Decker

Hi everyone! Well, this whole week at school we have been talking about St. Patrick’s Day - that’s a day when everyone wears green, and there are plants called shamrocks that grow in the grass, and if you see a Leprechaun named Lucky and can catch him, then he will give you his pot of gold! Leprechauns have pointy ears, and we got to make our own leprechaun headbands, and I wore mine proudly all day today! I can sing songs about leprechauns, and we even made a green snack at cooking today! Cool, huh? Mommy and Daddy say that even though my last name, O’Steen, isn’t really Irish, that we can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day anyway. So hopefully we will find a leprechaun and he will lead us to his pot of gold coins! (Mmmm…especially if they are CHOCOLATE gold coins!)

On a side note -  I have decided that I am going to start trying bites of new foods, because my mom and dad and Sesame Street and my teacher all told me that’s a good thing to do. SO - prepare to be amazed, those who know me and my eating habits well - I have now eaten CHICKEN! And PEANUT BUTTER! And EGGS! And LITTLE SMOKIES! I know, I know - fruit and veggies are still the tastiest things in the world (oh, and pancakes), but hey I figured it would be a good idea to widen my horizons. And it’s been fun! Yum!

Sutter now lives in my room! (I guess it’s ‘our’ room). And even though he cries at night sometimes, it’s been lots of fun - I really like being a big brother. I take very good care of him, and I can make him laugh like no one else. Siblings are cool - I’m pretty happy that my mom and dad got one for me!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Boy I sure hope daddy’s trust in Wikipedia got that title right! Congratulations and be prosperous! I went to the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco last night, and I got to see lions and dragons and lots of pretty cultrural icons. Plus I saw a lot of pigs! It was live! It was loud! It was fun! Here are a couple of photos of me.

Hi everyone! Last night I was all snug and cozy in my bed, when all of sudden I woke up because our house was shaking! My duck toy fell off my shelf, and I got kinda scared. Mommy came upstairs and told me I could bring my pillow down and lay on the couch with her and Sutter and go to sleep there with them. She seemed a little rattled too - she told me that the house shakes when we have something called an earthquake. She said it’s ok to be startled, but that it was over now and it was safe. Daddy was in Palo Alto for a meeting that night, so I don’t know if he felt the house shake or not. But it sure got my attention! Mommy called Cappy, and he said they felt it at their house too. Then on the tv, it said the earthquake happened pretty much right by our house - that’s why my duck fell off the shelf! When Daddy came home, he carried me upstairs to bed and I went right to sleep. We didn’t feel any more shakes that night, and I’m glad! (I think Mommy is too).

Hi everyone! Wow - it’s been over two months since I checked in here on my blog, so let’s catch up!

I’m still really digging preschool - we learn about new stuff all the time, we get to do cool arts and crafts, and sing lots of neat songs, which I then like to come home and sing to my family. At school we’ve been learning about penguins, Valentine’s Day, rain, mud and rainbows! I have friends there I like to play with, and my teachers are super nice. I get stickers and hand stamps when I’m there, and then my mom and Sutter always come to pick me up!

I hit a pretty big milestone last week when I had my very first trip to the dentist! I wasn’t sure I wanted to go at first, but my folks got me a book about going the dentist, and I thought it was neat. And you know what? Even though I was nervous, going to the dentist was actually kinda cool! When you first get to the dentist’s office, you wait in this room that has lots of toys and books. Mom and I read a few books while we waited, and Sutter just hung out with us and mostly slept in my mom’s arms. Then, I met the dental nurse and she let me pick out my very own toothbrush and took me to a sink that was just my height and asked me to show her how I can brush my teeth (she told me I did a good job!). After that, we went to another room with 4 chairs just like the ones in the book, and I was a brave big kid and climbed on up and she showed me all the neat tools they would use on my teeth, like a water squirter and a thing that blows wind, and a mirror for my mouth (isn’t that silly?). She was really nice and looked at my teeth and cleaned them, and then the dentist, Dr. Bob, came in and looked at my teeth too. I opened my mouth really wide like a T-Rex (I love dinosaurs!), and they told me my teeth looked a-ok! Mom and Sutter got to stay with me the whole time, and when we were through I got to pick a toy from the treasure box (a dinosaur, natch!) AND they gave me my very own dentist kit with a mask, gloves, toy mirror, and another toothbrush! Cool, huh? Mom kept saying she wished HER dentist was that fun! I get to go back right before my birthday, too!

