The Man!

It's a little on the blurry side, but we had courtside tickets for a college b-ball game this past Saturday and brought Mr. A with us. During the timeouts we would put him down and let him rock out to the music they were playing. As you can see from this shot, he was a dancing fool. The cameraman (in the background) LOVED him and the crowd LOVED him! It was so funny. He was on the JumboTron 3 times and even made it on to the highlights show of the game later on TV. He was so bummed when the timeouts were over saying, "Mo Dance, Mo Dance!" May you always want to dance it out, little man! We love you!

Snow Day

Ready for some serious "pay in snoooow!"

Are we having fun yet?!

When in doubt, look up!!

Believe it or not, this was our first "major" snowstorm of the year - a whopping 4 inches! It was enough to close schools, deter traffic, keep us all at home for the day, and even to keep the trash men away (who would have thought they'd be so wimpy?!). But, it was a lot of fun and Mr. A thoroughly enjoyed making perfect snowballs with his handy dandy snowball maker from Restoration Hardware and then going through the following motions EVERY time - "Thow (throw)!" "Eat" and finally, "Kick" what's left of the snowball. Very boy-ish of him.

If They Weren't So Darn Cute

Tonight's events:
7:10 - Mr. A in bed with footie pajamas on because all of his 2 piece jammies are in the dirty clothes, lights out
7:30 - Finish my dinner and head for the computer
7:45 - Hear Mr. A in his room still talking to himself
7:50 - Hear Mr. A calling, "Mama! Mama! Maaaamaaaa!"
So I go upstairs to remind him it's time to sleep and lie him back down
7:51 - The minute I walk in his room he says, "Mama, Ca-ca" (his term for poop), so I think to myself, "Oh, no wonder he's not sleeping, he's poopy"
7:52 - I pick him up to smell him and he's not smelly but I do note that the carpet is a bit wet in front of his crib and he is only in his onesie - the footie pajamas are on the opposite side of the crib
- I scrounge up some summer 2 piece pjs b/c I decide the footies aren't going to cut it and I lay him down in his crib to put his clothes on
- Once he is lying down I note that without unsnapping his onesie he has removed one side of his diaper and his little "pee pee" is sticking out the side
- I think to myself, "My, aren't you clever."
7:55 - Reality hits - I see the wet bumper pad, feel the wet carpet, and the wet sheet, and realize that my sweet little angel has peed all over his crib bumper, the sheet, his blanket, etc, etc. I want to scream, but I laugh instead.
8:15 - I finally get all of the knots out of the bumper (where it's been tied to the crib since his BIRTH), get the sheets and mattress pad off, put a towel under the new sheet that I finally get on the crib mattress (with a lot of coaxing, I might add - I'm not bending well these days) and put a running-around-like-crazy Mr. A back in his bed for the night (with the one blanket that he didn't pee on).

And, yes, of course DH is out of town. And we're doing this again????? Hmmm...

Vitals

I know this is slightly boring, but before I forget and end up throwing the random piece of paper away, I wanted to record Mr. A's vital stats of his 2 yr. appt (a few weeks ago).

Height: 2' 10.5"
Weight: 27 lbs 2 oz
Head: 19.49" = big brain ha ha

He's not breaking records, by any means (look at the poor kid's parents!), but he's keeping up on the charts, so we're happy about that.

One other stat that we seem to be getting pretty good at:
Diseases picked up at the dr's office while there for a well visit appt (this time) that send us back 2 weeks later: 1 sinus infection (argh).

Phrases of the Week

Please bear with me because I just have to document a few of them while they're fresh. Mr. A is putting all of his words and phrases together now and I love it (I know - a little slow, but getting there nonetheless!).
- Mama - hold- peazz
- Mama, I fy air-pane - mo' air-pane (he was a big fan)
- Cooooooool! (he says it for many things - including when he ran to the window at the airport and saw all of the airplanes lined up at the gates)
- His first little prayer - he fills in the obvious blanks ("fa" for "father," "daddy, mommy, be-be, Nana, Papa, BG, Lola, Grandpa, AAAA-Min"
- A favorite book - "Hush Little Baby"
- Sho-sho, mama out = Mom, get out of the shower (he likes to have it all to himself and he is a SHOWER HOG!!)
- Uv - wu = "Love you"

We're Going to DisneyWorld!

No, we weren't going to try to find Eli Manning (for all you Giants fans out there), but we did go to join DH's brother and his cute family there. We had a ball. I wasn't so sure how it would be with a non-sit still 2 yr old, but we were able to find rides he enjoyed (who isn't enthralled by "Small World" and "Pirates" - arrgggh!?) and try to help him understand the magic of it all. I think we'll have to go back in a few years to refresh his memory, but it was a lot of fun. Mr. A had fun being with his cousins, "Cotty" and "Or-ick" and even asked for them after we had left.

We wondered what Mr. A's reaction to the fireworks would be - maybe be scared, maybe think they're too loud, maybe even not like them. Not at all - he started hysterically laughing when the first one went off and asked for "Mo'"- it was so cute!

