I tried to calm her down and told her, "It's okay, they're just fans of the other team." That did not help. She started wailing even louder and only the warm embrace of her mother could calm her down.

I was a little surprised, but mostly I was really proud of her. Go Broncos!!!

A few thoughts on my little angel...

Mazie's mama here.

First a quick update on Z's elbow. We saw a pediatric orthopedic specialist on Monday and the verdict was that her elbow was indeed still dislocated, and that rather than popping it back in (which works in 95% of cases, but not for our exceptional child), we have to wait for the tendons to tighten and pull the bone back into place. This means 3 weeks of wearing a sling/Ace bandage to keep her arm mostly immobilized and protected. The good news is that this doesn't seem to bother her a bit-- she gets by just fine with one arm. She doesn't seem to be in any pain, either. We get to take the sling off in the evenings, and tonight she was moving her arm pretty well, so we're optimistic that she'll heal quickly.

Now a few other updates on our sweet little almost 1 1/2 year old Peanut....

Talking...
Our girl is quite the little chatterbox. She talks constantly, repeating everything we say and keeping her own running commentary throughout the day. She babbles a little bit, but mostly she's saying words and stringing little sentences together, although it still takes a parent's trained ear to decipher a lot of her words. The word that she repeats most often is "Mazie" ("May-mee," or more recently, "May-meez" -- when we try to get her to put the Z in the middle she just sticks it on the end), as in "Mazie mama," "Mazie daddy," "Mazie bear," "Mazie string cheese," etc. Everything she sees becomes "Mazie's" so-and-so. It's pretty neat to watch her realizing that she's her own little person. One of the earliest signs of this came a couple of months ago -- when she would wake up in the morning or from a nap she would take a "roll call," naming all of the people around her. "Mama, Daddy, Mazie!" Along with this development also comes the inevitable "No," although her use of the word is still fairly moderate.

Counting....
With a bit of prompting, Mazie can count to ten. Sometimes she'll start somewhere in the middle ("three, four"). Last week when she was at the zoo with her dad, he said, "Look, Mazie, giraffes!" and she replied, "TWO giraffes," holding up two fingers. Since there were in fact two giraffes, we thought that was pretty amazing, although I should note that over the past few days I've heard her pointing out "two" of things when there are actually more than two -- I think it means "multiple." Still, not too shabby for a kid who is still only ONE year old. Another counting story: Today at Little Gym, Caleb said, "One, two, THREE!" before helping her with a little flip. When she landed on her feet, she continued: "Four, five, six!"

Being sweet...

More than anything, it's Mazie's sunny, sweet, engaging personality that makes our home such a happy place these days. One of her most heart-melting moments came a couple of months ago when we were in Colorado. We were out running errands and Mazie started to get hungry -- she used her sign for "food" a few times but we didn't have anything with us. I left Mazie with my mom while I ran across the street to grab some snacks, and when I got back and handed Mazie a cereal bar, she looked up at me and signed, "Thank you." It was such a genuine, sweet gesture-- while we had taught her the sign, we really hadn't prompted her to say it. She just sort of picked it up on her own. She says it all the time now -- when we give her dinner, she says, "Thank you, Mama. Thank you, Daddy. Thank you, Mazie." Pretty adorable.

There's so much more I could say... clearly, I'm a very proud Mama. Very grateful for a happy, healthy, amazing little being. Each day brings new wonders....

ER

Well, I'm almost a year-and-a-half and today I finally visited the Emergency Room. Dad, Mom and I had lunch down on State Street and on the way back to the car we had to cross the street. Dad took my hand and we ran across the street together. I stumbled half way and instead of letting me fall, Dad held on to my hand and swung me back up onto my feet. He does this all the time, but it turns out that he shouldn't. This time he managed to dislocate my elbow. When we got to the other side of the street I made it pretty clear that I was in pain. Daddy knew just what was wrong. He asked me to put both of my hands up in the air and I just raised one. Mommy and Daddy thought that I had probably hurt my shoulder or my elbow, but they weren't sure. So, we drove to the hospital to get me checked out. I fell asleep on the way there.



Then I woke up.