Sutter is getting to be more and more fun to play with. I’m a really good big brother - when he sits in his chair I come over and talk to him and sing to him and play “5 Little Piggies” and bring him his toys. He likes to look at me and smile. I like to share a lot, so I gave him my cold. Nice, huh? He and I have gone to San Francisco a few times together, and he rides on my mom’s front in a backpack - funny, huh? They say I used to ride in one too, but I don’t rembember it.

It’s very rainy this week, so I might not get to go play outside. Bummer! Oh well, I still have lots of puzzles and books to keep me busy, so I guess I’ll make the best of it. Plus, I do enjoy running laps around the living room!

Stay dry everyone!

Hi everyone! Ho ho ho! That’s what Santa Claus says! And guess what? It’s almost Christmas! I’ve been having a really fun time getting ready for Christmas this year - there’s so much stuff to enjoy! Mommy and Daddy and Sutter and I went and bought a Christmas tree, and I got to help decorate it! We have some really cool ornaments, like the Cookie Monster, Bob the Builder, and some pretty colored stars. I decided they all looked best hanging on the same 3 branches, right about at my height (a towering 3 feet, thank you!), so our tree has a very festive and crowded corner quadrant near the bottom - I did a great job! I liked decorating the tree a lot - in fact, I added my ornament hanging skillz to the efforts at Pammy and Cappy’s house, Katil’s house, and Tully’s house! Just call me four-tree Decker, yo!

Today is our last day of school before vacation for 3 weeks. (Mommy must be really jazzed that she gets to have me home for thee weeks solid - she seemed to tear up at the idea! Something about, “I can’t believe you’ll be home … for three weeks… oh my…”). Hee! But at school we’ve been having a grand time talking all about Christmas and Santa Claus and snow and snowmen and reindeer - and singing songs about them, too! My favorites are “Where is Santa?”, “Jingle Bells” (sung Tinkerbells, thank you very much), and “Here is the chimney”. We made presents for our mommies and daddies, and they will get to open them on Christmas morning! We also made some neat art projects, and best of all…we had a visitor to the school on Wednesday: Santa Claus! He came down from the North Pole to visit our classroom, and I got to go stand next to him and tell him what I want for Christmas. Then he gave each of us a really cool teddy bear! Thanks, Santa! Then he went home to the North Pole, to finish getting ready for Christmas.

What will I do during my time off? Well, there’s this video I’ve been watching a bazillion times, called “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street”. It’s very funny and I like to quote it a lot. So I’ll probably watch a lot of that. Plus, I’ve got a new hobby - making cookies! Last night I got to try helping the grown-ups cut out Christmas cookies - I stood on my very own step-stool, and picked out all sorts of cool shapes like snowmen and helicopters, and made a tray of cookies all on my own! Then I got to take the cookies home to eat with my mommy and daddy! Katil, Tully and Pammy were very helpful and helped me roll the dough and stuff like that, but mostly it was me! Can’t wait to do it again - who knew that cookie cutters were for more than cutting out shapes in play doh?

Sutter is still a lot of fun - he can’t do much yet, but he will look at me and when I hold him I pretend that he’s talking to me. I hold up his arm to wave at me, and say “Hi Big Brother!” in a high pitched voice - I’m very funny, if I do say so myself!

Hope you all are having a Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone! It’s been a couple of weeks, but I’ve been keeping busy! Preschool is still lots of fun, and of course there’s also Sutter to keep me occupied at home (along with my toys, which frankly are more interactive than Sutter at this point, though Mommy tells me that will change soon). Anyway, here’s some stuff I’ve been up to lately:

On Sunday, my mom and dad decided they had cabin fever and needed to get out of the house with me and Sutter. So, we went to the big fish place over in San Francisco (it’s called an ‘aquarium’, which is really hard to say!), and it was pretty neat! We saw big fish, big turtles, snakes, and best of all…DINOSAURS! Yup, lately I’m really into dinosaurs, and this place had a great big T-Rex skeleton, and a smaller T-Rex skeleton that moved! Plus it had a Brontosaurus and a Triceratops and a Stegosaurus! I wanted to stay all day, but finally we left and went for a walk in this cool park called “Yerba Buena Gardens”. Mommy fed Sutter and I played hide and seek in the trees with Daddy and then chased some pigeons. Pigeons are so silly!

