It was a busy Fall.

First there was Halloween.  I was an engineer and went trick-or-treating for the first time.  No pictures of that, but here I am at the pumpkin patch.

I played with trains a lot.

We went on vacation for Thanksgiving.  I got to climb on a train.

And then I got to check out a bunch of heavy equipment.

And pretend to drive one, too.

We went hiking in the redwoods.  That little speck is me.

I got a turkey leg at Thanksgiving dinner.

Then they let me decorate the tree in the city of Sonoma's main square.

I visited Santa and told him I wanted a jet.  I got that and a lot more.

People, I am Two!  I have been Two! for almost three months now.  I have been wanting to show you these photos from my birthday, but I am still not allowed to use the computer.

We didn't have a big party, but that's okay, I got two have two cakes.

A train made of ice cream:



Yummy.



The second one was chocolate:



All gone:




So, what do two-year-olds do?

Farm on a large scale:



Farm on a small scale:



Go to the beach:



Inspect Fire Engines:




Race Cars:



Make Friends:



Feed Goats:



And of course, Feed Giraffes:

Hey kids, I have discovered something invaluable.  I always wondered how my parents knew I was up to something naughty.  Turns out that being quiet actually draws attention.  The key is to keep making noises, especially happy noises. Parents like that.

For instance, I was able to dump out and eat handfuls of Ovaltine on Wednesday when Mom was busy paying bills.  She was tricked by the laughing and banging noises.

Yesterday was even better.  It was my parents' anniversary so they were really susceptible to my subtrefuge.  They were sitting at the dining room table enjoying coffee and the paper.  I snuck into the "child-proof" lazy susan and pulled out the flour canister.

I dumped it on the bedroom floor.  Most of it went on the antique Oriental rug.  Some into the digital scale.  More into the air filter in my room.

Then I put some on the bed.

Notice my tracks.  They sure took their time drinking coffee.  I even ran out there once with a paper shopping bag containing handfuls of flour over my shoulder.  Mom commented on how cute I was.

She finally figured it out when I came out this last time.  I wonder why?

I've been busy as usual.  Learning to talk.  One of my first words was "brick".  "Cutting" is a favorite, too.

We've been swimming:



Going to the park:



Where did the squirrels go?



Here they are.



Spending more time at the zoo:



We took a trip into the redwoods.  Literally, in the redwoods:



Ran around the place Mom & Dad got married:



I rode a horse for the first time.  Too bad mom's memory card was full.  Trust me, I was smiling.



What else?  Hmm, spending some time at the beach.  It's a good place for clowning.



And people watching:



All this activity and fresh air has worn me out.  Bye!

Please humor my mother and watch this video of me saying my name, the name of my favorite engine, and other things.  Silly parents.  They've been waiting for me to say "ball" or "dog", but I've been saying "thank you" for months, and they just didn't realize it.  "Brick" and "garage door" are other favorites.  I also say some other phrases they are just not smart enough to figure out. 

Easter was a lot of fun.  There are more pictures here.

Apple

Have you seen those ads for boating where everyone waves?

Well I say why stop there?  When I'm out riding my trike...

...I wave at the streetcar.  Here it comes:

Sometimes the driver rings the bell at me.

And there it goes!  See you.

We went to the waterfront the other day.



We saw the ships and boats at the National Maritime Museum's Hyde Street Pier.



A huge cat lives there.



Next, we hung out at the "World Famous" Cable Car turnaround.



I had to have a snack after all that.  It gets tiring pretending to be a tourist.

When I was born I looked just like my Dad.  Now, more and more people say I look just like Mom.  She says it's the brown eyes.  I think it's cheesy smile.

Do we look alike? You be the judge:

Me:

Me again (Wait a minute. We used a similar photo here to show the I look like Dad. Hmm.):

Mom at about two years:

At any rate we both like barnyard animals.

Daddy dressed me and took me on the train out to the beach yesterday.  He stopped for a cup of coffee on the way, the cup became a good tool later.




Sand!!




Wide open space, must run!




Mmm...wet sand.




Let me rinse my hands in this water.




Time to go home.  Bye ocean.