On Vacation...

Hello people. I'm on vacation this week in Cape Cod with the Yu side of the family. Sorry I haven't blogged but I've been too busy playing with Keira and Juno and swimming every moment that I can. Here are a few pictures to tie you over until I return home and will give you a full report. Ciao Ciao! Back to the water...

Fun and Games with Babcia

Look at the cool garage that I built with Babcia!! It fits just about all my cars and trucks and even my toy airplane. We had lots of fun building it together and experimenting with different architectural designs.

Babcia is in town visiting since Daddy is away for work in London and Chuckie is starting to get in Mommy's way so she has a harder time chasing me around and all. But regardless, it's always fun to have Babcia around to play with. Tonight, she taught me some new songs during dinner that I just thought were hilarious. We couldn't stop laughing together!

Burgers and Kisses

It was a beautiful weekend here in Brooklyn. I was having so much fun hanging out and playing outside that I didn't have time to blog until tonight. Sorry about that. But here's my weekend update. On Saturday morning, I had a nice playdate with my neighbors Mia and Claudine. If you remember, they came over for a playdate a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't quite sure how to play with two little girls. This time, I knew what to expect and we all got along great - even assembling choo-choo tracks together and drawing pictures. It went so well that at the end, I even got a kiss from Claudine!! It threw me for a little bit of a loop. I was so excited that I couldn't take my nap that day.

Today was an especially busy day. Daddy took me to Super Soccer Stars in the morning and then to the pool to swim! I think that he wanted to tire me out to make sure that I would nap today - kiss or no kiss. In the afternoon, we got on the R choo-choo to meet Auntie Alison for an early bird dinner at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. First, I played on the playground to work up an appetite.

Then, it was dinner time. It's been more than a year since I was last at the Shake Shack. At least this time, I got to enjoy the food. Yum!! Fries and a Black and White milkshake!!

Auntie Alison also brought me a present - a takealong Thomas train and train track. She said that it was for my upcoming trip to Cape Cod but really I think it was to distract me so that she, Daddy and Mommy could eat their meals in peace.

It's a pretty cool contraption though. It folds up into it's very own carrying case and everything fits inside! Okay, so it kind of looks like a man-purse but I'm just a little kid so it's not a big deal. Thank you Auntie Alison! It was so nice to see you and play with you! I hope we get to go to the Shake Shack again soon.

Learning to Ride My Tricycle

Guess what??!?!?! I can now ride my tricycle all by myself! I figured out how to pedal so I don't need Mommy or Daddy to guide me with that big handle thing at the back my tricycle. Yay!! I just have to remember to look up sometimes.

My New Teacher

As some of you may know, I am starting a new school in September. I guess it's officially preschool but it's still only two days a week. We pass by my new school every time we go to daycare at Myriam's house and I get very excited. The classroom looks super fun and there's always lots of interesting and colorful art work in the windows. At the beginning of June, Mommy and I went to an open house where I met some of the other kids that will be in my class. I also got to meet my new teacher Beth! And the other day, Beth made a special visit to my house to play with me!! I showed her my farmer/moo-cow puzzle, my trains and some of my cool books. She even read my subway book to me. Here we are getting to know each other.

Then we took some pictures and she showed them to me on her camera. She was so nice. I can't wait to go to school with her. At first, I was sad about leaving Myriam's and my buddy Odin but Mommy told me that I could still go to Myriam's one day a week. Yipee!! The best of both worlds!

Dinner Date with Naomi and Eli

Tonight, I had a dinner date with Naomi and her little brother Eli (and also Auntie Linda, Uncle Matt and Auntie Emily who was visiting all the way from San Francisco). I haven't seen Naomi is quite some time and I've never met Eli. Naomi was giving me lots of pointers on what it's like to have a little brother. But mostly we bonded over her cats - Milo, Nissa and Boots.

I guess it's not so bad having a little brother like Eli. Especially if all Dee-Dee does is lie around peaceful like Eli. Isn't he cute? Mommy said that I used to be that chubby.

I hope that it isn't so long the next time I get to see Naomi and Eli!

Ginormous Pool!

Now I know what Daddy was setting up for me yesterday in Babcia and Dziadek's backyard - a ginormous pool! Since I totally outgrew the little blow-up pool from last year, Daddy took a drive to a nice, big, suburban Wal-Mart and came home with an 8 foot wide, 18 inch deep lap pool (or at least it feels like a lap pool to me.) I love it!

I spent all day swimming, jumping, diving and just in general frolicking in my new pool. And of course I pulled anyone I could in with me to play, like Daddy, who pulled me all around.

