Forgotten Birthday

Scene: This morning, Mom bounds into the kitchen where Poki and Dad are eating breakfast. She and Dad have both completely forgotten what day it is.

Mom: Today is going to be a productive day!!

Poki: YEAH!

Mom: Are you going to have a productive day today too, Poki?

Poki: YEAH!

Mom: Oh yeah? What are you going to do today, Poki?

Poki: Have a birthday party!

Mom: A birthday party? For whom?

Poki: Mommy! Mommy's birthday is today!

Mom and Dad: Oooooooohhh yeeeeaaaaaaah...It IS Mommy's birthday!

(Thank goodness Poki said something!)

Happy Birthday, Scarlett!

Today is my beloved's birthday. (Yes, she's an older woman). Happy Birthday, Scarlett! We ALL love you so much!


Click Here to see Lauren's beautiful post about her baby girl.

No, My Tail!

Scene: This morning in Poki's living room. Poki is pulling a (no longer) sleeping Leroy's tail.

Mom: Poki! Do NOT pull Leroy's tail! He doesn't like that and you might hurt him!

Poki: No, MY tail!

Mom: (Sick and tired of the non-stop "Mine" business.) That's not your tail, Poki. It's Leroy's tail. It's attached to his body. See this arm? (Mom holds Poki's arm.) I couldn't say this is Mommy's arm because it is attached to Poki's body. It's your arm. And that is Leroy's tail. Understand?

Poki: Yeah...Share, Leroy! Share Leroy's tail!

Mom: Sigh...

First Joke

Scene: Tonight at dinner. Poki reaches over and knocks on Daddy's head.

Poki: Knock! Knock!

Daddy: Who's there?

Poki: Nobody's home...

(Poki reaches over and knocks on Mom's head)

Poki: Knock! Knock!

Mom: Who's there?

Poki: Oh! Somebody's there!

Mom: (Thinking only to herself) In your face, Daddy!

You-Know-What

Scene: This morning at the mall, an impatient Poki wants to ride the escalator over and over again. Finally, Mom says they can walk toward where they parked and look for another escalator on the way. If they find one, he can ride it.

Mom: Maybe we should exit here and walk the rest of the way outside.

Daddy: Why?

Mom: So you-know-who doesn't see another you-know-what.

Daddy: Oooooh, right.

Poki: A you-know-what. I know what, Mommy! I know what! An escalator! Ride another escalator!

Daddy: I think you need to come up with a new secret code, Mom.

Baby Holden Update

For pictures of Scarlett's super handsome baby brother, check out their blog, now appropriately re-named My Cheeky Bab[ies]!

Fireman Poki

We live a couple of blocks away from a fire station, and sometimes we see the local firemen getting their lunches at our corner market. Well, this Friday, we ran into them again and they noticed my fire engine t-shirt. Mom told them about my not-so-minor obsession and about how I slide down the floor lamp in our living room like it's a fireman's pole. They thought that was hilarious--and guess what happened next? They invited me to come to the fire station for a private tour!

When we went home, Mom told me that if I took a really good nap, when I woke up, we could go to the fire station. Well, I was so excited that it took me a long time to fall asleep. I kept talking about everything I was going to see on my tour. Then, when I finally did fall asleep, it didn't last long. I woke up after about...um...30 minutes. Mom came in and snuggled with me for a minute, then asked if I was ready to get back in my crib. I said no. Then she asked if I wanted to snuggle with her for a little longer. I said no. After a moment of silence, I looked up and her and said, "I want to go to the fire station." Mom explained that the firemen were out fighting fires until the afternoon so I should nap a little longer and then we could go. I agreed. And when I woke up, we were off!

When we got there, they gave me a hat and a badge and immediately showed me the real pole. I couldn't believe it when Fireman Jeff told me I could slide down it. Just look at that look of total awe on my face.



Then, weeeee! Totally better than that lame floor lamp! And they all agreed that I am a natural.



Here we are: Mom and Fireman Poki.



We LOVE the New Haven Fire Department! You guys ROCK!

Welcome To The World, Holden!

Scarlett's new little brother, Holden Joseph arrived in lightening speed early this morning! He weighed in at 9 lbs 2 oz and measured 20 1/2 inches. Lauren felt contractions around 2:00 am, arrived at the hospital at 5:05, and Rocket Boy, Part II arrived at 5:35. (Did I get all that right, Lauren?)

We're sending enormous love and congratulations to Lauren, Joe, Scarlett and Holden! We can't wait to meet you!!

Share And Share Alike

Scene: Mom is helping Poki into his pajamas. Poki grabs Mom's new necklace.

