yesterday, maddie invited me to the bay area discovery museum (BADM) in sausalito.  i would say that this is my new favorite local hotspot, but it’s not really “local”.  it’s far.  it took us almost 1.5 hours to drive there, but it was so awesome that it was worth it.

i had heard about this place before, but i always assumed that it would be just like the children’s discovery museum in san jose.  not the case at all.  when we go to CDM, we stay for maaaybe 2 hours, and then leave to go eat lunch.  we stayed at the bay area discovery museum for over 5 hours, and we didn’t even get to see everything.  we could have stayed longer, but i was so exhausted that i couldn’t even stand up straight.  mama had to carry me to the car, where i promptly passed out before we even got out of the parking lot.

so what’s so exciting about this place?  lemme tell you.  first of all, the BADM is at fort baker.  it’s huge.  so even when there are lots of kids there, you don’t feel squished like a sardine (like i often do at CDM).  and mama likes the fact that there is free parking and an incredible view of the golden gate bridge from right there in the parking lot.  (check out the photo of the golden gate bridge that mama took from the car, right before we went inside the museum.)

the BADM is made up of a bunch of individual halls.  there’s an art studio, discovery hall, wave workshop, etc.  my top 3 favorite exhibits were painting on windows (where you even get to “erase” your artwork with a squeegee!), making frogs blow bubbles by stomping on a button on the floor, building with colorful magnetic shapes, playing with the wooden train set with miles of track (ok maybe not miles), balancing on the waterbed “pond” with real fish that swim above you…  oh wait, that’s more than 3.

to get from hall to hall, you have to walk outside.  but that’s ok cuz there are so many outdoor exhibits to explore.  the tot spot has an outdoor stream with waterfalls, the lookout cove is a 2.5-acre interactive exploration area, and there’s lots more, too.  my 3 favorite outdoor exhibits (really just 3 this time) were searching for treasure in an archaeological dig, playing the wooden xylophones while sitting on tree stumps, and chasing the birds all around the whole place.  i guess the birds aren’t really an exhibit, but just an added bonus 🙂

i always include only 1-2 photos per blog entry, except for extra special posts, like vacations.  but this entry has 3 photos because BADM is like a vacation!  maddie and i had such a great day.  mama kept trying to take photos of us playing together, but every time she whipped out that camera phone, one of us ran away.  i didn’t want my girlfriend kimora to see pictures of me with another girl.  i dunno what maddie’s excuse was.  maybe she has a boyfriend.  we don’t talk about that kind of stuff.

i can’t wait to go back to BADM!  anyone wanna day trip to sausalito?  make sure you sleep in that day, cuz i guarantee that once we get there, you will not want to have to leave for your afternoon nap!

i am one and a half years old today.  i dunno why, but every seems to think that that’s a big deal.

things i like:

• music.  every time i hear music, i start doing my signature dance — the booty drop.
• trains.  especially thomas the tank engine.
• legos.  the duplo sets are just the right size for me.  i have a toy story duplo lego set and i always put the gas pump on the roof of the truck.  grown ups don’t get why i do that, but i like how it sticks up like an antenna.
• elmo.  who doesn’t love elmo?
• tractors and dump trucks.  when i hear the garbage truck outside, i always rush to the door to watch it in action.
• airplanes.  whenever i see or hear one, i stop, look up in the sky, and wave to it.
• pressing buttons on elevators and crosswalk signals.  it doesn’t matter if i actually need to get on the elevator or cross the street, i could just push the buttons all day.  one time, i even pressed the emergency alarm button in an elevator!  oops.
• climbing up and standing on the kitchen chair.  it’s fun to watch/help mama and daddy cook, bake, and wash dishes.
• bubbles.  it’s pretty cool when other people make magic bubbles, but i love it when i get to hold the bubble wand and (try to) blow the bubbles myself!
• regular cups.  i drink out of regular cups at meal times, now.  and for some reason, the front of my shirt often ends up all wet.
• hanging.  the high bar is my favorite apparatus at gym class.  i like to hang for as long as i can, then like to jump down for a crash-landing on the foam mat.
• still rings.  my regular gym just installed some, and i love playing with them.  i’m working on my iron cross.
• using my potty.  well, it’s not so much the potty that i like, but i like reading my favorite books (which are are now kept in the bathroom), and i like the big celebration that i get to have after i go 🙂
• sugar.  i have a sweet tooth like mama and daddy.  and every once in awhile, they let me try a tiny morsel of the real desserts that they eat (cake, ice cream, cookies, chocolate mousse, meringue swirls, etc.).  delicious!  i only get one tiny bite, and then they tell me i’m all done.  but i’m not all done!  there is lots more, but they just don’t want to share.  one of these days, i’m going to get my hands on entire cake and gorge myself on all the sweet, rich, buttery goodness.  i’m tired of eating all the healthy yucky no-refined-sugar stuff that mama makes for me.

