Days 640-641: Goodbye, Fever!

So memories weren't the only thing I brought back from Mexico. I picked up a fever. That made for a sucky few days, and a really sucky trip to some terrible place where people poked and prodded me into the wee hours of the night. But I kicked that virus to the curb and am now fever-free. I will celebrate this, and prove I'm back to normal, by storming the baracades by the bookcase!

Day 639: Adios, Mexico

Dear Mexico. I really enjoyed my first visit to your country. I didn't sleep very well, but the days sure were fun. Mostly I think I'll miss picking and smelling the flowers. We don't have many of those back home right now. Adios, Guille, and Suzannah and Marseilles! Thank you very much for all the delicious food and Spanish lessons. See you again someday I hope.

Days 635-638: ¡Hola!

Time flies here in Mexico, even when you are torturing your parents but refusing to sleep in a crib and waking up at 5am ready to watch "artooons" even though there is no TV! The weather's been great, and me and my pal Frankie have been all kinds of busy. We've probably picked a bushel of flowers from the street out front, thrown a ton of rocks into the ocean, and gone swimming in the ocean like a bazillion times. I think I've eaten enough queso to employ the state of Wisconsin for a month. I might even go SCUBA diving later if Mom lets me. But enough typing. It's time for a virgin margarita.

¡Adios!

Days 632-634: What a Difference a Week Makes

Last week, this:

This week, this:

I'm not saying one is better than the other. I love snow and winter and woods as much

as I do beaches and sun and palm trees. Luckily, I get both! Greetings from Mexico, people. Now, I need a virgin margarita. Adios! (for now.)

Day 631: Leaving, on a Jet Plane

Advance warning: I'm leaving the country. I'm flying south for the winter, or for one week of winter anyway. This is a little silly since winter only barely started, but I hear Mexico is nice, so I'm going to roll with it. I'll miss the wide open spaces of the new house, and also the more confined spaces of the Brooklyn place, where the grass is greener -- but only because it's plastic. Still, I make the most of wherever it is I happen to be. I'm sure I can hang pretty comfortably along the Caribbean. Look out for pictures! If I have Internet. And my editor isn't too busy eating tacos and drinking Pacificos.

Days 630-631: What is a "hat" anyway?

Sometimes, Mom gets so frustrated with me when I don't want to wear the hat she wants me to wear. I can't explain why, exactly, but sometimes I'd rather just wear her hat, or a lego bucket, or maybe even a colander. If you're wondering why, I'd ask you to broaden your mind a little. What is a "hat", anyway? Isn't it something you wear on your head? In that context, is a colander not a hat? Chew on that while I climb up and retrieve some Tupperware from the counter.

Days 626-629: Snow!

Finally, the mythical snow people kept associating with winter arrived! Not a lot of it, mind you, but plenty to justify putting on my snowsuit and boots and going out to play in the yard. Mom and Dad pulled me around on the sled, showed me how to make snow angels, and even rode around on this funny board thing that also works as a sled. We just need to find some bigger hills before the real snows come. Our yard is great but it's pretty flat. Keep snowing, please!

Days 624-625: Hi!

That's pretty much all I have to say today. Just: HI!

Days 620-623: Where's Winter?

People got all crazy in New York with the hype about winter. It's going to be so COLD! And SNOWY! Okay, I heard them, and I was waiting, but so far it's much ado about nothing. Even at our house in the mountains, it's pretty mild, and as you can see, barren of snow. I guess there was lots of snow last year but I don't remember it. I was excited for this year. I even bought a tiny shovel! And sled! You don't think that's the reason, do you? Did I jinx it?

Oh, well, guess I'll go back to shoveling leaves.

Day 619: Big hats

I have a lot of hats, most of which are designed for my tiny-human-sized head. But I like to wear Mom's. With the right pants, I could totally make it into hat-suspenders.

Days 617-619: Oh, Christmas

Christmas is a great holiday. You get presents, you eat delicious foods, and you wear adorable red sweaters. And if it's Christmas in Florida, you go barefoot. That wouldn't fly in Brooklyn. Here's me enjoying a contemplative moment by the fire, praying that someone brings me a life-sized Elmo that makes cookies on demand. A kid can dream.

Days 611-616: Hello from Mink Hollow

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You've probably been wondering where I've been. I'll tell you where: upstate! At our new house! In Mink Hollow! It's great up here, especially now that the heat and electricity works. The first night, they both conked out! And we had to go to a hotel, where I proceeded to drive my parents nuts b/c it was too much fun sharing a room to go to sleep. That's me up there in the house the first night after the heat broke but before the power did. Mom was working on starting the fire and I was all bundled up, so it wasn't that bad.

Of course, the next day when everything was working it was all a lot more pleasant.

And then our guests came. Lots of babies!

Happy New Year everybody. We'll see you tomorrow in Brooklyn.