(This one is me following Dad's instruction to make a "happy face." Hey, YOU try making a happy face with a dislocated elbow.)

The people at the hospital were very nice, but they weren't able to fix my elbow for me. I did, however, impress them all with my knowledge of stethoscopes. They gave me a sling to wear home and now I have to wait until Monday to go see Dr. Blaise.




It's not that bad. I mostly just use my right arm to do everything. It's really frustrating when I fall down though, and climbing is pretty much out of the question. Those are probably two of my favorite activities.

I'm just lucky that I have Mommy's milk and Tylenol to comfort me.

Halloween!

We just got back from a fun trip to Durham and Boston! We left last Wed for Durham, and I had lots of fun with my friends Miles and Tobin. We got to meet Tobin's little brother, Evan, too -- he's pretty cute. The best part of the trip was HALLOWEEN! I got to dress up as Dr. Jones and go hang out in our old neighborhood. I even got a little bit of candy! Then on Sunday we flew up to Boston so Mom could go to a conference. We got to see Andrew and Elizabeth on Sunday night, and Eric and Allison on Monday, and Dad and I had fun exploring the city while Mom worked. I've now been on 51 plane rides.

Here are more pictures of Halloween and other fall fun.

More fun in the bath

A little signing, a little singing, a whole lotta cute.

Monkey see...

Mom and I had a great trip to Colorado. It was so fun to see Nana and Avia and Grandpa and Grandma and all of my aunts and uncles and cousins and GGpa and Great Barb and GG and .... I can't keep track of everyone!!

You know, I've heard that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well, people sure seem to like to imitate me! Check this out:



The Broncos played a really exciting game against the Cowboys while I was home, and I did my best to cheer them on!


I also learned a great new word: "NO!" It's so much fun to say that sometimes I'll just repeat it to myself when we're driving around in the car. It's also really handy for letting people know how I feel about stuff, like food and books.


Here are some more pictures from our trip.

Meet Dr. Jones

Dr. Jones is my cat!


Why is my cat named Dr. Jones?

Well, the last video we posted was taken after Dad and I picked Mom up from her office. In front of her office are some stepping stones, which Dad pointed out to me and let me walk across. When I was done, I said "Bye bye, Stepping Stones!" That made Mom and Dad laugh, so I said it again. And again. Except my mouth hasn't really caught up to my brain, so when I say "Stepping Stones" it sounds like "Dr. Jones." So Dad had me say, "Bye bye, Dr. Jones!" and he and Mom thought that was really funny. The next day I was thinking about how funny that was and I started walking around the house saying, "Dr. Jones!" So mom suggested that we should name the kitty that Nana gave me Dr. Jones. I thought that was a great idea-- I ran over to my little playhouse and got my kitty out and said, "Dr. Jones!"

Mom and I are in Colorado now. Mom is going to a conference and I get to hang out with Nana a lot! It's pretty great. We're up in the mountains (Copper Mountain) and today it snowed! Apparently I saw a lot of snow last year but I don't remember it too well. It was cold! Tomorrow we're going back to Boulder and I'll see my cousins, and then Avia is getting back from a trip to Washington, D.C., on Saturday. It sure is fun to see everyone here! Oh, and Dr. Jones came along, too.

Who is Dr. Jones?

Here's my new catch phrase. Wondering who Dr. Jones is? Stay tuned to find out.

Bye Bye Baby

Singing in the tub...

Where does it hurt?

Last night after Dad's soccer game I was playing around and slipped and hit the side of my head really hard. Usually I recover from my frequent little "bonks" pretty quickly, but this one really hurt and I cried a lot. When I calmed down a little bit, Mama asked me, "Where does it hurt?" I pointed to my chest and said tearfully, "Me-me" (="Mazie"). Duh, Mom!

Also, I'm officially smarter than Mom. Avia has a list of 150 words that Mom could say when she was 18 months old. Well, I'm still a few days short of 16 months and my list of words is up to 151!

