Sorry for the lack of blog posts!. The entire family was stuck in a Well, and we were only just now rescued. We are a little moldy, and Shroebean has a wee bit of PTSD, but overall we are "doing well". Get it?
Moving on. Happy Halloween! As long-time readers will recall, Tate was a ladybug for her first Halloween back in 2008:
And 2009 brought us The Reluctant Unicorn:
And for 2010, we present... the Yaybug! Don't be fooled - this is NOT the ladybug of yesteryear (or two yesteryear's ago). This is Yaybuggus Maximus, a rare, flightless variety found mostly in suburban street gutters...:
...it is beloved among entomologists for its curious marching gait:
...And its ability to descend stairs by ITSELF with NO HELP from its MOMMY or DADDY:
The party was at Gymboree - I got my own nametag with a scary clown on it. They served Elmo cake but I rejected it - I'm rude that way. I loved the parachute games and the singing, and my cuteness was hard to ignore...
Just a quick post since mommy has to get back to slaving over a hot moving van, but wanted to post a few pictures of Tate's Quinceanera hairdo (courtesy of a particularly brave and patient teacher at her school), and a few pictures of Tate's new condo, which she will be sleeping in 24 hours from now... I'll label them so you don't get confused.
!HAIR!
!CONDO!
On Saturday, Miss Tate enjoyed a picnic with fully 47% of her absolute favorite people in the world, including fully 73% of the Rodriguez clan.
I only LOOK surly and dangerous - on the inside I am having an excellent time:
I'm a bit of a swinger:
The 'rents:
Uncle David catches a falling star:
Meanwhile, across the country, my Uncle Chris and cousin Samantha dropped in on Obama:
Well, it was a big week for The Tate! For one thing, she learned how to beg for a bite of mommy's pita bread breakfast pocket in the car on the way to school ("bita!" bita!"). AND, she stood without holding on to anything and took her first step! See, she climbed up to her favorite shelf in the cupboard and pulled out her bag of Veggie Sticks (not nearly as healthy as they sound) just like always, and held them out with one hand to mommy. BUT THEN, when mommy failed to respond immediately to this request, she let go of the cupboard and held out the bag of Sticks to mommy. She just stood there on her own like that for about 15 seconds (previous record: 2.3 seconds). When mean old mommy still failed to respond, Tate simply took two steps toward mommy. One, two, just as graceful as you please. She was rewarded with 3 Veggie Sticks and a big hug. Until we capture this new skill on film, here are some other pictures to fill the void...
Ponytails and bare feet
Forgot to blog, too busy learning new words STOP. Current favorites appear to have a theme, can you guess what it is STOP. Cookie, waffle, pita STOP. Here's what else I did in February STOP.
Met my new Uncle Bailey:
Dreamt about bread with my dreamy Uncle David:
Dog-piled with my mom and my big brother Shroebean:
By the way, I was asleep about 20 minutes after that picture was taken. I find tofu so relaxing. Oh, and one more thing: despite my love of Cheerios, I've managed to keep my girlish 2008 figure...look, I wore the same dress LAST Thanksgiving:
Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving too! Next up: CHRISTMAS! The very thought makes me positively giddy:
FINALLY! Now I can share what I've been up to the last few weeks.
First off, I've been watching a LOT of something called "Preschool Musical" online. All my mom and dad have to do is hum the first few bars, and I go c-r-a-z-y!
But I've been doing some growing up too. I've started drinking. Mostly just the clear stuff - vodka, everclear, absinthe... I put it in these little sports bottles so I can take it to restaurants without raising any eyebrows:
I've also spent some time teaching Grandpa Rob how to read - he struggles with some of his tractor terminology (roll bar, dual wheels) but he's pretty easy to work with. Plus he doesn't mind if I forget to wear pants, and he doesn't make fun of my mullet:
I've also discovered the hilarity that is cat kibble in bulk:...which is why you're not looking at an adorable picture of me right now. Thankfully, mommy is going to buy us a new one. I hope it has even more buttons to mash than the last one.
I just got back from Pinecrest Lake, and boy are my arms tired. Huh? I don't get it. Actually, my parents' arms are tired, since I now weigh 30 lbs. But anyhoo, let's move on, a lady does not discuss her weight. You can never be too fat or too cute, I say. Pinecrest Lake, or Pie Crust as we like to call it, is just a couple miles east of Mi Wuk, CA. No? A stone's throw from Strawberry, CA, then. Nothing? Well, it may not a place you've heard of, but I give it the "Weebert Anne" (or "Weebert Marie" when I'm bad) seal of approval. I had a great time staying in a cabin with my Uncle Chris, Aunt Mac, Cousin Samantha, 'Ramma Mary and Grandpa John. My parents came along too. We packed a lot into four days:
I played peak-a-boo with Sam, in a rainbow necklace my mom and Sam made out of felt beads:
I loved playing in the lake! Here I am waiting for Uncle Chris to pick me up and help me swim in the water:
Cousin Sam is a real fish in the water:
Sam and my mom had a great time making a sand-mold path on the beach:
One morning before breakfast, I made a "family sandwich" with Chris and Sam...it was fun, but it couldn't hold a candle to 'Ramma's oatmeal-applesauce-cottage cheese-fusion:
This week I am transitioning to the toddler room at baby school. That place is CA-RAY-ZEE! There are no less than THREE kid-sized vacuums in the new room, plus little cars to ride in, books, puzzles, and a real table and chairs to sit at for meals. I sleep on a friggin' cot! As in , no sides! This is the big time, people. The kids are older, rougher, and can scream louder. I really like my new teacher, Ruth - she is a billion feet tall, strong as an ox, and makes helps me stand up all the time. I come home with paint on my shirt, food in my hair, muddy knees, and just yesterday...my first shiner. No one even knows how it happened because I didn't cry about it. In one week I've turned into a tough old bird.
Thanks to everyone who supported my efforts at AIDSWalk 2009! I got over $300 in donations!But more importantly...I got a free popsicle!
Mom and Dad were talking about "AIDS WALK 2009" and I had no idea what that is. Something about walking and giving back. Well, I'm still learning how to walk, and I'm not real good about giving things back once you hand them to me. So I basically tuned them out. But then I heard the magic words...
"There are free snacks".
I'm SO THERE!
Will you help me out? Apparently I need to raise money to get into this thing. The money helps to find a cure for HIV and support people living with AIDS, but more importantly, it gets me into the snack tent. The Deadline is July 18th.
Mom and Dad say we appreciate any donation you can give, no matter the size.
Thanks for your support!
[Edit from Dad: We don't have the heart to tell her there won't be hurdles or judges at the event.]
Great-grandma Margaret couldn't make it to her own birthday party because she didn't feel so hot. Luckily, I was available to act as her stand-in. So I got the balloon, most of Granny G's dinner, and all the attention. Get well soon, Great-grandma! (But not tooooo soon, I mean, you know, take it easy, don't rush back in to your old habits to quickly, you could sprain something.)
Today, Tate is 18 months old. And for the first time since she was about 3 or 4 months, her clothing size contains her ACTUAL AGE. You heard me, 18-24 months on the outside, 18-24 months on the inside! She went to her check-up today with her beloved pediatrician, affectionately called "Remi" 'round these parts. And as it turns out, not only is she back on the chart, she is only in the 95th percentile for weight. I'll spell this out for you: FIVE PERCENT of babies her age are BIGGER THAN HER. Who ARE these mutant behemoths? She is 90th percentile for height, and 50th for head circumference, for those of you keeping track. And her cuteness factor? Well, I'll let you come to your own conclusion, but here's a hint:
It totally freaks them out when they can't find me.