2 1/2 Years!

Hello everyone...hope you didn't forget about my blog! 

Can you believe it, I am 2 1/2 years old and growing bigger, stronger and smarter everyday. 

Since my last blog post, my busy world has been filled with so much excitement and new adventures, where do I start? Well, let me take you month by month...

June

We celebrated Father's Day by taking my dad out for breakfast at one of his favorite places and spending the day doing all the activities that he enjoys. (It's a good thing he likes ice cream as much as I do!)

We hit up a few festivals and took advantage of the beautiful MN weather as much as possible. The best part of festivals....the music! As you know, I do enjoy my music, and any chance to show off my dance moves is always a plus! I was lucky enough to go on stage and show everyone just how great of a dancer I was...watch the video, I think you will agree with me! 

July

What would the 4th of July be without being on a boat...with snacks! We enjoyed a wonderful day on the water and did some fishing as well as swimming. I tried to stay awake for the fireworks, but after a full day outside, I was wiped out! 

My cousin Dominic graduated from Basic Training for the Army! My Auntie Kim and Uncle Kevin (his parents) flew in for the graduation and I was able to see them at the airport and spend time with them again! I have grown so much since they last saw me in person, but I remembered them because I see them on FaceTime a lot! Lucky for me, I will be seeing them again at Christmas time, and I can't wait!

August

On of my favorite places to go is the MN Children's Museum, and since August was filled with a lot of rainy days, we spent a lot of time there.  I enjoy running through the ant holes, playing in the forest, playing the piano and of course my ultimate favorite, playing at the water stations! 

Have you ever wondered what grandparents do when they are left unsupervised with their grandchild? Well, my parents sure learned what happens...Grandpa buys a drum set and sets it up! Yep, that is right, I am one spoiled little boy and have my very own drum set to play with! (I find that playing them as loud as possible works the best!)

September

It is with a sad heart that I say September didn't start out the best for us. After 12 1/2 years, our dog Java passed away to a better place. She was getting old and was failing so my mom and dad decided that it was time for her to be without pain anymore. She was a great dog, and would never leave my side. Just like she has done since my first day home, I know she is still watching over me. I love you Java!

Excuse me, do I have something on my face? I waited until my mom looked away to write something on her grocery list to take advantage of some freedom and painted my face with yogurt. As you can tell, I did a great job and managed to get it all over. I was too quiet when doing it, and my mom knew right away something was up...but seeing how much fun I was having she let me continue to have fun until it was all gone, and then I ended up getting to take a bath....a bubble bath! (I call this a win-win on my end!)

October

Choo Choo...All aboard! I am obsessed with trains, so much so that sometimes that is all I talk about. So, we decided for family day we would go on a real train ride! It was the perfect day, the fall leaves were in full color and the weather was perfect! We hopped onto the train for a full hour long train ride, and the conductor even let me try out his train whistle!

Speaking of train whistles, I enjoyed it so much on the train that I got one of my very own! Check out the video, as you can see I was super excited to try it out! (Since the video, I have mastered how to use it and boy do I like to use it...especially early in the mornings!!)

Halloween was so much fun this year...I got all dressed up as Thomas the Train (I know, a train...who would have guessed!) and got to go Trick-or-Treating for the first time, and I loved it! I didn't really understand it though, as my neighbors would give me candy and I would put it back in their bowl and say "No Thanks". I only went to 5 hours, and that was more than enough candy to last me a while! 

November

The weather has turned cold, which means we get to hang out inside and watch football! I always make sure to have the best seat in the house, and it just so happens that my favorite spot is stilling on my mom! 

If you didn't know, I am a natural chef. I enjoy helping my mom and dad in the kitchen as much as possible! When they are not cooking, I keep up with my chef training and practice on my own. As you can see, I am a "master in the kitchen" and I always make sure to wear my chef's hat so I fit the part!

December

It's that time of the year...time for me to start picking out what I want from the big guy in the red suit! I received the Toys R Us catalog in the mail and I made sure to pick out all of the toys I wanted. I have been a very good boy this year, so I think that I made Santa's nice list for sure!

With the holiday season approaching, the visitors have started coming! My Uncle Josh flew in from Colorado to spend a long weekend with us, and any time I can get with him, I will take! He is so funny and always makes me laugh! Luckily for me, he will be back at Christmas, so I will get to spend a little more time with him!