Mazie Visits Canada

I took my first trip out of the US this weekend! We went to St. Catharines, Ontario, for Andrew and Noella's wedding. It was a great trip -- the weather was beautiful, the scenery was amazing, and best of all, we got to spend time with great friends. I even made some new friends, like Noella's parents, Barb and Don, and other relatives who played with me while Mom and Dad went out for pre-wedding festivities, and Dave and Janie, the owners of the bed and breakfast where we stayed in Niagara-on-the-Lake, who liked me so much they let Mom and Dad leave me with them while they went to the wedding ceremony! Mom came and picked me up after the ceremony, and we joined the party just as the reception was getting underway. The wedding was at a beautiful spot overlooking the Niagara River (the falls weren't too far away -- we visited them earlier in the day). I had a GREAT time playing with other kids (more new friends), especially this big kid Josie and her little brothers. During the dinner there were lots of speeches which got a little boring for me (Mom and Dad really seemed to be enjoying them, tho) so I decided to go take a swim in the fountain in front of the restaurant. Then we got to the dancing, which was really fun! Josie tried to take a break from dancing with me, but I eventually managed to drag her back out onto the dance floor. I was having so much fun I didn't want to go to sleep, but when I started leaning into Mom and closing my eyes in the middle of the Chicken Dance, Dad put me in my car seat and within one lap around the parking lot I was fast asleep. Dad brought me in (still in my seat) and I slept soundly in the coat check area until the party ended around 1:30 am! Congratulations, Andrew and Noella, and thanks for including us in your special day!










We had long layovers in Chicago on the way to and from the wedding. Luckily, there was a great Children's Museum play area in the O'Hare airport, so I spent lots of time there!

Talking and Playing

Wow, what a fun and busy month. After our cottage trip, Nana came to visit me. We had lots and lots of fun together. We went to the park and found a bunny rabbit, and I especially loved playing dress up with Nana's scarfs!



Then a couple of weeks later Avia came to visit! I sure am lucky. Avia dropped Uncle Logan off at McGill University right before she came to visit me, and I think spending time with me (and Mom and Dad) helped ease her transition to being a "free bird" (as opposed to an "empty nester"). She babysat me one night while Mom and Dad went to a movie and I managed to get TWO baths that night by covering myself in applesauce after my first one.


At 15 months old, I'm a very busy girl. Like my daddy, I love to talk and talk. Dad keeps a list of my words and signs, and I can communicate a total of 106 words now! I don't always manage to make my words sound the same as when grown-ups say them, but Mom and Dad can understand me most of the time. Just to keep them on their toes, though, I sometimes make up my own words... and say them really, really loud. Oh, and I've been working on my singing.


Finally, I still love books. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" is my current favorite. Here I am reading it to myself.



There are some more recent pictures here.

Cottage Trip with Friends

Earlier this month we spent an amazing week up at the cottage with a bunch of Mom & Dad's friends, and, most importantly, my friend MILES!! Miles's dad made this great video.

First Hair Cut

I got my first haircut a few of weeks ago (7/25). My bangs were getting long and I don't really like wearing barrettes, so Mom did three little snips and now I have bangs!

Washington Trip

We just got back from a great trip to Washington. We flew out on July 13 and spent 3 days on the sailboat with Papa, Nanny, and Uncle Ty (who was visiting from Lake Tahoe). We didn't actually get to sail a whole lot -- the weather was warm and sunny without a lot of wind -- but we had a great time tooling around the San Juan Islands and just relaxing on the boat. We saw eagles, seals, and even some dolphins (porpoises?). Mom & Dad even dropped me in the water in my lifejacket, which I wasn't too happy about -- the water was cold! But overall, I had a pretty great time.

Thursday, July 16th was Mom & Dad's 5 year anniversary! We all went out to a great sushi dinner, and then watched the sunset at a park on the water. (The next night Mom and Dad got to go out by themselves while I stayed and played with Nanny and Papa and Auntie Caca.)


On Saturday we drove down and took the ferry over to Kingston, where Uncle Wes, Aunt Carlyn, and my cousin Eaton met us. It was great to finally meet them, and Eaton and I had lots of fun together. We were so excited to meet each other that we gave each other a BIG hug:


Eaton's pretty strong, though, and ended up knocking me over. But I didn't mind it.


To show him that there were no hard feelings, I gave him some BIG kisses!