things i don’t like:

• zip lining.  WAAAAAHHH!!!
• squeaky shoes.  i refuse to walk in them.
• big crowds of grown ups.  i don’t like it when i’m the shortest person in the room.  but if there are other kids around, i’m good.

i had a fun party weekend.  i had TWO birthday parties to go to!  on saturday, we went to logan’s party, and on sunday was edison’s.  logan and edison were actually born on the same day.  cool, huh?  it turns out that they have the same birthday as daddy, too!   daddy says that only the coolest of cool guys are born on that day.

when we first got to logan’s party, i walked into the restaurant and only saw grown-ups!  i immediately tried to leave — i don’t like it when i’m the shortest person in the whole place.  but as more and more of my friends started arriving, i started to have more fun.  and it was so nice to see some of my buddies (like sierra and zachary) that i don’t get to see often.  i also found a girlfriend!  her name is kimora.  (i think that’s how it’s spelled — we didn’t talk much, if you know what i mean.)  when i first met her, she shared her book with me.  and then out of the blue she started stroking my chest, so i reached out to hug her.  mama was surprised to see how affectionate i was with kimora because i usually only flirt with older women (like, 20+ years older).  i don’t know when i’ll see her again because she lives far away, but i guess we can do the long-distance thing.  oh, and shhh… logan doesn’t know about my girlfriend — she’s his cousin.  and now that i think about it, i don’t think kimora knows either.

edison’s party was at a place called my gym.  i had never been there before, but it was so much fun!  there was a ball pit, uneven bars, a trampoline, and a “car wash” complete with bumpers, bubbles, and brushes (pom-poms).  my favorite things to play on were the high bar and the slide.  i climbed up and slid down at least a dozen times.  i was having a blast until…  dun dun dun… the zip line.  it’s like a playground swing, but 100 times worse!  mama and daddy knew that i was going to hate it, but mama made me try it anyway.  TWICE!  she is so mean.  i hope i get to go back to my gym again soon, but i am not going anywhere near that zip line.

happy birthday to the cool guys, logan and edison.  thank you for inviting me to your parties!

when mama saw the outfit that i was wearing this morning, she knew that i must have been really really bad.  apparently, a charcoal t-shirt w/ neon yellow urban design + green pajama pants w/ navy blue dinosaurs + fuzzy brown socks w/ baby blue stripes = a crime of fashion.  but how does that make me bad?  daddy is the one who put me in that mismatched outfit!

well, first lemme tell you about my daily schedule.  mama starts working early, and daddy doesn’t have to leave for work until 9:30am when miss denise (my nanny) arrives.  and mama always gets done working before daddy comes home.  so what that means is that daddy takes care of me in the morning.  he feeds me breakfast, changes me out of my pajamas, and gets me ready for my day with miss denise.  when miss denise leaves at 3pm, i am napping.  when i wake up from my nap, mama feeds me my afternoon snack, takes me (and koda) out somewhere fun, and then cooks my dinner.  after dinner, mama helps me get ready for bed (which includes bathtime and brushing teeth — yay!), reads books with me, and puts me to bed.

some of my friends’ nighttime routines include picking out clothes for the next day so that their daddies know what to dress them in.  i don’t know why, but mama doesn’t do that.  so that means daddy gets to pick my outfits every morning.  mama says that there is a high correlation between how well-matched my outfit is and how well-behaved i’ve been that morning.  i’m not sure what that means, but i’ve noticed that if i act cute, then daddy dresses me cute.  and if i act badly, then daddy dresses me badly.  that’s how mama knew that i was really bad this morning.  i mean, look at this outfit!  this is bordering on child abuse, dontcha think?