My cousin Jessica arrived from Australia and my mom and I surprised her at her gate during her layover here in Minneapolis! She was so surprised that we were there, she screamed in excitement! I had a fun little sign I was holding for her to read when she walked off the plane too!

She is here for a whole month, and I can't wait to spend as much time with her as I can.

What is the holiday season without toys, toys and more toys! I have been such good boy, that I got my christmas gift early! (I got it early because my dad couldn't wait to give it to me...he is such a kid at heart, no wonder my mom loves him so much!)

You guessed it....something to do with trains! My very own TRAIN SET! 

"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"...Right now my favorite movie is the original "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"! Some kids can't wait to see Santa at Christmas time, but me, well I wanted nothing to do with the big guy, and wanted only the Grinch, so I got what I wanted and I was so excited!

I hope you enjoyed my recap of things going on! Until next year....Merry Christmas to you and may you enjoy the blessings of the season and have a happy New Year!

Love,
Donovan

2 Years Old!

Hello everyone! So sorry for the late entry, as it has been a crazy few days leading up to me turning the big 2. I was sick with a cold and required lots of cuddle time, which means it was hard to get in front of the computer. But, I am feeling back to my old self now, so onto my latest entry....
In keeping with tradition, here are my top 10 things I enjoy doing now that I am officially a toddler:
(Drum roll please...)
Turning 2: Top Ten
1. Dancing...I love to dance whenever I hear music, but sometimes I just like to dance in the kitchen simply because it is fun! Watch out everyone because I have some pretty sweet dance moves I am working on!

2. Reading...I love to read books and have them read to me as well! Sometimes I just pick up a magazine and read it for a good 5 minutes, but most of the time, I can be found reading my favorite book that I have to read every night before I go to bed. (Yes, every night!)

3. Playing...I love going to the park to play on the slides and swing. I can't get enough of the park and we usually stay until I am so tired out that I am about to fall asleep! I have no fear and want to swing as high as I can, and want to go on all the "big kid" slides too.

 4. Zoo...I love it when we head to the zoo, because that means I get to see all of the animals! Everyone can hear me saying "LOOK" really loud when I discover a new animal at the zoo.  On our last two trips, the sea lion and the turtle were my favorite, although I still really love the monkeys and the lions!

5. Playhouse...I got an early birthday gift from my Auntie Joy and Uncle Shawn, as they couldn't wait to give my my gift. They got me a playhouse for my yard!! (Yes, they spoil me just a little bit!!)
I love playing inside of it and when my mom and dad try to come in, I tell them no. (Does my dad really think he would even fit inside?)

6. Dominic...Now that my cousin Dominic is back in the United States, I am super excited because I have grown attached to him. He is a pretty cool guy to hang out with and is always making me laugh! He even let me help him catch the first fish of the season this year at the lake. I got to help him reel it in, and he let me touch it before we let the fish go back into the water. (It was slimy!)

7. Coloring...I love to color now, and ask to do it every day when I get home from daycare. Lately I have been coloring pictures and cards to send to my best buddy, Dominic because he left for basic training for the Army National Guard and I promised him I would send him cards and letters every week. He is scheduled to come home at the beginning of August, so I have a lot of coloring to do for him, and because of that I am learning my colors now!

8. Hiding...I love to hide and have my mom and dad find me! One of my favorite places to hide is in the kitchen (my go to spot). For some reason they always find me though, maybe I shouldn't be yelling "here I am".

9. Swimming...I am a little fish! I love swimming in my pool in the back yard and could stay in it for hours and hours. Sometimes I splash so much water that my mom and dad need to fill it back up, but they don't mind. I think everyone in our neighborhood knows when I am in my pool, because I like to yell and scream with excitement the whole time I am in there.

10. Birthday Cake...Well, for my second birthday I realized I have a love for cake! My mom did a Sesame Street theme this year, because that is my favorite show, or as I call it "Sessy".
We had bubbles to blow, calk to make make pictures with, the pool to swim in, Sesame Street themed snacks and the best part....CAKE! My Auntie Joy (the cake master) outdid herself again this year by making me an amazing cake all from scratch. (No box mix cake for her!) Since the theme of the party was Sesame Street, and my two favorite characters are Elmo and Cookie Monster, she made the cake to match the party, and boy was hit a hit with all of my friends and family! As you can see, I enjoyed it very much!