It was a pretty great trip. There are more pictures here.

More Recent Videos

This one is actually from a few months ago -- right around Mazie's first birthday (note how much her hair has grown since then). We've got a little WNBA star in the making....


Here's a more recent one of Mazie doing some of her animal signs and other words.


And here's a short one from the cottage -- playing with Dad on the dock.

Mazie's First Lie

Mazie was playing happily in the living room of Nanny and Papa's house when she turned to her mother and gave her the sign for milk. When she was not immediately accommodated, she gave the sign for hurt, followed by a slight cry and another request for milk.

Come on...already faking injuries?

Mazie Talking video

Cottage Trip!

We just got back from a great trip to the cottage! Last time we went, it was March and the lake was still frozen. It sure looked different this time! The weather was kind of crazy -- nice and warm the day we arrived (Friday, June 26), and then cooler for several days before warming up again for a gorgeous 4th of July!

I had a great time playing with my 8 cousins, my aunts and uncles, and Grandpa and Grandma! We played in the water, went to Candy Island, lounged around, and had a great fireworks show off the dock!

There are LOTS more pictures here.

Summer is Fun

I've been having a lot of fun in the warm weather. A week or so ago I went strawberry picking with a bunch of friends. I helped a lot-- I liked to pick the green ones and smoosh the red ones!



Then this week Baby Jacob came to visit me!! I had so much fun riding around in the bike trailer with him, going to the zoo and the pool, taking baths together, and just hanging out.



In a whole week together, we mostly got along and shared really well, with only a few exceptions....




Lots more pictures here...

Tomorrow we're going to the cottage to see all of my cousins! Can't wait!

June Fun

Hi everyone. It's June, and I'm just getting more and more fun every day. My parents are amazed at how fast I'm learning new things-- of course, I've been learning since I was born, but the neat thing is how much I'm able to really demonstrate my progress now with my ever-growing LANGUAGE abilities. I can show Mom and Dad how much I understand by doing things like getting a toy animal out of my bucket when they ask for one. If they ask for a car, I'll bring them a car instead. Want a ball? You got it. I've also got a growing list of my own words (like "hot," "uh-oh" and "zoo") and signs ("monkey," "giraffe," "help"). It's pretty neat.

Oh, and I'm also still really cute. Here are some recent pictures, and there are more here.


Here I am slamming a juice box I stole from one of the big kids that came to my birthday party in Madison. I stole his sister's, too. Mom tried to take it away from me, but I put up a good fight. That stuff is GOOD -- not like the diluted stuff my parents have been giving me....



Playing with (and trying to crawl into) the fun water table Nanny and Papa sent me!


Just being goofy.

One Year Old

On May 23, I celebrated my first birthday! We had a great big party in Colorado with my whole family. Uncle Logan graduated from Fairview High School on the same day, so it was an extra special day and an extra big party! The best part was my CAKE! It was so good I enjoyed it with my whole body.



I also got lots of great clothes, books, and toys, including this tricycle!


Thanks, everyone!

Sign Language

As many of you know, I am pretty good at sign language. I don't have too many words that I can say with my mouth, but my hands are getting pretty good.

Tonight, after dinner, I was feeling a little sleepy from my long day. I watched Dad's soccer game (1-0 victory over a previously undefeated team)and then I did some gardening with Mom. Sometimes my parents don't know exactly what I want so I walked up to my mom and rubbed my eyes. That's sign language for "I'm tired." Then, I rubbed both of my hands on my chest which means, "bath." When the first two pieces of the puzzle were understood, I reminded Mom about the milk I would need after my bath by squeezing my hands open and shut a few times.

It's probably the longest continuous communication I've had with my parents so far.

I'll catch you all later,
Z

What????

This just in... Mazie has added a third word to her vocabulary. Mama? Dada? Nope.

"Belly button"

Seriously. It sounds sort of like "Bell butt," but it's surprisingly clear.

Strange kid.

