Poki Simpson + Max Simpson

Doh! I'm a Simpson!

Dear Abby

I found these emails in my mom's inbox earlier today. What do you think it means?

Dear Abby,
Look at what my 13 month old son has figured out! He's such a crazy monkey. People have told me for months that he is going to be a handful, and now I think they might be right!
What's a mom to do?!
Signed,
Totally Screwed in Connecticut



Dear Screwed,
You're right. You're screwed.
God bless you,
Abby

The Monday Night Movie Is...

Shape-Sorter and His Friend, Frustration
or: The Rise and Fall of the Boy Who Sorted Three Shapes

Starring: Poki
Co-starring: Shape-Sorter
With a special appearance by: Max, the terrified cat (who happened to be busy stalking the stuffed animal cat on the other side of Poki's car).



Part Deux



Fin.

A Week In Review

Last week was a bit crazy at my house. First of all, I had a virus of some sort which made me not very much fun to be around, but now I'm better. The good part about being sick is that Mom and I stayed home most of the week playing and hanging out. Here are some videos from the week.

I'm really trying to talk now, especially during meal times. That's when Mom and I discuss our day. Unfortunately, it's also when she quizzes me on my body parts, which I find very annoying.



One day, to switch up our meal time routine, Mom set up a picnic for me and my friends in my room.













I also got really interested in my house. I spent quite a bit of my days hiding in there from my mom.



I'm growing increasingly independent and have been trying to dress myself. It's not as easy as Daddy makes it look.



I think that's because his shoes are easier to put on.



One thing that I have mastered taking off is my diaper. I've pretty much got that down. That's why I am no longer allowed to go without pants.



That diaper was brand new and clean, just so you know! And I eventually did find my diaper pail, don't worry.

Like I said before, I was sick this week. My mom knew it, but for some reason, I didn't believe her, so I still tried to speed around the house all day long. Then I would get really cranky because I was so tired--and I even threw up once. It was my first time ever. It was weird. I just looked up at Mom like: "What just happened???" In order to keep me from over-exerting myself, my mom turned on the TV--something she doesn't normally let me watch. I mean, Mom and Dad have stuff on in the background while I play sometimes, but she doesn't normally put on shows especially for me. Last week, though, she actually turned on Sesame Street. That's right! I met Elmo. And boy did I like him. I liked them all, actually. (Insert Mom's sigh here).

Mimic

More Pool Fun!

Today my mom and dad took me to another pool. I knew something was up when my mom dressed me in my yellow beach cover-up. I looked down at myself, patted the little blue fish swimming across my chest, and ran to get the beach bag out of the hall closet. Seriously. I really did. I totally knew what was going on. My parents couldn't believe their eyes. So, I handed the beach bag to my mom, then ran to my closet and grabbed my other bathing suit (not realizing Mom had already packed one suit). Then I grabbed a few swimmy diapers and, believe it or not, a sun suit that has a shark on it,in case I needed a change of clothes. I know many of you won't believe that I did all things things myself, but I learned a few things from my week at the beach. Next time Mom will let me pack my own things!

Here are some cute videos of my afternoon at the pool.

Here are me and Mom playing "motor boat." She sings, "Motor boat, motor boat move so slow! Motor boat, motor boat move so fast! Motor boat, motor boat put on the gas!"



Then I jumped off the side into Mom's arms. This pool wasn't quite as safe as the one from yesterday when it came to to pool's edge. There was a little step so I couldn't stand and jump into Mom's arms like I normally do. It was still very fun though!



When Daddy took me, I really got the hang of that swimming thing. If you look closely, you can see that I am even kicking my legs!



He also tried to show me how to blow bubbles in the water, but I only drank it.



After my swim, I curled up in my giant beach towel and drank some juice-spiked water.



I have a feeling we are going to be spending quite a bit of time at the pool this summer!

More Hair! ...More Curly Hair???

My hair has really been growing this summer! You may recall my Mom's question a while back about whether this flip on the back of my head was a curl or a cow-lick. Well, as my hair is growing, the flippy part of my hair is too! It's moving up my head and it's starting to curl in the very front too. Wouldn't it be so cute if I had curly blonde ringlets?? I mean, come on!