Andrew and me getting ready for the Pirates adventure - when asked what they say, he says "ARRRGH!"
Everyone needs their mouse ears - only appropriate that these are Pirate mouse ears. Mr. A insisted that DH have pirate mouse ears on for the picture too.
DH and Mr. A watching the light parade on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom with DH's brother and Mr. A's cousin, "Or-ick"

Mr. A and his "buddy"/cousin, Tucker. Tucker was a SAINT and even admitted that Mr. A has more energy than he does (for anyone who knows Tucker, you know that is a hard one to beat!). But, Tucker helped us to chase Mr. A all around and keep an extra set of eyes on him. Thank you, Tucker, for saving my back!

We hit Epcot Center on Day 1 and saw the Energy Universe (or whatever it's called), the Natural Habitat ride, and ate some "fren fry" for lunch. DH joined us in the afternoon and we all went on "Soarin'" (btw - I LOVE Parent Switch passes! Disney really does think of EVERYTHING) and took turns watching the little ones. Soarin was one of the only rides I could go on (for some strange reason they don't allow expectant women to cruise down Thunder Mountain or ride around Test Track - go figure) so it was nice. While the boys went on some other thrilling rides, I explored the World Showcase. That place is awesome! I guess I should say I ate my way through World Showcase, but it was thoroughly enjoyable. DH literally ate his way through it later that night with his brother and niece and nephews - they got an appetizer from every country and shared it - the deal was they HAD to try everything (including the sushi from Japan - for anyone who knows DH you know that was pure torture).

DH's brother even told his kids to enjoy the site of the fake Eifel Tower because they'd probably never get to go to Paris as a family. His one brilliant son asked, "So, then we're not supposed to enjoy the other countries' fake sites because you're taking us THERE?!" Gotta love smart alecks. I really liked the little slice of each country around the world!

On Day 2 we hit up the Magic Kingdom and re-lived our childhood memories. I must admit I was bummed that they no longer had frozen Carnation malts available or even the Red Vine Ropes sold in the Confectionery (crazy, I know, but I used to think those were unique to Disneyland - my mom did a nice job of convincing me so! :)). I guess Marketing dollars win out in the end so now everything is Nestle. Sigh.

In any event, those who could did Space Mountain, Stitch, Thunder Mountain, Astro Orbiter, Pirates, Small World, the Pooh ride, and other fun rides. Nothing ever amazes me more than the look on a child's face when he's discovering something for the first time. I tried to capture Andrew on Small World and Pirates, but pictures never do it justice!

Little boys went back to the hotel for naps and then we all met back up at the Magic Kingdom for the evening activities (Light Parade, Fireworks), some Dole pineapple soft serve - YUM!, and the mass exodus from the park. Very fun.

Day 3 we made it to Animal Kingdom. I think this was one of my favorites because it was totally NOT what I expected. It is so cool! The safari ride was a highlight and the Everest Expedition was a must-do for all those who could. The report is that it beats Matterhorn - that's a pretty tall comparison!

We had a great time and will try to let a few more days pass before talking about the trip home - it's still pretty raw so we're going to dream of more Dole pineapple soft serve, authentic American funnel cakes, and frozen lemonade instead for now! Oh, and maybe we'll hope to pepper some mouse ears in there too. Thanks, M&M for letting us join your family fun! We loved it.

My Valentines

Today I must wish the 2 special "men" in my life a very happy Valentine's Day! I love them both to pieces and am so glad they are mine! My DH is really one of the kindest, most generous, and patient people that I know. Thank goodness it sometimes wears off on me (sorry it's only sometimes). My Mr. A is one of the happiest, spunkiest, most expressive little ones I know. He is a pure joy to have in our home. I am so grateful today for both of my loves.

Happy Birthdays...

Some Mr. A words for the week:
Hot Mama (yes, I taught him that, but he has started saying it unprompted - very cute)
Mama Bye Bye Out
Daddy Bye Bye Out
No Mo' Shots (did I mention he didn't like his shot at the dr. last week?)
Mo' Cheese Pease (he finally actually says "pease" instead of "puh-puh" for please!)
Dee-ya (his reply when asked on the way home from church yesterday what he'd like for lunch - that's short for quesadilla)
Daddy ca-cas (what he told DH this morning while eating breakfast - when asked if he needed to go, he said "Uhhh, yeah" so DH took him up and off he went! Gotta love it for now)

I'm down in Dallas for some meetings this week and so today I got to take my sister-in-law, Julie, out to lunch for her birthday (today is her actual birthday - how perfect is that?!) at the yummy Cheesecake Factory. Afterward, she was kind enough to introduce me to the greatest accesory store ever - Sam Moon. My sister, Kim, would absolutely love this place. I'm so glad Julie was there to navigate for me because I would have taken one look at the overwhelmingness of the place and probably walked out! Thanks for indulging me on your birthday celebration, Jules! Happy Birthday!