me & papa organizing cars

FIRE TRUCK & fireman

a couple weeks ago, i visisted stella & severin in roseville and we went to look at all the public service vehicles at the park. there was a garbage truck (sev's favorite,) a fire truck, a tree/powerline repair truck, a crisis-center/homeland security truck and a "peece car" (police car). it was soooo much fun! ---(and ... look at how much stella and i have grown since last august!)

baby

i've been seeing a lot of new little babies lately (yesterday i met brianna & brecken, my 2nd cousins) - today i carried my baby piglet around the house just like people were holding the babies yesterday. i was very gentle.

aaaaaaaahhhhh!

it has been SOOOOO HOT here this weekend! we spent saturday afternoon/evening at the lake with papa's brothers & sister and cousins. this morning it was still really hot, so we all piled into my kiddy pool! (yes - me & mama & papa!) that water sure did cool us all down! it rained really hard this afternoon, and finally the temperature feels better.

S+S+S + crocs

i had such a FUN morning with my buddies severin and stella - thanks for coming over!

WOW! our collective apparel makes a GREAT color & pattern composition! our architect-parents couldn't have planned it to be more coordinated or dynamic!

camping out

we were originally going to go camping saturday night after the wedding, but there wasn't a site to be had! soooo we came home and camped out in the airstream! it was fun, but because it was the first time i'd done such a thing, i had a hard time getting used to the idea that i wasn't going to go back into my room to sleep. i did finally fall asleep next to my mom (maybe by midnight??) -- but you can bet i woke-up EARLY! i was excited for our morning visitors!

wedding - fun

i went to a wedding on saturday. i brought my cars, but had the most fun playing with the other kids in the water fountain. in the beginning i was the littlest one - and then all the big boys left, so i got a chance at the controlls. i didn't want to leave!

me & my shadow - my shadow & me

i found it! my mom wasn't fast enough to catch me touching my shadow's hand ...but there was a moment when it became clear to me that i could make that gray-guy move just like me. mama is not sure if i'll remember this little secret (the next time i come-up to a large concrete wall as the sun goes down)...but at least i got it this time!

BOAT!

there were so many boats that passed under the bridge while we were in duluth, i liked to watch them from grandma&grandpa's living room. this picture is one of two ships that i got to see close-up in the span of about 10 minutes, one evening when we were at the pier. (see G&G in the background?)

cousin sofia marie

i love my new cousin sofia. right now i just call her "fia" because that's all i can make my mouth say.

eventful week

you're all probably wondering what has happened to me -- but i've been spending the week up in duluth (while my mama works in grandpa's office) - i'm getting used to grandma & grandpa salmela's house and have so much fun watching marathons and boats come in&out of the harbor, eating good food, visiting with my buddies, playing with my cousin lussi and even meeting my new cousin, SOFIA MARIE, (lussi's baby sister) who decided she wanted to come early! my mom has been trying to get some pictures off her phone to share, but has been unsuccessful.... hopefully later today it will happen. anyway, i'm having so much fun in duluth!

a GREAT sunday morning!

"kai!"

watering the garden

mama updated my blog - and lost some links...could you please resend them to me?

my latest...

about 2 weeks ago, my mom found me sitting in my stocke-chair, all buckled-in with my bib on, ready to eat. ever since then, she has been trying to catch me in the action of climbing-up and buckling myself in. this is the best documentation she's been able to get.....

swim trunks

i have new swim-trunks because i started my first swimming lessons this morning (in a heated pool!) ... it was so much fun! my mama (who has never been a very good swimmer) thinks that i am a natural...i was comfortable on my belly kicking my legs and reaching with my arms - i even enjoyed putting my face in the water to blow bubbles! i can't wait til the next time i can go swimming!

the cat in the hat

i try to pretend sometimes that i do not know what my parents are saying, but this is proof that i understand what they ask of me....shucks!

peanut butter mouth & bed head

new shuuuuuu!

look! i got a new pair of shoes - just like my cousin lussi's orange pair (i even have the same size!!!) when we were at the kiosk in the mall, my mama and aunti-peee had me try on a few different colors and a couple different sizes - but once i had these green ones on, there was NO WAY i was going to let my mom take them off to try gray! that was it - i decided that i wanted these green ones. now i wear them everyday, all day long - sometimes even with my pajamas (but not in bed, of course.)

hangin' (with) lus(si)

my cousin came down for an overnight trip. on sunday morning we went out for breakfast and then went the playground in loring park. lussi made the wise decision of playground over sculpture garden - although we may have had the most fun running around the garden that had an inside and outside brick loop. by the end of the morning we were both pretty tired! papa managed to get one picture on his cell-phone before i got antsy.

happy mama's day

hi (uncle) kai!

my mom talks about all of my aunts and uncles, but kai's is the first whose name i can manage. beyond that, i shorten phonsavan to "P-eee" and brit to "B-eee" -- cory gets a "k" sound and that is about all i have patience for right now.

ps. notice the new vimeo format? amanda and anne have been using vimeo and i absolutely LOVE the fact that the video is frame-less while it plays! beautiful detail! so, i've decided to try it out myself... so far much easier than photobucket!

round glass - smoothie face

as you have probably already determined, i LOVE smoothies. another thing that i LOVE is doing things by myself - particularly drinking a smoothie out of an adult-glass. this morning i kept turning the glass every time i took a drink, so that all sides of the glass became covered with smoothie - consequently it started to get on my face and created a ring-of-sorts that my mama thought was cool/funny. you can also see that i gave my papa a lesson on how to ask for more (in sign) ... i don't know how the camera was fast enough to catch such a thing!

below is a video documenting my obsession with cookies - well, at least my obsession for asking for cookies. i've come to terms with the frequency with which i actually obtain one.