Long Time No Post...

Before I begin, I'd like to officially welcome Miss Jean Eleanor Flanders into this big ol' world! Baby Jean was born last Saturday evening. She weighed in at a whopping 8lb 3oz and measured 20 1/2 inches long. Jean's mom is one of my mom's dearest friends from high school, Caroline. We're so excited to meet you, Jean! If you need any tips for how to handle this crazy place, just let me know. I'm a whole 13 months old, so I'm pretty much a pro at this stuff now.

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted! I'm sure you are all experiencing Poki withdrawal. I've been very busy this week becoming reacquainted with my toys after a long absence. Mom and I have taken a few walks and trips to the park, but for the most part, I've been playing with my toys. Finally today, we spent most of the day away from home.

I began the day playing with my new trucks that Aunt Holly, Uncle Chris and Cousin Dru got me for my birthday. I love them! I've even started to make car noises when I play with them.



I've been doing a few new cute things lately. There's the car noises, but I've also been putting my hands in the air and saying "all done!" when I want out of my highchair, I've been waving and saying bye-bye ("dye-dye"), I say "here you go" when I hand someone something ("ah-ya-go"), and saying thank you when people hand me things ("da-oo"),I'm eating with a fork (Mom puts the food on the fork and I put it in my mouth), and I hum to myself and dance. There are other things too that I know I'm forgetting. I'll add them when I think of them. And in case anyone is wondering, I am still calling my mom "Daddy." What? It's cute!

Back to today! This afternoon, Mom took me to the pool to meet Scarlett and her mom, Lauren. I loved it! We may even go back tomorrow! It took me no time at all to remember the things I learned in swim lessons--I was even jumping off the side into my mom's arms and paddling with my hands.

Scarlett and I took periodic breaks from our "parallel play" to hold hands, pat each other and hug.





Okay...so Scarlett may have done more squirming away than hugging, but I got her back later when she tried to give me kisses and I pushed her face away. I sure showed her! (Sorry, Scarlett...don't be mad at me).

After swimming, I went out to dinner with my parents. The waitress accidentally brought me french fries with my grilled cheese. I didn't eat a bite of my sandwich. Not a bite. My mom was hoping to stall my introduction to french fries as long as she could, and she tried to fight me on it--but tonight, I won. And boy was my win victorious! I ate like an entire potato. And not only did I discover french fries--I also discovered ketchup!



I made quite a mess with my watermelon and ketchup soaked fries, so I thought I would help out the waitress by cleaning up after myself. Mom's really been working with me on that. We clean up my toys before naps and bedtime now, and I'm actually doing it!...sometimes.



So that's all for today! Believe it or not, I still have a bunch of beach pictures that I'll put up soon. Check back in soon!

The Beach (Some Videos)

Here are some videos from my time at the beach!

Poki's First Steps, Part Two: This Time It's Sand.



Sand isn't easy to walk in, but I quickly got the hang of it. I even figured out how to run in it! Some other people were running in it too, like the lady in this video. I thought she wanted to play chase, but it ends up she was exercising, whatever that is. I guess what I call playing, she calls exercising. PotAYEto, PotAHto.

There was also this really awesome sandcastle on the beach that day that looked like a Mayan ruin, and man, did I want to knock it down. I kept running right to it. My dad wanted to let me tear it down, but my mom kept saying the someone spent alot of time on it and that person might be really sad if we destroyed it. Dad thought that was silly and would have been a character-building experience for that person. Mom, again, thought Dad was crazy. In the end, the Mayan ruin survived, but not without my mom and Babushka's intervention. Even so, I had a blast on the beach. It totally suits me and my crazy monkey ways.



After a week of cooking every meal, we decided to all go out to dinner last night. We went to Calabash for some famous Calabash seafood (super-dooper deep fried seafood). When we sat down, the waitress brought us a basket of hushpuppies. Guess who loved them? That's right! Me. I loved them. I pretty much ate an entire basket of hushpuppies by myself. My mom kept hearing my Aunt La La's voice in her head saying "You can't eat too many pears!"--that's what she and Uncle Tom said as Cousin Elizabeth ate pear after pear, then promptly threw them all up. Unlike Elizabeth, I kept my hushpuppies down, but I won't tell you what my diaper looked like this morning. TMI!