Well, that is my Turning 2: Top Ten list! I hope you all enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed getting to experience it all! I truly am a lucky boy, and so are my mom and dad!

Stay tuned....I hear that I get to start this thing called Potty Training soon. (Not sure what that is, but it sounds rather complicated.)
Until next time...
Donovan

21 months!

Since my last blog at the beginning of December a lot has been going on in such a short amount of time! I have been on many adventures, outings and am learning new things daily!

I ended up getting to celebrate Christmas 3 times, so as you can imagine each one was exciting and I of course was spoiled to no end!

Christmas #1: Frequent Flyer Once Again - NC Bound!

Once again I got to fly the friendly skies...this time my destination was North Carolina! We went around Christmas so we could spend time with my Grandma and Grandpa (my dad's parents) that live there. My Auntie Joy and Uncle Shawn joined my mom, dad and I on the trip and once again I did great on the flight there and took a nice little snooze while we flew high above the clouds to our destination!

From the moment we arrived at my Grandma and Grandpa's house I was non-stop spoiled! My Grandpa always made sure I had a cookie in my hand at all times, and my Grandma had so many toys and books for me to play with it was crazy! She even introduced me to my mom's favorite Christmas show..."The Christmas Story"! Yes, there is a picture of it...because my mom loves that show!

My Grandpa thought that I needed something besides the play kitchen my mom got me, so he decided to one-up her and got me a Black and Decker work bench! (I am not sure who enjoyed it more...Grandpa or me!) 

 

Zoo Time...NC Style!

We decided to take advantage of the warm(er) weather and spend some time outdoors...what better activity then going to the Zoo! It was a beautiful day compared to the weather back home, so we enjoyed a full day outing of seeing the Lions, Tigers and Bears...Oh My...but my favorite thing was the polar bears and the gorillas!

 

Christmas Time #2: Home for the Holidays!

On Christmas Eve dad had to work for part of the day, so mom and I went and surprised him at his office. We brought him lunch and I got to run around and say hi to everyone in his office! Once he got off of work, we hung out at home and had to watch "The Christmas Story" again...because of course that is my mom's favorite show. Dad isn't a fan, but puts up with it once a year...for the full 24 hours it is shown on TV! Yes, my mom likes to have it on for the full 24 hours...it doesn't matter if we are watching or not, she has to have it on! After the 10th time hearing "You'll shoot your eye out" my dad was about done while my mom just smiled and was happy!

On Christmas Eve we kept up with our family tradition and opened up one gift that night...our Christmas PJ's! Mine were extra special because my Auntie Joy picked them out especially for me to wear!

The next morning was Christmas Day and Santa was very good to me! Here I am with my dad's help opening up my stocking.

Once the Santa gifts were looked through, my Auntie Joy and Uncle Shawn came over for brunch and we opened up gifts! After that we spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing! While opening up presents I had to hold and hug each and every one of them!

 

 

Christmas Time #3: Australia or Bust!

The third and final Christmas was a little later than usual because my Grandma and Grandpa (my mom's parents) had just returned home from being in Australia for the close to three months. My cousin, Dominic flew home with them as he is now attending college in ND, so I get to see a lot more of him now, and of course help with with fixing things at Grandma and Grandma's house!!

 

 

Enjoying the fun things!!

Our winter wasn't a bad one this year, and when we finally got snow we took full advantage of it and put my sled that Santa brought me to good use!

I enjoy being outside and playing in the snow, so we made sure to get out and have as much fun as we could this past winter!

 

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While some days were down right cold here, we didn't let that stop us from having fun!

We we went to the indoor rugby games:

 

Played at the indoor playground:

 Played with toys at home too:

 

I even got my first baseball lesson for my soon to be coach (my neighbor, Jim!):

 

 

For Valentine's Day we got up early and went to the famous doughnuts place for breakfast...it was packed, so we took our goodies to go. Oh boy, did I enjoy them!! It is a very rare treat to get a doughnut for breakfast so we all enjoyed the special treat!!

And, what is more fun then simply hanging out with my family and making funny faces for the camera  with daddy (and borrowing mommy's scarf??) ha!!

 

Until next time...have a great St. Patty's Day tomorrow! (We are having corn beef!! Yummy!!)

Donovan