Guess Who Made the Christmas Card Wall at Dr. K's Office

Yes, our John was on the Christmas card wall.

In this photo, he's telling us about the imaginary fish that he caught in the back yard imaginary pond. He's quite imaginative that way.

Our Little Prince

He was kind enough to let us take a nap this morning. John is a very good boy.

John Tells A Story To Nicholas

John enjoys telling stories. In this clip, he's telling Nicholas quite a doozy.

Shelby's Going for a Ride

John loves his trains. He likes to give rides on his trains. Today, he took a photo of his cousin, Shelby, from the ninth grade (she's now in the 11th grade, I think). He was pushing it along until his Destructo personality took over and overturned the train.

Christmas in the City

John and Nicholas had no clue what was going on. John just wanted to have his breakfast and Nicholas just wanted to sleep. I think John will know what is going on next year, but Nicholas will still only want to sleep.

Maureen started to put out the decorations on Christmas Eve as "A Christmas Story" played on the tv. She even put out the little Christmas tree that she received from Julia Dockweiler collection. When she selected the tree, I scolded her and said, "We have no use for a small tree." She said, "I'm just planning ahead." Sure enough, I should have listened to her. We decided not to put up a large tree to avoid the temptation of playing with the ornaments. It has lights that do light up, but we didn't light them.

John, being the good boy that he is, slept in until about 7 AM. He started chatting away like there was no tomorrow. After about 20-minutes, I brought him into the bedroom to hang out while I prepared breakfast. He watched his favorite pre-breakfast program, "Oswald". He just loves the antics of that jovial blue octopus.

When it came time to open the gifts, neither boy knew what to do. Nicholas just sat there and made his noises. He's quite noisy when he eats and sleeps. He sure is all boy. John just wanted to do laps. Maureen and I had to start unwrapping his gifts for him. Once he saw that there was something in there, he'd start to join in on the unwrapping. He loved the gifts that he did see. He loved his Little Superstar play set. It has a keyboard and microphone. Santa knows our little boy quite well. He even loved some of Nicholas' gifts.

Good man that he is, John stopped by our Nativity scene to look at Jesus (afterall, Jesus is the reason for the season.). That was the only adornment that he stopped to look at. He was actually freaked out by the tree when I brought it out on Christmas Eve.

To close the evening, we went for a drive around Hancock Park to look at the Christmas lights. Oddly enough, there seemed to be much less lights than in previous years. John did enjoy seeing the lights. He started to talk and point as we drove by the houses. Of course, his favorite house was Youngwood Court. If you have never seen the lights at Youngwood Court, you are missing quite a site.

The Joy of Tissue

I really should have stopped him, but he was having far too much fun.

We have had issues with yellow crayon on the walls though. He doesn't like being corrected for that.

Happy Belated Birthday Auntie Lulu

We know it was yesterday, but we were asleep at the wheel.

Who Needs the Radio When You Have John?

Happy Birthday Auntie Kaitlin

He Hasn't Figured Out Softly Just Yet

John tries to help us where he can with Nicholas. He just hasn't figured out what gently means.

JD Does His Thang

Here's a video of John doing his favorite things: Talking and running around in circles.*

* Thanks to Maureen for that line about his favorite things.

John Says A New Word

Yesterday, we were doing laps in the apartment as John likes to do and we walked by Nicholas on his vibrating boucey chair. I said, "Be careful with the baby." John stopped and said, "Beh-bee" three times before he started to laugh and to back to his laps. At least, we can be thankful that he's acknowledging his brother and not poking him.

What To Do Today?

We had originally planned to visit the Gonzalez Grandparents today; however, cousin Suri is ill. Then, we were going to visit Grammy Brady, but it turns out that cousin Adriana has an earache. It's a bit of a disappointment, but we'll figure out something else to do.

We'll probably go for a walk after John wakes up for his nap. It would have been nice to take a drive to visit the Grandparents, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Besides, John's been behaving much better than the other day. We'll just say that was a bad day for him. We're all entitled to having an off day or two.

