Life of Connor

I have been going to the playground every day now. It has been exciting and on some days very warm. But, mostly exciting.

I've been there a few times when there have been other kids and a couple when there weren't. Those days were bummers. I like other kids, after all.

There was this one day, a little girl smaller than me was afraid to go on my favorite slide and I saw her crying with her Mama. So, I demanded that Daddy pick me up that instant so I could go down the slide and show her it's not that bad. I did it and then she really wanted to. Then, I went off and ran around some and looked back and she was at the top of the slide. She went down and I clapped for her, because I thought she had fun going down it.

I've met other people, too. This nice girl named Bella wanted me to play on everything in the playground with her. But, she was bigger and I couldn't do a lot of that stuff. I was sorry, because she was really nice.

I also met a nice girl named Ella. (Daddy says I must be a ladies man.) She was very friendly. She was older but not very much bigger than me. She was nice and said hello and I waved back to her.

As you see in the video, I've learned to be quite the adventurer. I love that slide because I can do all sorts of things, like climb and cross the bridge and climb some more. I'm not happy when I get hot. But, I really enjoy playing.

I like going, I just wish I could see the same people more than once. Just when I get the courage to go play with them, they're gone and then I never see them again and all I have left to play with is Daddy. Not that he's not fun or anything. But, who really wants to spend all their time at the park playing with their Mama or Daddy?

I'm also happy to report Mama and Daddy's still improving ability to understand what I say. Possibly they're just listening better, as I've always been saying the stuff, but they just recently gained the ability to understand me even more. When I tell them "so" they know what I'm saying, and also when I say "no, no" when I'm doing something I know I'm not supposed to do. They also understand "ucky". Yay for them.

Oh, and I also like visiting the woods. There's a park that I go to that has all sorts of trees and things called trails that I can walk on and see all the tress. While I'm there, I also get to see doggies. Yay! Sometimes though, the doggies bark and run and play and don't seem to care that I'm there. What a bummer.

I don't like these May Showers. Mama and Daddy keep telling me we're supposed to get "April Showers" and that they're supposed to be all gone by now. I trust their judgment, I really do. So, someone must have lied to them.

Right after we got my sandbox and playhouse built, I was excited for some exploration. I got that exploration. A grand total of once. Now, it keeps raining and being generally yucky when it's time for me to go outside and play. So, I have this scenic playhouse and wonderful sandbox, with no chance to use them because it's always raining.

So, I still can't give you a full report on them because I don't have one yet. Daddy keeps saying I'll have one soon because he says he didn't spend that time building lawn ornaments. What are lawn ornaments? Are they anything like the ornaments on the Christmas tree? I'm not allowed to play with those.

Daddy also has been telling me that as soon as the mud clears up, we can go to the park and hit the swings and slides like we did last year. He's also promised me more trips to the Farmer's Market, but that I might get to walk around this year while we're there! YAY!

So, the rain has forced me to stay inside a lot lately. That's been OK. I've still been able to be active and have fallen in love.

Music is the greatest thing ever. I must have it every minute of the day. Whether it's songs that Miss Melody is singing (Connor has a 3 CD set of Toddler Tunes) or stuff that has things Mama calls violins and pianos singing all of the music, I just can't get enough music! I also love to dance, although when I do Daddy always gets mad and asks why I didn't do that when the camera was out. What's he talking about anyway?

Well, anyway. I'll stop by as often as I get the chance to. It's hard, ya know. A toddler's life is full of fun things. Everyone have a good week and I'll see you very soon again I hope. I like coming by and hope you do too.

Connor

So, lots has happened since last I blogged. There was lots of snow and Easter came and now it's starting to get warmer. There really is lots to tell.

The snow. I couldn't believe how much snow came. It was so high on the bushes outside that it covered up my prefect view of the cars on the street. Mama said that was ok for the time being because there weren't going to be any cars on the street. That included Daddy, who was stuck far away while it snowed. He came back after the snow, though, enough to spend a lot of time outside, then come back in complaining about his arms trying to fall off. He said something about "shoveling" but when I use my shovel, it's in dirt or sand and I only have to use one arm, so I'm not quite sure what he meant.

I really wanted to go out and build a snowman in this. After all, as we know, we kept losing our snow right after it was high enough to build a snowman and I never got to. I thought this would be my one opportunity. But, no. Daddy said he was afraid to lose me in the snow so I didn't build one. Then, the very next day, Daddy left for the whole day again and by the time we got a chance to build a snowman, most of the snow was gone. Again. Darn.

Then there was Easter. As we've established, I like times when I get to see lots of people. this was one of those times. Everyone was happy and there was pie. I got some of the pie and it was yummy. Daddy seems to really like pie, I think. Must be a Daddy thing. He really seems to go over the top.

