Thursday, April 2, 2015
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Happy Birthday, David!
David's big 3-8 wasn't anything tooooo crazy and exciting since it was on a Tuesday night. My parents and us went his fav restaurant in Austin, Pieous, and then went back to our house for cake.
Nico picked this balloon out allll by himself.
And I thought this card was appropriate...
He asked for hockey sticks for his bday, along with me accompanying him to the Sturgill Simpson concert next week. Should be fun! Happy birthday, DABJR!
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Nico caught a fish!
Nico and David went up to Dallas for a nice, extended family weekend with his parents and Patti Ann & Tim! The highlight, by far, of the trip was Nico's first fishing experience! He even caught a fish!
He was so proud of this! He had a blast hanging out mostly at Papa and Grandma's house, swimming in the pool, getting new Spiderman sandals and new tennis shoes, and also catching up with Patti Ann and Tim! They haven't seen him in a few years, and I heard that he was really impressing them with his conversational skills.
I wasn't able to make the trip up due to my work schedule and also the fact that I had plans on Sunday that would have made us have to leave early Sunday. I had a part relaxing/part fun-filled weekend consisting of a chic flick movie night on Friday all by myself (I really didn't know what to do with myself), a Rainey Street bar hopping evening with my parents on Saturday, and the Journey concert on Sunday with my dad! Maybe it's the fact that I'm now in my 30's, or the fact that I work strictly with debilitated adults, but I definitely enjoy and cherish now, more than ever, all of the hangouts with my parents. Had a funny time hearing new stories of their past and ending the night with a McDonalds mcchicken run.
Friday, March 27, 2015
The never ending bedtime routine
It's amazing how well of a job that Nico stalls and innocently manipulates us to creating routines. His bedtime routine has become a legitimate 30 minute ordeal.
Once it is announced in multiple stages, i.e. 10 min warning, 5 min warning, then "setting the alarm" which is 2 min, he continues to be annoyed over the concept of going to bed.
He gets on David's back to walk up the stairs, because I am the monster that is going to chase him and try to pinch him. The first stop is the bathroom for him to brush his teeth and pee. That takes easily 6-8 minutes to accomplish, because he likes to sit or stand on the counter and make faces at himself and laugh.
Once we make it into his room, it's time for what he refers to as "nighttime stuff." These words have become the devil. "Nighttime stuff" refers to the variety of activities that we must do before we enter the calm down phase.
The options of nighttime stuff include but are not necessarily limited to:
1) Sprinting across his room and headfirst sliding into his beanbag
2) Sprinting across the room trying to avoid our outstretched arms
3) Playing monkey in the middle (he's the monkey) as David and I throw the beanbag back and forth
4) Jumping off his bed into a pile of pillows that he refers to as poop, and then he has to run across the room to the pretend carwash
5) Jumps off his chair over the small rug, which is the pirana pit
6) Playing hide and seek
a) in the dark with flashlight, where David is the monster and we have to find him
b) in the dark without flashlight, where we hide and David the monster finds us
Once the 5-10 minute nighttime choice has come to an end, he usually stalls and asks for just one more time of whatever he is doing, and we can't help but shake our heads every time and think how ridiculous this whole thing has become. When he realizes we really aren't going to give in to his antics any longer, he lays down in the beanbag for David to lift him up and let him turn off the ceiling fan light.
It now becomes song time with mommy, and I must lay down on the ground next to him. Our songs have been the same, and within the same order, for many months: The "I love Nico" song that I made up forever ago, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Itsy Bitsy Spider. We then play a naming game of animals. He is able to chose the type of animals that we name, such as zoo, water, red, etc. The final phase of songs then begins, but this requires me holding and rocking him like a baby with his blanket and an additional white blanket on top. The two songs are a few lines from "Wagon Wheel" and a line of "Rockabye baby."
I drop him into his bed, tuck him in, and proceed to give him a high five, knuckles and a kiss. He sometimes pretends to mess up on any of these so it requires starting over.
I finally leave the room, and it's David's fun turn for brief songs, the animal naming game of animals that were not previously named with me, and the highfive/knuckles/kiss series.
A minute after it's all said and done, we often will hear him yell "Goodnight mommy/daddy" and if you do not say it back, he will continue to yell it, but louder.
What have we gotten ourselves into?!?! I keep telling myself that I will also miss all of this one day...
Once it is announced in multiple stages, i.e. 10 min warning, 5 min warning, then "setting the alarm" which is 2 min, he continues to be annoyed over the concept of going to bed.
He gets on David's back to walk up the stairs, because I am the monster that is going to chase him and try to pinch him. The first stop is the bathroom for him to brush his teeth and pee. That takes easily 6-8 minutes to accomplish, because he likes to sit or stand on the counter and make faces at himself and laugh.
