over the long weekend, i had another date with my girl maddie at the children’s discovery museum.  now that we’re both card-carrying members, i think that CDM is going to become a frequent rendezvous spot for us.  even though i’m a regular there, something different grabs my attention every time.  yesterday, it was the art studio.  actually, it was maddie that wanted to get creative, and i didn’t want her to go into the studio without me.  (you know, with all those other boys in there.)

i was so excited about my dough sculpture, that i fell out of my seat — literally!  really, that’s how i got the bruise on my cheek and the bump on my head.  no, really.  that’s mommy’s story and she’s sticking to it.  so you can call off child protective services.

today, i had my regular (every tuesday) workout at the little gym.  of all the gyms that i’ve tried out, this one is my favorite.  compared to others, this class is more focused on a real physical workout.  pull-ups, back flips, tumbling…  i still need a spotter for most of the activities, but i was able to hang from the uneven bars by myself today!  i need to stay fit if i’m gonna impress the girlies, right?  so i signed up for an annual membership.

so, that’s a lot of memberships that i have, right?  but wait, there’s more.  i am currently a card-carrying member at all these places:

• children’s discovery museum:  to get some culture and nurture my creative talents
• almaden valley athletic club:  to get my cardio workout in the pool
• the little gym:  to do my strength straining and get hubbed out like governor schwarzenegger
• the tech:  to get my geek on (actually, mommy is a member, but i get to go with her for free!)

i’m a renaissance man in the making.  now if i could only get a season pass to disneyland…

today, logan and i took a drive up the peninsula to check out a new hangout spot called u-me. logan got in for free because he is under 6 months old. i tried to slip in without paying, but i got carded and ended up shelling out $20 for our family   i don’t get it. logan and i are almost the same size — don’t you think we can pass for the same age?

we had a good time, but like many local hotspots, there will be lots more for me to enjoy when i get older.

these are some of the things that i had fun playing with today:

personal ball pit:  now that i know how to swim, i’m not afraid of drowning in the sea of balls
ride-on fire truck:  it’s just as fun to walk behind and push it as it is to ride on it and be pushed.  mommy gave me a realistic fire truck experience, driving super crazy fast!
tent stocked with camping gear:  this was my favorite play area.  mmm, flashlights are tasty.  uncle greg!  i’m ready for the annual camping trip!
humungo legos:  it’s way more fun to knock down towers than to build them up
life-size ship:  i couldn’t see above the steering wheel, so i crawled out of a porthole to go for a “swim”

there are a lot more things for bigger kids that i will have more fun with when i get older:

giant slide:  you have to climb up a handful of platforms to get to the top of the slide.  it’s for ages 3 & up.  mommy said it was okay for us to climb up and slide down together because the average of our ages is definitely greater than 3.
play market:  it has a checkout scanner that beeps!
outdoor area:  i wasn’t allowed to play with the sidewalk chalk because they look like giant sweet tarts.
performance stage with mic stand and costume chest:  mommy raided the chest and dressed me and logan (and uncle greg) as girlie butterfly fairies!  gah!  i crawled away as fast as i could, but daddy was too quick with the camera on his new iphone 4.

oh, and for the grown ups…  there is an organic cafe where you old people can hang out and eat paninis and sip lattes and talk about us kids while we’re playing.  or you can play with your kids and take breaks to feed yourselves (and your kids), then go back for more playing!

u-me is probably too far away to make this a regular hang out, but it was fun to spend the afternoon checking out this new local hotspot.  thanks for joining me, logan!  from now on, we’ll pick our own costumes for dress up time.

anyone have any wrinkle cream recommendations or other tips for looking younger?  i’m determined to get in in for free next time

until now, i have only been swimming for fun.  but today, i started my professional training.  i have 2 full years before the summer olympics in london.  that’s plenty of time, right?

i will be taking swim lessons all summer at the almaden valley althletic club (AVAC).  it’s almost 30 minutes away from our house, but it’s well worth the drive.  they have an indoor pool specially designed and configured for swimming lessons, and it has a retractable glass roof.  it’s nice because we can enjoy the natural sunlight, or move a few feet to find shade when the sun gets too hot or too bright.

i know there is an ongoing debate about swimming lessons for babies.  those who argue against it say that they give children and parents a false sense that the babies are safe in or near water.  but we know that’s not the case.  mommy and daddy wouldn’t leave me unsupervised near water.  duh.  those who support swim lessons for babies (like we do!) just think it’s a good idea for them to be comfortable in the water.  plus, it’s a fun way to cool off in this heat wave!

