Decker

Hi everyone! Guess what? Last week I turned 3 (’bee’) years old! Yup, I’m officially a big kid and I had a lot of fun celebrating my birthday with lots of family! It was a party that lasted a whole week!

First, my mommy and daddy hosted a bbq at our house. It was a joint birthday party with Uncle Eric and Aunt Amanda, and the house sure got full! Grandma Chris, Grandpa Rick, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Wednesday, my cousin Lee and Uncle Jason all came over. I played in the kiddie pool outside for a long time, and Lee and I played with trains and cars on the floor while the grownups all talked about boring stuff. But I got to eat lots of yummy blueberries, and Mommy made special chocolate cupcakes to put candles in when we sang “Happy Birthday” - and she made one just for me, with no frosting! (I’m not so big on frosting, or as I like to call it, ‘the white stuff’ - but I sure love chocolate cake!). Then we all opened presents - I wasn’t quite sure when it was my turn, because Eric and Amanda were opening presents too, but Daddy and Mommy helped me tear the paper off some boxes, so I’m pretty sure they were for me. I was kinda jealous of one video that Eric got, because it was about grapes (Mommy called it the “Grapes of Wrath”), but I got some neat videos of my own, so that was ok. Maybe he’ll let me watch it someday! My birthday party theme this year was “Cars” (which is one of my favorite movies ever!), and Mommy put up a poster of Mater on the wall that said “Happy Birthday, Decker!”. I really liked it!

Then, the next morning Daddy, Mommy and I all piled into the car and drove up to GQ and Papa Tim’s new house in Loomis. It’s right next to where the old house was, but this one is new and really big! I got to be the first grandkid to spend a night in the ‘kids’ room’, and GQ let me pick which bed I wanted to sleep in. (I picked the one closest to the door, so Mommy and Daddy could see me from their room across the hall and wouldn’t get scared at night - aren’t I nice?). It was a fun visit - GQ’s house has these circles in the ceiling, and music comes out of them! At first, I didn’t believe my daddy when he said there wasn’t a real band playing, but he promised me the sound came out of the circles, so it must be true! We also got to visit with two nice kids around my age, named Tildnn and Escher. They were really friendly and brought me some cool birthday presents, and we all played nicely together while our parents all talked about more boring stuff. Then Daddy and Papa Tim and I got to drive these little boats all around the pond by their house - it was Papa Tim’s birthday too, so we had shared our present-opening time together, and he got toy boats, so we all got to play with them!

The next morning, we drove home and I was exhausted! (I think Mommy and Daddy were, too). So it was a good thing we had a day off to recharge our batteries, because the next day was….my REAL birthday! Woo Hoo! Now I was officially, truly, 100% 3 years old! Mommy let me watch my favorite videos that morning, and she must have had allergies or something because she kept looking at me and then would dab at her eyes and laugh (Mommy is so strange!). That night, Pammy, Cappy, Katil and Tully all came over for dinner and my birthday party. We got to have Chinese food (yay! lots and lots of noodles for Decker), and there were more presents for me to open - and THIS time it was only me opening presents! Yeah! I got some neat stuff, but among the biggest hits I have to mention:

Daddy built me a toy box of my very own! It’s really cool and it’s big enough for me to climb in, so that is the very first thing I did! I hopped right inside, asked Daddy to close the lid, and then called out “Where’s Decker?”, and then would push the lid open and yell out “Oh, here I am!”. Good times! Right now the box is grey (Daddy called it “primer”), but Daddy said he would let me help him paint it whatever color I want. I told him I wanted to paint it RED, with a CHiCKEN! So we’re going to - isn’t that awesome?. Daddy’s so cool.

Past readers of my adventures will remember that I am passionate about brooms and vacuums - they thrill me to no end, and I beg to play with them all the time. Well, guess what? I got my very own Decker-sized broom and vaccum to play with all on my own!!!!!!! Yup, Pammy and Cappy surprised me with a broom, and I got so psyched about it that I grabbed the broom, jumped up and ran across the room, and started dancing with the broom and jumping up and down, giggling hysterically. The grownups said something about my trying out for “Stomp” someday? So fun! And then, Katil and Tully surprised me with a vacuum, and it looks just like a real vacuum, with attachments and everything! I immediately hugged it tight and then pushed it around the room - it was super neat!

