Here I am with some of my fav folks in Eugene...awaiting the reading and viewing of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas at Cole's house the other night. The book is SO much better than the movie... what were they THINKING? No, really, I liked both. The movie is way better if you yell, "DOGGIE! SILLY DOGGIE!" every time the Grinch's dog is on screen. We think we'll make this an annual event-- anything involving books, movies, friends, distracted parents and cookies is worth repeating year after year after year, right? Right.

Took a hike, climbed a tree, came home and made macaroons. You'll notice that I can now help cook thanks to my new stool. So, in other news: my doctor had the nerve to say during my 2 Year checkup yesterday that I'm a teeny bit off the charts in my, a-hem, roundness, so the dreadful fallout of that is that I only got to sample a little bite of these treats before mama took them to a party. What do the charts know? It's COLD for pete's sake--I need the extra layer!

My new stool designed and constructed by my new Best Friend Forever, Mr. Nic (Cole's papa). Now, for those of you wondering why it is that I would prefer this to, say, a lollipop or a teddy bear or a trip to Disneyland, listen carefully 'cause I'm only gonna cover this once: Countertop Access. Sink Access. Top of the World Feelings that truly have to be experienced to be believed. So come on over and I'll let you stand on my new stool... for three and a half seconds until it's MY TURN! Thank you, dear Nic. Oh thank you.

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind: when everything just makes you want to scream NO! and those pesky dogs are always under foot? The kind when dropping your fork makes you hostile towards the world at large? Yeah, you know the kind. The kind where, when all is said and done, all you want is to do is get your favorite sun hat, snuggle down with a book called "Do you have a hat?" and answer YES! I HAVE A HAT! every time it asks. If you've never tried this book on one of those days, you should. It makes the world right again.

It's beginning to look a lot like solstakkuhmas! Dad cut down an evergreen that was growing too close to our house, so had to come down, anyway. Mom hung the lights and set up this fantastic little Dicken's village beneath that I can't stop admiring. We also wrapped a tree in front of our house in white lights... We put the ornaments on our Solstice tree, hung our Christmas stockings, set up the Menorah, and managed to thoroughly confuse all sense of holiday awareness and order I had managed to amass over my first two years of life. What I'm figuring out is that lights are good and we're heading into a month long celebration of winter. I can roll with that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! Below are some shots of my week long celebration with Gramma, KooKoo, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Tom, mom and dad (and Bodhi, Lucy, Cricket and Frida!). We celebrated a happy Thanksgiving together and then got going on the true meaning of the holidays: Nonie's Birthday. As the pictures show, I hauled in the loot--thanks so much, everyone! So far, I am loving my Terrific Twos! (At the present moment, I am paying honors to the proverbial other kind of "twos" and resisting nap time with every tool and resource I have to work with..."Daddy now!" Water?" Hungry!" Baby (her doll) Hungry!" Bodhi and Lucy!" Gramma? KooKoo?" The list goes on...).

Ladies and gentleman: The next IRON CHEF!

I LOVE my sheep from Ireland!

My cake started off with raspberry decorations, but I thought that was a rather frivolous use of perfectly good food, so I gobbled them up immediately.

Fashionista Fabulosa. Thanks Gramma and Kookoo for the outfit... and Aunt Jenny and Uncle Tom for the BOOTS!

At the park with mommy, daddy and grammy; at the zoo with Grammy and Grampa Phil, at a Jewish Deli with Uncle Todd and reading books with Grandpa G. It was a great trip and I've been asking about "AIRPLANES" and "GRAMMY" ever since. (Nothing personal, everyone else, but Abby the dog seems to be in third place at the moment).

After an All Day All Night Nona Rock Star Weekend in LA, I'm back home and expected to fully recover by the end of the week. The fam, the glam, the zoo, the park--I'll catch you up on it all after one more long night's sleep. Peace out, yo.

Went back to the farm today--with Daddy this time. Mom stayed at home to paint the bathroom (she apparently didn't want my help). It's okay, I got to play with Dad and the Goats!

Halloween Party Time! Isn't my daddy a cutie? He promises not to do this when I'm a teenager (but I don't believe it for a second). I'm a ladybug, not a strawberry, which would be more obvious if my antennas weren't drooping behind my head.

Early on in the night, there were games for kids (I was more interested in watching the madness).


Later on in the night, there were fewer balloons and mummy games, and more adult beverages and dancing. Here's a sampling of some of my favorite costumes (The Phone Tree, THe Chicken and the My Space Page (he had a polaroid camera with him and kept adding friends all night, and kept a tally of his growing numbers on a post-it pad. His back had 5 wipe boards and markers for comments. best costume ever). And, finally, here I am with my buddy Cole, the Lion.

It's sunny and 60 degrees today, so--what else?--Mom and I went to a farm just outside of town to see what sort of Fall Fun we could have. This was no ordinary farm, mind you. It had a cow train. That's right: a Cow Train. (No cows involved, however; see the picture). It went over hills and through the pumpkin patch and into a small corner of the enormous corn maize... it now, quite possibly, holds the title of "My Favorite Thing Ever." There were goats, llamas, horses, mules, cows and dogs... all pretty fun to see, pet and feed. I'm now one hour into what will probably be a looooonnnngggg nap (I gave my notes to my assistant to be in touch with you all while I slept). Happy Halloween week, everyone!

The final product represents my favorite thing in the world: "moonsun" (of course).

Seen here taking advantage of one of the MANY perks of having a membership at the YMCA. I have something akin to Rock Star Status at this place. It's a little overwhelming--I was glad to get in the water to swim with Daddy!

Tree Kisser! (TreeHuggers are SO 1992).

Hey! Did someone say that Thanksgiving's coming up?