Big Builder

Mommy says that when I was little (like Tommy) I liked to knock things down and see them crash all over the floor. Tommy does that and it drives me crazy!!! I have to wait for his nap to build my cool stuff.

I love building with blocks, train tracks, books, chairs and blankets--you name it! Look at my coolest one yet. See how I put the tracks up on the blocks? I like my buildings to be UP. The little blocks were just the thing.

Mommy loves that I build things and she loves building with me. She keeps Tommy out of the way so I can stretch my train tracks all across the living room. Now, if only Tommy would just grow out of this messy phase he could play with me and we could build things together!

Pesky Little Brother

Tommy won't leave me alone! You know, I really do love my brother, but sometimes he drives me crazy!

Every time I try to make something he breaks it! Train tracks, towers--everything! Even worse, he just HAS to play with whatever I'm playing with. Argh!!!

I try to get Mommy to help make Tommy leave me alone, but then she can't play with ME. Ooooh, that Tommy!

He's unreasonable too. He wants to play with my toys, but then he gets mad when I take his toys. That's just annoying. Sometimes I like to play with Tommy, but sometimes I just want him to stay on his own side of the room and play with the toys I don't want to play with.

That pesky little brother!

Play Pretend

My favorite game right now is to be someone else--anyone else.

I like to be Mommy (doing anything I want to do), Daddy (going to work), Tommy (being a baby), Grandpa (making bread), Grandma (squeeze-hugs for everyone!), Yaya (flying on an airplane), Pop (playing in snow), and Gordon (going on the walk). And those are only the real people!

When I'm feeling a little different I like to be Tigger (with a slinky on my bum, singing the Tigger song), Thomas the Train (chugging around the house), Gumby (talking to an imaginary Pokey in a silly voice), Dash (running super fast), the Jack-a-lope (bounding and rebounding around the room), Handy Manny (chatting with my tools and fixing everything), Donald Duck (talking in a quacky voice), or Zooter the Pig (Singing 'Gotta Zip' from Jungle Junction).

I also like to make my toys have long, complicated conversations. Most of my toys are very good friends with each other.

Yes, my little world is full of funny things and people. (And some frightening ones too--like those blue Lye-ja-ways and the scary baby Jack-Jack--ooooo, he's freaky!) But the best thing of all is playing pretend with someone real, like Mommy, Daddy, Tommy, or pretty much anyone who comes my way.

"Okay, you are Gumby and I'm Pokey. Hi, Gumby! I'm Pokey! Watcha doin'?"

Games with Daddy

Daddy is my best friend (after Mommy, of course, but before Tommy). He teaches me how to play very cool games.

One of our favorite things to do together is play what he calls 'sports'. Most of the time this means throwing a ball into each other's hands. It's called 'Catch'. Mommy plays with me sometimes too, but Daddy is best. He's really good at Catch.

We also play football, golf, and soccer (that's just kicking the ball and running after it really fast! GREAT GAME!!!)


Another game Daddy showed me at a park one day involved running around a big grassy square and touching white pillows with your feet.

I don't get it, but Daddy says it's more fun with a ball. Always these balls--I LOVE IT!!!

Three of my favorite things in the world are chocolate, drums, and BALLS! I've got tons of them and they all look different.

I wonder which one goes with the game where you run around the grassy square. Hmmm...

"Yes, I'm three."

People like to ask me two questions. "What is your name?" It's Brady, of course!

The other question is trickier. "How old are you?" Well, it's complicated.
I used to say "Two!" because I was two. But now I am three, so I say "Three."

But sometimes I forget how old I am. I haven't been three for very long, you see, and it's kind of confusing.

So when people ask "How old are you?" sometimes I say "I'm Brady" (usually when I mix up the question) or "Seven!" (just to throw them off) or "Um, no. I don't think so, guys." Sometimes, if I feel like it, I won't answer at all and make them guess.

But most of the time I just say "Three!" because it's true. I had a birthday and now I'm three.

"Yes. That's right. I'm three!"

Happy Hollow

On my birthday (MINE, not Tommy's) we went to Happy Hollow. I had never been there before, but I've decided I'm definitely going back.
It was very pretty and had lots of things to see and do!

First thing, of course, was to ride on a goat. To be perfectly honest, I wanted to ride the elephant, but I was too late. The goat was nice, though, and I got to pat the elephant after the ride, so it's all good.

Then I played with some REAL goats. They're very soft, but they run away unless you have food. Fortunately, I like to run too. Great game chasing goats!

I sat on a turtle too, but it didn't run. Turtles are VERY slow.

This is a donkey just like in Shrek 2 (one of my favorite movies). I got to feed the donkey and he wanted to be in the picture.

Then we found this thing called a Maze. Mama thought I would get lost, but I found me way out super fast. I didn't get lost at all!

Daddy and Tommy did, though. I had to go back in to find them. Actually, I went back in a lot of times, just because I could!

I also rode on a roller coaster, a frog ride, a bug ride, a fire truck and police car ride, and I got a blue ice-drink all for my own self because it was my birthday.

Hoooray for Happy Hollow! "Is the zoo! Let's go the zoo again! Okay! The zoo!"

"No. Not zoo again. The beach! Okay, the Beach now! Let's go!"

ps. Tommy got to ride on the bug ride and truck ride too, but I didn't mind. I like hanging out with him sometimes.

Three at the Beach!

"It's my birthday, Mama. Yes. We're go to the Beach. Okay. Let's go!"
"More sand. Fix it, Mama. Come on, Daddy! Sand! Let's go get it!"

"I do it. I help. Me do it, Daddy!"

"No! No! Don't get me, Daddy! Don't get me sand!"

"Tommy do it too, Mama. I help him. Come on, Tommy. Let's play sand. That's toes!!"

"I playin' drums, Mama. Do da, do doo dooo! Da dat daaaah! Is drums'!"

"This my cave, Mama. Yes. This not your cave, Mama. This MY cave. It is. Yes. My Cave."

"This my house, Mama. This your house. This my cave. This my house. Is good house. Stay here. Yes. Stay here, Mama. Is your house."

"What's this, Mama? Is it? Yucky! Crab? Oh, yucky! Is dead. Yes. Dead. Yucky!"

"I play sand. Yes. Is good. I like beach. Is not too cold."

"Tommy not play my sand. No, Tommy! No touch it! MY sand! No, Tommy. NOOOOO!"

"Yes. Happy birthday Brady. I'm three. Birthday again? One day? One more day? Again birthday?"