"Bye-Bye"

My parents are officially ready to announce that I have said my first word. I've been saying "Da" for a while now, while pointing at our dogs (or cat), but I guess they didn't think that was quite clear-cut enough to be considered my first word. About a week ago, Mom, Dad, and I were playing in my room, and then I decided to get up and walk down the hallway. About halfway down the hall, I stopped, turned around, waved, and (enunciating very carefully so they wouldn't miss it) said "Bye-Bye." Even then they weren't sure if it was a fluke, but I've managed to convince them that I know what I'm saying. Yesterday Mom and I was driving home from Dad's soccer game and I told her a 10 minute-long story consisting entirely of "Bye Bye" and "Da!" (Mom and Dad have also figured out that I always point when I say "Da," whether or not there is any "Da" in the vicinity.)

Oh, I have so much more to say.... Stay tuned.

Walkin' Mazie

With only weeks to go before my first birthday, I am officially a walker! I'm getting more and more confident on my feet, and Mom and Dad can tell how proud I am to be moving around like a big person. Along with this mobility, I'm really enjoying my independence, and I spend more time entertaining myself. As Mom writes this (I'm dictating to her of course), I am happily pacing around the front porch and playing with my toys. Right now I'm pushing my Elmo vacuum around -- the one big kids like Tobin and Miles used to play with. Who's the big kid now?

Speaking of Miles and Tobin, last week we went to Durham and I got to see them!! Jacob, too, of course. We sure had fun together. Our parents couldn't believe how big we've all gotten. From little blobs that could maybe drool on each other a bit, we've now become a bunch of toddlers that can play together, share toys, and give hugs and kisses. Of course, we're a little harder to manage now, too. Our parents tried to line us up for a group picture, but this is the best one they got.

The candid ones are better. There are more here.






Here's one of me helping to change Jacob's diaper!


Of course, Tobin is still the really big kid in the bunch, putting together elaborate racing tracks for his cars and equally elaborate stories, and Miles is pretty advanced, too. His dad told my dad that after we left Durham, Miles reported that he missed me! I miss you, too, Miles, even if my language skills aren't quite up to the task of expressing it. Mom and Dad haven't taught me the "I miss Miles" sign yet.

I am getting better at using other signs, though. I use "more" and "milk" the most, and have started pointing to my mouth to mean either "food" or "water/juice." I'll sign "bath" back to Mom when she tells me it's bath time, and if you ask me how big I am, I'll let you know that I am "SOOO big." I'm definitely understanding a lot more now, too. I'll "throw" something if you tell me to, I'll point to my mouth if you ask if I'm "hungry," I'll "sit" in the bath when Mom asks me to, and I DEFINITELY know that "no" means "do it again!!" So even though my verbal words are hard for Mom and Dad to understand now (with the exception of "Da" = dog or cat), it won't be long before I'm a talkin' Mazie, too!  

Oh, one more funny thing that I do.  When Mom and Dad are in the front seat of the car talking and laughing (Mom laughs a lot, so Dad must be pretty funny), I'll chime in with a little "Ha ha ha" of my own.  I don't really get the jokes yet, but I figure I might as well just laugh along anyway!

MORE Grandparents, and Easter!!

April has been another fun and busy month. Nanny and Papa came to visit, which was lots of fun! On Saturday, April 2, we went for a nice long bike ride around Lake Monona. I got to ride along in my new "bike buddy," which Mom says is a lot different from the bike buddy she rode in as a kid!

We also went to Chicago with Nanny and Papa and had a great dinner at a little Italian restaurant called Volare. Mostly it was just great to hang out with my Papa and Nanny -- they enjoyed all of my new tricks! Papa helped teach me how to "careful down" the stairs, and now I'm a pro! Up and down, up and down. It's a workout!


Yesterday was Easter, and we went to Milwaukee for brunch with Great Nana, and Dad's Uncle David and Uncle Gordon, Aunt Stephanie, and cousin Sarah. That was fun, too!


More pictures from the last month or so are here. Mom keeps bugging Dad to put videos up, too, but I've been keeping Dad pretty busy these days with my new sleep schedule (much less napping) and active ways. He'll get to it soon, though....