And Babcia, who wound up having no choice but to come in with me with all her clothes on - she had no time to go in the house to put on a bathing suit since I was creating such a water frenzy. Here she is helping me set up for an Armstand Back 2 Somersaults, 1 1/2 Twists in the Pike Position off the diving board Daddy set up for me -

The only ones I couldn't lure into the pool were Mommy and Chuck. Mommy said she thought the water might be too cold for Chuck, but I have a feeling he wouldn't have minded at all... Could it have been just an excuse? Hmmm, Mommy?...

BTW, look at my left eye - if you look closely, you'll see it's almost swollen shut. Ouch! It turns out a mosquito or some other bug bit me on my eyelid yesterday, and while it seemed like no big deal at first, by yesterday evening my eye was pretty swollen. Mommy put a cold compress on it for me and we thought that would be that, but I woke up this morning with what felt and looked more like a pink golfball than an eyelid. After a brief visit to the emergency room, which I'm getting to know quite well, the doctors think the bite may have become infected, and have me on a course of antibiotics. Luckily, the swelling looks much worse than it feels - it actually doesn't really bother me at all, and will hopefully go away in a day or two. Still, I'm getting lots of sympathy from everyone who sees me - hint, hint...

Back to the 'Burbs

That's right friends and family, it's back to the 'burbs. Since it was going to be a hot weekend, Mommy and Daddy thought that it might be a good time to escape the city and go see Babcia. It was almost like being at the beach. I got to play with my moon sand with Babcia.

It's really cool, mushy, gooey sand that's BLUE! My favorite color. Babcia and I had fun making different shapes - like stars and eggs - and even a mini castle.

Later in the afternoon, I played in the little pool. The water was a nice temperature and perfect for cooling off. But I think that I might have outgrown this pool. What do you thing? I see Daddy setting something up in the other corner of the yard. I wonder what it is? I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see.

And of course, no trip is complete without a little Saba love.

An Around the World Tour with a Stop in Brooklyn

Today, I received a special visit from a special relative - Walter Cou Kung! He was on his way back to Hong Kong via Nigeria, Brazil, Chicago, New York, LA and San Francisco. He was kind enough to make a stop in Brooklyn to meet me. You see, he's a big fan of the blog and one of my many admirers. He was curious if the real Jasper lived up to the Jasper portrayed on the blog. I hope I lived up to my reputation. I showed him all my choo-choos and built and elaborate track system for him. Then we went to lunch where I was very well behaved. He was nice enough to share his french fries with me.

Afterwards, Walter Cou Kung had to leave for the airport for the next leg of his trip. I had so much fun playing with him that I didn't want to see him go (and I didn't want to take my nap either). I hope that I won't have to wait another 2+ years to see him again. Thank you for visiting Walter Cou Kung!!

Big Boy Pants

My potty training is progressing to the point where I get to wear big boy pants! Check them out! They are special Thomas underpants!

The High Line

This morning, we took a trip out to Daddy's old neighborhood in the Meatpacking District. We took the F choo-choo to the A choo-choo all the way to 14th Street. Aside from seeing where Daddy used to live, we were there to visit the High Line - one of Mommy's favorite structures in the city and I think will soon be one of my favorites too.

You see, the High Line is an elevated train track that was built in the 1930s. It runs from 34th Street to Spring Street along the West Side. The tracks runs inside of factories and warehouses along Manhattan's largest industrial district. This allowed trains to deliver milk, meat, produce, and raw and manufactured goods directly into the buildings without causing dangerous traffic along the streets below. Trains stopped using the High Line in 1980 and the structure was under threat of demolition. In 1999, a group formed to save the High Line and turn it into a public park. In June, the first section of the park - from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street - opened! Here you can see the High Line pass through one of the historic warehouses in the neighborhood.

They did such a nice job with the park. There's lots of room to run around, chairs to lounge in and pretty wildflowers. They even preserved part of the old train tracks.

And the view's not bad either. That's Jersey City over there.

I found lots of things to do while we were at the park like climbing up and sliding down the benches scattered throughout the park. That's the new Standard Hotel in the background. It runs over the High Line too.

Where the High Line crosses over 10th Avenue at 17th Street, they built this mini amphitheater with a large picture window overlooking the street. After running up and down the ramps of the amphitheater, I settled in to watch the traffic passing below. It was also a nice place to settle in for a snack.

Mommy, do you think that Dee-Dee is going to like the High Line as much as we do? By the way, when is he going to arrive?