Friday, November 30, 2012

thanksgiving photo fun



Here we all are with Aunt H the morning after thanksgiving!

central park zoo

Following a really good night sleep in our fancy hotel, we headed back to Aunt H's apartment for a truly NY breakfast- bagels, lox, and cream cheese! With plenty of coffee to wash it down with!  Yum!  I had asked Aunt H if we could have bagels the next morning and she certainly delivered.  Toasted to perfection but still chewy on the inside.  You can only get a great bagel in NY.

Following a few pictures, hubs, big guy, and I took a cab (shhhh, don't tell Aunt H who wanted us to hop on the 8th street bus) to the Central Park Zoo.  The cab got us their very quickly and big guy loved that he was in a car but not in a car seat.  He had this grin on his face the whole time, like, we are really getting away with it!  He was also eating some of H's pretzels, which they bonded over the night before.

Upon getting to the zoo, we went first to the shortened but 4D version of the Polar Express movie.  4D you ask?  Why, it's 3D, but with actual effects, like snow falling, wind blowing your hair, and bubbles flying.  Big guy wasn't too into the glasses, in fact neither hubs nor I were allowed to wear them either. but he loved the snow and bubbles!

Following the movie, we went to the children's zoo, which had some really cool ducks and a place to feed the animals.  All was going well until some heathen of a child stomped on big guy's hand on a play area and big guy lost it.  And the mother didn't even say anything, like, sorry or make her kid apologized.  so, I said nicely how horrible it was that she nor the kid had manners.  hehe, then she walked away from us quickly.  The only thing that calmed big guy was having hubs feed the sheep and an alpaca named Richie.

Following the hand stomp, it was downhill.  big guy wanted to run crazily through the zoo.  which at our local zoo isn't an issue because it's big and I know where everything is.  But this zoo is small and I didn't know my way around.  cue hysterical crying and melting on the ground.  We decided to call it quits and upon leaving stopped to get some popcorn.  Which instantly turned big guy into a normal human being momentarily.  He happily munched popcorn and yogurt while hubs and I had some hamburger and french fries.  After eating, we hopped on another cab down 5th avenue back to our car.

We made really good time on the way home, big guy slept the whole way, waking up periodically, but then falling back asleep.  He woke up for good as we reached our last toll.  We decided to do some black friday shopping before ending our NY adventure!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

thanksgiving!

This thanksgiving we traveled to Manhattan (Greenwich Village) to visit my great aunt H.  She is big guy's great great aunt!  What a treat!  We met up with my mom gmom Dino and grumpy grampy and their two dogs on thursday afternoon around 2:30.  And then we had four generations present!

Big guy loved aunt H so much- she is really cool for being 93!  And he of course loved seeing gmom dino and the dogs.  Though he wasn't interested in eating thanksgiving dinner.  I did manage to shove a yogurt in before he realized the parade was on tv and was pretty good just chilling out watching it and periodically coming to sit with us at the table to socialize.  The food was delicious and I take no credit for it, having only made the broccoli.  but we all ate a ton and laughed even more!  Dessert quickly followed, including pie, cookies, chocolate turkeys, and "baby duck!"

Ok, the baby duck wasn't actually a duck, but it was an ice cream cake shaped and decorated to look like a cooked turkey.  Including little drumsticks made out of ice cream cones with little white fluffy tops!!!  so cute.  Anyway, we were at the baskin robbins on wednesday night getting some pre-thanksgiving ice cream.  And a couple came in to look at it, apparently people were supposed to pre-order and pick up by tuesday.  anyway, they didn't like the flavor ( who doesn't like chocolate chip ice cream?) so they left. but big guy caught a glimpse of it and screamed in such a concerned, sweet voice, "ooooh, baby duck!"  It was so cute.  he was so concerned for the well-being of the baby duck, and kept talking about it that we just had to buy it.  When I tried to get the tirade on tape, he refused to say it, but when we brought it out for the car ride up and to the table to eat, he started saying it again.  so precious!

