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!