Discovering the Discovery Museum!

Hi everybody!
It's me, Julien the Toddler!
On Thursday May 19, I went to the Discovery Museum in Sausalito with Zealand. DOJ and Chelsea (Zealand's mommy) drove us there, and we got to sit in the back seat of the vehicle, each of us in our car seats. It was very fun because we chatted and laughed a lot together while our parents did the hard work of driving us.
I've never been to the Discovery Museum, but it's pretty amazing. It's a lot bigger than The Randall Museum, where I've also had a lot of fun. There are several rooms with fun exhibits, as well as a great outdoor area with fun stuff.

Here I am in The Marine Room. I'm not sure if it's actually called The Marine Room, but it has a lot of marine theme fun, as well as a big train display. You can see me on a boat, ringing a bell. The boat is so realistic that it even rocks, so we feel like we're on the water, even though this boat is inside a room.

Zealand was also on the boat, and we chased each other. First he chased me, but later I chased him. We have a lot of fun running in circles.

Here we are in a fun tunnel that's very marine themed! The tunnel is tall enough so that we could actually run if we wanted - and there is also an aquarium that we admired in this picture. DOJ had a tougher time in the tunnel, because he could only crawl - he's so tall that he couldn't stand and run in it the way we can.

I had a lot of fun pretending to be a seafood purveyor.

I even got to help unload crab and lobster from a net!
After the Marine room, we actually went to other parts of the Discovery Museum. I got to have fun and get wet in the Wave room, which is very scientific - there was a lot of focus on water waves. Then I had fun in an outdoor waterfall area, where I got really wet. It was a sunny day so I didn't need to change out of my wet clothes right away.
We also ran into Tatum (and her brother Landon and their mommy Melissa), who is in our playgroup. We all ran about in the room with faux lily pads, which were so bouncy - it was just like being on a water bed. Or maybe it *was* a water bed, but floor level.
There was also a ramp where I could race trucks, but that will be another blog post.
We ended our visit (which lasted about 3 or so hours) in the Discovery Museum Shop, which has a nice train table. Actually there are 2 train tables! So Zealand and I got to play with the trains. You may notice that I'm wearing a different outfit, and it was nice and dry.

Zealand and I have a lot of fun together, but sometimes with the trains we have fun playing near each other but we'll be doing different things.

Trains are pretty amazing.

Hopefully this train table will encourage my parents to make enhancements with our current train set up at home!
Anyway overall I really loved going to The Discovery Museum with Zealand, and I look forward to returning there, with Zealand or other friends, or just with either or both of my parents. It's a very fun place.
Thank you so much Zealand for introducing this gem to me.
Love,
Julien the Toddler

Sliding on Tuesday, May 3!

Hi everybody!
It's me, Julien the Toddler!
Happy Birthday Mommy aka Mamma!
Anyway here are some video stills of me sliding down the slide at Glen Park on Tuesday May 3.

Here I am at the top of the slide. I had to walk up all these steps just to get here.

I'm slowly descending - you can see William walking up as he prepares to go down the slide next. He's almost 3, so he's older than me.

Here I descend - since it's a sunny day, I'm wearing my sun hat!

You can't see me too clearly because of the sun, but here I am!

Finally I'm at the bottom... and probably ready to climb the steps again to go back to the top!
Love,
Julien the Baby

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

Hi everybody!
It's me, Julien the Toddler!
May 17 (Tuesday) is Mommy's birthday! Happy birthday Mamma!
Here are a few pictures throughout my life with you.

Here we are at the hospital on June 5, 2009, just hours after I was born! Even when I was just a handful of hours old, I knew that I was going to love being held by you, my Mommy!

Here we are in October 2009 at Sophia's house for a Halloween party! In case you don't remember, I'm costumed as Charlie Brown!

Here we are in April 2010 in Provence, enjoying a gorgeous sunset with some amazing views of Daddy! Oh, and I guess it looks nice behind me as well...

Here we are in Central Park in October 2010! I always love our adventures together, both home and away!

Finally here we are in December 2010 in front of Bar Italia! Even though you're posing for the camera, I'm looking at something fun on the sidewalk!
Happy Birthday Mommy!
I'm excited to celebrate with you!
Love,
Julien the Toddler

23 months...

Hi everybody!
It's me, Julien the Toddler! I'm 23 months. I'm growing up fast. Blink and you just might miss something!
Speaking of blinks, here are some recent pictures of me descending slides. DOJ is going to send me more pictures for a future blog post.

Here I am on May 7, 2011 (Saturday) at the Koret Playground concrete slide. It's a bit steep of a slide - just getting to the top of the slide is an adventure!

This slide is part of a bouncy house that I enjoyed on Tuesday May 3, 2011 at Tot Gym! The mouth is like that whacky statue in Bomarzo, Italy.

See, even the teeth are similar! My parents visited Bomarzo during their 2006 honeymoon, so hopefully I'll get pictures of them at Bomarzo to share with you!

And here's a picture from my 23-month-birthday dinner - yes, I'm actually drinking water from a plastic cup. I haven't perfected drinking from an open cup (as compared to a sippy cup), but I'm having fun with practice!
Love,
Julien the Toddler

Happy 23 month birthday to Julien!

Dear Julien,
Happy 23 month birthday to you! It's me, Dadda, aka DOJ (Daddy of Julien)!
I know that I like to refer to you as my little baby, but you are clearly a toddler. It's just too obvious that you've grown up so much. You're very active and busy - you're a mover and a shaker. You're very social - you love to interact with people, whether they're your fellow baby (and toddler) friends, dogs and puppies, or just random people on the street. You do things that babies simply cannot do - yet another reason why you really are a toddler.
In honor of the amazing Julien that you are, here are some early baby pictures!

Here you are in the hospital with me, Dadda! You were not even a full day old!

I was probably a bit nervous about how to hold you, because you were so little, precious, and fragile! Also, it was my first full day of being a parent, so I was still learning things.

Of course, I gradually warmed up and became more comfortable about being a parent - it took a few hours, and I appreciate your patience for me to be less nervous.

Here we are in France in April 2010, when you were 10 and a half months old. By this point, I was no longer worried about you being too fragile, because I knew how much you enjoyed being active and having fun!

Even when I keep you dressed in PJs, I know that you're always ready for fun.
Now I hear you not sleeping in your crib, so it's time to say farewell to this blog post and spend time with you, my little Julien!
Love,
Dadda