In school this month, we learned a lot about this day coming up called “Thanksgiving”. We learned a funny song called “Hello Mr. Turkey”, and I like to sing it over and over and over! (Soon I even caught my folks singing it!). On Thanksgiving, you talk about what you are thankful for, like family and teachers. Then you eat lots of good food! Today in school, for our ‘cooking’ activity we had a mini-feast, and it was yummy! We ate popcorn, corn muffins, and best of all…PUMPKIN PIE! I really like pumpkin pie! I hope I get to eat some again really soon! We also colored pictures of pies, pumpkins, and turkeys, and then we made a placemat with a turkey on it that I painted all by myself! We don’t have any school at all next week, because everyone will be going away for Thanksgiving. I hope they all get to have pie! Poor Sutter - he doesn’t get to have pie!

But…Sutter does get to play with his awesome big brother - that’s me! I have been sharing my old gymini playmat with him, and when I ask nicely, Mommy lets me hold him, too! I am a really good big brother to him. Sometimes he cries and I tell him to ‘be pleasant’ and ’stop crying’. Mommy and Daddy say that’s because babies can’t talk, so I guess I’ll have to wait a while for that!

Picks for the week:

Books: Danny and the Dinosaur, 5 People in My Family, Grover Stays Up Very Very Late

Foods: PUMPKIN PIE!

Songs: “Hello, Mr. Turkey”, “Do You Have a Spooky Ghost?”

Hi everyone! Guess what? There’s a new baby at our house! His name is Sutter, and he is my baby brother! That means I am a BIG BROTHER now - isn’t that cool? It’s been a very busy 2 weeks, but it’s also been lots of fun. Babies don’t really do a lot - so far, Sutter sleeps (a LOT), and gets his diaper changed (a LOT), and eats (a LOT). When he cries, I tell him it’s ok and not to be sad, that he will be ok. I try to talk to him, but so far he doesn’t really say anything back to me. Mommy tries to pretend that Sutter is talking to me by using a silly voice, but I know it’s really her! That’s ok though - everyone tells me when he gets bigger he’ll be able to play with me and that we will have fun together, so right now I am patient and am happy to play with my toys and Mommy and Daddy and everyone else.

Mommy’s big tummy is gone now! She says it’s because now Sutter is here and isn’t in her tummy anymore. A couple of days before Sutter was born, Mommy and Daddy put on this video that was all about me as a baby. I love it! It’s my favorite thing to watch now - I ask to see it at least once a day! Mommy says it’s spooky how much Sutter looks like me when I was a baby - I guess that means that Sutter is one good lookin’ little dude!

The day that Sutter was born, Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital really really early, and Cappy came over to stay with me at our house. He took me to school and picked me up, and then I got to go play at Cappy and Pammy’s house for a while that afternoon! It was really fun - Cappy put on a video for me, but I decided it was much more exciting to play in his office under his desk for 3 hours. I think I was probably very helpful! Then Cappy put me in my carseat, and we went to pick up Katil and Tully to go to the hospital to meet Mommy, Daddy, and Sutter! When we got there, the first thing I noticed was that Sutter had a microphone in his bed! (Just like the one I have at home!). (*Editor’s note: “microphone” means “aspirator”, as mentioned in previous blog entries). Then, after I hugged Mommy and Daddy and said hi to my baby brother, I found out something cool about babies - they bring you presents! Yup, Sutter had brought a present for me: the Sherriff car from “Cars”! Wasn’t that nice of him? I held him afterwards and was very gentle with him (you have to be gentl with babies). Then, Pammy and Cappy gave me the SALLY car from “Cars”! Wow - it felt like my birthday or something! It’s great to be the big brother - everyone brings presents for you when they come to see the baby! I got a ‘Super Big Brother’ cape from Ryan and Amanda, some bath toys from Grandpa Rick and Grandma Chris, and a t-shirt from GQ! And I also got some Halloween stickers from Pammy to play with in the hospital room! I put them on Mommy’s window, so everyone could see the Halloween decorations!

