Couch Surfing

I know I might be a little young to follow the true Portland definition of being a "couch surfer", but based on my latest discovery of couch fun--I'm sold! Don't worry mom and dad, I hope to grow out of (not in to) "couch surfing"!

Bottom line--what a blast! Mom and dad have been discussing my lack of fear quite a bit after my couch diving incidents. Is it wrong to be a thrill seeker?



**BTW, A typical "couch surfer" would be unemployed and crashing on friends couches indefinitely. Mommy and daddy have many experiences with couch surfing (ya' do know we live on the West Coast--right?)

Visions of Sugar Plums........and a FREAKY SANTA

One picture. 'Nuff said.







Last year I was just a naiive young infant who didn't know any better, this year I can sniff out a scary situation better than drug dog at an airport.

Glad we got through that one. Hey wait a minute, I didn't even get to eat that candy cane!

Gettin' fit before the holidays

With all the holiday goodies I am ready to partake in (whether my mom knows or not--don't forget I go to Grandma and Grandpa Lesinski's every week and I KNOW they are stocked with goodies), I thought I'd better keep up my fitness regime. Now that we are in the rainy season I don't get to the park much so I like to get my exercise by walking on the treadmill. Just today I logged a whopping 0.06 miles at 1mph! Whew, talk about a work out!

Hopefully my exercise will keep my waistline fit, us young ones can't afford to have our bellies hanging over our diapers.

Picasso who?

In keeping with the Lesinski family heritage of promoting the arts, I have now taken to the canvas (well, some people call it construction paper--but whatever).

Here are a few samples of my early works (as they'll probably be called someday at the MET). I have named them "Red Hands On Yellow Paper", "Green Circles" and "Tree". Moving, isn't it?

I do love art and am so glad to take such a fun class! Wonder when we will start sculpture?

Fun at the Park

Last weekend it was supposed to rain but it didn't, so my brothers and I checked out the brand new play structure at the school up the street.
We had been watching them build the thing for the last couple of weeks but it was worth the wait. Nice new red slides, fun stairs for me to climb on and a cool climbing wall for Alex and Cameron.
Daddy and I went home to get a snack to bring back to the park, and these things called "Nerf guns." My brothers sure are fun to watch when they run around shooting green foam balls at each other. I joined in by running around and yelling, and throwing the balls and some bark chips around.

Back at home, I rearranged the cupboards (something I really like to do) while Mommy made dinner. I pulled some things into my favorite corner - the one behind my high chair.


Daddy took funny pictures of me standing in one of the bowls. He said it was 'my first bowl' but I am not sure what he meant. They sure thought that was funny, though.

Halloween and Soccer

I got over my jet lag and time change craziness just in time to suit up for this fun day called Halloween. Sometimes I am unclear on these weird special days that happen randomly in my life but this one was easy to understand - candy and costumes.

Mommy thought I would like to be a skunk because she calls me her little stinker. I did like the costume because it was really soft and people thought I looked cuter than usual. I wore it to two Halloween parties, to Grandma and Grandpa's and even to swimming with Lisa before I got into my swim suit. It was awesome!

I am now also in an art class and I made my first paintings by dipping matchbox cars into paints and driving them on pieces of paper. I was really proud when Mommy hung up my first painting. It made me want to make some more.





My big brothers Alex and Cameron finished their soccer seasons in October. I was bummed because I liked going to their games and running all over the place. But it's kind of dark after dinner these days and it rains too so I guess it was time to end that stuff for now.

My Trip to Ireland - Part Seven - Wrap Up

At the end of our trip to the northern coast, I got to run around on the beach in Portstewart where we stayed that night. Daddy kept talking about how nice the light was for photos, but all I know is that Mommy was chasing me around, and I really like that a lot. I shriek and laugh and it makes me sleep really well at night.

We spent our last couple of nights back in Park, and then pretty soon it was time to drive back to Dublin to get on the plane (personally I'd rather get IN the plane) to fly back to the USA. It was a lot of travelling but I did pretty good with all the time changes, driving and flying.

The trip went by so fast, but it also felt like we had been gone for a long time. I was excited to see my brothers, Lisa, Grandma and Grandpa and of course the dogs. It took me a few days to get back on schedule but pretty soon I was back in business and looking forward to my next adventure...

