Decker

Hi all!

Sunday was Pammy’s birthday, and to celebrate we got in the car and drove really really really far away to this place called Half Moon Bay. It was nice weather, and there was really cool stuff to see and do! We went to a store where they sold hay and alfafa for horses to eat, and inside the store there were a bunch of cages with little fuzzy bunny rabbits in them! I waved and waved to them, but they mostly just slept. There were some baby chicks there too, but they aren’t as interesting to look at as bunny rabbits. Then we walked around a lot and I rode on Cappy’s shoulders and we saw a bluegrass band in the plaza and I kept the beat by patting my tummy. Lastly we went to the beach! The last time I went to a beach was on my first birthday, so I didn’t really remember what to expect, but it was super cool! There’s a ton of sand to play with and dig with your shovel. And you can get grownups to take you down the water, and they don’t watch their feet and then their legs get all wet and everyone goes “EEEEEE! Oh nooooooo!”. Best of all, there was a big hole in the sand, big enough for me to climb into and sit in, and Katil and Tully hung out with me while I climbed in and out of the hole about 8 billion times! I got about half of the sand from the beach in my pants, and when we left my mommy had to strip me down in the parking lot and I got to run free and naked for about 2 minutes or so, but they cornered me and made me put some clothes on after that. Bummer.

Today I learned how to sign “shoes“ and “glasses“. (Helpful when putting together a Mr Potato Head).

Rave of the week: “Bob the Builder” - can’t get enough of that man and his machines. Yee haw!

Hi everyone!

Boy oh boy did I have a fun adventure last night! My mom and dad took me to this park over in Concord, where we met up with Cappy, Katil and Tully. There were lots of other moms and dads and kids there too, and everyone was sitting on blankets on the grass, eating their dinners. At the front of the park was this big structure that looked like a house with no walls, and there were lots of dressed up people sitting inside it with instruments. Now, I wasn’t so interested in sitting still to eat - that’s boring! So I was getting antsy and tried repeatedly to make my escape and go wandering to somewhere more exciting - but then…the dressed up people started playing really cool music! My mom said the people playing were called the “California Symphony”, but all I know is that they had big drums and the songs were really loud and cool - and they even played “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”!. I basically sat transfixed on whosever lap I happened to rotate to, and kept trying to strain to see the stage so I could watch where the music was coming from. After something called the Intermission, the dressed up people played something called the “Armed Forces Medley”, which had a lot of drums and trumpets and stuff, and I really got caught up in the beat and started keeping time on my bouncy ball (which I had been hugging in my lap like a little pillow/chin rest). It was great! I really like live music! I can’t wait to do it again, especially if I can go hear this “1812 Symphony” my mom keeps raving about - apparently it includes cannons!

Other new stuff:

I launch myself down the slide on my own now! And I’ll climb through the tunnel in playgroup!

I can sign “more”, and can sign sentences like “Decker wants…(and then point to the thing I want)”.

My new playgroup is cool!

I love love love to brush my teeth, and will sign all through my bath for my mommy to put more toothpaste on my toothbrush so I can keep brushing! Oral hygiene is important!

Hey everyone!

Decker J here, to let you in on the latest dance craze that’s sweeping the nation! It’s called “The Decker” - here’s a quick step-by-step tutorial for you all, so you can be hip in all the happenin’ disco clubs!:

1. Play some music. Any music will do - it can be the theme song from a Kaiser Permanente commercial to the melodies that accompany your Little People playground playset. 2. Straddle your legs wide apart, like you’re riding a horse. 3. Stomp and sway back and forth on each foot. 4. Grin really widely and look to make sure your parents are watching you.

And there you go! I guarantee it’s a crowd-pleaser! Have fun!

* For added enjoyment - grab one of your toys, and have them bounce up and down and dance with you on the table or floor! I’m telling you, Big Bird has the beat!

Hi everyone! Frith here - Decker’s mommy! Decker’s letting me commandeer his blog entry for this go-round, because he’s just that kind of kid. Anyway, I realize in looking at the title of this post that it may sound as if the topic is going to be in regards to Decker’s pants - as funny as that would be, it is actually not the subject (this time!).

Actually, ‘mini-explosions’ is what Sean and I have come to call the little achievements that Decker makes every day towards becoming not just a verbal person, but a person in general! (As in, wow, he really is a little guy with real preferences, opinions, desires, sense of humor, etc). Anyway - it’s fun to celebrate these ‘mini-explosions’ with Decker, and he had a couple today that blew me away and I had to share with whoever reads this, because I am an exceedingly proud mommy and am feeling fit to burst! So….read ahead - you’ve been warned!

First of all, I have to say I am very glad that my mom and Sean were here to witness these events, so they can attest that I am not exxagerating when I  describe Decker’s doings!

Mini-Explosion #1: Decker and my mom and I were hanging out in Decker’s room this evening, and Decker was having fun pulling out all his books (as he loves to do) and flipping through them and showing them to Pammy. At one point he pulled out one of his older and favorite books, “Pajama Time!”. It’s a Boynton book that has a poem about animals putting on their pj’s, and the final page goes “Hop into bed. Turn out the lights. You can have a party in your dreams tonight. It’s pajama time! (hush hush). It’s pajama time! (hush hush). it’s pajama time! (shhhhhh….good night! sleep tight!). So Decker opens up this book and proceeds to ‘read’ to Pammy (turning the pages and making sounds like he is reading the book to her), and then he gets to the last page and busts out with putting his finger to his mouth and going “ssssss”, and then putting his hands together under his head and then laying down like he’s going to sleep!!!!Mom and I were floored! We told Decker “Good job! Good job!”, but we didn’t want to scare him so we kept semi-composed but we kept looking at each other like OHMYGOSH THAT WAS HUGE. Decker then read the whole book to us again, and did the same thing at the end again! So I know we didn’t imagine it!

Mini-Explosion #2: Sean came upstairs to join us, and Decker was playing around with his quilt that Trudi (GQ) made him for his birthday. It’s really cool - it’s an activity quilt (buttons to button, zippers to zip, etc) and the border features little balloons of material, and every other one contains a little button that will make a sound or play a song if you press it. Decker loves pushing the puffy buttons, and his faves include the one that plays “Take me out to the ball game” and the one that says “I love you! I love you!”. So the grown-ups are chatting, and Decker is playing, and he hits “Take me out to the ball game” and starts his little stomp stomp dance, and then grabs his stuffed cat and has it dance too! Then (here’s where Sean and I both went “Yessss!” - pump fists in air) he hit the “I love you!” button, and grabbed his middle and swayed back and forth, which is the motion he does for “Wheels on the Bus” (the verse where it says
”The mommies on the bus say I love you/I love you/I love you”. He has never done that motion outside of the context of singing the “Wheels on the Bus” song, and never without prompting from us! It was SO awesome to see him make those connections - and each little connection will lead to another little connection…it was a very rewarding and exciting day.

Yay for baby sign language, for books and reading, for dancing toddlers, and yay for all the little things that feel so big! Decker will be back for the next post - but thanks for reading the bragging rants of a euphoric mother!