Someone Wore His Ornery Pants Today

It wasn't I. It wasn't Maureen. It wasn't Nicholas. I wonder who threw temper tantrum after temper tantrum today?

New Langauge Skills

Maureen discovered two new words in John's vocabulary. The first one is cock-a-doodle-doo. She was reading a book to him with all sorts of animal sounds like "meow" or "moo". When she says those, he stays silent. As soon as she says the five syllable word, he chimes in with his version. Then, we were watching a program with a little boy who rescues animals, has a pet puma, and a cousin that's an explorer and one of the characters said, "Hola." Sure enough, Little Man Jones decides to chime in with a "Ho-lo." It's close enough, but we clearly understood what he was saying. Little by little, our little genius is starting to talk and he didn't even have to watch those "Your Child Can Read Videos".

John enjoys reading or at least listening to books being read. I suppose he could be a book on tape fan if they still had cassette tapes. For the most part, he has been very good about staying away from daddy's collectible books. Every so often, he drifts close to them and wants to pull them out. For that reason, I picked up a very special Casper the Friendly Ghost. Still, he just wants to read daddy's books. In this clip, you see him reaching for Final Crisis. It was one of the most anticipated series to come out in recent history; however, it would leave you thinking "Huh?" if you were to read it. It involves the day good triumphed over evil and Superman saving the day by singing the special musical note to save the multiverse (see, I told you that you'd be lost).

Not Too Happy With Brother

Prior to me giving Nicholas to Maureen, John was quite content in his mother's arms. When I handed Nicholas over for the shot, our John got a little upset. It seems he didn't want anyone to intrude on his Mommy and Me time. In case you are wondering, John styled his mother's palm tree top knot. He's quite talented in all sorts of ways.

A Trying Day

I had to take John to the doctor's office today. They received their allocation of the H1N1 vaccination. Needless to say, John was a bit apprehensive as we entered the examining room. The nurse was as pleasant as could be, but that didn't stop John from crying when she stuck him with the needle.

On the drive home, he started to doze off. He hadn't taken his nap in the morning, so he was just super tired. Plus, I'd given him a bit of Motrin to help him with any sort of fever from the vaccine. For a moment, I was concerned that he may have been suffering from some sort of aftereffect from the shot, but then I came to my senses and added up all the clues.

On a side note to parents, I'd like to talk a little about waiting room etiqutte. There was this little brat, and I do mean brat, named Miguel in the waiting room. He kept going to all the toys, grabbing the toys, and saying, "Mine!" He wouldn't let any of the other kids, John included, play with any of his toys. His mother tried to reign him in, but he obviously doesn't know how to share. My hope is that he cried like a stuck pig when he got his shot. it would serve him right. Anywho, please teach your children to share in public places like the park or a doctor's office.

John Is Good

So far, he's been very respectful of Nicholas. He hasn't blow up. He hasn't tried to throw anything or smash him in any way. We're very thankful for the fact that he's keeping a safe distance, but every so often, he starts creeping up on Nick to see if he's doing anything. It's a safe curiousity thus far.

He loves to watch Nicholas being fed. He'll just sit there and smile. Maureen gave John an empty bottle of formula to play with. At one point, he heard Nicholas crying and motioned as if to offer his little brother his bottle.

He also wants to cuddle with Maureen even more than before. He missed four days of cuddling with his mother. The porr little guy just wants to make up for lost time. He has been good about not forcing the issue if he sees that Maureen is holding Nicholas. He just patiently waits his turn and then enjoys his Mommy and Me time. I'm a distant second to cudding with Maureen, but he does curl up into a little ball like a cat next to me at times.

Johnny and Mom

Even though he didn't outwardly show it, John missed Maureen. As soon as he saw her, he had a giant smile. All he wanted to do was cuddle with mama while Nicholas slept. He even got to have his lunch in bed. Let's hope he doesn't expect that every day.