You would think that this video was only my introduction to hushpuppies, when in fact, I had already eaten about 20 of them. This was just when Dad decided to give me entire hushpuppies, rather than breaking them up into small pieces. It took me a minute to realize what they were, but once I took a nibble, I realized...it was hushpuppy. Wonderful, delicious, scrum-diddly-umptious, mouth-watering hushpuppy. Mmmmmm...



Finally, here is a video of me saying goodbye to my cousin Sam. I really love this guy. He is so cool and was so nice to me. I had alot of fun with him this week and I was sad to see him go. Hopefully I'll get to see him and Uncle Shorty and Aunt Julia sometime very soon!

The Beach (Days 5-7)

So much has happened over the last few days. My dad took most of the pictures, so we'll have to post those later. In the meantime, here is a very quick little post with pictures from my mom's camera.

Our parents took me and Sam to the Aquarium in Myrtle Beach. Here are some pictures from our fun day!

Sam playing with a fish puzzle



Me and Mom looking up at the stingray pool sky light



The original Saw Nose!



After the aquarium, I went home and played with my favorite part of the house: the sliding glass door. I love pressing my face up against it.



Here I am with my Uncle Ross (aka Uncle Shorty--he's really tall) reading a book. I really love my Uncle Shorty--he's pretty much my favorite person ever.



Sam and I got matching pirate hats. Here are some pictures from the great attempt to capture a picture of us modeling them:

Here Sam! Wear mine too!



Fosse! Fosse!



Almost!



Sam! Get your fingers out of your nose!



More to come very, very soon!

The Beach (Days 1-5)

(Poki's footprint in the sand--ahhhh)


Well! I'm at the beach! Whoa, let me tell you, it is about time! For weeks my mom has been singing, "We're going to the bee-each, we're going to the bee-each!" And now we are here, and if I could I would be singing, "We're at the bee-each, we're at the bee-each!"

My adventure began with a car ride. A very long car ride. A very, very long car ride. But let me tell you, I did so well! My parents could not believe it. They were really proud of me. It all began with a good nap, then we stopped for lunch and a run in the park, then back in the car for another nap. When I got bored in the car, I just played with my feet...



Or my toys...



Or Mom would put on shows for me with Broccoli and Meri.



Then we stayed in a hotel for the night. It was amazing! I love hotels. Especially the phones. I immediately spotted the phone in the room and it had a cord. A cord! My favorite game was picking up the receiver and walking backward to see how far the cord would stretch before the phone fell on the floor. I also loved the air conditioner. It was on the floor, so I would stand right in front of it until my face turned bright red and my eyes teared up. It was awesome. Hotels rock!



The next day, we got back in the car. I didn't sleep very well in the hotel, so I took a really long nap in the car--like almost 4 hours. Then we stopped for lunch, but this time, instead of stopping at the park, we stopped at J+R Superstore. This place was advertised on billboards for miles and miles, so Dad thought it would be really fun. Instead it was really scary. This place was so gross and dirty, my mom gave me a wipe bath when we left. It was just a giant store filled with old dirty toys and clothes and really scary dolls. They did have some pretty cool things though, like a ceramic frog who was also a pirate that could hold a wine bottle like it was drinking it. In fact, that was its purpose. It was a wine bottle holder--which is weird, because I thought wine bottles had a flat bottom so you could stand it up, but apparently I was wrong and you need a holder for them. They also had baby cowboy boots. My parents almost got me a pair, but my feet are too wide. The sales lady came to help us find a pair of boots in my size and when she saw me she said: "How ol's yur lil' gurl? Sayvin or Ayte munce?" I have no idea what language she was speaking, but it's not the one that I have been learning for the last year, that's for sure. My mom seemed to understand what she was asking though and told her that "he" is exactly a year, wondering just how big the woman's children must be.
There is so much to tell you guys about J+R, I couldn't possibly tell you everything, but it was fun...and frightening. My mom is really mad that she didn't bring her camera inside--but she did get a picture of us before we went in.