Once we make it into his room, it's time for what he refers to as "nighttime stuff." These words have become the devil. "Nighttime stuff" refers to the variety of activities that we must do before we enter the calm down phase.
The options of nighttime stuff include but are not necessarily limited to:
1) Sprinting across his room and headfirst sliding into his beanbag
2) Sprinting across the room trying to avoid our outstretched arms
3) Playing monkey in the middle (he's the monkey) as David and I throw the beanbag back and forth
4) Jumping off his bed into a pile of pillows that he refers to as poop, and then he has to run across the room to the pretend carwash
5) Jumps off his chair over the small rug, which is the pirana pit
6) Playing hide and seek
a) in the dark with flashlight, where David is the monster and we have to find him
b) in the dark without flashlight, where we hide and David the monster finds us
Once the 5-10 minute nighttime choice has come to an end, he usually stalls and asks for just one more time of whatever he is doing, and we can't help but shake our heads every time and think how ridiculous this whole thing has become. When he realizes we really aren't going to give in to his antics any longer, he lays down in the beanbag for David to lift him up and let him turn off the ceiling fan light.
It now becomes song time with mommy, and I must lay down on the ground next to him. Our songs have been the same, and within the same order, for many months: The "I love Nico" song that I made up forever ago, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Itsy Bitsy Spider. We then play a naming game of animals. He is able to chose the type of animals that we name, such as zoo, water, red, etc. The final phase of songs then begins, but this requires me holding and rocking him like a baby with his blanket and an additional white blanket on top. The two songs are a few lines from "Wagon Wheel" and a line of "Rockabye baby."
I drop him into his bed, tuck him in, and proceed to give him a high five, knuckles and a kiss. He sometimes pretends to mess up on any of these so it requires starting over.
I finally leave the room, and it's David's fun turn for brief songs, the animal naming game of animals that were not previously named with me, and the highfive/knuckles/kiss series.
A minute after it's all said and done, we often will hear him yell "Goodnight mommy/daddy" and if you do not say it back, he will continue to yell it, but louder.
What have we gotten ourselves into?!?! I keep telling myself that I will also miss all of this one day...
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Chef Nico Part II
This morning, I turned on Mickey, although it's usually Ninja Turtles or a movie, and I went into the other room to do a little work. After a few minutes, I thought I heard the kitchen chair sliding across the floor. I walked in there, and this is what I saw..... (Ignore the complete mess on the countertop.)
He was up by the freaking sink washing our fresh chicken eggs!!! He looked up so innocently and said, "Mommy, I'm cooking you eggs!"
David continues to let him participate pretty heavily in the kitchen, so to Nico, he was just doing what he usually does....minus the supervision! It was so cute. He cleaned the eggs off and then cracked them into the bowl like it was nothin'! No shells at all. Possibly a better job than me.
He was so proud and set our plates down on his little kids table so we could eat our breakfast together. Then, he proudly make me my usual latte before I had to leave.
This boy has my heart.
David continues to let him participate pretty heavily in the kitchen, so to Nico, he was just doing what he usually does....minus the supervision! It was so cute. He cleaned the eggs off and then cracked them into the bowl like it was nothin'! No shells at all. Possibly a better job than me.
He was so proud and set our plates down on his little kids table so we could eat our breakfast together. Then, he proudly make me my usual latte before I had to leave.
This boy has my heart.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Morning cuddles and wildflowers
Today was one of those days that was filled with a few little moments that I will look back on and miss. The memory that prompted me to get all sentimental happened before I even got out of bed.
Nico has recently become brave enough to come down the stairs and into our room when he first wakes in the morning. We are usually sleeping, so he has become a nice little alarm clock around 7-7:30. He quietly climbs into bed next to me, and while it's only for a few moments, those moments as he's cuddling up in the "small spoon" position next to me and resting his head on my shoulder are some of the best ones ever! As he lies there, it's like nothing is wrong with the world. Most days, he is Chatty Cathy about what he is going to do that day or just tells us something he knows. Some days, we just lay there in the quiet and he goes back to sleep. And, the few and far between days that are the best, are the ones when he has been laying there quietly for a few moments and suddenly breaks that silence to say, "I love you mama" or "Mommy, I gotta tell you something.... I love you."
Later on today, he also brought me little wild flowers (and weeds that look like flowers) from our yard. He is always so proud walking up to me with a shitty grin and his hand behind his back. I tell him what a gentleman is and he gets even prouder.
He has such a big heart and is simply the best.
