And now, a guest post from Pops. Take it away, Pops!

" You're hit,man. You're bleedin'."
"I aint got time to bleed."
" Yeah? Do you have time to duck?"
____________________________

It was as if I got hit by Quintin Jackson himself.
The sudden feeling of confusion.
That feeling of not knowing what just happened other than knowing than I just got hit. And hit hard.
Stars, man. Lots of stars.
And that dull sound as if I was in some Spielberg scene where a shell goes off way too close to Tom Hanks and the next 30 seconds are spent in muffled tones just above deaf.
My hand instantly shot to the top of my head as if to hold my brains in.
And my son. What of my son. Witness to this tragedy. With the look of puzzlement on his face. Watching dad writhe in pain.
My thoughts switch suddenly from "what hit me" to "how am I gonna make sure he's ok and how am I gonna get us both to the hospital."
Who watches a child at the hospital?
Where does he sit?
Do you call someone first?
And wait at home?
Do I call an ambulance?
But I can walk.
Who calls an ambulance if you can walk?
Man up.
Just man up.
Don't go to the washroom.
Stay away from mirrors for a minute.
Get a hold of yourself man!
Stay calm. You're hit, man.
You're hit bad.
Ahhh..but I've been here before.
And I think quickly.
I can walk.
I can talk.
I can't hear too well. Except the bells.
Oooh..look at all the pretty stars.
Hold yourself together man!
Don't pass out.
The boy will just as soon pick up a marker and write on the walls.
And that's worse.
Stay calm.
You're hit.
Hit bad.
Keep holding my head.
And peek.
Peek at your hand.
And expect to see red.
Alot of red.
Just a little.
Not too bad.
I've been red.
Real red. Like, cut those clothes off kinda red. There aint no washin' that out. Just burn 'em.
And I lived. Every time.
Where am I? What day is this? It's sunday. Yeah. Sunday.
We went to Home Depot.
We bought stuff.
My son learned how to handle an electric drill. And handed me screws.
Oooh..look at all those pretty pretty stars.
Hold yourself together, man!
" Dada. Big Ouch."
Ugh. he knows I'm down for the count.
Hide the markers man! Hide the markers! I just painted that wall!
9-1-something. 1? 2? 911. That's it. 911.
Wait. man up!
Ya gotta man up.
Ya got hit by a full swing of a putter. You lived thru that.
Man up. " It's ok. Play with your trucks for a minute."
And those shelves look nice. Real nice.
But that 3" gash on my head aint so nice.
"Dada. You ok."
" I'm tryin'. "
Man those shelves held up good. Too good. I wont have to worry about them comin' down.
Even when I bend down to pick up a toy 10 seconds after i secure them to a wall and then stand up at speed.
And get a 3" gash on my head.
Hold yourself together man!
"Dada. More tools!"
" No. We're done. Time to put tools away."
" Dada. I'm hungry."
" Ok. Let's go get lunch. And some ice."
It was the second day headache from the concussion that sucked.
And today I can't dial a phone.
And I think I live in Stickney.

Eat your heart out

Takeru Kobayashi better move over. There's a new champion in training. I'm not really into hot dogs because of the whole nitrate content, but I can sure eat a handful.

Mom almost had a heartattack when I shoved that orange in my mouth.

Ill Communication

I'm digging this whole talking on the phone thing. I miss my Pops a lot when he's at work. So to have the opportunity to speak to him makes me all happy, happy, joy, joy. We talk about a lot of things. I ask Pops how the forklift is doing and where he's at. We share some good times when talking on the phone.

Ma Bell! Got the ill communication!

Boo nose

So I have my first real cold - boo nose and all. I guess I feel ok, except for that annoying feeling of my head being clogged and heavy. My nose is running a mile a minute and you would think I wouldn't feel so plugged up. Thank god I know how to blow my nose. I'm still working on covering my mouth when I cough so I don't spread my disease to the human race.

Last night was kind of rough. It was really hard to sleep with a nose full of boogers and goobers. Mom and Pops said this is very temporary and my cold should be gone within a few days. In the meantime, I'll be fixing stuff up around the house. I can't be sitting around waiting for this cold to go away.

Play date

I had my first real play date with someone other than my cousin. (Becca you know I love you and you're still my favorite play date!) Mom thought it would be good for me to get out of my comfort zone. So we hiked it on over to Ariana's house to play with Michael and Mirabelle.

