It seemed like it took forever, but Grandma (sometimes meemaw) and Grandpa (sometimes peepaw) finally arrived in Katy on Friday. I was so excited to see them, I could hardly stand it. Of course, they brought me all kinds of new toys and books, of every kind, shape and variety. I'd have to say my favorite is the mail truck, and the school bus with monster truck wheels.

They also brought this Superman truck that can hold my matchbox cars. Grandpa helps me to put them in, because it's a little tricky to keep them in while you load the others up.

Of course, my grandparents had to be here for St. Patrick's day. And of course, Grandma found me a shirt with a tractor carrying a shamrock and a lucky penny. See how happy I am that it was St. Patty's Day?

On March 14, 1995, only 15 months after mama and dada started dating, Grandma cut out a recipe from a magazine for St. Patrick's day cupcakes, figuring that if things kept going the way they were, she'd wind up with an Irish grandkid someday. Sure enough!

So, we set out to make cupcakes. I, of course, was way more interested in dipping my finger in the frosting than putting it on the cupcakes, but Grandma wasn't surprised.

Here we are with the finished product, and I'm still licking my fingers.
A close up of the pan so you can see our masterpiece. I wasn't really too crazy about the "red hair", which was coconut dyed red. I did really love the chocolate chip eyes.
Aren't they pretty?
I am really loving my Grandpa on this trip. I am giving him all the hugs and kisses he asks for.

One day mama met us at the Aquarium downtown for lunch. It was such a beautiful day, and I got to eat dippin' dots too. This weekend we are headed to the beach house so that I can have all my grandparents together in the same house. How cool is that?

On Sunday, mama's good friend Amber and her boyfriend Eric came over for a visit. Amber and Eric travelled from New York to Texas for a wedding. Although this picture makes it look like I was really sweet, in reality, I had the most major meltdown mama and dada and grandma and grandpa, and undoubtedly Amber and Eric, have ever witnessed.

They aren't sure if it was a combination of me being stir crazy from a weekend spent in the house due to the cold, rainy weather; being totally spoiled with new cars from grandma and grandpa; or just a bug, but W-O-W, I tore the house UP on Sunday night at bedtime. After struggling to get me in pjs, mama went downstairs to take a break and apologize to Amber and Eric. I ran from the manroom to my bedroom, saw mama downstairs, and stopped in my tracks. I pointed my finger at mama through the railings and screamed YOU!!!! YOU READ ME BOOKS RIGHT NOW!!!! I have never seen mama move so fast. Needless to say, when the lights went out, I fell fast asleep and was an angel all day Monday for Grandma and Grandpa to make up for it. I just hope Amber doesn't think I'm the devil's spawn.

On Saturday, my buddies Luke and Davis came over for a visit. Davis was quite impressed sitting in a sea of cars. I was a little more willing to share with Davis than I was with Luke, but just a little. Mama is fully cognizant that I need some hefty sharing lessons soon.

Luke and I were pretty sweet to Davis, giving him hugs.
And kisses. Look at poor Davis's face squished between us.

Thanks for coming over guys! Hope to see you again soon.

Dada took me to the Beach a couple of weeks ago to check up on the state of things after Ike. Dada was surprised that I remembered my way to the beach. I started requesting the Green Ferry about 60 miles before the ferry landing. Dada was happy to get on any ferry, as the wait was exceptionally long. He was thankful for having Wonder Pets on his Iphone. I was very impressed with Ga and Papa's new deck and stairs. Twice the amount of play space than I had before. Thanks guys. I love my new deck and look forward to playing on it again.
I took time out from playing to have a picture taken with Papa. Notice how much closer their house is to the beach. Nice view guys!
I has very concerned about going for a Jeep ride on the beach until I found out John's son Patrick is a Galveston Fireman and he was on duty at Crystal Beach. Once I heard there was a possibility I could get a chance to get on a fire truck, I no longer cared about the Jeep ride. Dada quickly got me to see Patrick and I got to climb in and explore all of the fire trucks. Thanks Patrick your trucks are awesome!!!

It's rodeo time in Houston. You can feel it in the air!Howdy y'all! Today we had western day at school, complete with western wear pictures. Mama heard that I actually smiled this time for the picture, which was shocking since last time I wouldn't even stand to have my picture taken!

Mama and dada are hosting a baby shower for their good friends Ruthie and Scott soon, so mama and I tried out a recipe for the desserts. I was a big help, pouring salt and pepper into the muffin tins. I eventually got bored with dessert making, and moved on to chocolate milk making. Why bother putting the syrup in the glass when I can just squirt it in my mouth? I also had a blast blowing chocolate milk bubbles. Cooking is great.

Happy belated Valentines Day. Mama and I made a Valentines Box so that all my friends at school could send me cards and candy. Mama spent a bunch of time covering the cereal box with white paper so that I had a blank canvas, but then forgot to tell me that I wasn't supposed to "unwrap" the box before I decorated it. We taped it back together and all was well, except that I kept eating the candy decorations off of it.

Greetings Buyers, we just wanted to let you know that Keegan's Hemisport Emporium is now open for business. We specialize in classic Hemi Musclecars, like the Hemi Cuda and the Coronet Super Bee, but we can also deliver the new 2009 SRT Challenger to you. Come on down and visit us today.

Also be on the the look out for our sister store Ferrari Exchange!

Yours in Horsepower and Burnin' Rubber,
Keegan Pollard

Cars, cars, cars, it's all about the cars people.

