Happy Baptism to Ella Grace!

Yesterday, Mama and I went to Cousin Ella's baptism. Dada was feeling under the weather so we went to represent our family. It was at St. James' Church in Redondo Beach. I got all dressed up for the occasion. Here I am with Sir right before the ceremony started.
Here's Ella getting blessed with the water...

...and anointed with the oil.

The beautiful family after the ceremony. The gown she is wearing has been in Uncle Mike's family for generations. His great-grandfather, Henry, was the first to wear it 87 years ago. Amazing!

Then it was time for pictures on the alter. Paparazzi get ready! Here she is with her Mama and Dada and the wonderful deacon who baptized her.

Here she is with her godparents: Uncle Mike's brother, Joe, and his sister, Liz. They came all the way from St. Louis for the celebration with the rest of Uncle Mike's family.

Here are the proud grandparents: Deb and Jim, Uncle Mike's parents, and of course, Tutu and Sir.

And here is the whole gang. Aunt Mary was there and Uncle Mike's brother, Dan, and his wife, Jenny, brought their newborn, Laney. She's only 3 1/2 months old! And Aunt Darlene came all the way from Miami. As you can see, I went right for her. She's fun!

Then it was time to party! Look at that cake...of course, I didn't have any. I'm not that into sweets, you know. The adults had special Hawaiian food for dinner...Mama was in heaven!

Here's Tutu with her granddaughter. She definitely got her holy on, as Uncle Mike, my godfather, said on my baptism day. Silly Uncle Mike!

After a quick costume change (I have to wear that dashing outfit next week for Easter so I didn't want to get it dirty), I played with Aunt Marisa's wind chime with the help of Aunt Darlene and Aunt Nora. I kept saying, "chime."

And I made myself a new friend. Ella's godfather, Joe, has a beautiful wife named Waffe. Her name is really Elizabeth but she loved waffles so much as a little girl that they gave her that nickname. Silly!

Anyway, I was quite smitten with Waffe and she loved making me fly up and down. Here's a quick video of our playtime. I think she got her workout in for the week playing with me. Hee, hee!

Then it was time for presents. Ella got lots of wonderful mementos and books and such. But the highlight were these butterfly wings from my Mimi and Pop-Pop. Adorable!

Finally, it was time to poop out the toddler. Mama thought it would be a good idea to get me good and tired before the ride home. So we went next door to the park to swing for a while. Ella joined in the fun. Here we are getting pushed by Aunt Darlene and Sir. Wheeee!

Here's a little video of our swinging adventure...

Ella was having an especially good time! Look at that smile, will ya! And check out those bottom teeth. You'll be eating mac 'n cheese soon enough with me, Ella!

I even managed to give Aunt Darlene a fist pump mid-swing. That takes talent, people!

Then I spied the slide so I decided to take a quick slide down before we left.Ella joined me.

So it was a wonderful and blessed day. Happy baptism day and welcome to the Catholic Church, Ella Grace! May you grow in faith and love. We love you!

Noah the Builder?

So I was hanging out in Dada's office on Saturday afternoon and I found these awesome work goggles. Dada says you have to wear them when you are doing home improvement projects to keep stuff out of your eyes. Eyes, schmeyes. These are super cool! And I had my "Heavy Hauler" shirt on and everything. Bonus!

Can I fix it? You never know...

The Living Desert

We spent the weekend at Tutu and Sir's desert house. On Saturday, it was a glorious desert day so we decided to take our first trip to The Living Desert in Palm Desert. It's a really neat zoo that features, you guessed it, desert animals. We were able to get a big discount on our admission because we are LA Zoo members. Score! Mama says it sure pays to read up on these things.

Our first stop of the morning was to see the giraffes. We were supposed to be able to feed them but they were enjoying their alfalfa so much that they did not come over. Silly giraffes!

Instead, we were treated to a rare appearance by the zoo's newest resident: a baby giraffe. He was born on March 11 and was six-feet tall at birth. Wow! He was such a cutie and a definite crowd favorite.
Here he is getting kisses from his parents. Awww!

After that, we made our way to the petting zoo. Here I am with Sir checking things out before going inside.

And here I am with Mama and Tutu. Not so sure I'm going to pet anything, just so you know. Those goats look shifty...

No way, Mama!

OK, if Dada can pet this goat, so can I. Pretty nice!

After the petting zoo, I picked up this awesome hat. That's right, a hat! Do I look spiffy or what?

Later, we went to a special butterfly and hummingbird exhibit. The butterflies were so close that Dada was able to snap this amazing photo...