For the first few days, Mommy stayed in the hospital, and Daddy and I would go home and then come back to visit her. One night, Daddy stayed at the hospital with Mommy, and Tully and Katil came and spent the night with me at our house! (And made pancakes the next morning - yum!!). When I would go visit Mommy, I had to be careful when I gave her a hug (her tummy had an owie). Sometimes I got to go for a walk on the roof patio! It had neat statues and fountains on it!

Now Mommy and Sutter have been home a few days. It’s been pretty cool - Sutter and I both wake up in the middle of the night (I wake up from nightmares, and Sutter wakes up to eat or be changed). Mommy and Daddy keep saying we need to get together and synchronize our rythyms! Sometimes I cant’ sit and cuddle with Mommy when I want, because she is feeding Sutter. But Daddy and Mommy have both made sure that I get lots of attention anyway, so I can’t complain!

I’m looking forward to Sutter being old enough to play with! Till then, I got some stickers to go organize and some stuffed animals to line up…

Have a good week!

Boo! Did I scare you? It’s ok, it’s just me, Decker! Last night was Halloween, and boy was it fun! We’ve spent the whole month of October talking about Halloween things at school, like spooky ghosts, witches, spiders, and pumpkins. Last Friday, we got to pick our very own pumpkins at the school ‘pumpkin patch’! And then on Monday, we did a practice trick-or-treat; all the kids brought their costumes to school, and then we got to go trick-or-treating at the school office and at our classroom door! We had made our very own jack-o-lantern trick-or-treat bags, and it was really fun. THEN … last night was the real deal, Halloween itself! The night before, Daddy and I had made a jack-o-lantern for our house, and we put it outside and lit candles inside it. (Daddy also made one with a monkey on it that lit up with electric lights - it was cool!). That afternoon, Daddy drove me over to Moraga so I could show off my costume for Grandpa Rick and Grandma Chris, and then we came on home to go trick-or-treating at my house! What was my costume? I was MATER, from “Cars”! I looked good! Daddy strung some working Xmas lights around my costume, so I looked like a REAL truck! Isn’t that neat? Before we went out trick-or-treating, Pammy, Cappy, Katil and Tully came over to join us. Mommy put on a pumpkin hat, and silly Katil and Tully climbed into my play bus and walked around in it with their heads and legs sticking out! They came with us to all the houses in my neigborhood, and helped take pictures. Trick-or-treating is awesome - you go to someone’s house, knock on the door, and when they open the door you say “trick-or-treat!”, and then they give you candy or toys to put in your bucket! Then you say ‘thank you’ to them, and ‘Happy Halloween!”. I got lots of great stuff in my bucket, and then we went home for dinner. Other kids came to our door last night, and I got to hold up our candy basket for them to pick a treat! I was very helpful! All the grownups had pizza and watched Jeopardy together, and then it was time for me to go to bed (after all, I had school the next day!). Boy - Halloween is fun! I can’t wait until next year!

Hi everyone!

In school we learned that this month is called October, and it’s sure been full of fun stuff! Last week, we learned all about spiders and this week we are learning about spooky ghosts! In October, lots of people buy pumpkins and put them outside their houses. Our neighbor has one on her front step, so I decided I wanted one too! On Saturday, Daddy and Mommy took me to a pumpkin patch down the hill from our house, and I got to pick out a big pumpkin for me, and little pumpkin for baby brother! He’s not here yet, but Mommy says very soon! When it gets closer to Halloween, Daddy says I get to help him draw a face on the pumpkin and then we will cut out the face and it will be called a ‘jack o-lantern’. O’Lantern must be his last name, like my last name is O’Steen! Mommy kept being silly and holding the pumpkin up next to her tummy, and saying they looked like twins - but she’s not orange! She’s so silly!