We ended the evening at our really swanky hotel a couple of blocks away.  Big guy was his charming self, so we got an upgrade to a king sized bed on the 10th floor!  such a flirt, but this time it actually paid off!  And we all enjoyed our beautiful view of the Hudson river and watching cars and people go by on the street below.  Overall, an awesome thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

phone answer

last night I had to be at work late, so hubs and big guy were on their own for the afternoon, dinner, and early evening. I called/texted periodically through the night.  At one point I called and I heard big guy talking.  here is how it went:
Me- Hi buddy, It's mommy!
Big Guy (BG)- Hi mommy!
Me- how are you?
BG- train movie!
Me- oh, you are watching your train movie?
BG- uh-huh
Hubs- Big guy! what are you doing on the phone?  Hello, hello?
Me- hey hunny!
Hubs- what are you doing on the phone?
Me- I just called, why?
Hubs- I think big guy answered the phone and just was talking to you.
Me- Oh!  You didn't answer and just hand it to him?
Hubs-No.
Me- our son is a genius!

light on train

the polar express movie has taken on epic status in terms of movies.  we watch it at least three times a day.  big guy is obsessed!  but his talking has definitely taken off!  and the cuteness is at a maximum when he watches it.  

the other day, big guy and hubs were watching the movie at the part where the light on the train needs replacing.  big guy sits up and yells, "light!"big guy runs upstairs to the bathroom.  hubs runs after him asking him where he was going.  big guy grabs the flashlight (why it was in the bathroom is still not certain) and runs back down to the couch.  Hubs asks him what is going on.  big guy proceeds to tell him, "light, light.  train needs light."  then big guy turned on the flashlight for the train.  Too precious!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

pre-thanksgiving

every year Grandpop J, Grandma C, and Uncle I have a pre-thanksgiving feast on the sunday before thanksgiving.  I was in charge of the mashed potatoes.  I made them while big guy and hubs were passed out during naptime.  Since sunday was the day after the NJ visit, we mostly relaxed, though we did go to the best buy to buy the polar express.  We got to their house exactly at 3pm.  just in time for dinner.

big guy and I mostly played by ourselves with the train tracks.  big guy ate a drinkable yogurt and then some almonds.  the kid loves almonds!  Following playing, big guy found C and was dragging her all around the house.  which she of course loved.  We finally ventured to join uncle I with the other little boys in the family as they played Wii downstairs.  Chocolate milk and dessert rounded out our evening before heading home to hubs!

family time

yesterday we went to NJ for visit Uncle E, Aunt K, and cousin C.  C has become a soccer star recently, so we went to his championship game.  luckily, the game was at this huge park near their house that has five playgrounds, duck pond, three court san volleyball pit, and lots of open space to run!  which are all things that big guy loves to do!

we headed to the game.  and after about five solid minutes of a full on freak out- sobbing, kicking, trying to rip his coat off, we finally made it to the playground.  we ran around on the playground until we saw the huge sand pit!  big guy ripped his shoes off and had a blast.  hubs finally got a glimpse of how much big guy loves the beach.  he ran dug holes, filled holes with leaves, then jumped in the holes!  it was hilarious.  finally, he had gotten out whatever running energy he needed to and we walked over to the field.  big guy really enjoyed watching soccer.  nothing is better than a soccer ball and lots of running.

We headed back to their house and had a quick lunch.  then we played with C's geotrax train tracks  and trains.  like for the next seven hours!  it was awesome.  And instead of taking a nap, we watched "the Polar Express" an xmas movie with a giant train as one of the main components of the movie.  it was essentially big guy's dream movie!  train action for over an hour.  Big guy's eyes were wide open the whole time.  and when it was over, he demanded another viewing!  so precious.

big guy refused to eat dinner, but he did have some pretzels following a bath and getting into PJ's.  big guy was very sad to leave.  and after a sad bye bye to the trains, he passed out mere moments later in the car.  And had a great night's sleep once I plopped him in bed.  Yay for family time!