My Trip to Ireland - Part Six - Northern Coast

Near the end of our vacation, we took an overnight trip all the way to the top of Ireland to visit more family and see some cool sights.

The first place we went was this place called the Giant's Causeway. The story was that this very big giant ripped a piece of land out of Ireland (leaving a lake in its place) and threw it at Scotland.

I can really relate to that because I like to throw things too, even though I am still small. I many times will pick up stuff like a toy, shoe or even my sippy cup and throw it at the wall or at one of the dogs. It's super fun. Maybe the giant's dog was named "Scotland." I don't know.

Anyway, The Giant's Causeway is supposed to be the place where he stood when he did his throwing. It's pretty amazing. It looks like a giant version of my blocks, all laid out in a long and wide formation that stretches into the ocean. Daddy took a bunch of photos. He is such a tourist.

From there I hear we went to a place called Carrick-A-Rede, which sounds like the noise that Mommy's CDs make when I break them out of their cases. Anyway, I didn't see Carrick-A-Rede because I fell asleep in the car.

But while I napped, Mommy and Daddy made the long walk to the rope bridge that everyone was talking about, and from the pictures it looks like it was pretty short but very high. I probably could not have gone on it anyway. Aunt Therese stayed with me in the van while I slept. She's so nice.

On the way back to where we stayed that night, we stopped at a castle called Dunluce. I really liked that because I got to run all over the grass while Mommy and Aunt Kerrianne chased me around while Daddy took pictures. He said something about the place looking like the inside cover of Houses of the Holy, another record by Ted Zeppelin I guess.

Anyway, we couldn't go into the castle because it was closed. But we still got to play and breathe nice fresh air. It was very misty and pretty. It actually felt like my room when the humidifier is on. Maybe those are from Ireland?

Tomorrow I will wrap up my story of Ireland, because it's almost Halloween and I have all sorts of things to report from when we got back home too...

My Trip to Ireland - Part Five - Some Photos

We all liked Park so much (I told you I liked parks) that we stayed there most of the week. Mom and Dad took a lot of photos, and here are some of my favorites. Things were so green, which is cool because that is mommy's last name (or is it Syzmonyk? - that's baby talk for 'inside joke.') Next post I will tell you all about our trip to the Northern Coast - castles, bridges and five-sided stones. Sounds kind of like a song I heard in the car one time from some guy called Ted Zeppelin.

My Trip to Ireland - Part Four - Park

After we spent the night in Dublin (or was it daytime? I had no idea what time it was), we spent a really fun day in the big red van, driving to see our family in a little town in the North called Park. I like parks, so that was OK with me.

I ate lots of yummy munchies and made sure my Aunt Therese turned the overhead lights on in the van. It was important to me to have those lights on!

Uncle Paul and mommy had some trouble getting us out of Dublin, as the streets are not marked too well. But we made it, and a few hours of pretty Irish scenery later, we made it to Park.

I met my mommy's cousins Rita and Michael, who had soup waiting for us. They had a crib all set up and some fun new toys for me to play with. They are really amazing people.

I hear they run a store, hotel and even a bar where they let me pour drinks for a minute.

Mommy took me around town and I got to look at the sheep and how all the farms look like big squares with bushes for fences. I got a great night's sleep that night, and it was great to have a nice place to stay for the rest of our trip.

My Trip to Ireland - Part Three - Dublin

Dublin was a very big city. I was tired from the flight but dad insisted in walking me all over the place. Like me, he'd never been to Ireland before and I guess he wanted to see as much as he could see. I fell asleep.


Actually, before our walk, we ate yummy Italian food at some place called Baritalia. We had a lot of Italian food in Ireland. I don't quite understand that but then again, I am just learning!

Next post, I will tell you about the town we stayed in and the people we met in Northern Ireland.

My Trip to Ireland - Part Two - The Flight

OK, so I have been on some plane rides before (twice to Chicago and once to Washington DC) and I am a premium member of the under-two frequent flier program. But I have never had my own seat thanks to my cheapo parents (just kidding - I still love you!).

But on the plane ride to Ireland, I had my own seat. Daddy strapped my regular car seat into the airplane seat and it was great.

My family was all around me, and I kept pointing at everyone just to make sure I was not seeing things. There was Aunt Maureen, Uncle Paul, Daddy, Me, Mommy, Grandma Green and Aunt Therese, all in the same row. I could also see the TV - it was right in front of me - and made friends with some big green guy named Shrek.

