Email From Marty- Happy Thanksgiving 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

“Obble, Obble, Gobble”….that’s what the turkey says! Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great Turkey Day at my cousins J.D. and Carley’s new house. We had lots of food and cousin Grace came too so I had someone my age to get in trouble with! It was a typical day with too much yummy food thanks to Grandma, John Daddy and Aunt Mary. Uncle John and the guys were in front of the TV watching football, Mommy and Aunt Sandy were digging thru the sale flyers in the newspaper, and there were a few naps for some of us. Mommy and Daddy went to a movie between lunch and dinner, and after we got home late that night and Mommy tucked Daddy and I into bed she went off to join all of the other women in Collin County at the Midnight Madness Sale at the Allen Outlet Mall! You know Mommy, she can’t miss a sale!

I know it has been a long time since I’ve written and I apologize for the delay. My parents have me on a tight schedule and I’m afraid that I’m on the verge of toddler burn-out!

I try to be a good boy! I really do. I want them to be proud of me and I try to show off when they want me to recite the alphabet or my numbers. Yes, I’ve learned the colors to make Mommy happy, and I’m trying my darnedest to learn to count objects to get Daddy off of my back! BUT…they’re taking this TOO FAR! Daddy’s driving me nuts with his science stuff! Wouldn’t ya know I’d get a Dad with a science major! We go outside every night and say goodnight to the moon. That’s ok, but now he’s got me memorizing the planets! He’s even got the ENTIRE DVD collection of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos Series which we watch every night! To combat this influence, Mommy is fighting back with her love of art!! But I’m afraid she’s not fighting on the same level. To keep up with Daddy she should have me studying the master’s works at the Louvre in Paris, but instead we’re taking a “Mommy & Me” class called Abrakadoodle at the Rec Center for 2 year olds that’s lots of fun! Every Monday we get to paint and get all messy! I come home with my own framed masterpiece to show Daddy. Though, I think he’d be more impressed if I was painting a picture of the solar system!

My true passion is airplanes and helicopters. I live and breathe them! I wake up to them, make engine noises and pretend I’m flying. I can name most all of the parts from the tail rotors and skids to the ailerons and rudders, and even the pittot tubes. I love to hang out at the McKinney Airport with Daddy. We do that at least once a week! Usually on Sunday mornings we get up early and let Mommy sleep, go get some breakfast at McD’s and then head out to see who’s flying! They all know us pretty well out there and the regulars recognize me. I’d stay there all day just to watch planes take off and land if Daddy would let me, but eventually we have to leave. But as soon as we come home I play with my toy planes and helicopters! I have lots of them!! I have some really cool books too. Just the other day while we were shopping at Half Price Books, Mommy found a book in the children’s section about airplanes with cute drawings and cartoons that she thought I’d like. But I’d already found the book I wanted- the 1995 International Directory of Civil Aircraft!! It’s got photos of all kinds of airplanes and helicopters. Yes, most kids might like the cute, juvenile books, but this catalog is really cool and I spend hours looking at the pictures in it every day! I can even pick out the photos of the piper cub and the DC-3. You don’t think that’s weird for a two year-old, do you???

I got to attend my first real Air Show at Alliance Airport! It was a little overwhelming. Especially when the simulated air bomb attack started over head that no one had warned me about! Ella and Logan and their parents came along and we had a fun day, though it was really hot. We saw all kinds of airplanes and helicopters. I think Daddy had a good time too. He really likes all of that stuff too. He’s the one that got me interested in aviation. Just last weekend he and Mommy took me to an airplane museum that was really fun too. I walked up to an engine on display and told Daddy that it was a piston engine. Now how many two year-olds know what a piston engine looks like, huh?

I’ve been busy with some other fun stuff too. Mommy decided I needed a little exposure to my heritage so she and Daddy took me to the annual Armeniafest. I think she went just for the Baklava! All of the people there looked like Daddy and his side of the family. I sure didn’t look like an Armenian kid! But it was cool to watch them dance, though I think I could teach them a few dance steps myself. I liked the food too.

We also went to Grace’s house for a Halloween party that was really cool. I was dressed as…you guessed it, a pilot!! We decorated cupcakes (I ate all of the decorations off of the table while no one was looking!), we jumped in the bounce house and even hit a piñata until candy came out! Then a few nights later we went door to door begging for candy. Now this is something new that I really liked!!! Mommy says we can only do it one night a year but I really like the concept. We went over to Aunt Sandy and Uncle John’s neighborhood and to Grandma’s house. However next year I’m not riding home with Daddy…my candy dwindled on the ride home!

Well folks, it’s Christmastime again. Last year it was still new to me, but this year I think I know how to work the system! I know it all starts when the scary fat man in the red suit hits town. I realize that I MUST brave the mall and the line to sit in the creepy guy’s lap long enough for the dreaded photo and to appear that I AM a “good boy.” After all it IS all about appearances! Then I come home, email him my list of wants and sit back and wait for Christmas morning! In the meantime, I must endure being pranced around in silly little holiday outfits that Mommy thinks are “just adorable” to wear to Christmas parties. I must be tempted with a million plastic ornaments hung on a fake tree in the family room that look good enough to eat but really taste terrible. Then there’s the living room tree. It’s in the “no-touch zone.” It has china ornaments than any other time I would never be interested in. But just because I know I’m not supposed to touch them, I just CAN’T resist. The urge is more powerful than I am!!

I’m having a little party of my own and you are invited! On Saturday afternoon, December 16th please come on over to my house for my 1st Annual Christmas Cookie Party. We’re going to be decorating cookies to eat and to take home for Santa! (I’m going to need a good bribe when he gets to my house to make sure he leaves me some gifts!) It’s from 2-4 p.m. at 5028 Avery Lane in McKinney. We’d love to have you stop by so please come! RSVP to my email at marty@vaneskahian.com or call Mommy at 972-540-0884. I hope to see you there!

LOVE,
MARTY (Jean-Martin G. Vaneskahian)