20 months

and full of all sorts of tricks

big boy hanging at the park

YEEAAAAH! i love smoothies!

it's spring!!!

continued love of books

i love books so much! i like when people read to me, but i also like to read to myself. i grab a book, climb up into the {dental} reading chair with the cozy-fuzzy-fur and spend some fantastic quiet time reading to myself. this particular book is about different kinds of trucks, i like to give different trucks slightly different "voices" - like "brrrrm" for the tow trucks and "mmmm" for the concrete mixers and "ccrrrrsh" for the giant excavators (i even give this one a special hand-gesture to accentuate its personality)....

busy weekend

it sure was a busy weekend! the weather was sooooo nice that i spent nearly the whole weekend outside.

i like to stomp my feet on the temporary-airstream-patio (a palette!) because it makes a special kind of noise - a wood noise that is slightly hollow.

i also helped my mama test-out a new color for our house - she let me practice with a dry brush on the door. i felt really important and took great pride in my work!

but mostly i liked to run and roam all around the yard - back and forth, up and down and along the concrete wall - kicking and throwing the ball around - i even figured out a way to get my car out into the grass. there sure is a lot to do outside in the spring!

"mii mii"

my mama and i went to the bookstore for story-time and to meet miffy (whom i very affectionately call MIMI) it was a very exciting time. i got to hang out with with a bunch of kids, hear a miffy-story, color a picture of "mimi" and some "B-diii-s", i even got to shake her hand. ---> (i secretly liked the Clifford shaped-like-a-stuffed-animal-back-pack that i found hanging on rack the best - but after holding him and giving him a big hug, i put it back where i found it so that we could go home.)

signs of a big boy

signs that i am a big boy:
-i walked down the set of steps in front of our house all by myself!
-i can drink out of a glass without spilling it all over my face
-i run SUPER fast, can stomp my feet and kick a ball
-i will point at my bed when i am tired, even if my mom is planning to sing me an extra song because she loves when i'm sleepy in her arms
-i read hard bound books with paper pages - and will sit through stories that have more than one sentence on each page
-i listen to my mama and papa when they tell me to put something back where i found it, or close a cupboard door that i shouldn't have opened, or to take my feet off the table.
-i know how to lock myself in the bathroom so that i can clean the toilet with the toilet brush - or sniff & sniff the sweet-smelling soap that meg gave me for christmas
-i will say "no" if i don't want to go to bed - whether i'm asked in english or in lao.
-i have a favorite shirt and pair of jeans (i like my jeans sooo much that sometimes i like to sleep with them like a blanky)
-i LOVED the sugary candy and cupcakes at my cousin, lussi's birthday party - just like all big KIDS do! (much to my parent's dismay)

one fish, blue fish

well, it has been about 2 weeks now, that i've had my pet fish. my auntie phon brought me a female beta-fish (one fish) and when we went to buy some fish food, my papa really wanted to get a male beta-fish (blue fish), too. they started in the same fish bowl and they lived peacefully for a while. a couple days ago, we separated them because blue-fish was chasing one-fish and slowly nibbling pieces of her tail off. phew. good thing we separated them!

videos are fun- but mama likes these best

eating with a spoon

i have pretty much mastered the spoon! (my mom got this away without putting a bib on me for at least 30 seconds {during the video below}, right?!) i love to eat with a fork or spoon when i am at home with my mama and papa. when i am at MA-Tu's house, and eating sticky-rice, i also know to take a small piece and dip it in the sauce like all the adults do. i am bi-cultural -- and also showing signs of being bi-lingual. i understand both english and lao - i don't yet realize how good it is for my brain!

laughing at papa

snow storm = fort in the tree

the thumb is back

rough-housing with cousin lussi

my cousin lussi came to visit with her mom(kara) and grandma(gladys)--before she flew-out to visit her grandma-jan and grandpa-don in arizona. we had so much fun playing with eachother! we ran around, played with cars and baby-dolls and read books and stacked blocks and kicked the ball and laughed a lot! i love when she comes to visit!

in the movie (with lussi)

'baby-talk'

morning mask - 18 months old

stickers and pumas

i can't believe i already fit into the pumas that i got as a gift from my great-aunt and uncle, elaine and lyle! i LOVE to wear them and like to stomp my feet when my mom first puts them on my feet. i totally understand the milestone of growing out of all my old shoes!

start & end of my monday....

the day started well -- i was laying down with only my daiper on this morning, while my mom was getting me dressed, and i got a smart-little look on my face; took my pointer-finger, stuck in my belly button and said, "beep beep" - i saw my mom's jaw drop and then shake with laughter. what a great way to start the day.

i came home from Ma-Tu's house today with a pussy-blister on my left thumb -- my dearest, bestest friend in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD -- left thumb! somehow it must be connected to the fact that i love sucking that thumb of mine!

of course my parents had to worry about it popping while it was in my mouth, about it getting infected and all those adult-sort-of-worries. so tonight after they 'released' the blister and band-aided-up my thumb ... they had to go so far as wrapping it up in sweater-fuzziness so that i wouldn't (still) stick it in my mouth. ----> my day ended with a mitten over my whole left hand and i couldn't get myself to sleep very easily without my thumb... i was crying so sorrowfully, that i almost made my mom cry too. (i did fall asleep, though)

ready to get ready

i've got my long underwear on, two layers on top, my vest and my first layer of mittens (that my mama just made for me!) ... so i'm ready to get dressed to go outside... two more layers on my head & neck , my big-black snow suit and an outer layer of mittens...(and this is just to go to and from the car!) IT IS COLD OUT THERE!

{i don't realize this yet, but my mama is going on a 3-day trip for work and she took this picture before i left so that she can look at me on my blog while she is away. she can hear me now, looking around the house for her tonight... "mama? ..... mama? ..... mama? .... mama?"}