I really appreciate when people do nice things for me. I can't quite get the words out the right way. But, I really appreciate it. I like seeing people smile, too. Makes me very happy.

On Easter, the Easter Bunny brought a tricycle to my house for me! I can't believe my luck. Mama says as soon as the weather's better I can go outside and try to ride it. It is really nice and has a handle on the back so Daddy can make sure I go where he wants me to go. (Dad's note: It has a handlebar on the back that lets me steer should he get too adventurous. Basically, I can make sure he doesn't ride off into traffic.) It also has a bell I just love to make go ding. Also, it has a trunk on the back where I can put things and Daddy picked me up a license plate that says "Connor" on it. Truly awesome! Once I've ridden it a couple times, I'll give you a full report.

Also, lately Mama has taken to calling me Linus. I'm not sure why, because my name is Connor. But, she's been doing it whenever I've been carrying around my favorite green silky blanket that I like to take wherever I go. Sorry, I'm just not sure what that has to do with something called a Linus, but Mama and Daddy really seem to know exactly what they're talking about. Daddy says it's from an old cartoon. OK. I believe him. But I'll still keep my blanket on me when I want it.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll get Daddy off his duff a little more often to update this.

See ya soon.

Connor

Snow.

That's what I've been watching today and, it seems, the last few. All we ever see anymore, it seems is snow, then mud, then snow. Just when a guy would like to go play in snow, it melts, becomes mud and I'm not allowed to get into it. Icky.

What I want is a constant stream of it. Daddy keeps talking about us guys building a snowman, but then the snow melts and he says it's not possible to build mud men. Blech.

I didn't get to watch all of the Super Bowl. Mama said it was just the greatest thing. She kept saying something about Bill Belichick and comeuppance. I got to play that whole day, though, like I always do. So, Super Bowl or no, it was a full day for me.

I've been seeing how things work more now and doing less coloring. So, my art career has slowed down, but I can tell you how to build a tower of Duplos. My Duplos are smaller versions of my Quatros, but I like them both just a ton. I can stack them, coordinate them and make all sorts of things. Just yesterday, Daddy helped me make an elephant and a zebra.

I've been building a lot lately. I got new blocks that I don't have to make fit on each other. There are squares, triangles, rectangles, cylinders and bridges. Heck, there are even a few of what Mama tells me are half-circles. I think half circles are lazy. Why not finish the circle so I can make it roll down a ramp? Huh? Just saying.

I've gotten back into reading my books. That seems to be a good thing, at least Mama and Daddy think so. But, they keep telling me I can read other things that my Backyardigans coloring book.

Mama and Daddy have been able to figure out a lot more of what I've been saying lately. I guess they must be learning to understand me, finally! Now they seem to get it when I tell them things like "I see" or "Want that" or "clue" (as in Blue!) or "what this?," so I'm very proud of them. We also play this fun game where I get them to repeat whatever it is that I'm saying, like "Maaa ma ma ma mah ma" or "Daaa da da da dat dah." It's kind of easy, but they seem to like it. Daddy's not as good at this as Mama, so I like to fool him when we play with patterns that are hard to repeat. Mama's really good at this, but Daddy goofs up and then looks really confused.

Purple has emerged in the early race to be my favorite color, mostly because I finally got Mama and Daddy to understand when I say it. I also like blue and orange and all of them. My crayons have lots of options. Awesome.

Until next time.

Connor

Hi again.

I bet you're wondering what I've been up to. Well, I've been doing lots.

I have all these new toys from Christmas. I have puzzles and a garage and a steering wheel and a drum and a truck . I'm trying to play with them all. It takes time, you know. I also have new books and stuffed bunnies. It's a chore, I tell ya. But I'm up for it.

Because I'm getting bigger, I'm trying to do different things. I just figured out how to kick a ball really far. I love watching things roll. When I kick my ball, I can keep making it roll until I want it to stop or I kick it under something and Daddy has to come and get it for me. I haven't lost one yet, so I'm happy about that. But, I keep kicking it under my rocking chair, then I can't get it out.

Mama and Daddy call it "soccer" when I'm kicking balls to make them roll. I don't know quite what soccer is, but Daddy keeps saying nil-nil when I'm playing, whatever that means. Mama always tells him to stop it, so that must not be nice.

Right now, I'm trying to learn colors. I can say some of their names, like orange, purple and blue. But, I'm still trying to figure out which one is which. It's hard, ya know. Mama will ask me for an orange crayon and I'll look at some and I swear the ones Mama and Daddy call orange and red look like each other and that one they call yellow does, too.

My dump truck is a lot of fun, too. I can put pretty much anything in it, fill it up, then dump it all out and watch it go. That's a lot of fun. It even makes noises when I roll it and has a steering wheel on top so I can drive it. I don't know how to tell you how cool I think it is.