Then it was time for cake, and I made sure everyone wore their party hats. Then I parked the vacuum on the seat next to me, and after we sang and I danced in my chair and we blew out the candles, I kept talking to the vacuum and telling it all about my party and saying hi to it - I had made a new friend! I wanted the vacuum to come to bed with me, but Mommy and Daddy said it would be happier sleeping downstairs, so I tucked it behind the curtain and said “night night!”.

Birthdays are really great - I can’t wait to turn 4! (But Mommy says please not to rush, so I guess I can wait a little while…)

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so fun! You all were very nice and thoughtful!

I have recently noticed that my mommy’s tummy has gotten really big! It’s harder to sit on her lap (although I still do), and sometimes if I bump it accidentally she goes “ow!” and then I kiss it all better. Katil said Mommy must have eaten a watermelon - I believe it!

On a side note, Mommy and Daddy have said that a baby brother is coming to our house. I got really excited and told them that I want to show the baby brother my room, and I want to show him the silly monkey on Sesame Street, and I want to read him my book about ‘Monkeys Drum, Monkeys Hum’. They got me all jazzed about this baby brother coming, but then they told me he won’t be here for a long time! Jeez, Mommy and Daddy! Get me all psyched and then tell me I gotta wait!

It still sounds like fun though. Plus, I get to be the big brother. Mommy is the big sister, and Daddy is the big brother, so that must mean something good! I’ll keep you posted on when this baby brother finally arrives!

Editor’s note: When we first asked Decker if he would like a baby brother, he told us ‘No, not today!’, so his mom and dad are very happy about the change of heart! Now we just have to explain to a frustrated preschooler why we have to wait for the new kid to get here! - frith

Saturday was Katil’s birthday, and that morning Mommy went over for breakfast at Katil’s place while Daddy took me for a haircut. I can brag once again that I was very brave, and the nice lady did a good job and didn’t snip my ears even once! Afterwards, we went to Katil’s place too, and Daddy got to eat some pancakes and I got to eat chocolate bear cookies!

That afternoon, Mommy and I went with Katil, Tully, Pammy and Cappy to the beach! It was really fun! We spread some towels out on the sand, and then Katil and Pammy went down to the water and let me come with them. They asked me if I wanted to dip my toes - at first I was sort of unsure, but then I tried it and the water was really warm and it was neat! So we played there for a long time, and then Cappy came along and was wearing just a swimsuit (I’ve never seen Cappy in shorts before!) and he dove right in the water and swam out for a long ways! Then he came back, and he sat in the water near the edge, and Tully would hold my hand and walk up to him so I could give him a high five before I turned around and went back to the sand - a great game! I liked the water a lot - it didn’t matter that I had on my clothes still, I kept walking right on in (up to my tummy!), high fiving Cappy, and then turning around. I didnt’ want to ever get out, but Mommy eventually said I had to because I was starting to shiver, which meant I was cold. Cold, schmold, Mommy! I’m a polar bear like my dad! So we all got out and ate some grapes and got warm. Then Pammy took me for a walk to find a stick (I do love my sticks). Then Katil took me back in the water for a while, and we had a good time. Then these people came along with GIANT kites, and it was time to pack up and go home (or we might have gotten hit by a kite!)

That night we got to have a yummy dinner (lots and lots of fruit!), and we sang Happy Birthday to Katil, and then I went to bed (it was a long day!). I can’t wait to go to the beach again!

Hi everyone! Wow, it’s been almost a month since I last posted - I’ve been up to lots of stuff, so I have lots to tell you about!