I overheard Daddy say the flight was going to be seven hours long but it went fast for me. I had a good nap, ate a bunch of yummy snacks and played with some cool toys I had never seen before.

Before I knew it we were landing in Dublin Ireland, making our way out get the cool red van we rode in all week. It was just like one of my toys except we could all sit in it and our bags fit too.

Somehow my Uncle Paul got drafted into driving and I heard all sorts of interesting things come out of his mouth about having to drive on the wrong side of the road and stuff. But he did a great job and we never wrecked once.

We were all pretty tired but spent the day looking at Dublin. Daddy walked me all over the city even though I fell asleep in the stroller. Next post, I will show you some of my favorite photos from Dublin.

My Trip to Ireland - Part One - Chicago

I just got back from my first trip to another country, and since I am now 15 months old, all I have to say to mom and dad is, "It's about time!"

The whole thing started a few months ago with this thing called a 'passport.' To me it was just another photo shoot, but mom said something about 'paperwork' and 'expedited fees' so I tuned out and played with some dog hair on the floor. Grown ups are silly.

Anyway, we left last week, first flying to Chicago in a big plane. That was very cool, because I rank planes as one of my favorite things of all time. No matter what I am doing, when I hear a plane, I drop everything, point at the sky and say "oooh." Then I wave. We stayed for a couple of days at Grandma's house so mommy could go to something called a 'high school reunion.' I got to go to the park and point at lots and lots of planes. Did I tell you I like to point at planes?

I also got to see some of my family who could not go to Ireland with us, who came over to watch me practice my sign language and peekaboo skills. I can now say "more" "thank you" and "please" using sign language. Not bad considering I couldn't really walk until a couple of months ago! I have a lot of family in Chicago so I had plenty of catching up to do before we left.

There is so much more to tell but I am tired so I will post again later about my BIG plane ride to Ireland.

Fun at the Beach - Labor Day!

Earlier this month I made my first trip to the ocean for a long weekend with mom, dad, and my big brothers. The car was packed. Mommy looked warm with both dogs on her lap, but I had lots of room in my awesome car seat.

The beach was even better than my brothers said it would be. It was the biggest sandbox I have ever seen! I got in a lot of walking practice and played in the sand. I threw a few sticks around. Life is good.

Mom and dad rented a big house with a hot tub and a fire pit, and dad took me for a long walk every morning in the three wheel stroller.

It was Bailey's first trip to the beach too and she chased the ball until we all thought she was going to fall over. But she still had enough energy to take food out of my hand when I was done eating.

The ocean sure is big. It made me think that maybe there is more to life than pooping and my soft blankie.

Mom and dad took loads of photos and here are some of my favorites:

Catching Up

Wow, I have not posted in a couple of months. It's been a busy summer and I guess learning to walk and say "Dog" in sign language took so much out of me, I didn't make the time to do my regular Web entries. Sorry about that. What is sign language for "bad blog etiquette?"

Where to start?

Well, I took a fun plane ride out to Washington DC to spend the 4th of July holiday with my Aunt Heidi and Uncle John, my cousins Dan and Emily and four large dogs. Did I tell you I can say "Dog" in sign language?

We saw all of these cool building called "monuments" and things called "memorials" for people who fought in wars or something. We swam in the pool non stop and went on some hikes and of course saw fireworks. Man are those things loud! All I could do was point and say "oooh" but that is what everyone else was doing, so I felt grown up.


The plane rides were fun too, and right when we got off the plane I got to sit in the car facing forward. Man, is that cool! The view out the front of the car is so much more interesting than the back of the seat.


I also went to my first Major League Baseball game - The Nationals played the Cubs and mommy's team won (that would be the Cubs). I liked the yummy food and all of the lights. My brothers liked the snow cones that turned their mouths blue for two days.




And of course, I turned one years old and got turned on to this stuff called 'cake.' I can't wait for next year so I can have some more!

The rest of the summer has been great. Since we got home I have gone to the Zoo a bunch of times. Lisa takes me on the Zoo Train and I love the wind in my curly hair. I also made friends with an orangutang who puts his hand on the glass when I put mine up there too. Fun!


There is a lot more but I am tired. It's time to go night night with my soft blankie. I will post more soon.