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

Tag! You're it!

Hi everybody!
As I mentioned before, on Wednesday 4/13/11, I was at the Randall Museum with DOJ, and I got to also hang out with Zealand a bunch - we ran around all over the Randall, both inside and outside. Here's some fun we had before we went out to the cement ledge.

Tag! You're it!

We had fun by one big tree.

At one point, I was chasing Zealand.

We're such typical boys that we can run and chase each other on grass, concrete, or any other surface.

Oooh and now Zealand's chasing me.
No matter who was chasing who, we both won! We had so much fun.
Love,
Julien the Baby

Fun with Zealand at the Randall on 4/13/11!

Hi everybody!
It's me, Julien the Baby! But as I love to remind my parents, I'm really more of a toddler than a baby.
Anyway, Wednesday 4/13/11 was a very fun and active day! I went to the Randall with DOJ in the morning for my Music & Motion class, then back home for lunch and a nap... and then in the afternoon, Lily and her mommy Stephanie came over. Then we had dinner with Ruby and her parents (Shuyi and Steve) that night. I got to see 3 baby friends in the same day!
That said, the Randall Museum class was cancelled that day, so it just meant playing a lot with Zealand. We ran all over the museum, inside and out.
Here are some pictures of just *some* of our adventures that day. I'll post more when I have more time.
After having played inside the Randall, here we are in the outside of the Randall Museum; this is the area inbetween the parking lot and the museum. There was a lot of space for running and having fun!

We had actually been running around playing Tag and Hide & Go Seek! So it was time to slow down the pace and have a hug.

We really had a lot of fun.


Then Zealand had the fun idea of resting on the cement ledge.

It was very comfortable and natural for us to be in this position. A lot of adults pay a lot of money to do this with Pilates trainers.



After awhile, it was time to elevate ourselves, in push-up position.

We are both very coordinated.
This was just a handful of minutes of a very fun morning! It's pretty amazing to think about how much fun and how many things I can do in a short period of time.
I'm very lucky to have so many different friends!
Love,
Julien the Baby

Snoopy and me...

Hi everybody!
It's me, Julien the Baby!
Well, as you know, I'm now 22 months old. Some people say that I'm no longer a baby, but rather a toddler. But DOJ still calls me his baby, so for now I just humor him by saying that I'm Julien the Baby!
Anyway on Saturday April 9, not only was it Teresa's birthday, but I got to spend the morning in the Presidio! I had brunch with Mommy and DOJ and PoPo, then we played in the nearby grassy area.

It looks like I'm in the forest, but really it's just a grassy area. My parents and PoPo were around me the whole time!

While walking about, I met a Labradoodle doggy named Snoopy.

Snoopy sure was friendly and gentle. He was very mellow.

It was nice to sit next to him - he was so big, but so fluffy and comforting!

It was a very mellow and relaxing day. I sure had a fun time!
Love,
Julien the Baby

Examples of a typical day

Hi everybody!
It's me, Julien the Baby!
I know that sometimes people wonder what I do all day, just like that old Richard Scarry book "What Do People Do All Day?"
So here are some pictures of activities I had on Saint Julien's Day, which is Thursday March 17.
Things started off at Tot Gym!


You may remember the Leaders of the Pack blog post! Well, it was from this day!

After Tot Gym, I played in the nearby playground. It was a lot of fun. I like to do a lot of different things, like climbing up onto structures, playing in the sand, going down slides, and just overall running around. Usually I'll play in the sand with other babies, but a lot of time the other babies can't keep up with me!
After the playground, we usually stroll to get lunch for DOJ, and then we go home where we'll have lunch and then I'll have a nice afternoon nap! Before the nap, I'll get a new fresh diaper and will change into PJs. It's nice to have a nap wearing fresh undies and PJs! I'll nap anywhere between 90 minutes and 3 hours, depending on how tired I am. It's great to have a nap, because then my mind and body can be rested and rejuvenated!

After the nap, DOJ changed my diaper and changed my clothes. Then we had a playdate with my friend Rebecca and her mommy Andrea, who we hadn't seen in a little while. We played both inside and outside - it was a gorgeous day and she has a water table, so we had a lot of fun with the water! Let's just say that after our playdate, I got to have another outfit change.

After the playdate and outfit change, my parents and I headed out to Off the Grid in the Haight Ashbury, where we got to enjoy dinner with Mommy's book club friends! They selected yummy foods from different food trucks and then we sat down and ate together. One of Mommy's friends let me play with her cell phone, she was so nice!
Then we came home and I went to bed!
And that was my Saint Julien's Day fun!
Love,
Julien the Baby

Randall Museum Activities!

Hi everybody!
It's me, Julien the Baby!
With the Spring season classes now in session, I get to go to the Randall Museum once a week for a Music & Motion class, which is similar to Music Together. What's especially fun about this class is that several of my friends are also in the class - admittedly we all conspired to try to get into this class together. So at least once a week, I get to see Zealand (from my GGMG playgroup), Lyra, und Henry (who was in Tot Gym with me the previous season)!
What's also so great is that after the Music & Motion class, I get to go to the train room to play with the big train tracks. DOJ has recently started to bring some of my trains, so that I can also use my trains with their tracks. He got this idea from Zealand's mommy Chelsea! So thoughtful. Anyway here are some pictures of Zealand and me playing with in the train room after class a couple weeks ago.

We're actually standing on a platform, because otherwise we'd be too short to see the tracks. After all, we are babies!

I'm playing with someone's red train and Zealand is playing with someone's green trains!


We've known each other for so long - we met just a day or two after I first met Ruby!
It's really great to get to play with Zealand - we have similar curly hair so it's fun to also talk about our hair care needs.
Love,
Julien the Baby