Tomorrow, I have to take him to Dr. K's office for his flu shots. God help me!

They Meet

John was in fine form this morning. I was a bonehead and didn't let his oatmeal cool down long enough, so I wound up feeding him a big old heaping bowl of, you guessed it, yogurt and fruit. He was excited when he saw Grammy come by for a visit and perplexed when I left. It wasn't too bad because he went down for a nap shortly after that.

As we returned with his new brother, he was just waking up. I was carrying Nicholas in the car seat. When John popped up, he said somehthing like, "What you got?" We showed him and he was all smiles. It's been very good, so let's hope it stays that way.

I don't think there has been an introduction this anticipated since Obi Wan Kenobi met Anakyn Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Let's hope their relationship goes better than the Jedi Knight's relationship.

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Day 2 Without Mom

John is doing quite well. He has noticed that Maureen is not here, but he hasn't freaked out. He keeps walking over to her side of the room as if to try to find her. He did wake up about an hour ago and we had to watch an episode or two of Oswald. He just loves Daisy.

He also enjoyed playing BLT on the Bridge. BLT is the name we have given one of his Little People figures. Maureen and I named him after a character from Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High. For BLT on the Bridge, he puts the figure on top of the bridge from his train set and either he or I will knock down the figure as I do a fake "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" sound similar to the "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" in the Land of the Lost tv-show theme song. Anywho, he just sits there and laughs and laughs like it's the funniest thing. He also does that whenever I give him knuckles. I don't know what it is, but he laughs at that the way I laugh at AJ's story about a doctor with sausage fingers in the Army.

Update on John

John had a great night last night in the lovely hamlet of Mission Hills with Grandma and Grandpa Gonzalez. He wasn't too concerned about not seeing Maureen or me. I don't know if I should be relieved or hurt. I didn't think he'd get that way until he was around 14 or 15.

He had tons of fun with his cousins, the Borrego Girls. Marielena aka Mia asked John, "Are you happy to be a big brother?" According to my mother, his response was, "Si." He likes to say that and "aqui". We at least know that he can say yes and here in Spanish.

This evening, he was having a grand old time when I picked him up. We drove home and I could tell he was tired. He kept rubbing his eyes. After his bath, we started to do the wind down routine, but he just wanted to play. So, we went to his room and he did his laps before I decided the time was nigh to put him down. Without protest, he went to sleep.

He only mentioned "Mama" once as we were winding down because she takes over after the bath. Let's hope he stays that way and makes it through to Thursday or Friday when Maureen and Tsar Nicholas come home.

Irish Twins?

What do you think? They have the same nose, cheeks, and chin (although John does have more of the Kirk Douglas cleft in his chin).

John Is Rufus and Nicholas Is Resplendent

He has a resplendent baby brother, Nicholas Edward Gonzalez. Please be sure to visit Nicholas' blog at:

http://www.negisresplendent.blogspot.com/

He hasn't met the newest addition to the family, but they'll meet soon enough.

Updates

As some of you know, Maureen is going in for a Cesarean Section tomorrow afternoon. Please forgive your corespondent if he doesn't post anything for a day or so. He has to finalize plans for a second blog about a young boy name Nicholas. It'll be resplendent!

In the meantime, please say a prayer for your corespondent. He'll be alone with the Rufus One for a couple of nights. It's good that we know John loves yogurt. You'd think he were from the Middle East with all the yogurt he eats. I'm not being racialist. I'm just stating a fact that yogurt originated in the Middle East. Anyway, if all he eats is yogurt and fruit, I think most doctors would be pleased. At least, your corespondent won't be taking him to Pink's every night for hot dogs.

A Trip To Santa's House

Last year, John was quite stoic in his sitting with Santa. This year, he was a bit more aware of his surroundings. As you can see, he really didn't want to have his photo taken. It seems he takes after me in that respect. Thankfully, Maureen was able to get into the photo with him.