My nerves were going all crazy and I really didn't know what to make of the situation. I've never really played with other kids. To make me feel somewhat confident, Mom dressed me really cute so I wouldn't feel too dorky. We got to the door and Ariana greeted us. I remember her from Mom's work but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to play with her first and then play with Michael. Very confusing. Then Michael came and I saw he was playing with toys!!!!! Oh how I longed to play with toys, trucks, cars, and baby! Michael was super cool and super nice. We chilled and watched a little Backyardigans. Then we had lunch and with that I had my first juice box. It was super yummy!

Mirabelle took a little catnap but I got to play with her when she woke up. Oh just love babies!!!!! I just wanted to give her hugs and kisses. She's very cuddley like Bo.

Oh did I mention they have 3 cats?!!!! That's just like Grandmama's house minus the one of course. The one kitten was super soft and cute.

So my first play date was pretty cool. We plan on having more play dates in the future. There's nothing like making new friends.

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

The parental unit continue to fuel my love for big trucks. Today there was a festival of trucks at the school. You wouldn't believe all the vehicles that were sitting in the parking lot. Of course, my favorite vehicle, fire truck, was there. I think it was the most popular. I couldn't wait to drive it. Mom put me in the seat but I didn't realize how high it was. Holy cow was the ground pretty far down. I kind of freaked out a bit. Those truck books make it look like the guy is sitting only 2' above the ground instead of 10'. Man, what a misconception. I begged Mom to get me down. As soon as I had my feet hit the pavement, I wanted back up in the truck. What can I say? I'm an adrenaline junky. I live off of fear.

After trying out all the trucks, we went to the playground and had some good quality play time. Nothing says fun like a jungle gym.

Happy Bird-day...to YOU!

Grandmama taught me a song. She said everyone is born on a special day and every year you sing them this song. Not only do I like to sing this song, but I made up a little dance, too. This dance requires special skills and is not recommended for people who suffer from motion sickness, vertigo, and/or lack of rhythm.

As you can see, it takes great coordination to sing and dance at the same. I dedicate this video to all the bird-days for each day of the year.

Sleeping with the fishes

I mean that literally not figuratively. It's official, I'm finally out of the crib and sleeping in my very own big boy bed. Well, Mom and Pops call it the "big boy bed." I like to say it's my Nemo bed. I love my bed! It goes so well with the fishing/outdoors theme I have going on in my room. My Nemo bed is bright orange and blue (which contrasts with the bright honeydew color walls) with stickers of Nemo and Marlin on the headboard and footboard. Remind me to take pics so you all get a good visualization of it all. Pops was worried I would roll out of bed but it hasn't happened yet. I love living or should I say sleeping on the edge. The cool thing about the bed is that I don't have any bars to hold me back. Not that I really roam around too much like a buffalo in prairie but it's nice to know I have a little bit of freedom. Once it's beddy byes, I'm pretty much out like a light.

Speed? I AM speed.

And a happy birthday to ME!! I'm the big 2!

We're gonna call this the transportation birthday. I got a sweet '32 Ford hotrod plus that 4-wheeler motorcycle in the background. The 4 wheeler has a rechargeable battery so I can go-go-go any time I want to! I don't have the steering thing down so well yet. For that matter, I don't have the pedal thing down yet on my hotrod either. But I'm determined to figure it out soon.

Oh..oh.. plus I got my very own lawnmower! And to that I say....OLE' !!!

Blades of Grass

For quite some time I've been wishing for a lawnmower. I've been obssessed with having one ever since I saw it in one of my books. I would always ask Mom what it was and she would tell me, "It's a lawnmower." Even the word itself sounds magical. Then spring came. There was Dad out there cutting the grass. I love the loud grumbley noise and the humming as it goes across our lawn. So for my birthday, they gave me a lawnmower.

I'm still experimenting with cutting patterns for the grass. I really like what they do at Wrigley Field. If anyone knows how to get that crosshatch look, let me know.

Sprinkling and tinkling

I really don't see the point of cold weather. Everyday should be like today. Sunny, breezy, warm, and FUN! Besides playing in my makeshift sandbox, aka the horse shoe pit, I got to run through a lawn sprinkler today. It was totally AWESOME! I don't know why I didn't do this last year. Oh wait! Now I remember...Pops got me a swimming a pool (please reference the June - August 2006 archives for a refresher). Anyhoo...I really don't know what could be more fun than running through a sprinkler and getting wet.

In between running through the sprinkler and catching bubbles, I found time to bond with the BEEEEEG trucks. Can't forget about my homies. You know what I'm saying?!

Of course, I couldn't stay away from the sprinkler! Not even shovel could resist!

