Take me out to the ballgame!

I was so excited to ride the train all the way up to the baseball stadium. I was also so excited to eat a hot dog and a slice of pizza, then get into my seat to watch the baseball...for about five whole minutes. Then I wanted to go home. I REALLY wanted to go home, and let mama and everyone in the stadium know it. So guess what? We went home! In the 2nd inning! I think I'll try baseball games again when I am a little bigger.

Baseball

I went to the Yankees game today with mama, cousins Jill, Ben, David and Elodie. I don't have any Yankees gear because Daddy hates them, so she did her best to dress me in blue and white. PS. Why does everyone laugh at my hat and say it's funny? I think it's cool to have a worried face on my head!

The countdown is on!

T minus 6 days until my birthday! This morning I told my mom that I wanted my birthday now, so I went ahead and put a hat on. I also put one on her, and my horse. Also, Daddy will be home for my birthday and I can't wait to see him again. I know he is on a sailing adventure with granddad to travel the world and buy me presents but I really miss him.

Plane!

It's no secret that I love riding the Batmobile at Cafe Habana, but we just discovered this little gem outside Madiba restaurant in DeKalb. It's an airplane! I rode it three times in a row and made my mom sing out loud to the music the whole time. This is me shouting, "Sing louder!" Luckily she does not embarrass easily, because the song is "There was an old man called Michael Finnigan."

Bubbles!

Today was my bestie Leo's birthday, and he had a party in the park. It was fun! They had these giant bubbles that were so cool to watch and try to pop. Leo turned 3. In case you are not remembering, I will be 3 myself next week! Isn't that crazy?

My School

We go to the playground every day when we have school, unless it's raining or too cold. We all hold a red rope together. According to my mom, it is "seriously cute."

Charlie Turtle/History Lesson

As you might know, I play a lot in Fort Greene Park. What you might not know is that there is a lot of history to my little playground and play space! In the days of the American Revolutionary War it was a site of defense against the British, (then called Fort Putnam), led by General Nathanial Greene. During the Battle of Long Island, the Continental Army surrendered the fort.

Then the  British held thousands of Revolutionary captives on prison ships anchored in the East River, just a few block from FG Park. Almost 12,000 men and  women died aboard the ships from starvation, overcrowding and disease, and they were buried along the shallows of the shores. 

Later my park was the first public park in Brooklyn!  It was officially designated for use as a public park after locals, who had been enjoying it as one already, and newspaper editor Walt Whitman (yeah, that guy!) rallied for support for the project from the pages of the local newspaper, the Brooklyn Eagle. (Where Whitman was editor.) By 1867, Frederick Omsted and Calvert Vaux, the very men who designed Central Park and later Prospect Park, began designing the new Fort Greene Park, as well as the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument.

If you know my park, you know this monument. It is a high column, topped with a big bronze urn. From its base you can see stunning views of Manhattan, and it was erected to honor those who died as prisoners in the bay. These days, the concrete base is full of people exercising, sitting, scooting, doing yoga, kissing, fighting, playing. They might not know that underneath are the remains of the prisoners from those ships, who were moved there in 1873. (Here's a more in-depth link regarding that...http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/nyregion/when-memorials-outlast-the-sentiment-behind-them.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

I know that it is weird to talk about all of this in a post, but we really just found out today about the little visitor's center near the monument which tells you all about the history of the park. It also has some cool artifacts like ball bearings and buttons from soldiers coats that have been found there over the years. But best of all, it has a box turtle named...CHARLIE.  Oh, and a box full of Madigascar cockroaches! Anyway, cool stuff. The more you know, right? 

Party in the Back

I am going to be 3 next week. But my mom and dad don't like to cut my hair so I don't look old. That is weird. But the long hair gets in my face so mama has to trim it around my eyes and ears. The end result is this really cool soccer hairdo. Well I think it's cool. I keep hearing people telling mama to "cut that mullet!" But she won't, and I don't care.

Big Boy pants

I have a new favorite thing in the world. Underpants! I love to wear underpants so much that I put some on my head and kept them on for a full hour the other day. But I really love to wear them and go potty like a big boy now. The first thing I ask for in the morning, other than a cartoon and oatmeal, is underpants!

Solemn bus ride

I rode the bus up to my friend Max's house the other day to play. I look very serious here, but I LOVE riding the bus. In fact, the whole time I'm on the bus, I say "I love riding the bus!" That is, when I'm not asking where all the people are going and why the bus is stopping, every single time it stops. But seriously, why does the bus stop so much? And where are all the people going?

Adult shoes are hilarious

Last week Mama posted a picture of me wearing her shoes. Now here I am wearing Daddy's shoes! I have to say, I am pretty funny sometimes. Mama told me to go get my shoes and put them on, and I said OK, here I am in my shoes! She laughed a lot, anyway.

