Dear Family and Friends,
Only 23 days until I turn 3 and a mere 27 days until the biggest celebration of the year, and I’m not talkin’ about Christmas! My pony, Tony, is throwing me a big birthday party at his corral on September 8th and I hope everyone will come!! He says he’ll give rides to all of my family and friends!! There will be hot dogs and ice cream and cake and all of the good party stuff too. Tony, the Pony lives with my Uncle Tommy and NayNay (Renee) and ChaCha (Charley) at the Johnson’s home in Southlake. If you need directions just call my Mommy. Saddle up and come on over about 11am on September 8th, I hope to see you there!
I’ve been busy, busy, busy! On top of my usual tight schedule of parties and playdates, I’ve been squeezing in lots of pool time with Mommy and in the evenings with Daddy too. I’m able to swim laps across the big community pool just around the corner from our house. Of course, I use the word “swim” a bit loosely. I’m not sure the American Red Cross would certify me as a swimmer, but with the help of my Nemo fins and floaties that Tia Lusan and Tio Nelson got for me I am a very independent dog paddler! I can also put my face under water, blow bubbles, float on my back and jump in from the side of the pool. Heck, who needs swim lessons-- I’m ready for the high dive!
Recently I had front row, center seats for Diego Live at the Nokia Live Theater and WOW, what a great show it was. You know, Diego is one of my favorite cartoon characters and I was very excited about meeting the “real” Diego. Mommy shopped for weeks looking for the perfect Diego outfit. (She doesn’t usually let me wear character clothes, but she found one she thought wasn’t too cheesy looking! Grandma even embroidered my name on the hat.) I was definitely the best dressed kid there and several Moms asked where Mommy had found my outfit. She smiled and was beaming with pride when she answered them! I couldn’t have been any closer to Diego unless I had climbed on stage…and if Mommy hadn’t been sitting right next to me you know I would have! Instead, I was able to get up and dance on the floor right in front of the stage. Some dancing palm tree people came down and danced with me! It was sooo cool!! NayNay and ChaCha came along too and I came home with most ALL of the souvenirs they sold, thanks to NayNay!
I’m also now an official Meals-On-Wheels deliverer with Mommy and her friend, Kathy! I even have my own “MOW” badge with my picture on it! We go to the Allen Community Outreach and pick up food to deliver to some very nice people who can’t get out and shop for groceries or prepare food for themselves. My job is to carry the milk or juice to the door. I really like it when they let me come in their house and take a look around for anything cool to play with. Everyone thinks I’m very cute and most all say I’m a “big helper.” It makes me feel really good to be helping others! Mommy thinks volunteering and learning to give your time to help others in need is very important and that I should be learning this at an early age.
And, speaking of Allen Community Outreach…this agency is especially important to Mommy because this is where she worked at the Volunteer Services Director for 4 years before she had me! Now that I’m going to be in school 2 days a week beginning next month, Mommy is going back to work 2 days a week at the Outreach Center to help them with their Capital Campaign and fund raising efforts. She’s very excited to be “back in the groove!” She can work with the friends she has there and with the mission she feels is so important to the community, yet still be able to be home with me when I’m not in school.
And, speaking even more about school…I’m getting to be a big boy now!! (Except for the potty training stuff…which is something I’m not the least bit interested in and it’s driving Mommy CRAZY! But hey- why should I waste time at the potty when this diaper thing is so easy!!) Anyway, they won’t know what hit them when I come through those doors on the first day of school! I’m so excited to be starting at the Spanish Schoolhouse in Frisco! School begins September 10th. Daddy has been holding summer school, you know, getting me ready for the entrance exams I guess. I’m well prepared for the basics of numbers, colors, body parts, etc. in Spanish. Daddy’s also gone a little overboard with the Science stuff- I’m really progressing on the Periodic Table of Elements Chart. So much so, that Daddy’s friends at work are giving him a hard time about me just memorizing the colored squares on the chart and not the letters that correspond to the element. So, back in front of the video camera I went the other day so Daddy could show me off again!
Just last week I went to my first Circus!! Mommy, Renee (NayNay) and Charley (ChaCha) accompanied me. We began with the preview of the animals 90 minutes before the show...in the parking garage which was about 110 degrees and no breeze! But we got to see the elephants and white tigers and horses up close. From there we spent the next hour on the floor of the arena chasing clowns to autograph my program (that would be Mommy and Renee who were doing the chasing!) and they got a few Kodak moments of me and Charley in clown noses and circus costumes. Just before the show began we choked down $23 chicken nuggets and $8 hot dogs. While Renee and Charley stopped at the potty, Mommy and I went on to make our way in the down the MANY steps in the dark. I was scared and wanted Mommy to carry me. But she was already carrying her purse filled with left over fries and chicken (in case I got hungry during the show), a coke, and the HUGE inflatable booster seat that Renee bought so I could see better in my seat! Once we got to our row, Mommy had to figure out how to get me in the blow-up seat, in the flip-down chair. She had her own clown show going on as she tried to hold the chair down with one knee, put the blow up seat on top of it, and pick me up on top of it all, while holding on to her purse and the coke and trying not to obscure the view of the people behind us. Did I mention that I was whining throughout this process that I wanted to “get d-o-w-n!”
Then the show began...and there were elephants, tigers, horses, acrobats, motorcycles and clowns in little cars, a few loud noises that scared me and confetti shooting up in the air...then Renee came back from intermission with a BIG light-up spinner with a red elephant on top, a plastic cell phone that orders "cotton candy please," a big stuffed monkey in a Jester's hat, and a light-up red clown's nose...and 2 1/2 hours later and we are all exhausted and heading back to the car...but I got my second wind once we got in the car! So I talked to Bobby the elephant on my new cell phone and played with my bright spinner all the way home! And, I’ve slept with the monkey in my bed every night since! Video from the circus is also here on our blog if you want to check it out, scroll down below to the circus entry.
Mommy and Daddy are trying to catch up with the current techies and become bloggers. The most recent info will now be on our blog website at http://vaneskahian.blogspot.com/ and our regular website will become a more static web page with little changes. My emails, both current and past letters will also be available on the blog site. You can also access our photo album and video gallery from the blog site so bookmark this site for access to all of our latest “stuff.”
As always, thanks for you interest in my life, trials and tribulations. It still amazes Mommy and Daddy how many people ask to be added to my email mailing list. And, if you ever want to be removed from my list for any reason, please say so. Just email me at marty@vaneskahian.com and put “unsubscribe” in the subject line and we’ll take you off of the list ASAP!
Stay cool as the dog days of summer are here. I hope to see you at my party next month! Please keep in touch!
I love ya,
MARTY a.k.a. Jean-Martin G. Vaneskahian