For the second year in a row, Santa just doesn't look too happy. Maureen thinks it's because he's stressed out by his toy making/delivering schedule. It tends to get rough when you have to fly around the world with a bunch of reindeer in less than 24-hours.

By the way, I'd like to say that Hooray for Santy Claus is the best Christmas song ever. It would be great for small children to sing; however, it won't be sung at the St. A's Christmas show. They couldn't find who owned the rights and didn't want to chance any issues.

The Laundry Helper

John enjoys helping with the laundry. Actually, he likes going down the the basement to run around the laundry room. He just runs around and plays with the machines. He loves playing with the Pepsi machine's buttons. He just pushes them. I wonder how he'll feel when he sees that something comes out of them when he sees someone buy a drink. He also likes to stare at the dryers as they spin around. Maureen said that he was mesmerized by three dryers the other days. To paraphrase Maureen, "Who needs Disneyland when we have the laundry room?"

Santa's Little Helper

John was very busy this weekend wrapping presents for Santa. Some lucky kids will be fortunate enough to receive the gifts that John wrapped and signed. He's such a good helper.

Soy Bomb?

If you don't know who Soy Bomb is, look it up and you'll get it. Or, he's gettting ready to get busted by the police in Riverside County on an episode of COPS.

Thanksgiving Story

Last week, we went to the Gaunt Ranch (Maureen's Aunt and Uncle/Grammy's Sister and Brother-in-Law) for Thanksgiving. As always, we were welcomed with open arms as soon as we entered their home. Actually, we were greeted by the Lowe's (Maureen's Cousin Whitney, her husband Jesse, and their son Thomas) in the driveway. Thomas was so excited to show us his train that he took a header in the driveway like little boys under the age of 2 are apt to do.



As we entered, we were greeted with the delicious smell of the turkey and some fine appetizers, mostly dips and things of that nature. Mind you, I'm not a fan of dips or sauces, so I was able to much on the chips and bread. I hope John doesn't take after me that way. So far, he does seem to eat most things. Anywho, our hosts (Fred and Patty) made us feel at home. The other Gaunts, Kevin and Rachel (Maureen's cousin and his wife), came over to see us. Shortly after that, Thomas decided to go outside to see the horses.






Once we got outside, John was in heaven. He wanted to run around and look at everything. He made a beeline for the rose bushes and I had to steer him away from them rather quickly. He also kept on walking past the stables to the place where there were some brown bins. My guess is that there was horse manure in those bins, but I may be wrong. I kept on having to pull him away from it. By that time, Cousin Adriana had joined us and she delivered this great observation: Horses poop all over the place. For a five year old, I think that's pretty profound. She's always good for a good line or two like that.


Maureen specifically bought John his cowboy shirt because we were headed out to the ranch. She would have bought him a cowboy hat to match , but he hates hats of any sort and would have thrown it off. It turns out that Whitney had purchased the same shirt for Thomas. It's my goal in life to be Joe Simpson and turn the two of them into a pop singing sensation. With the additions to the family, we may have to expand the duo into a quartet. Enough of my stage father dreams and back to the Thanksgiving story, John just wanted to play with the water bucket by the pen where the horses are groomed. He kept on reaching for it and didn't understand why I wouldn't let him touch it. One day next summer, Maureen can take him back to see how the horses are groomed and we'll see if he still wants to play with the water.



JD didn't quite make it for the turkey. He had his little raviolis and some fruit compote, but he did get to sit at the kids table and enjoy the company of his cousins. As a matter of fact, he had a blast at the table. The dogs kept on coming up to him at the gates and he started to throw food at them. It was a scene reminiscent of Spanky when he was a toddler in The Little Rascals where he'd feed Pete the pup under the table. John kept on tossing the monkey bread and Cheerios on the floor. Sadie and Tango were his best friends by the end of the night, but he didn't like it when Sadie came up and started licking his face. He still needs to get used to dog kisses.