...and this one, too!

We even got to see some butterflies coming out of their cocoons, just like in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"! It was so cool!The zoo also has it's very own carousel! Here I am with Tutu and Mama boarding my cheetah.

Dada snapped this one while we were in motion. I said "wheeeee" the whole time.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. Here we are saying good-bye to my new tortoise friend. I can't wait to come back again very soon!

I was so tuckered out that I fell asleep in the parking lot. What a day!

Notice that I am missing my hat in this picture. Well, I lost it about 100 feet from the exit. Nobody could figure out where it went. Sir even went back in the park to see if he could find it and it just vanished. And he even tried to buy me another one but the gift shop was sold out. Oh well, we have our memories and these photos to prove that I actually wore a hat and liked it. Hee, hee!

Recycling?

I'm sure you've been wondering...do toddlers recycle? Of course we do!

Case in point: Last night I was reading my favorite magazine, High Five (that's Highlights for us kiddos under 5), and I decided I was ready to dispose of it. But, as you can see, my version of recycling involves a bit of demolition.Here I am caught in the act by Mama. Please, no photographs! I'm trying to "go green" here! Every little bit counts, right?

Frog Boots

Remember my cute little frog boots? Well few days ago I decided to put them to good use. We were attempting to have a TV free evening at our house (good luck with that, Mama) and Mama was playing all my favorite songs. I decided that my dancing needed boots.

So I put them on all by myself... ...and did some serious stomping around!

Mama did her best to capture my antics on video but I was a bit too fast for her. Maybe next time, Mama!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

I know I'm a bit early but we celebrated in style on Saturday with the Dirstines. Tutu is half Irish so she has a big family party at her house every year. She served delicious celery soup, homemade soda bread, green jello salad, and of course corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes. And there was a lovely homemade lemon meringue pie for dessert. Yum and wow! Not that I eat any of it (I had mostly grapes)...maybe next year.

OK, so I know it's not quite Easter yet but Tutu and Sir got me this awesome new electronic bunny! He sings "Polly Wolly Doodle" and the little frogs on the log sing, too.

Here's a little video of my new friends in action. You have to see this one to believe it. Thanks, Tutu and Sir!

My beautiful Cousin Ella and her Mama and Dada (Aunt Marisa and Uncle Mike) joined us for the festivities. Ella is getting sooooo big! She is already standing and she's only 7 months old. We "played" a bit together. By "played" mean I kinda sorta shared my toys with her. I'll work on the sharing thing for next time, Ella, I promise!

Look at that face! What a sweetie, huh? Oh, and she is growing the most lovely blond hair, just like her Mama had when she was a little girl. Wow, now there are two blondie babies in our family! Gotta love it!
Here I am with Tutu and my Dada. Three generations of Irishness! By the way, my shirt says "Handsome Irish Boy." OK, so I'm only an eighth Irish but every little bit counts...

One last photo of Ella and her parents before they go. What a beautiful and happy family!

And we "attempted" to take a cousin photo. We "almost" looked at the camera at the same time. Oh well, there's always next time...

So Happy St. Patrick's Day, cyberfriends! Erin Go Bragh!

Terrible Twos? You Be the Judge...

So I think I have officially entered the "terrible twos." Actually, I think I am knee-deep in them. Don't let this sweet face fool you.

Lately I get very mad if things don't go exactly my way or if someone asks me to do something I don't want to do. Case in point: Tonight during dinner, Mama was making me laugh with silly faces and she decided to see if she could film me. Are you kidding?

First I tried to block her camera...

Then when I lost that battle, I threw an old fashioned two-year-old's tantrum. Notice in this little video that I did manage to be polite when asked. Hey, I can't be ALL "terrible," can I? Feel free to rate my terribleness in your comments. Remember this is for posterity so no-holds-barred, OK?

Two-Year-Old Mischief

The other day Mama was putting the clean dishes away and I decided to help her reorganize the cabinet. She only turned her back for a minute but that's all it took for me to spring into action.
First I put everything on the floor...

...then I decided what to put where. Oooo, is that my Santa plate? Awesome!

Here's a video of my antics. Being "helpful" is great!

On another note, I came home from daycare today and Mama thought something seemed off. She gave me a kiss on my head and then later thought she had salt on her lips from some nuts she was snacking on on the way home. But she soon discovered that my hair was full of sand. Yikes! Oh and it rained over the weekend and me and my friends played in the mud during outside time and got our pants, socks and shoes nice and wet and dirty, too. So life with a toddler can be REALLY messy...but I think Mama will keep me anyway.