As for my potty training, I think I'm at a standstill right now. I just can't bring myself to use the potty. I love flushing and wiping my butt, but it's just much more convenient to go in a diaper. Sometimes I don't mind the stink so much. Although, Mom says the stink can be quite offensive. Well, we'll see if I can convert to being a user of the potty. I'm young so there's plenty of time.

In the meantime, I think I'll just concentrate on trucks and sprinklers.

Leo the fisherman

What a day. I'm...well..I'm speechless.

Yesterday was a great day. Pops and I went to the zoo (NO stroller, mind you). We saw monkeys, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, bears, goats..even a mountain in the middle of the zoo. And yes, I can say all those animals' names. I had a 20 minute nap on the way home (hell on pops but I don't want to miss anything). Then Pops took my trucks, my bucket and my shovel outside to the sandbox (ok..so it's a horse shoe pit..so what).

BUT WAIT!!! It gets better!

So Pops, Bo and myself are playing in the sand. Filling buckets, playing trucks, gettin' dirty. All that good stuff. And what does Pops do?? (THIS is genius) He gets a fishing pole and sets it up outside the gate in our lake! Apparently that's my other playground.

So there we are playing trucks and whatnot when all of the sudden Pops says " Leo, I think there's a fish on the fishing pole!"

I couldn't contain myself! I ran to the gate, all the way yelling "fshing!fshing! fsh fsh fsh!!"

And look at what I got! My first fish...and a BEEEEG FSH at that!

I would have written more about the zoo, but c'mon...did you SEE the size of my first fish??!!

A tisket, a tasket

There's this holiday that celebrates eggs. These eggs are very different from the ones I have for breakfast. First off, they're very colorful. I saw yellow eggs, purples eggs, blue eggs, and other colors I'm not all that familiar with. These eggs were so bright and colorful I had to open them to see what gives them their color. Alas, the eggs were empty. In all the excitement of finding all these eggs, there was no disappointment to be had. I just thought it was cool the Bunny came in and dropped them all off at my house. I think Santa has some serious competition.

Not only did I get all these eggs, I even got a basket filled with race cars! I thought I was going to explode if I didn't get my hands on those cars fast enough! I mean really...how long does it take to rip open a plastic bag?! I guess easier said than done.

Roar of the Boar!

So I made it through another year and I think I made some pretty big fetes. 2005 was just practice. With 2006, I was just getting started. I'm all warmed up and ready to bat. I think I'm ready for the big show. I was able to accomplish my 2006 resolutions. It wasn't easy, but I did it. I don't mind a challenge. It makes life interesting. So here's a recap of resolutions and interesting events from 2006:

Resolution #1: Blogging more often Typing is quite a challenge for me since I get distracted easily with that stupid mouse. It's that bright red light that draws my eye from the keys. Still, I managed to chug away at the keyboard to spew out 2-3 posts per month. (I do admit that the summer months were a bit lean.) I could have blogged a little bit more but I think I made up for it with videos. So now everyone can see me in action!

Resolution #2: Getting cuter everyday Honestly, I didn't think I could get any cuter! Although, Mom says I'm not just cute. I'm a pretty handsome dude. I think having teeth adds to my winning smile. I don't really know how to be cute. Mom doesn't even let me pick out my clothes. I do know how to comb my hair and brush teeth. So I have good hygiene going for me.

Resolution #3: Saying real words I can talk like no other 18 month old. My sentences don't always come out like I want them to but some of the words I say sound like they come from the English language. My vocabulary seems to grow everyday. I've recently added the word "cook" and "pizza" to my list of words. If I put those two words together I might be getting somewhere.

Resolution #4: Walking Why did you all let me crawl for soooooooo long?!

xoxo It's amazing how a hug and a kiss can make a person's day. Greetings and good-byes are my favorite parts of the day because I get to tell everyone I know how much I really love them. Even if I give Grandpapa big, wet kiss, he still gives me a hug and a kiss right back.

roar-roar I've discovered the true meaning of friendship at a very young age (ala 7 months old). No matter how many times I throw Roar-roar out of my crib or the many times I've bopped him on the head, he's always there for me. When I'm scared or a little lonely, I know I can count on Roar-roar. Hobbes is to Calvin as Roar-roar is to me.

Well, that wraps up my 2006. It was a rockin' year for me to say the least. Hopefully, 2007 will bring the same and then some. As for my resolutions...I think I'm going to work on getting a new layout for my blog, sleep in my own big boy bed, and to stop hitting.