Snotson County, Kansas...Here I Am!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Kansas City, there is a county like no other, called none other, than Johnson County.  For the last 5 weeks of our stay here before heading back to the island, that is where Mom and I will be living to spend time with Cindy and Mark. Cindy is Mom's aunt, so that makes her my Great Aunt. Mark is Mom's uncle. So that makes him my Great Uncle. They live in a cul-de-sac which I think is fun to say. Cuuuullll-de-saaaaac. Cul .De .Sac.  CULDESAC!!

Johnson County is a really big and spread-out part of Kansas City and everything is super clean.  It's easy to get turned around because one street looks just like all the other streets.  Mom always seems to get lost in Johnson County because of this which sort of bugs me because it prolongs time in the car, and I am not a huge fan of time in the car.  But one day, Cindy took Mom and I to a surprisingly fun place called The Asian Market. I had such a good time! It was especially fun to see how close I could get to kicking over the super expensive pottery and sculptures and carvings when I'd spaz out my arms and legs. There were little signs in front of the really expensive vases and artwork. I don't know what they said because they were written in some Asian language, but maybe it said "Moms, please keep your flailing infants' arms and legs away from our really expensive vases and artwork."  If it said that, that would be funny.

We tried on hats that they had next to the toilet scrubbers!

And we ate what Cindy and Mom called "The Nastiest and Most Horrible Sushi in the World."  At least the fortune cookies were good...

We have spent two days now with Cindy and Mark in their home, and it has been incredibly relaxing! Mom and I have gotten to spend lots of quiet time together playing games and laughing and reading and watching movies and cooking. Tonight, she fixed Acorn and Butternut Squash Soup which turned out real nice. I helped! Mark fixed grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches. They also had Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake and coffee for dessert which smelled reeeaaaally good while it was baking. Everyone said everything was delicious, but I won't get to find out until tomorrow morning's bottle. Hmph!

I have rolled over a few times now from my tummy to my back in the middle of the night. The first time it happened was on total accident and I sort of surprised myself.  It was such a funny feeling being in one position, then by contorting my body a certain way, fell into another position with a whole new view! I keep trying to do it on purpose but it's really hard. I know I can do it, but it's real scary and I'm a little self-conscious about it so I only practice at night when no one can see me. Sometimes they lay me on the floor and just stare at me hoping I'll do it, and maybe one day soon I will, but for now it's just something I wanna do by myself til I get it right.

I have just begun laughing out loud too! I have to be really really happy in order to do this and I'm not really sure what it will be that will send me over the edge.  It's different depending on my mood. Yesterday, Mom was changing my diaper and she took the little Velcro tabs in her fingers and said "One...two...THREE!!" and zipped the tabs away from my diaper. I'm unsure why I thought this was so hilarious, but it was. I laughed out loud a few times. This of course just made Mom want to do it over and over again. I humored her, but then it got old and I really did want my wet pee-pee diaper off and a dry one put on. She got the point eventually and continued on.  Tonight I was just laying on my activity gym (LOVE IT) and got myself all wound up for no apparent reason and couldn't unwind myself no matter how hard I tried. I wound myself up sooooo tight that I just filled up with glee and couldn't figure out any other way to release it except for an outburst of laughter. It felt good. But then I was tired. Laughing takes a lot of you, in a good way.

Well, I really should let Mom get to bed.  She seems tired. It's a big job taking care of the awesome-est baby on the planet.  I'll go ahead and insert the face you're already probably making.  Good night everyone, and I'll write again soon! Promise!

Introduction

Hello! You are probably asking yourself how a three-month old is able to blog. My mama and I have been together my whole life, so she really gets me. I let her know what I'd like to say by giving her "looks." For instance, a no-go is indicated by a stink eye such as these:

But most of the time, everything goes really well and I give her the thumbs up by flashing her a big smile:

So! I was born on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands which makes me an island baby. I remember the walks my mom used to take with me when I was first born. We used to go out to the pretty flower bush next to the house and pick really bright yellow and pink flowers for me to play with. We also had a cat named Stinky that considered herself my big sister and protected me from strangers. When I was about 5 weeks old I experienced my first hurricane, Hurricane Earl. There was no electricity for a long time and my Mom and Dad were at their wits' end. It must be stressful being an adult during a hurricane. I was fine. I snuggled on the couch with my Dad by candlelight until the storm blew over. I hope we go back soon, and I think I hear my Mom and Dad talking about us all spending Christmas together on The Island which I hope works out! It's been over a month since I've had my toes in the sand.


When I was 7 weeks old, my Mom decided that it would be better for her and I to temporarily travel to this big place called "The States." We left on this giant flying machine and I met lots of nice folks up in the air. After what seemed like a long time, we reached our destination.


The first difference I noticed about The States versus The Island is the silence. On The Island, the windows are always open and the tree frogs (as loud as they were) lulled me to sleep at night. In The States, the house is completely quiet and the air is still. Very different from what I am used to.

Almost immediately, Mom took me to some place called Price Chopper (or the Chop Chop) where she stuck me in front of all sorts of odd things.

I don't really get it, but it seems to make her happy.

She also took me to the Plaza Art Fair, Parktoberfest (a fall celebration in a town called Parkville), The Weston Red Barn Farm, a John Lennon art exhibit (which I didn't care for much - I let everyone know my opinion of his art by the surprise I left in my diaper), Alldredge Orchards, The Wine Barn for a wine tasting with my Gram and Great Aunts, Zona Rosa, my Great Aunt and Uncle's house a couple of times, and lots of lunches with her girl friends. It's been a very busy month. I feel like there is a lot more to do in The States, but it doesn't seem as relaxing as The Island where everyone and everything moves a lot slower. When we drove in the car on The Island, we never really went above 30 miles per hour, max. In The States, we sometimes drive 70 miles per hour on something called a "highway!" Where do we need to go that's so important that we need to drive that fast?! Scary.

I'm all tuckered out right now. My attention span isn't very long yet and this was a lot for me. I think it may be time for another bottle, too. And most definitely a diaper change.