Poor Little Johnny

He's not feeling like his normal self. He has an ear infection and he's just not feeling very cheery. His sleep habits have been pretty poor, but I did get him to eat some yogurt about 30 minutes ago.

Father's Day

It was a lovely day. We didn't go to the fountain at Park La Brea today, but we got to see an indoor fountain at the Northridge Mall, so we did do fountain time this weekend.

Today started with some lovely pancakes. Maureen made some of "Uncle Earle's Pancakes" in her new non-stick skillet. At first, I was really reluctant to believe that a non-stick skillet was the secret to good pancakes, but she proved me wrong. They were light and fluffy. I'd give them top marks for taste and consistency. John liked them so much that he cleaned his plate. He never does that. The boys and Maureen gave me a nice pop-up copy of "The Little Prince". We'll be able to read that as the boys grow older. It's such a lovely book. More people should read it. As you can see from the photo, John decided to start the day in his diaper. For some odd reason, he always just wants to take his jammies off as soon as he wakes up.

We started Nicholas on solid, well semi-solid food, rice cereal. He just went to town with it. He moved his jaws as if he had to chew it. He even made the face like it had a horrible flavor to it. That was this afternoon. I'm not too sure what changed between this morning and this afternoon's mush, but he started making faces.

Since we needed to go to JC Penney to buy John some shoes, we decided to go to the one in The Northridge Mall. Our other choice was the Fox Hills Mall and Maureen said that the Northridge store was better. We didn't get what we were looking for at JCP, but we did get to see the indoor fountain. As we walked out of JCP into the mall, John literally gasped and said, "WOW!! Fountain!" We had no idea that there was a fountain in the middle of the mall. The last time I was in the mall, there was a planter there. Anywho, the Sephora girls thought it was hilarious to see John get so excited and run toward the fountain.




After the mall, we headed over to my parents house to visit my dad and wish him a happy father's day. As always, John went to him. We like to think that it's because he loves his grandfather, but it may also have something to do with the cookies that my dad gives him. John just loves the cookies. Cousins Mia and Ana were over at the house as well. Mia just loves the boys, and Nick really loves her. He was so excited that he kept on trying to bite her nose. It's a miracle she'll even hold him, but she just loves him. John and Ana were having there fun.

On our way home, we decided to pick up some Larchmont Village Pizza because it's easy and I was in the mood for it. John was very excited once he realized where we had stopped. He kept on saying "Pizza! Pizza!" It was like listening to a Little Caesar's ad on tv. He was so excited once Maureen came back with the box. As we got to the parking garage, he asked Maureen to show him the pizza. When she did, a piece flopped out and hit the floor. It was hers (mushroom and green peppers). John was sad because he thought that it had all fallen. Once he realized that there was more, he was ok. And, he cleaned his pizza off his plate. I suppose he only really finishes what he really likes. He'll basically eat anything, even salad (much to my chagrin).

Now, it's time to catch up on sleep. Neither of the boys had long naps today, so it's night-night right now.

Happy Birthday

John would like to send out a special birthday wish to Charla Smith. Happy 2nd Birthday, Charlie!

Five Silly Monkeys

Maureen usually reads a book called "8 Silly Monkeys" to John. It's the story about the monkeys that are jumping on the bed. John has a shorter version called "5 Silly Monkeys" that he likes to read as his mother reads "8" to him. Of late, he has taken to saying or at least ennunciating the "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" part. He'll just start saying that as we are walking around.

Yesterday, he saw his cousin Ana jumping on the couch at Mami and Papi's house. He then started to say, "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" to her. He's trying to be a good citizen and knows what happens to little children that jump around on the couch.

Listen to the intonation of what he's saying. He's trying to say "no more monkeys jumping on the bed."

The Mullholland Fountain

Over the last three weekends, we have found ourselves in the Griffith Park/Los Feliz area. Everytime we'd pass the Mullholland Fountain, John would say, "WOW!!" and "Bye fountain." as we'd drive by the corner of Los Feliz and Riverside Drive.



Last Sunday, we went to pick-up some supplies for his birthday party and decided that it was time to make a visit. John didn't realize what we were going to do, but as we parked the car, he grew more and more excited.



All along the walk to the fountain, he just kept on getting more and more animated. He wanted to share his delight with Maureen and I.



As he walks along the perimeter of the fountain, he cannot contain his joy!



True to his good manners and sense, he decided it was time to go. He didn't complain as we walked to the car. He just enjoyed himself. I hope he's always this easy to enterain because going to public fountains sure beats paying to get into Disneyland.