Spring!

Oh joy of joys, Cafe Habana is open again for the season! That means I get to ride in my favorite mechanical car, eat guacamole for lunch, throw pennies into the fountain and get bouncy balls and tattoos from the machine. That also means Mama needs to stock up on change again, because when I'm there, my favorite phrase is "Can I have another quarter??"

Alina!

Spent the afternoon with my pal Alina yesterday. She's got some cool toys, and an awesome yard. She's also got a little brother, Baby Edgar. He's the one who isn't me or Alina.

Baby Edgar appears to be squinting. He should really get an umbrella for his chair.

Weird Birds

I love birds. They're great. But they're also pretty weird. Especially this one, a peacock. It's beautiful, of course, but also weird. Here I am indicating my desire to find some popcorn to feed to him.

Also, you can probably see that Momma cut my hair. Daddy says I look like Jeff Daniels from Kingpin again. I don't know what that means.

No Photos!

I know it seems like I'm always posing and smiling for pictures -- and usually I am; after all, "Cheese!" was one of my first words -- but sometimes I'm just not in the mood. Here, I am reminding Daddy that I am not a monkey. No pictures while I'm eating noodles!

Daddy Day Care!

We're well into day three of boys' weekend here in Brooklyn and I'm pleased to report that Daddy has yet to forget a meal, put my shoes on the wrong feet, or accidentally put my coffee in my cup. He even got me to school on time the last two days -- not even Momma does that! All in all, we're having fun. But I do miss her. Okay, time to scoot over to the playground.

Werrrk

Yesterday my friend Leo was over, and we got into all sorts of trouble, like we usually do. We threw all the stuffed animals in my room into a big pile. We ran and slid on the floor. We jumped on mom and dad's bed. We splashed pee pee on the floor after trying to empty the potty ourselves. We took our pants off. We got into mama's shoe closet, and walked around in her heels. Where was mama and Leo's mom while all of this was happening? Just drinking wine and occasionally yelling at us. (*Mom's note: At least someone is wearing my awesome heels these days!)

This is my doctor's office. How many times have I been here this winter? Too many to count! Apparently when you go to school and hang out in playrooms all the time, it's really easy to get sick. My latest ailment is a little sinus/ear infection. I'm still happy as can be though!

A Boy and His Baguette

Daddy referred to this shot as an "urban tableau". I have no idea what that means. But I sure do love baguettes!

For Grandmom, because she says I never show any close-ups. I think this photo makes me look old, like a teenager or something! I call it, "Did you buy any cheese?"

Miniature Horse!

We stopped by a cute miniature horse farm on Saturday to feed the animals. Normally they have goats and chickens and bunnies, but today all they had were the miniature horses. They are so cute and small, but this guy and me had to check each other out for a few minutes before I got up the nerve to pet him and he got up the nerve to let me. We saw they had miniature saddles for them, so in the summer I'm going to miniature ride one. My mom says Auntie Stephanie will "die at the cuteness of this."

Upstate Weekend

You often see adorable pictures of me and occasionally pictures of my mom (*mom's note: I would like to implement an approval procudure before photos of me are posted from now on, thankyou) but how often do you see me and daddy? Here we are upstate yesterday. See the snow on the ground? We didn't go sledding, but we did go for a nice hike here. Well, mama and daddy hiked. I was carried the whole time because I just wanted to be carried, and I have discovered that if I ask for things over and over and a slightly high-pitched voice, I get whatever I want! Does this trick also work for grown ups?

FLORIDA!

Okay, as promised, some pictures from Florida. I crammed a lot into a week, as you can see!

One of these two is unsure how he feels about things. The other one is incapable of facial expression. That's weird, right?

I fed a giraffe! And he didn't eat my hand! That's because he's an herbivore! Also, he had a black tongue, and it wasn't very slimy.

I played a lot of driveway basketball.

And we saw SO many manatees. I would like to get one as a pet. If you're thinking about birthday gifts for me...

I did lots of fishing with Papa. I have my own pole!

 I even caught some fish! Like, 4 of them. Then he took them off my hook. I think this is a trout, not pictured.

Correction: A BETTER Dancing Video

More Florida pictures coming soon! In the meantime, this is some even better dancing (with truck):

Just Gettin' Down With the Dancing Truck

I'm not sure this requires much explanation. But if you're curious, yes, the truck dances too!

Back Home Again in Brooklyn

Hey, people. I had a great little vacation down at Mom and Papa's in Florida. The weather was great, the Easter candy was awesome, and Auntie Steph was there too. I have to organize some pictures to share, and I'll get 'em up this week I promise, but in the meantime I just wanted to say, "Wuzzup, Brookyn? I'm back!"