I am on a roll with pooping on the potty, and have started a nice big collection of Matchbox cars. I love my cars. They go with me everywhere -- on errands, to bed, upstairs, downstairs -- I don't go anywhere without a bunch of cars. I've collected so many that it's hard for mama and dada to find cars that I don't have anymore. But, I'm not giving in - I still demand a new car each time I poop. My favorite cars are the "Fraris" and the "Hemis". My all time favorite might be the Hemi Cuda. I like to group my cars - sometimes by color, sometimes by type (I especially love the convertibles), and when dada is around to help, by the maker.

This was a color day.

Look how pretty, all in a row.
At the end of a long car lining up session, dada and I like to kick back with some popcorn and watch my favorite tv show, the Wonder Pets, or Alvin and the Chipmunks. Alvin!

A few weeks ago (mama knows it's been awhile, cut the poor lady some slack) mama went to Florida to meet with some clients. I tried to pack myself in her suitcase to go along, but decided to stay home and have some quality time with dada instead.
After mama was done schmoozing, she picked up her bestest friend Dawn (they have been friends since they were 5) and they drove together to visit Great Grandma GG on the other side of the state.

Mama said it was fun to have the ladies together again -- mama and Dawn used to visit GG in the summers. They were just a little wilder then. This time they spent a lot of time playing cards, rummy tiles, and drinking vino.

Mama was glad that she made the trip. Just last week, poor GG had a fall and broke her hip, so we are sending her love from far away! Love you GG!

Keegan Version 2.5 It's official. I was two and one-half years old on January 8. Mama, dada and Ga sang happy birthday and everything. I am still as active as ever, which is probably why I stay so skinny -- so much so that my pants always have to be rolled over, which shows off my Cars, Incredible Hulk and Spiderman under-roos. I still get matchbox cars for pooping in the potty. To date I have about 100, seriously. It's hard for mama and dada to find cars at the store that I don't have to add to my collection. I still insist on lining up all my cars, sometimes color-coded, and I really like to drive them, more than my trains, on the train track. My train table was a big hit for Christmas. I am also very into Wonder Pets, and mama and dada actually like it too; well, at least more than that purple dinosaur character. Even though I'm a lightweight, I still generally eat like a champ - favorites are fruits (pears and red corn a/k/a pomegranate) and veggies (zucchini and tomatoes, including green ones off the plants in the garden), and I come by my love of all things "soup" honestly. I repeat everything that everyone says, so beware, and I say a lot of funny things on my own like "I don't think so" (in response to Keegan, do you want to get to bed), "not yet" (in response to Keegan, could you pick up your toys), and "delicious" (when GA is cooking). I still love to read with mama, and can pick out just a couple of words that I recognize, like fish and pancakes; mama has read each of my books so many times that she reads the first half of the sentence, and I finish the second half. I still love going to school at Second Baptist. Tomorrow is pajama and teddy bear day, so I need to blaze to get my z's. See ya!

Mama was in serious organization mode over the holidays, so she went out and bought some new shelves that, of course, she couldn't put together.
Dada and I whipped out our tools and took care of it for her.
Thank you Aunt Sha for my John Deere toolset. We couldn't have got the job done without it! I think dada was a little jealous of my green tools, I'm just saying.

Who is that masked man?

Why it's dada, with his yearly goatee. Every year between Christmas and New Years, while the TaeKwonDo school is shut down, dada checks to make sure it will still grow. Success!

Happy 2009!
On New Year's Day, we headed to the Byman's house for a little fun in Luke's new bouncer toy. He was so exciting (no, not excited) to get it. I really enjoyed it too.
Poor Davis, Luke's little brother, hardly makes it on the blogs, and this is no exception. Mama was proud of me that I was playing with Davis, even if only briefly. There is hope. The dadas gave us some one-on-one time with the fishing rods. Before you know it, Luke and I will be going out on the boat with dada and Mr. Byman! Luke and I also had a good time inside, where we played with puzzles and Luke's train table. Not surprisingly, we have a lot of the same toys!

Christmas, 2008
This year, mama, dada and I took an airplane from an airport to Minneapolis to visit Uncle Billy, Aunt Kristen, Jamie, and Katie; and meemaw and grandpa drove in from Chicago. Two years ago, the party was in Texas. This year, things were a little colder. The trip started with a bumpy ride from the parking lot to the airport (barf), learning of an extra $45 dollars each way on Northwest for 3 suitcases, followed by a several hour delay. Yeh. Then, to top it all off, the only restaurant, if you can call it that, that was open THE SATURDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS in this terminal was, ugh, McDonalds. I ate my first nuggets and fries. Mama and dada too. This was the day "nasty" was added to my vocabulary, to my parent's dismay.

Brrrr. And when we finally got to Minnesota, it was an 80 degree temperature swing from Houston. 75 to -5. Luckily grandma and Uncle Billy met us in a heated car at the airport with coat, hat and gloves. On the way from the airport, and the rest of the trip, I was on the lookout for---snowplows!

On Sunday, we just chilled at the house and tried to stay warm -- people, it was in the negative teens and twenties at night! Uncle Billy tried to wrestle me down to expel some of my energy. I think this picture shows I was clearly the winner of this round.
Katie taught me to play piano, and the entire family endured my pounding.

Aunt Kristen got the star of the year for storing Jamie and Katie's Thomas the Tank Engine tracks all these years. It was also perfect for all my matchbox (aka "poop cars"), as well as the trains.

Three generations.

And ice cream. You gotta have ice cream, even in Minnesota.

Family time is the best time.