The Connecticut Chronicles

We traveled back east so I could meet my Papi's oldest brother Greg, his wife Marianne, and my cousins Nate and Emma. I had already met Cousin Ben when he came to visit us in California, but I was eager to see him again, too!

Well, I had an awesome time! Everyone was so nice. Aunt Marianne set up a crib and a high chair, and had a basket of baby toys all ready for me. She didn't mind when I took a bath in the kitchen sink every night, and she even washed my dirty clothes! There was a yummy, homemade dinner every night and she baked some brownies that my Papi couldn't get enough of. What hospitality! No wonder my Mami looks up to her.

Uncle Greg was so funny, always making silly faces at me. He probably thinks I'm a weirdo because all I did was stare at him with a serious look on my face. But that's because he reminded me of my Papi and I was a little bit confused. He cracked jokes and made Mami and Papi laugh all the time. They have even started to talk like him; they keep calling everything a "Gong Show," just like Uncle Greg. Some day, I'll figure out what the heck that means, and why it's funny...

My cousins were soooo cool!

Cousin Nate is smart and sweet, and paid me so much attention. He fed me a bottle, gave me some baby food, rolled around on the floor with me and even bought me a fish. No, not a real fish, silly! How could I bring a real fish back to California? He bought me a plastic fish to chew on, so my gums will feel better now that my teeth are coming out. I gnawed on that thing from Connecticut to California! I love it. Thanks, Cousin Nate!

Cousin Emma is pretty and fun. We went for a walk and she pushed my stroller the whole way. We hung out on the swings, played Barbies and read books. She even "cooked" me some eggs on her little stove and gave them to me on a mini-plate. When I dumped the eggs on the floor and chewed on the plate instead, she just giggled!

I want to send a HUGE shout-out to Cousin Ben, who babysat me one night so Mami, Papi, Uncle Greg and Aunt Mar could go out for a grown-up dinner. Poor guy. I was supposed to be asleep for the night when they left but, sure enough, I woke up! He went downstairs to see why I was crying and, sure enough...a dirty diaper! Eeewww! But he didn't freak out. He changed my diaper, then he and Cousin Nate played me some Blink-182 and I calmed down. Then he put me back to bed and turned off the lights. When Mami and Papi came home, I was sound asleep. Pretty cool, huh?

What a fun trip. It did rain a lot, so we didn't get to go apple picking like we'd hoped. But that gave us lots of time to hang out at home and get to know each other, so it was better. And we can always go apple picking next year, when we visit again!