By the end of the night, Maureen had changed John into his super hero jammies and he was entertaining people with his dazzling charm and bon mots. Actually, he really wiped himself out and he slept in the next morning. It was the best feeling not to wake up until 7 AM the next morning. To quote the Fresh Beat Band, "What a great day!"

Friday at Dinosaur Park

Friday afternoon, we had to drive back out to the Gaunt residence. Why? We'd forgotten our camera. On the drive home, Maureen mentioned that it might be a good time to visit "Dinosaur Park" aka Alendale Circle. It's one of the parks on the right side of the tracks at Park La Brea. It was a pretty good time to get there because there weren't many people at the park. There was a Korean group that was wrapping up a picnic with pizza (good choice on their part) and two young teens who seemed to be boyfriend and girlfriend.

When John gets to a park, he likes to survey the area by taking a nice stroll around the perimeter. This trip was no different. At one point, he stretched out his hand to hold mine in addition to Maureen's. I would have allowed my photo to have been taken for that one. We had to move out of the way for a little girl who was riding her bike with her two moms.

John even went up to the "dinosaur bones". He didn't quite go into the bones and play through them; however, he did interact with them as you can see from the video below. As Maureen would say, "Who needs Disneyland when we have Dinosaur Park?"

Sadly, John was considerably upset when we had to leave. He never wants to leave the park, but he did calm down when we started playing Fur Elise. Thank God for Beethoven. Tune in tomorrow for the Thanksgiving update. There are some fun shots of Buckaroo John at the Gaunt Ranch.

The Lord of the Dance

As we were enjoying the grounds at the Gaunt residence, we stumbled across the Jacuzzi. Now, everyone who ever saw "Buscando Amor" the Spanish language version of "Blind Date" knows that every date winds up in a Jacuzzi at the Sportsman's Lodge in Studio City, but let me get back to the story.

John was walking on top of the Jacuzzi whe he decided to do his Lord of the Dance. Now, I don't know if he learned Irish step dancing from that episode of Sesame Street where Murray and Obejita go to Irish dancing school, but he sure does a great job.



Watch out Michael Flatley. The little Cuban dancing shoes (only Maureen and Steve Jones will get the reference to Michael Flatley and his little Cuban dancing shoes, so ask her if you'd like. I don't think you'd have much luck with Jonesy. He has quite the accent. I do miss Jonesy's Juke Box. It was the best show on the radio.) have been thrown down and the challenge is out there.

Speed Racer

Grandpa Dick would be so pleased his little Speed Demon has taken after him in his love of hot rods. JD even has his own firev suit thanks to Grammy Brady.

The Ability to Overcome Great Fear

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!

Morning's Here

When he was younger, we used to sing the "Morning's Here" song. It's been a while since we have sung it to him, but look at this. He's singing it to us. He doesn't quite have the tune of Chuck Mangione's "Feel's So Good", but it's close enough for government work! Some may think he is singing "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens, but I can assure you that he doesn't know that one. The only Cat Stevens he knows is "Father & Son".

In case you don't remember the "Morning's Here" song. Take a look at the video below. Is there a better way to wake up than hearing this?

Happy Birthday Cuzzy Wuzzy

Today, John had the great fortune to attend his cousin Adriana's birthday. Her actual birthday isn't until Tuesday, but the party was today. John was quite pleased to be running around with all the little kids in attendance. Plus he got to see Grammy Brady on the weekend. His cousin was so nice to him. When one of the kids wouldn't let John into the playhouse, she said, "Let him in. He's my cousin!" She's very protective of John.

We had to leave early because John was tired and ready for a nap. Oh well, he still enjoyed his time at the party. Below, you can see a picture of the birthday girl with her dad aka Uncle Rick Brady. He's the proprietor of the garage bar. His middle name is the same as John's middle name.