since today is daddy’s birthday, you’d think i would have been nicer to him, right?  but i was protesting because i heard that mama and daddy are going out for a fancy dinner tonight, and I’M NOT INVITED!  what’s up with that???

when daddy upgraded to the iphone 4, i got his old iphone.  so now, i have my very own!  mama and daddy like it because my phone doesn’t have a SIM, which means i can’t call their friends and coworkers.  and i think it’s just fantastic because it is loaded up with all of my favorite apps!

i have gotten really good at swiping to unlock the phone, swiping to navigate to my page of apps, and tapping to launch the apps.  i even know how to use the power and home buttons on the iphone.

these are my 5 favorite apps:

1. elmo’s monster maker
2. preschool music
3. preschool adventure
4. abc phonics
5. bab bab lite

check em out!  and if you have any recommendations for me, please send ’em my way.

i heard that mama ordered an ipad 2 a couple of weeks ago.  she already has a galaxy tab, so do you think the ipad is for me?  i sure hope so because i’m not very good at using the soft keys on the galaxy tab.  not yet, anyway 😛

mama cut my hair this evening. i know what you’re thinking:  i just got it cut a month ago, right?  daddy said the same thing.  but that was just a quick trim of my bangs and sideburns while i was brushing my teeth.  today was a full-on haircut with clippers and scissors and everything.

i was very very good (mama said so), so i got to take a bubble bath. i love bubbles! i love baths!  the bubble bath was pretty awesome for the first 5 seconds.  but then i started splashing (that’s the best part of bathtime!) and all the bubbles splashed out of my tub.  they also splashed into my eyes.  ouch! and when i dipped my face into the water like i always do, bubbles got into my mouth.  bleccch! it made mama laugh because i had a mustache and full beard of white bubbles every time i lifted my face out of the water.  i guess i must have looked really silly 😛  my bubble bath was pretty awesome, but there would have been so much more awesomeness if mama hadn’t used her raspberry-scented bath stuff.

so here’s my PSA about bubble baths:  they’re awesome.  but make them awesomer by using no-tear baby shampoo to make the bubbles!  it’s probably cheaper than that fruity girlie stuff, and it won’t sting your eyes 🙂

guess who went #2 in the potty today.  no silly, not daddy.  he uses the grown-up toilet.  i’m talking about in my potty.  i did!  i did!

everybody clapped and cheered — there was such a big celebration.  i wasn’t sure what all the excitement was about, but everyone was clapping, so i did too.  even koda came over to join the potty party.

i kept trying to grab my poo with my bare hands so that i could put it in the toilet, but mama and miss denise (my nanny) wouldn’t let me.  i did get to flush the toilet, though.  that was so exciting.  i’ve been wanting to do that for months!

i know you’re dying to see what my poo looked like.  i wanted to take a picture of it inside the potty (as proof to show daddy, or just a souvenir), but mama wouldn’t let me.  you’ll just have to take my word for it.

i hope koda doesn’t get any ideas about using my potty so that everyone will cheer for him.  although, that would be pretty cool if i could train him to use it, huh?  i think i’ll work on that 🙂

this weekend, i got a taste of what life would be like in a single-parent household.  i spent one day with daddy and one day with mama.

on saturday, mama went to a no-boys-allowed party in a pretty pink tea room.  she said it was a party for a new friend that auntie sophie is making just for me!  they drank tea, ate crumpets, decorated onsies, and shared pregnancy and birthing experiences.  i don’t know why i couldn’t go.  i like auntie sophie.  i like pink.  i like to eat and drink.  i like to draw.  i dunno about all that gross girl talk, though.  so daddy and i spent the day together.  we went to the park to climb/slide/swing in the playground and run around the field. daddy and i had the world’s slowest boringest chase (sort of like the OJ simpson freeway chase).  then after we had worked up an appetite, we met grandpa for lunch.  after my nap, we went out to get pearl tea.  by the time we got home, mama was back.  yay!