After J+R, we ate lunch at Shoneys (yuk) and got back in the car. Next stop: The Beach!

It was pretty late in the day when we arrived, so I didn't go down to the beach until the next morning.

Here I am walking down the walkway through the dunes to the ocean.



Here are me and my Mom--the wind was blowing in such a way that her dorky sunhat looked super glamorous.



And then dorky again.



And here's the moment you've all been waiting for! My first encounter with sand...other than at the sandbox. My first encounter with the biggest sandbox ever!



To tell the truth, I wasn't really that excited about the beach when I actually got there. See, I didn't sleep well the night before and by the time we all got up, fed, dressed and slathered in sunscreen, it was time for my nap. So, I was pretty cranky by the time we got there and I really just wanted to go home. After my nap, however, we went outside to play in the "kiddie" pool Grandpa Rolly got for me. There is really nothing "kiddie" about this thing.



I need one at my house. And the people who own the house left all these really cool boats that are perfect for the pool. But I think my favorite toy was Daddy's boogie board. It's the perfect Poki-sized surf board.



The owners also left a cool truck that Babushka pushed me around on.



Later that afternoon, Uncle Ross, Aunt Julia (with baby Georgia in her belly) and my (other) cousin Sam arrived. That, frankly, is when the real party began for me. First of all, I love my Uncle Ross. As soon as he stepped out of the car, I held my hands out for him to hold me. No one knows why, I just did, and I've pretty much wanted him to hold me since. I also really love Sam. He's a big kid (4 1/2) and really cool. I pretty much love everything he does, and I want to do it too. I also love Aunt Julia...when she is eating an ice cream sandwich--but I'll love her without that soon enough. I'll post some better pictures of them later, but for now, here is a picture of me, Sam, Aunt Julia (with Georgia belly) and Mom in the pool. I got a fancy space shuttle float!





That brings us to today, 5 days since I left my house, my kitties and almost all of my toys. And I don't really miss any of it! I went down to the beach early this morning, right after I woke up and I had so much fun. I loved every minute of it. See, Mom and Dad keep taking me down there right around my nap time, and since the sound machine I sleep with is set to the sounds of the ocean, I start to nod off every time I get down to the beach. But today, I was well-rested and ready to go and I loved it! I ran constantly around the beach and even got in the tide pools (which I really didn't like at all until today). I've even gotten the hang of using a shovel in the sand.

Here I am in all my swimmy-diapered glory.







I'm sure I will have tons more to post from today and the rest of the week, so check back!

(ps: The Harwells say hello to all the Poki family/friends/fans out there!)

There's Food In The Kitchen

Finally! My mom bought some food for my kitchen! I've just been banging around pots and pans for weeks! As soon as I saw my play food, I knew exactly what it was--even if it was a kind of food that I've never seen before, like eggplant. I picked up the eggplant and said, "yum yum." I've also never seen a carton of milk or juice, only jugs or bottles, but I knew what was in the cartons. Most impressive though, I knew right away how to pretend with my food. I can't explain how I know these things, I just do!

A New Buddy!

I had a playdate today with my new friend, Will. We had so much fun at the park. Here are some pictures of our fun day:

After we played on the swings and dodged the big kids in the giant sandbox, Will and I munched on some delicious watermelon that Will's brilliant mom brought for us. Watermelon on a hot day at the playground? Genius!



Will likes watermelon...



almost as much as I do! (It's my new favorite food. Move over mango!)



After I finished my watermelon, I decided that Will didn't need to wear his hat...



So I knocked it off. I think he appreciated that.



Here is Will with his mom, Marika. They sure look alike, don't they?



Especially when Will wears Marika's sunglasses!



When I saw that, I just had to put my mom's sunglasses on too!



Will and I seem to like all the same things: Eating watermelon, playing with shoes, eating shoes, wearing sunglasses, not wearing hats, eating mulch, and last but not least, pushing strollers.





Yep! A good time was had by all! I think Will and I will be hanging out alot more!