Nico has recently become brave enough to come down the stairs and into our room when he first wakes in the morning. We are usually sleeping, so he has become a nice little alarm clock around 7-7:30. He quietly climbs into bed next to me, and while it's only for a few moments, those moments as he's cuddling up in the "small spoon" position next to me and resting his head on my shoulder are some of the best ones ever! As he lies there, it's like nothing is wrong with the world. Most days, he is Chatty Cathy about what he is going to do that day or just tells us something he knows. Some days, we just lay there in the quiet and he goes back to sleep. And, the few and far between days that are the best, are the ones when he has been laying there quietly for a few moments and suddenly breaks that silence to say, "I love you mama" or "Mommy, I gotta tell you something.... I love you."
Later on today, he also brought me little wild flowers (and weeds that look like flowers) from our yard. He is always so proud walking up to me with a shitty grin and his hand behind his back. I tell him what a gentleman is and he gets even prouder.
He has such a big heart and is simply the best.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Baseball love
We absolutely love playing baseball in the backyard with Nico! (Incase anyone was wondering.) He has such a good little swing!
He had been using too heavy of a tball bat that David picked up a few years ago. We convinced him to use the Little Tykes bat again since he would be able to swing faster and hit it harder. What a look of determination he has with these swings, trying to swing as hard as he can!
Nico- 2: Wiffle balls- 0.
We are running out of wiffle balls and also wanted to get Nico an appropriate size "big boy bat," so we spent the other night wandering around Dick's Sporting Goods. Turns out they do have a much lighter tball bat. Nico was so pumped to get a brand new bat and helmet, and he was in a rush to get home and hit right away!
And now we're all in big trouble... serious line drives often come our way!
Can't help but be such proud parents!
He had been using too heavy of a tball bat that David picked up a few years ago. We convinced him to use the Little Tykes bat again since he would be able to swing faster and hit it harder. What a look of determination he has with these swings, trying to swing as hard as he can!
Nico- 2: Wiffle balls- 0.
We are running out of wiffle balls and also wanted to get Nico an appropriate size "big boy bat," so we spent the other night wandering around Dick's Sporting Goods. Turns out they do have a much lighter tball bat. Nico was so pumped to get a brand new bat and helmet, and he was in a rush to get home and hit right away!
And now we're all in big trouble... serious line drives often come our way!
Can't help but be such proud parents!
Monday, March 2, 2015
Chef Nico
Came home from work today to find this...
"Mommy, I'm making dinner for you! But back up, because it's really hot! How was work??"
Cue heart melting now. Where did my little boy go?!
"Mommy, I'm making dinner for you! But back up, because it's really hot! How was work??"
Cue heart melting now. Where did my little boy go?!
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Disneyland Day 1: Travel day + Downtown Disney
Within 30 minutes of waking up, I swear that Nico surpassed the 100 question mark. I'm not sure he stopped talking from that point until we returned back home! His excitement over the Park n Ride shuttle was hilarious. He said it was the biggest bus he had ever seen and couldn't wait to get on it. Once we entered the airport, all he wanted to know was where the planes were. We found our terminal, and he didn't take his eyes off that plane during our 45 minute wait. His excitement over this may be unmatched to anything I have seen, including Christmas morning. He wanted to know everything going on, including what each worker was doing, what was in the luggage containers, how we get on the plane through the tunnel, etc etc etc!
He was so cute on his first airplane ride of this trip. He grabbed the window seat, ofcourse, and commented how small the cars and buildings were as we flew higher and higher. He also wanted to get out and jump on the clouds. Shortly after the plane reached it's flying height, he turned on the Incredibles movie, cuddled up with his head on me, and was out for the entire ride.
On our connecting flight in Phoenix, he mainly colored in his Ninja Turtles coloring book and talked nonstop. He told me all about the plane, using hand gestures, and how it went really fast, then up into the sky, then slowly came back down.
Our morning travels were smooth and hassle free, and we landed in Anaheim around late morning. We took a 30 min cruise over to our hotel, compliments of this fun Disney bus.
We checked into the Marriot Suites and were hoping that Nico would take a brief nap, so we could explore Downtown Disney later that night.
I'm not sure what we were thinking. Naptime was a serious struggle for obvious reasons. He spent an entire hour just screwing around and wouldn't stop talking. He kept sneaking out of his room and peeking around the doorway. In those moments, I felt like I had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the next, debating between, "He's in Disney, screw the nap and let's have fun" vs "It's important for him to stay on schedule, and I need to keep enforcing this so our night will be fun." Ha! Finally, he did fall asleep for about 30 min, but that was only because I went in there to lay with him. I ended up stuck in there since he was sprawled out halfway on top of me with his face up against mine.
Our night in Downtown Disney was really fun! I had no idea how many shops and restaurants there were. Highlights included dinner at Rainforest Café, the Lego store, and throwing pennies in the water fountains.
I'm amazed at the statues made of Legos...
There were only 2 temper tantrums on the entire weeklong trip, which I consider a big win! The first was tonight. We told him that he could pick out 1 toy, and he didn't understand that concept. Such a rough life, huh?