Mom: Be careful, Poki! You don't want to break Mommy's new necklace!

Poki: No, my necklace!

Mom: No, it's actually my necklace, remember? You and Daddy got it for me for mother's day.

Poki: Mommy, share. You have to share, Mommy.

Mommy: Doh!

(Silence as Mom tries to figure out how her 23 month old son outsmarted her).

Scarlett's Birthday Party!

This Saturday was Scarlett's big birthday party! I have been talking about it for weeks and weeks! We had such a good time and now I'm super excited about my own party in just a month! Here are some pictures and videos from our fun afternoon of eating, drinking and being merry!

Whatcha got there, Scarlett's Nan? Any potato chips?...



...Cause I had my first chip today and I like them!



The birthday girl! I know, I know...how pathetic of my mom to have only gotten one shot of her all day and she's got a big ol' cup in her face! We still had to post it though.



Lauren thought of everything! She had tons of activities for the kids, like playing golf...



and coloring with sidewalk chalk...



and bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles!



Not to mention two things I had never done before: Hula hooping...



and hopscotch!



Thanks for inviting us, Scarlett! We had a great time celebrating with you!

Happy Mother's Day!

This morning, Daddy and I woke Mom up to give her our Mother's Day gift (a beautiful necklace) and then left her to sleep another hour while we made breakfast. After breakfast, we played with play-doh. Mom, once again proving that she is the perfect mom for me, made me a backhoe out of play-doh.



I really wanted to play with it.



Daddy made an entire train set in the time it took Mom to make the one backhoe, but whatever...hers was cooler.



Our fun project inspired us to get out of the house for a family outing to the trolley museum. We had the best time! We've been before a couple of times, but it was during the winter. It was a beautiful, breezy day today, and warm enough to ride on an open air trolley. Also, we stopped at the train yard and got to look at all the old trains and trolleys. It was amazing.

Here's the inside of our cool trolley. It was from the BRT (Brooklyn Rapid Transit) system from like 100 years ago.



I gave the man our ticket...



And we were off! If you can't tell, I'm saying "WOW!" here.



I said it was a breezy day!



Here we are in the train/trolley yard.



Little kittens (aka mouse catchers) who live in the train yard.



Cheeeeeeese! Hey, Mom! That's MY pretty smile!



On the trolley. Check out that stream of drool on my mouth. Poki is to trolleys as Homer is to donuts. Mmmmmmmm...trolleys...



Forget the breakfast and necklace. My real gift to Mom was allowing her to snuggle with me the whole ride back.



Here's some video from the ride. (Warning: Have the Dramamine ready.)



Finally, to top off our fantastic day, Daddy took us out to dinner for Thai food. It was super dooper delicious! Here's my first bite of chicken satay. I'm thinking about it...



Yep! I love it! And I liked Daddy's dinner and Mommy's dinner and their dessert...basically, I love Thai food!

BEST. MOTHERS. DAY. EVER.

Even Mom thought so!

Close Quarters

Scene I- Tonight at bedtime.

Dad: Who do you want to sleep with you tonight, Poki?

Poki: Mmmmm...Meri!

Dad: You want Meri to sleep with you? Okay.

Poki: Mmmmm...Bo Xu!

Dad: Okay, here's Bo Xu.

Poki: Mmmmm... Boogie too! Mmmmm...Lucy Lion too! P-chan too! Toot and Puddle too, Daddy! Ella too! Mmmm...Wally too!

And so on and so on and so on...


Scene II- 10:00pm. Mom goes in to make sure Poki is tucked in...and finds this.

24 Hour Zooms

Okay, be warned...this might be a boring post for most of you. But there is a point to all these long videos--I want to show you guys how much I am talking and what a crazy nut I am! It's getting really close to my second birthday and I can promise you, I get crazier with age.

Here is a video of my from dinner last night. It's just a little sampling of our typical dinnertime conversation.



This is a video from after dinner when I didn't want to slow down long enough to take a bath. Even Daddy got in on the action!



This one is truly crazy...and may be really boring for anyone other than my parents. See, they finally got me in bed about 8:30, but they could hear me talking and singing to myself (or my stuffed animals, who knows?) in my crib for a really long time. This video was taken at 9:30 at night. Mom carefully placed the camera on the floor by my bedroom door and let it film for 5 minutes. As you will be able to hear, I didn't stop for all 5 minutes. (And don't adjust your set--you're not supposed to be able to see anything...oh! And turn your volume up a bit.)



And finally, this morning. My mom mentioned to my dad that she wants to someday go to Legoland. I have no idea what that place is, but as you can see, I want to go too.