Today was picture day at school, so I had to take a bath in the morning and my mommy went to extra effort to make sure my hair looked ok. I’m glad I was able to go to school today - on Monday, my teacher called Daddy and told him that I was saying my ear hurt. So he came to pick me up and then Mommy met us and took me home, and next thing you know - I was at the doctor! She looked in my ear with a flashlight and said I had an ear infection and would have to take some medicine. I HATE MEDICINE! But I got to pick an orange dinosaur from the treasure box before we went home, so it wasn’t all bad. And my doctor is really nice. I try to be brave when I take my medicine, but it sure tastes yucky! I give my folks a run for their money every time it’s time for me to take it. But my ear IS feeling better, so I’ll acknowledge that while it’s yucky, medicine does make the owie in your ear go away.

Here are some of my fave raves for the week:

Movies: “Dumbo”, “Silly Critters” (Hoodwinked), “Curious George”

Books: “The 3 Little Javelinas”, “I’m a Big Brother”, “What do you do with a Kangaroo?”

Dinosaurs! Whether it’s a puzzle or plastic toys from the doctor’s office - they’re really cool!

Have a good week everyone!

Hi everyone! Well, it took me so long to narrate my Disneyland adventure to my mom, that I realized I hadn’t caught you all up on something equally exciting and big in my world - I’ve started school! Yup, now that I’m 3 years old, I am old enough to go to big kid school. On my birthday, Katil gave me my very own big boy backpack, just like Elmo wears to his school! Here’s the low-down on my time so far:

On the day after we drove back from Disneyland, my mommy and daddy woke me up early and I could tell something was up - they were both urging me to eat my breakfast, and making an extra fuss over making sure I was dressed ok and my hair wasn’t sticking out all over the place! I had been told that I was going to start big kid school today, but I still didn’t quite know what that meant! My folks had been reading me stories about going to school - so I knew there would be other kids there and a teacher - but I was still a little in the dark as to this whole thing! So, we got my shoes on and they put my big kid backpack on me and we went outside to take some pictures - I grinned ear to ear when they told me to say cheese! Then we got in the car and we drove about 3 blocks down the street and pulled into a big round parking lot with buses. I recognized it from earlier this year, when I’d gone with Mommy and Daddy to have my hearing tested and to meet with some nice ladies and play some games with them. Mommy must have stubbed her toe or something, because she kept doing that thing where she is trying not to cry in front of me, and put on a brave and happy face, but I can tell she’s kinda faking! Silly Mommy! We went inside a part of the school that said “Preschool” on the outside of the building, and then inside there are a cluster of classrooms, including mine! We walked into the classroom, and there was my new teacher, Ms. Lori! She is really nice and there were lots of really cool toys and things to look at in the classroom, so Mommy and Daddy talked to my teacher while I explored a little. I was sucked in when I realized that there was a rug like mine at home (it looks like there are streets and buildings on it), and a box full of cars right next to it! I sat down happily while Mommy and Daddy finished talking to Ms. Lori, and then suddenly they were bending down to give me hugs and kisses and told me that they would see me very soon. They promised me that Mommy would come get me as soon as school was over, and then we would go see Daddy and go to lunch together for a special treat. Then they left! (Daddy must have stubbed his toe too, because I’m pretty sure I saw tears in his eyes like Mommy’s!).

The first day was kinda scary at first, because it was the first time I’d ever been away from Mommy and Daddy (and I wasn’t being babysat by a family member). But my teaches are really nice, and Ms. Lori told me that Mommy would come get me, “now now, but soon”, so I knew I would be alright. And I was!

Now I’ve been going to school for a month, and I really like it! I always tell Mommy that I had fun at school when she comes to get me. We do all sorts of cool things - we get to play with toys in the classroom, do art projects, sing songs, hear stories, play on the playground, and have a snack before we go home! I’ve learned about apples, worms, bus safety, my five senses, and where I go to school. There are 5 kids in my class, and we each take turns getting to the be the class ’star’ - when you’re the star, you get to help take roll in the morning, and you get to line up first for playground and to go home, and you get a stamp on your hand that says ’star’ on it! Plus every day we get a new nametag, always a different shape - and some days we cook and other days we do pretending and other days we do sharing. I’m learning to sing all sorts of new stuff, like “Hello Neighbor” and “Take me out to the Ballgame” - if I’m in the mood, I sing for my folks! I even had my very first homework assignment (I had to color apples and then count them out loud, to practice my ‘p’ sounds and my numbers). It’s been lots of fun! School is great!