The neatest thing right now, though, has to be my puzzles. I have one with cars and a fire truck and all sorts of things on it and another that has animals. I can do them all by myself. I could do it a week after I got them. Sometimes, I try to put a piece in upside down, but then I get it figured out and they make the noise they're supposed to make when my pieces go in the right way. They're really cool. I told Daddy to put a video of me playing with one on here.

I'm also enjoying music more and more. Now, I drum in a pattern and I really enjoy singing. I like songs. Music has always been good. I like all kinds, except what Daddy listens to. He likes it and that's OK. But, I don't like "hair bands." Mama seems to agree with me. But, I like singing and nursery rhymes and drumming. Yay for music!

More soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Connor

So, Christmas has come and gone and I'm ready for the next year to start.

Christmas was great. I got to see lots of people and they were all really nice. My favorite thing about Christmas is getting to be around so many people and see how happy everyone gets. Apparently, no matter how old you get, Santa still treats you well. That's good news.

Speaking of Santa, he was very nice to me, as you see in the pictures. But, there were a lot of people other than Santa who did nice things for me too. I appreciate that a lot. I got presents that I really like. Toys and TaDoodles and coloring books and all sorts of great stuff.

I got a drum that I can hit and hit and hit. It makes loud noises Mama and Daddy seem to tolerate. But, I get to practice making sounds and doing all sorts of neat things. I like drumming. Some people have told Mama and Daddy they were silly to get me a drum because I'll bang on it all the time, but I love it.

Please excuse us for how long this update took to get up. First, Daddy fought with the video we put up. He took it with his new camera and it took almost half my life to be able to have you watch it. Then, Daddy hit a deer with our car. So, now we're here to finish.

Because I've been growing, I seem to have caused more work for Mama and Daddy. Just the other day, Daddy and I were walking out to change my diaper and I wanted to see if I could reach the microwave. (Dad's note: The microwave table is about three feet high and the microwave sits on the back of it, about a foot from the front.) I got up on my tippy-toes and reached all the way back and almost got it. This seemed to both excite and worry Mama and Daddy. At least I think that's what "Oh no, we're going to have to completely redo that table." means.

I'll let you go for now. Sorry this is so short and so silly.

Talk to you soon.

Connor

I turned 2 last week. Mama and Daddy say its a big "milestone" when you turn 2. I'm not sure what a milestone is. But, if they're like this one, and come with shots, I'm not real happy about them.

I got my shots when I went to see Dr. Couling. His nurse came in and they told me how tall and heavy I am. Daddy said it's OK to use those terms now because I'm 35 1/4 inches tall (Mama said something about almost three feet, but I'm much taller than my feet.) and 29 pounds and 11 ounces. Dr. Couling said I'm in the 75th percentile in both of those things, so apparently that means I'm growing. Daddy thinks so, too. He keeps talking about me eating us out of house and home. Aren't house and home the same place? Daddy is very silly when he says things like that. Mama says cliches are no good for a writer, so I assume that is what Daddy does when he leaves.

I turned 2. Great stuff. There were toys and books and all sorts of stuff. I even watched Blue's Birthday Party and had Blue on my cake!! That's awesome stuff.

Because of my age, you'd think ripping paper off my presents would be great fun for me. But, I'm still not quite sure how to do it. I spend enough time reading books that I'm not sure about the rules for ripping paper. There are some times, like when I'm reading my books, that Mama and Daddy take them away when I rip paper. But other times, like when I'm getting presents, I get boxes with really cool paper but they want me to rip it. But if I tear even a corner of a page in one of my favorite books, it's like I pulled the kitty's tail all over again.

Honestly, consistency. A toddler's days are confusing enough. Can I rip paper or can't I? What's the deal here? And they wonder why I might occasionally throw a tantrum.

Have I mentioned I'm an artist now? If you look above, you'll see some of my art. I use two different methods to make my pictures. I am well versed in crayon and TaDoodle, but I like my crayons a lot. Coloring is fun because I get to make pictures exactly how I want them to look. Now before, I was trying to work with what Mama says is the Impressionist style where I used my crayons to make dots all over the paper. Now, I'm more aggressive. I like making marks that go all the way to the tray for my high chair. I can make messes when I color and Mama and Daddy don't even get mad. I think that's the best part. The picture you see here is one I colored with Daddy, but I have made several by myself. It's a lot of fun.

I've also seen for the very first time the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer story. Mama and Daddy seemed very happy when I watched that with them. Daddy kept saying he thought the story was really neat, even when he wasn't very big.

I hear Christmas is coming soon. I don't remember much from last year, but Mama always tells me it is a lot of fun. I believe her, mostly because she never tells me the wrong thing.

But, both Mama and Daddy tell me there are certain things you tell people around this time of year, so here goes.

Merry Christmas.

See you soon.

Connor