Friday, November 16, 2012

voting

Election day came.  I am proud to say that big guy has been to every election since he's been born.  we went with hubs this time, who was actually voting- hey, it was a presidential one!  Funnily enough, the old people at the polls remember big guy and remarked about how big he is.  Just like they do every six months when we come to vote.  big guy thinks it is so fabulous to be in the booth with me.  And now that he's big enough, I let him hit the CAST button when I'm all done!  so, our civic duty is done!
Oh, and our guy's all won :)

Sentence

Big guy's talking has really been impressive lately.  New words and new combinations of words are just coming every day.  the other day, following daylight savings time, we were up early.  like 5am early, b/c big felt like it was 6am.  which technically it was.  but it was still painfully early. hubs was passed out all grumpily on the couch.  I was trying to not grumpily pass out on the couch.  I asked big guy if he wanted to read a book.  "uh-huh."  OK, I said, "Luke choose a book."  He looked at me and said, "Mommy choose book."  WOW!!!  a real sentence!  even hubs sat up and remarked about it!  Now, if we could just get these full sentences all the time!!!

freckle

I noticed the other day that big guy had gotten his first freckle.  It's on his right thumb, the part facing his hand.  Just an adorable little brown freckle.  I just love it.  and what a fantastic place to have one! I wonder if he will develop any more.  I mean, what is the timeline for the development of freckles?  I wonder if there is one...

Halloween 2.0

We got another chance at halloween on saturday.  my dear friend J lives a few towns over and they were really hit hard by the hurricane, so their halloween was postponed.  every year J throws a pizza party to begin halloween night for all the kids in the neighborhood and their parents.  we are always invited, but it's usually weird timing.  However, since it was saturday and hubs had a paper to write, we went over.  boy, I'm glad we did!!

J's kids love big guy!  in fact, when she told them we were coming, they were screaming and jumping up and down.  they were very excited to see big guy.  And big guy loves their house.  Not only are the kids there, but they have a really big dog and a chinchilla, that big guy is obsessed with.  every time we go, he runs over and talks all about his water bottle, food dish, his potty, where he sleeps.  then we get to feed it hay and an almond.  obsessed.

so, we played with the chinchilla and the kids before the onslaught of about 20 kids ranging in age from 2-13 and their parents all showed up.  pizza, drinks, veggies all ensued in mass quantities.  big guy had a slice of white, some chips, and apple juice.  we also got to feed the dog a giant bone.  big guy kept telling the dog to be quiet, "shhhh" with his finger to his lips when the dog would bark. so cute.

following dinner, everyone got suited/bundled up and all 20 kids and a few parents started the walk around the neighborhood.  J lives in a really nice neighborhood, but the houses are spaced pretty far apart, so it's a lot of walking.  but big guy LOVED every second of it!  he loved being with all the kids.  he loved getting the candy.  he did a wonderful job of saying thank you after taking a handful.  our bucket really filled up fast.  in fact, if we were a little behind the other kids, big guy would tell us to go faster and catch up b/c he wanted to be with the crowd.

after an hour of trick or treating we ended up at the last house where there were desserts, drinks, and games.  we ate and laughed and talked all about the various candy we had gotten.  then J, big guy and I left to go back to J's house to take a bath and get changed for bed.  big guy was so sad to leave.  he kept making the hand motion for "come on," as in he wanted everyone to come back to take a bath.  He kept saying, "back, back."  so precious.  but he was fine once we got to the bathtub and he realized the dog was allowed to sit in the bathroom with him.  we got into our pj's and headed home.  About ten minutes from home, he passed out and I plopped him in bed.  then hubs and I ate all of the good candy!

halloween

I love halloween.  It starts the fun of the holiday season.  This year I decided that big guy should get to pick out his costume, assuming he had an opinion about it.  we went over to the halloween adventure store near us.  I was really nervous when we walked in because it is really scary.  like werewolves eating babies, vampires ripping people's limbs off, witches boiling monsters.  scary.  big guy didn't think it was scary at all, he thought it was pretty interesting.  now, picking out a costume was another matter.  big guy chose to be buzz lightyear from Toy Story.  After I bought it I texted hubs and said, "likelihood he will actually wear it- 30 %"