Fresh Haircut

Our John had a haircut yesterday. If you were to ask me, it's not cut short enough. Maureen wants to keep some bangs. I want it super short like a little boy's hair should be. He threw quite the fit at The Yellow Balloon. Let me tell you, it was quite embarassing. He thrashed so much that he got a little nick on his ear. He's nowhere near ready where he needs to be in order to visit Jerry the Barber.

One Last Video for Tonight

Last weekend, we took a trip to Target. Whilst going through the book aisles, we stumbled across the Christmas books. Sure enough, he picked the expensive one that lights up and plays Silent Night. Look at the sheer delight on Our John's face as he enjoys his book. I think he just remembers his first starring role last year and his solid debut!

Slam Dancer

Our boy takes after his Grandpa Dick Brady. This boy is born to dance. He just started to go crazy during the opening credits to Wow Wow Wubzy. I'd say that he would certainly win the Degrassi Jr. High Crazy Dance Competition with this one. It's almost as good as The Gorilla or The Sprinkler.

Future Customer of Golden Apple

As some of you know, this writer has a bit of a jonez for comic books. I stop by Golden Apple to pick up my books on a weekly basis. Once in a while, I'll take Our John with me. He's always quite a hit. Mrs. Liebowitz loves to see him because he's so well behaved and doesn't just grab things.

Anywho, I have a shelf where I have my hard cover collections. Little Man Jones had stayed away from it until this week. The interesting fact of the timing of this discovery of my books is that I just picked up a hard bound comic book for him. It's a collection of early Casper the Friendly Ghost books. I was quite happy to give it space with my books. I can't wait to read it to John.

John and His Teeth

In earlier posts, I mentioned that John really didn't like to brush his teeth. Look at our little champ. He even likes to brush mine. I like to think that he understands the importance of good dental hygiene; however, I know for a fact he likes the taste of the Little Bear tooth paste.

The Funniest Thing Ever

Take a look at this photo. This is John's reaction to a story Maureen told us. As our loyal readers know, JD was the Baby Jesus in a Christmas show last year. Her boss, aka Grandma Rose, floated the idea of having Nicholas be the Baby Jesus this year. Immediately, she shot down the idea because there is no way on God's green earth that we are going to expose him to an auditorium full of kids.

Also, John has a favorite new game. We call it, Tickle Me. The basic rules are that you tickle him and he just laughs and laughs. If you stop tickling him, he gets upset and grabs your hand to start tickling him again. He's a boy that knows what he likes. Sorry Uncle Rick Upshaw, he hasn't quite gotten into viewing the Elvis movie, Tickle Me. Give me time. I'll bring him up to speed with movies like Viva Las Vegas, Blue Hawaii, Girl Happy, It Happened at the World's Fair, and my personal favorite, A Change of Habit.

It's Already Started

It seems that John has skipped the terrible two's and gone straight to puberty. As you can see in this clip, John has decided that it's time to be left alone, slams the door, and has a conversation with Maureen through the door. We can take heart that the conversation didn't seem to be too heated, but it is a sign of things to come.

Dr. K's Worst Nightmare Revisited

As you may know, John's pediatrician, Dr. K, is quite a saint and very safety conscious. If he were to see a photo like this, he'd call Uncle Albert and have DCFS take John away from us. Just so you know, that's our grocery cart and it usually carries groceries that weigh quite a bit more than our little skinny minnie.

John's Favorite New Game

Even though he has never read the book Hop on Pop, our John seems to really take it to heart. He gets very upset at times and physically pushes me down. He's a little bit of a pipsqueak, but he is quite a powerhouse. Don't mess with him.

I Swore He'd Never Know Who They Were

Follow this link and you'll see that John has joined The Wiggles.

http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/the-wiggles/sproutlet-wiggles-game.aspx?gid=18457&CMP=wgemail

Happy Birthday Uncle Robert

John sends his Uncle Robert a very big birthday greeting. He celebrated by playing with the rain stick that Uncle Robert, Aunt Lisa, Cousin Samantha, and Cousin Matthew gave him for his birthday.