We went to Lake Minnetonka on Friday. Daddy had the day off so we could go to a charity event. It was a Bass fishing competition. Mum & Dad aren't into the whole bass fishing thing but we all went to support our neighbour Mr Brady who organized it to raise money for the University her works for. It was very very very HOT, over 100 degrees! I got quite sweaty. Daddy and Mummy were HOT too!

We saw lots of fish and big boats and red faced men drinking beer.

I learnt that fishing = men + beer

On Thursday Olive got a haircut. She looks very funny! All her fur is gone and she looks skinny!

On Thurday I got a haircut too! Mummy took me to a place called Kids Klipz...I wasn't very happy to start with, but there was a nice lady there who showed me Dora the Explorer on the TV and I let her snip hy hair while I watched the video(my first Dora TV experience!) When we were done I was much lighter. Mummy says I have a bob? I'm not sure who 'bob' is but I think I lost him in the supermarket, because I havent seen him anywhere.

I can say 'ollie 'aircut' and 'Piper 'aircut'

Mummy has a job! I don't know what this means for me but I smell something fishy and it isn't Daddy's feet!

I will keep you all updated.

The Doctor asked Mummy if I could stack a few blocks yet? I guess it's one of those developmental questions...she snapped this photo the next day. Watch out Frank Lloyd Wright move over Terrance Conran, I'm on your heals as America's next avante garde architect!

p.s I'm also aiming for the Hoppe Family 'Jenga' championship this year

I had my 18 month check up yesterday.

I showed the Dr's my theory on how loud a child needs to scream before all the adults eardrums start to bleed! I wasn't pleasant.

I grew 2" in the last three months, but I'm still 23.5 lbs. The Dr said I'm so active that's why I haven't gained any weight. I got TWO stinky shots and a lousy sticker to show for it.

We are slowly but surely building a viable living space. I do so like the new sofa, it's small because our room is pretty narrow, but I like to sit there with Daddy and read stories. We are working on a rug, and curtains...maybe by next year we'll have a real living room!

My fabulous first foray into the fine art of fingerpainting...an artists retrospective...
"one must abandon all conceptions of correctness, painting is an extension of my soul...and to bear the naked beauty of my work I too must be unrestricted"

p.l.h.h (this is my new handle)

am I done? when is a masterpiece ever really done? there is always something to improve upon, always something to tweak. an artists job is never done, we suffer from the unrelenting pressure of perfecting our craft. Was Pollock haunted by the choices I have to make?, did Picasso ponder the meaning of his work? don't even get me started on DaVinci....we all know how that worked out!

I paint, therefore I am.

therefore, I am covered in paint!

lets backtrack here...a week ago Mummy & Daddy took me to the fairground up in Chanhassen, thats about 5 minutes from here. There was a big 4th of July party going on for the kids, with bouncy castles(too young), pony rides(too young) apple bobbing(too gross)...finally we found an age appropriate and relatively germ free option...the 44 gallon drum train! Woooowoooo! I l-o-v-e-d it! I loved it so much I had a stomp my feet, scream my lungs out 'noooooooooo...mooooreeeee...choooochooo' tantrum. It didnt work.

Well, at least I have these photos and my memories.

So far no posts in July and I'm 18 months old tomorrow! Mummy had a bit of a brain drain and was thinking I was still only 17 months old! Now she realizes that I am a whole year and a half and is stunned!

This past week or so has been interesting, I'm trying out all sorts of words and sentences. I managed a short sentence or two, not quite Shakespeare but I'm getting there! Me sock feet on. Please more mummy gapes(grapes). and my favorite poo poo peepee please. 'Daddy wok(work) bye bye' is also a good one. I can say pull-up, shirt, pants, sock, shoe, it's all about fashion darhlings!

Today we went to the Dr's to check out the raw mess of blisters on my feet...I don't know what's up with that but it's some kind of crazy excema/dermatitis and the Dr said it's fairly rare but I have special cream that makes it feel much better, hopefully I'll be back on pointe in a week or so!


On the weekend we saw Matt & Rachel, we met them at Brits pub so we could watch the World Cup final, it was hot and we sat outside on the lawn bowls green to watch on a big screen...I love to kick the ball around but watching a whole game was a bit boring. I decided to introduce myself to the 400 spectators one by one. Daddy calls that networking.

I will make sure mummy gets cracking with the camera...I'm growing like a weed!