mommy was pretty confident that she could help me be comfortable in the pool on her own (without the lessons).  however, she was not so confident that she would be disciplined enough to actually take me to the pool every week.  so, off to AVAC we went!  in addition to the beautiful (and very clean) facility, AVAC also has a lot of toys and teaching tools that we wouldn’t otherwise have access to.  check out the flat floating hippo that i am sitting on.  he helped me learn how to jump into the water learning forward (instead of jumping straight in and konking my head on the wall behind me).  we also practiced crawling out of the pool safely, floating on our backs, and holding our breath underwater.  that sounds like a lot for a little kid to do in one lesson, but i had so much fun and can’t wait for next week

the children’s discovery museum has become my go-to spot to bring girls on dates. my first time was with sierra — i was about 2.5 months old. aside from watching sierra create an art masterpiece, i mostly sat around, people-watched, and soaked in all the sights and sounds.  i did spend some time in the “crawl space”, an enclosed area especially designed for pre-walkers, but since i didn’t know how to crawl (or even sit up) yet, i needed mommy’s help to explore the enviornment.

today, i went back to my spot with maddie.  now that i am crawling like a madman, i had a lot more fun.  i was able to pull myself up to look at some of the cool displays intended for toddlers, and i was able to interact with a lot of the exhibits.  i was so excited to be crawling around and exploring on my own, that when i lost sight of all familiar faces, i didn’t care one bit.  i even found a giant block with a K for KYDEN!

there is so much of the museum that i am too young and too little to appreciate, but every time i’ve gone, i learned a lot and had a great time. of course, it doesn’t hurt that all my dates have been cutie pies i plan to continue visiting the children’s discovery museum as often as i can. it’s free for kids under age 1, so why not, right? who wants to be my next date? if you’re under age 1, it’s my treat!

i went to workout with my friend isaac today.  we went to gymboree for a play & learn class for kids under 6 months old.  we learned lots of new songs and exercises designed to support visual and auditory development through play-based activities.  i was definitely the most active of the bunch.  for example, during tummy time, all the other kids chilled out while i flailed my arms and legs wildly, trying to crawl.  mommy and daddy are bracing themselves because they know that i’m going to be a handful when i start crawling and walking!

the gym(boree) is not the only place where i work out.  there is a new exercise that i invented all by myself and i do it at home every day.  when i’m just sitting around, i hold my foot with my hand and i bend my leg, then extend it.  bend, extend.  bend, extend.  over and over again.  sometimes my foot gets really close to my mouth and i take a break between sets to suck on my toes.  mmm, tasty!  mommy thinks it’s sooo hilarious and laughs hysterically every time i do these exercises.  she calls it baby aerobics.  mommy took some photos, but she says that they don’t do justice to how cute and funny it is.  i’m sure daddy will try to record some video of my baby aerobics, and when he does, i’ll be sure to stare blankly at the camera

mommy and daddy have been hearing a lot about something called “sleep training”.  supposedly, it’s a way to teach me how to sleep through the night.  but since they are obviously inexperienced in that arena, they would have to read up on it to learn how to train me.  and mommy and daddy don’t like to read.  so much for that idea.

lucky for them, i’m a natural.  i trained myself to sleep through the night!  i am now sleeping about 10 hours from about 10pm to 8am, waking up only 2-3 times for snacks and diaper changes.  and after i eat, i go right back to sleep.  mommy no longer has to rock me in the glider or sing old skool slow jamz to get me to go back to sleep.  yay me!  (mommy says that if the sleep-training book says anything about how to make me sleep 10 hours without waking up to eat and have my diaper changed, someone please let her know!)

don’t tell anyone, but i’m still sleeping in mommy and daddy’s bed.  daddy wants to kick me out, but mommy likes having me sleep next to her.  she says it makes the nighttime feedings easier for her, but the truth is she just likes having me to cuddle with

anyway, i’m glad i got a good night’s sleep last night because i had a date with an older woman today.  sierra is in town visiting her gung-gung, and we all went to the children’s discovery museum.  i’m a tad too young for that place, but i had fun anyway.  i even have green paint splattered on my face and glitter stuck to my feet to prove it   but i’m so mad at mommy for not taking a photo of me with sierra!