In preparation for halloween, everyday I would ask big guy if he wanted to try on his outfit.  I always got a serious face and then a "no."  Hmmm, my percentage was falling fast!  Halloween night was rough.  It was right after four days with mom and dad due to the hurricane.  so, it was everyone's first day back to the real world.  big guy did not handle it well.  when I picked him up, he was grouchy and irritable.  uh-oh!

we ended up eating dinner with curious george on (which I do not allow tv during dinner unless you are really grouchy or as a reward).  after dinner, I again tried to coax big guy into his costume.  no luck. hubs came home and we tried to make it seem really fun.  yay!  Outside time after dinner!  It's dark! There's candy!  no go.  when I tried to put the cat ears on he wore last year, thrown to the floor.  when I put them on, thrown to the floor!  We ambled outside, but when we got to the first house, he saw other trick or treaters and freaked!  crying, screaming, he ran home.

We had our candy bowl out.  big guy really enjoyed putting the candy from our bowl into his bucket.  so, I let him do this a few times, then hid our bowl in the closet when he wasn't looking.  He came back over and says to me, "Where did candy go?"  I told him the neighbor's had it!  "In fact, we have to go outside and knock on their doors to go get the candy back!" I said.  hehe.  lying to the child.  terrible, but effective.  He agreed to go outside with me.  We did about four houses.  he wasn't too sure of the whole door knocking, but he did appreciate the candy!

we were doing good until we saw a whole crowd of kids going up our driveway and big guy wanted to be at home.  so, we came in.  turned curious george back on and munched on some hershey kisses!

global warming

Anyone who believes global warming isn't happening must have not been paying attention for the past 2 and 1/2 years.  Since big guy was born in february of 2010, he has slept through two hurricanes and an earthquake!  And he was born in between two enormous blizzards!

The most recent hurricane wasn't as bad as Irene, which our basement flooded horribly during.  This one we took lots of precautions to avoid excess water.  blocking windows, a little bit of grading.  big guy and I also helped our neighbor rake up leaves from our street all the way down to the drain.  big guy was very helpful directing me which piles of leaves to pick up!

We did get lots of rain and it was windy, but we were lucky.  we didn't lose power.  Mostly we ate a ton of food (we had bought a ton of non-perishables in preparation) and watched the weather channel.  hubs and I both had off on monday and tuesday, so the three of us really enjoyed the extra relaxation time together.  there was a lot of book reading, train playing, and general fun to pass the time stuck inside.  A good time was had by all!

resurrection

hubs is getting this shout-out post for fixing my vacuum.  I bought the "shark" vacuum a few months ago, much to the chagrin of hubs who wanted a dyson.  but dyson's are expensive!  anyway, I think it works really way.  big guy loves vacuuming, he helps pick up and then will hop in front of it before sprinting away.  he also likes to use the accessories to pretend to vacuum the house!  so adorable.  anyway, big guy and I love the vacuum, except the other day, it stopped having suction.  I was so stressed!  hubs finally (after I asked like ten times) took it apart and found that their were clogged tubes.  the kittens like to sharpen their claws on the rugs, which makes a lot of carpeting I vacuum up, which was blocking up my tubes!  After it was fixed it was totally fabulous again!  so, thank you hubs for fixing my vacuum!

school update

well, it's been a while since I've posted.  a lot of stuff has been going on with big guy.  Most notably is that we have switched schools!  I know.  shocking.  I'm still scared about it and he's been at the new school for about a week.  but I can already see that big guy is in a better place.  when I pick him up from school he smiles, isn't ready to leave, and chatters to me about what he's done during the day.

I really like one of his new teachers (she's the main teacher) ms. T.  and she really likes big guy.  She is very cuddly with him and doesn't mind that he follows her all day and is her little helper.  The other two teachers are kind of throw aways, but as long as big guy is doing well, then that's all that matters.

Big guy of course got his first cold!  but it wasn't even that bad of one.  Inevitably, he then immediately started wheezing.  so, we've been nebulizing.  And because the albuterol isn't really cutting it by itself, we've immediately had to start using the inhaled steroid.  which is fine with me because it really works well!  and the overall days that we have to use the nebulizer is very short.

I'm getting used to the new school and how it runs differently than the old school.  So, we will see about the future.  But I am slowly feeling better about the decision.