Diez Meses

Mazie's mama here. Mazie turned 10 months old this week. I remember my dad telling me that babies got really fun when they turned 10 months old. Mazie has been fun from the beginning but we're starting a whole new kind of fun now. In the past month Mazie has started communicating. She has a small vocabulary of signs, including "hi" and "bye" (waving) and "more" (touching her chest with her fist - dad has a good story about the first time she did this one that he'll post soon). She also responds to the question, "How big is Mazie?" by throwing her little arms up in the air. "Sooooo big!"

Mazie's cutest new trick is dancing. If we put some music on or just sing a little bit she starts waving her hands around and shaking her head back and forth. She looks a little odd, but the music is definitely having an effect on her.

Another change is that she is transitioning from two naps to one. Until a few weeks ago, she was routinely sleeping about 4 hours a day, mostly on Dad's back. Recently, she's been sleeping much less during the day, which sometimes (not tonight) means that she'll go to bed early enough that we can have a few hours to ourselves. Sleeping less during the day is a mixed blessing for Dad. He has less time to get stuff done while she sleeps, but also has more flexibility with their outings.

We also celebrated a pretty big milestone on Thursday. Mazie took her first steps. I was lucky enough to be home getting a late start on the day when she decided to take a couple of steps from her dad to me. She hasn't really repeated the feat, and mostly seems content to stick to crawling (she's pretty quick!). Nanny and Papa are coming this week, though, so maybe she'll show off for them and start running.

With all of these changes, Mazie continues to be a sweet, happy, calm and curious little being. It's wonderful to connect with her in new and exciting ways. Yesterday, she played a game with us involving trips back and forth from her sock drawer to us, diligently transporting ONE pair of socks with each trip and placing them in our hands. Pretty cute.

She is also definitely starting to do things for the sake of reaction. You can see her do something and then look to her parents for a response. She understands "No" and likes to hear it. In the bathtub she likes to stand up, look at Mommy and shake her head and then sit back down. I'm sure this testing will get frustrating at some point, but for now, it's pretty amazing to watch her processing, communicating and asserting her own little will. In short, (too late) we're having lots and lots of fun. Papa was right.

Some good videos are on their way soon.

Dad is 30

My daddy turned 30 years old yesterday (March 21). For his birthday, his friends Andrew Ekblad, Andrew Lupien, and Bryon Booher, and his brother, Michael, came to Madison to surprise him! Everyone did a really good job of keeping him in the dark, so he was completely shocked when they all showed up! They all had a really great time hanging out, playing board games and football and poker, watching lots of basketball, and playing with ME, Mazie James. Happy Birthday, Dad!

March... winter or spring?

We've been really busy (in a fun way) this month. On March 5, Avia came to visit! We had lots and lots of fun, enjoying some warm weather and spending some time outside at the park.



Then it got cold and rainy again over the weekend, but that was okay because we went to the pool and I made some real progress with my swimming! I've been kicking and kicking whenever I get in the water, so Mom finally just let me go and I swam underwater for a few seconds at a time! Our last swimming class was last week, and I impressed everyone with my new skills-- even the other big kids couldn't swim like me!

Then last weekend, Mom and Dad and the dogs and I we went up to the cottage. We've been meaning to get up there all winter, and on the way up we were afraid we'd missed the winter-- most of the snow was gone along the road. But once we got up to the cottage we were excited to find out that it was still winter up there-- the lakes were still frozen enough to support ice fishermen and even some SUVs! Even better, we got some wonderful, sunny 40-degree weather on Saturday, so our whole crew (including the dogs) packed up and walked across the lakes to Pine Isle and back! It was a great little mini-vacation.




We drove back from the cottage on Sunday and got back just in time to pick Nana up from the bus station -- she had some work to do in St. Paul and then took a Greyhound bus down to see us for the week! Like Avia, she brought some gorgeous weather along from Colorado. For St. Patrick's Day today we had bright sun and temperatures in the 70s! Mom took the afternoon off, and we lounged around at the park with Lolly, Henry, and Charlie for a while, and then met David, Sejal, and Sheryl at the Memorial Union terrace to soak up more sunshine!



I had so much fun today that I only took one short nap... and then fell asleep at dinner in my high chair!


I think it's supposed to cool down again tomorrow, but we have sure enjoyed our little doses of spring and can't wait until it's here for good! Here are a whole bunch more pictures.