i spent sunday with mama.  (daddy said he had to work, but i think that i just wore him out on saturday ;))  i met up with logan at the children’s discovery museum for members only hour.  it was much less crowded than usual, so i didn’t get pushed around by big kids.  we gotta do that more often!  i played a little bit at my usual fave exhibits, but i had more fun exploring different things that i wasn’t all that interested in before.  i had the most fun playing mad scientist with flasks, test tubes, and sand, and playing civil engineer with the street lights and (no) crossing signs.  after a couple of hours at the museum, we all went out to lunch together.  mama got me home just in time for my nap, but i decided to skip it today (which i have never ever done before)!  i knew it was daylight savings time, so i skipped my nap on purpose so that i would be tired enough to sleep at my usual bedtime.

i had a fun weekend with mama and daddy, but i’m on to them.  they’ve always said that i better be really smart or really athletic so that i could earn my way through college on some kind of scholarship.  obviously, daddy is trying to develop my athleticism and mama is trying to develop my academic skills.  little do they know that i have a plan of my own.  i am going to rely on my good looks and charm to snag me a sugar mama.  that way, i won’t have to go to college, right?

mama and daddy often fake-argue about who should stay at home with me and koda and who should bring home the bacon.  so that gave me an idea.  if i want to have a sugar mama, i should learn how to be a good stay-at-home hubby, right?  so i’ve been practicing.

i started out with chores around the house.  i’m pretty good at it because i’ve been doing it for awhile.  i wipe down the table after meals, sweep the kitchen floor, vacuum, and help with the laundry.  i can clean the table and turn on and start the washer and dryer all by myself.  (in fact, i do it even when mama and daddy don’t want me to.)  the other stuff, i still need help with, but i’m working on it.

recently, i’ve picked a new chore: throwing away my dirty diapers.  it has always been fun to watch my diapers get swallowed up by the diaper dekor, but now that i have learned how to step on the floor lever to open the lid, diaper disposal is just plain awesome! 😀

household chores… check!  next on my list is learning my way around the kitchen.  when mama and daddy are cooking, i stand on a chair next to them to watch and learn (and help).  last weekend, i made chocolate chip cookies and i let daddy help me.  like a good sous chef, daddy measured out all the ingredients.  i did the real work by mixing them all together.  i mostly used the electric stand mixer (loud, but fun to turn on and off), and i gave the chocolate chips an extra round of hand-mixing just for good measure.  all that work, and i only got to eat a few cookie crumbs 🙁

now i just need to get mama to let me cook stuff on the stove and in the oven.  every time she turns on those appliances, she tells me to stand back because it’s “very very hot”.  i never believe her so i hold out my hand to feel for the radiating heat.  yup, hot alright.  how am i supposed to learn to be a good househusband if i don’t get to sweat over a hot stove?

but i’m still a catch, right?  so if you know any sugar mamas looking for a little man who can clean and bake (and is willing to learn how to cook), please send ’em my way! 😉

today, like most weekend days, was filled with my social engagements.  we spent the morning and afternoon celebrating erik’s 2nd birthday.  then in the evening, grandma, grandpa, and uncle randy came over to visit.  what a fun day.

erik’s birthday party was at his house.  mama always thinks that i have so many toys.  but then when we go to my friends’ houses, she sees that they have 10 times more toys than i do, and then she feels bad for not providing me with enough.  but the truth is, i have plenty of toys — more than i need.  in fact, i don’t need any toys to entertain me.  even at erik’s house full of trucks and elmos and dinosaurs (and so much more), i spent most of the morning playing with cabinet doors and refrigerator magnets.

and then when everyone went outside, i collected rocks and sticks, and helped clean up the lawn by gathering prickly seed pods in a big bucket.  all the other kids played in the jumpy house, but i didn’t want to.  i tried telling mama, but she didn’t listen — she put me in there anyway.

in the evening, grandma, grandpa, and uncle randy came over to visit me.  they brought me presents!  i think they were confused because it’s not my birthday, and i don’t think it’s time for christmas yet… but i’m not complaining 🙂  i gave grandma a kiss and uncle randy a hug, but no love for grandpa.  mama didn’t want grandpa to feel bad, so later in the night, we tried again:

mama:  kyden, why don’t you go give grandpa a hug?  (i walked over and hugged uncle randy.)

mama:  kyden, that’s uncle randy.  now how about hugging grandpa?  (i walked over and hugged grandma.)

mama tried several times, but i never hugged grandpa.  everyone thought it was so funny — everyone but grandpa, that is.  no offense, grandpa.  i only hug girls and fist-bump boys.  i dunno how to explain uncle randy…