In late July, I went with my mommy, Katil, Tully, and Cappy to Utah. I really like Utah - I’ve been there before, and I could remember it was lots of fun, so for about a week before we left, I kept chanting “I want to go to Oooh-tah!” to my folks, so they would get the message that I was psyched. (And I didnt’ want them to forget we were going!). Daddy stayed home, and painted the walls in our stairwell/hallway. He asked me what color I wanted him to paint the walls, and I told him “Red! with a chicken!”, but when we came back he and Mommy had gone ahead with blue and green. (Whatever - they asked my opinion, and then went with something boring!). Anyway, we flew on this really cool airplane, and since I am a seasoned traveler, I was a really good boy and sat quietly and read the newspaper they always put in the back of the seat of front of you - it’s neat, because it’s mostly pictures of people doing silly things like going down slides and taking naps in their chairs and wearing yellow masks on their faces…you know, fun stuff to look at! Then I read lots of books and drank my juice. I wore my seatbelt the whole time, because Cappy said the captain (the person who turns on the plane) wanted us to wear them. I saw lots of neat stuff out the window too! Near the end of the flight, I got to go across the aisle to Katil and Tully, and they turned my yellow blanket into a cape and I got to pretend to be SuperDecker! Cool!

Pammy had flown to Utah the day before, so she was there at the red house to meet us. Then I got to stay up and play with my toys before I went to bed! The next few days are a blur, because we did lots of stuff and saw lots of people, but here are some highlights:

* I sleep in my very own room, in my very own big boy bed. There’s a big picture of my mommy when she was a little girl, and sometimes I like and sometimes it’s scary. Mostly it’s nice. I call it the ‘picture of Mommy dressed like girl”.

* We visited with lots and lots of grownups, and a couple of big kids like me. We saw Uncle Lance (Cappy’s little brother) and Uncle Richard (Cappy’s big brother). Uncle Lance still looks a lot like Cappy to me, but I don’t get them confused anymore, especially when they’re together in the same room! We also saw my mommy’s cousins, who are really nice. One of them has two big boys like me, named Oscar and Zeke, and little girl named Maizy. I got to play with them outside - we had a big blow up pool and my fire truck and it was fun. We also saw Lizzie, who is Pammy’s cousin, and she has a dog named Ruddy who was very nice and I got to pet him on the nose and tummy. We also saw Margaret and I got to show her my room! And the neighbor is named Sandy and she is really friendly to me, and brought me my very own big boy chair that is just my size! Mommy said it was an ‘antique’, but it looked just like a chair to me! I sat in it quite proudly!

* While we were there, Cappy did lots of work on the pool called a hot tub. Tully mixed up cement for him, just like Dizzy on Bob the Builder! Cappy also got really muddy working on fixing the sprinklers. Pammy and Tully worked on the sprinklers too - sprinklers must be a lot of work! Then these men came who looked just like Bob the Builder, and they cut some branches off the willow tree and went up really high in a crane just like Lofty! They were kind of scary but very interesting if you watched them safely through the kitchen screen door!

* There was a really big storm one morning - Mommy said she thought it was a tornado, but the man on the tv said it was just a ’supercell’ (like a phone?). Anyway, the sky turned green/yellow/black, and the winds were super strong, and it rained and hailed and at one point Mommy made me go down in the basement to play. When it was over, lots of people’s trees had blown over, and later on we drove around to look at all the trees. All the grownups kept saying “Wow!”, so it must have been impressive to them. Just looked like knocked over trees to me! (You never know what’s gonna please a grownup!).

* We got to have chow mein noodles twice!

* We went shopping a LOT - but Pammy bought me some new red cars to play with! They are so cool!

* Cappy taught me a neat new game called “Smack”! Basically, you let each of the cars roll down the ramp of the toy garage, and then when they reach the bottom and bump into each other, you yell “Smack!” Good times!

* The garage at the red house in Utah has a big lawn mower, and a really cute red vacuum. Only grownups can touch them, but Pammy and Mommy would go out to the garage with me a lot so I could look at them for a long time. (One of my favorite things to do there!)

* Just like Cappy has his own mountain in Yosemite (Cappy Mountain), Pammy has her own mountains in Utah! Right in the yard, you can see all these great big mountains, and those are called the “Pammy Mountains”! I liked looking at them a lot, too.

When we flew home, I was a really good boy once again and didn’t cry or fuss once! I read my books, stayed in my seat, and fell asleep. Apparently all the other kids on the flight cried and screamed, but I couldn’t hear them. Mommy said she was very proud of me!