Grammy Won't Be Happy With This Snack

As is our custom, we headed over to the fountain this weekend to enjoy some fountain-time. Over the last couple of weeks, we've given John a snack. Typically, it's a cookie. As soon as we get to the fountain, he starts saying, "Cookie? Cookie?" and walking over to the coffee cart. Today was no different. He got to enjoy watching the barrista make our pure vanilla beverage. He exclaimed, "Wow!" as the blender was whirling around.

We enjoyed some quality time chasing a little squirrel around the fountain. When the squirrel retreated up a tree, John kept on saying, "Where squirrel? Hewwo squirrel? Where squirrel?" He even had a nice cultural exchange with a nice little Korean boy. The little Korean boy gave John a golf club and John let the little Korean boy play with his ball. I was pleased that he took part in that exchange.

Dizzy McGee

When John's cousin, Matthew, was younger, I used to be able to talk him into doing many things. My favorite was always to spin him around and around until he was too dizzy to stand up. He eventually grew out of that phase and started to refuse to do that. It looks like the spinning runs in our family. John just loves to spin around until he falls down. Now, most would learn from the first time they fall, but our John just loves to be dizzy, I guess.

St. Ferdinand's Fiesta

Last Saturday, we took a trip to the St. Ferdinand's Fiesta. The Lowther family was kind enough to meet us there. At first, John was a little shy, but he warmed up to them very quickly. Methinks, he's a little warry of Mrs. Lowther because she is so just darn loud.





Anywho, it was the boys first experience with a carnival and carnies. We had to interact with the carnies because we bought John some ride tickets. Uncle Mike was kind enough to ride with him in the train. He was very shaky at first and didn't like it, but by the end of the ride, he was saying yay. It was a weak yay, but he did start to get into it. At this age, he just likes looking at rides. He's not a fan of actually experiencing them.

He also enjoyed his first churro. He liked it, but he was more interested in eating the lettuce off his tacos. That boy just loves his greens. He even appreciated the music. He applauded and said, "Yay!" for the guy that was singing from his karaoke disc and giving shout outs to every state in Mexico, except Yucatan. He even sent saludos to Central America, but there was no love for Yucatan.

As we were leaving, we walked by the ferris wheel. This intrigued him greatly. He didn't quite know what to make of it, but he did want to walk up the stairs to the ride. He kept saying, "Stairs. Stairs." in his almost sounding like an autistic child kind of way. Mrs. Lowther was kind enough to lift him up so he could get a better view. By then, he'd warmed up to her loudness.

I Got It

It sounds to me like he says, "I got it." Sometimes, he's too smart for his own good. As you can see, he still doesn't quite have the motor skills to complete the task.

Visit to the Americana on Brand

Sunday morning was supposed to be a lazy day. Of course, we knew we'd end up at the fountain later in the afternoon; however, we really didn't have any plans until Maureen decided that she needed to go to Anthropologie at The Americana.



For those of you who haven't been there, it's right across the street from the Glendale Galleria. If you think about it, The Americana is just a newer version of The Grove. It has some fancier stores than the Grove, but the concept is exactly the same.


Of course, we had to stop by the fountain. John loved it, but he was a little chagrined that they didn't have fish in the fountain. He kept asking to see the fish. He was also upset because the fountain tended to splash him. As we know, John doesn't like to get wet. Plus, the bronze statues weren't shooting off water that he could play with. It always kills me when I see him playing with it because I'm sure it's recirculated water, but he just loves playing with the water and the statues.


After we visited Anthropologie, we went to H&M to see if they had any clothes for the boys. They really didn't, but that didn't stop John from going on the up and down (SEVERAL TIMES) with both Maureen and me. When he was riding the escalator with Maureen, he kept on shouting, "Daddddddddddddddddddddddddddyyyyyyyyyyyy!" The fun didn't stop there. He ran laps around the childrens clothes. Give him a corrugate box or a place to run laps and he's never bored.

After all was said and done, we headed home. As we drove past the Mulholland Fountain at Griffith Park, he said, "Wow, that's cool." At least, that's what it sounded like. We also did go to our fountain for fun laps around the fountain. We bought him a "cookie" and I got a "pure vanilla" blended non-coffee beverage from the coffee cart. Guess who drank most of it? It wasn't me. It was our John.

The Bellagio Fountain

As readers know, our John loves fountains. He's amazed by everything about the fountains. I think we have spoiled him and he thinks that every fountain plays music and has lights. I suppose that we'll have to take him to Las Vegas some day so he can see his favorite fountain in front of the Bellagio. As you can see from the first video, he's just enthralled. At certain points, he'll even start to sing. He appreciates it so much, he applauds. He's such a good boy.

Sorry for the Delay

We'll have videos and tales of our exploits which include:

The St. Ferdinand's Fiesta

Dancing

Shopping at The Americana on Brand

The Dancing Waters at The Bellagio (no, we didn't go, but you'll just have to wait and see)