We explored through the different shops for a few hours before going to dinner at the Rainforest Café. I had no idea how cool this place would be either, with interactive animals and "rain storms."
We scored the perfect seat, right infront of the elephants. They both made noises and moved their trunks throughout the night. Nico was in awe. Every 30 minutes, a staged rain storm occurred that caused all of the animals to make noise, along with the sound of thunder throughout restaurant. Nico claimed his dessert as "the biggest ice cream sandwich I ever saw."
He enjoyed watching fish and claimed that he saw Dori in there (from Finding Nemo movie).
He made plenty of wishes this trip while throwing pennies into the fountains.
Photo courtesy of Nico!...
After returning to the hotel, we put together the Star Wars Lego set that he picked out.
My heart was happily full after Day 1, and we hadn't even really done Disney yet!
Disneyland Day 2: Disneyland Park
Today was one of the best days I have ever had. Seeing Nico's excitement with the rides, the characters, and just EVERYTHING was awesome. David and I felt like we were kids again, too!
We scored a Magic Morning pass when we purchased our tickets, which allowed us entry to the park 1 hour and 15 min prior to the usual time. Other than this special offer (which I think was primarily because of the December measles incident), only guests that stay on the Disney property have this benefit, so it's definitely a way to get in the park while the lines are minimal!
Once we entered the park gates and walked down Main Street, there was such a magical feeling. The theme song from "Up" was playing, and I recall getting the chills. Happy people everywhere. Beautiful weather. And the start of a vacation we will always remember.
We headed to Fantasyland first to start out with all of the classic rides. Nico loved the teacups and kept wanting to spin faster.
He thought it was the funniest thing to control Dumbo up and down. His laughing increased each time Dumbo reached the highest peak.
He had breakdown 2/2 this morning while we were in line for a boat ride. Don't ask me why, but he started whining that he wanted to go back to the hotel. I was so mad at that kid for about a 10 minute stretch and kept thinking about how ungrateful he was and all of the kids that would die to go on a trip like this. David (and later, my mom too!) then compared Nico's moment to how much of a brat I was on my Boston trip with my dad when I whined about not wanting to walk the historical red line. Dang it, they were both sooo right. Like mother, like son?!
Luckily, a popcorn break helped him regroup, and there were no problems from that point on!
It's a small world after all...
We spent about 1-2 hours going through ride after ride on that side of the park, and then we headed to Mickey's Toontown!
When asked what he wanted to do, meeting Minnie was at the top of his list today.
The wait for this was about 45 min. Not too bad but definitely our longest wait yet. We were accustomed to about 10-15 min max wait at that point! Because it's difficult for a 3 year old to stand still for more than 30 seconds, you could find him climbing over all of the railing in any line we were in. About halfway through, he lost his balance on one of the rails and landed in a flower bed. A few of the flowers broke off, and David suggested that he bring one to give Minnie. He held that flower so tightly and carefully for the remainder of the line and was so pumped to give it to Minnie. He smiled so proudly when I kept telling him that he was being such a gentleman.
(Then ofcourse, he became bashful when his moment came.) Nico has such a big heart.
After accepting her flower, she gave him a big kiss. He didn't like that and later told us, "Minnie kissed me and I wiped it off!" He thought he was so clever with his wipe off move.
Mickey's house was next door, and this was a must do. Even though it was another long line, at least both lines toured through their homes and had some interactive things to see and do.
He wasn't as shy around Mickey and walked up to him to give him a high 5!
We went on Nico's first rollercoaster here in Toontown thereafter, and he cracked up loudly the entire time. I can still vividly remember the sound of that. Pure happiness.
Lunch and naptime were approaching quickly, so after Toontown, we called it a day. We took the shuttle back to our hotel and stopped into Red Robin for a quick lunch. Nico then slept 2 1/2 hours!!
He sure was my buddy today and was so clingy. He only wanted me to push him in his stroller and mainly wanted me to ride on the rides next to him. Not to mention, he often would kiss my cheek and tell me, "Mama... I love you." I soaked in every minute of that.
We went back to the park for a couple hours and went on a few more rides. One of the highlights was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a rollercoaster that definitely was a step up from Nico's previous one in Toon Town. I was hesistant about this since it was also dark, and I knew it would be going fast and curving through tunnels, but his laugh on that first rollercoaster convinced me that this would be fun too. He definitely laughed SO loudly again- the entire time! The ride came to a stop and he said, with such energy and excitement, "That was fun! Let's do it again!!" We also went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and the jungle cruise before the park closed.
While walking out of the park and back to the shuttle, he spontaneously told us, "I had a really fun time at Disney."
We scored a Magic Morning pass when we purchased our tickets, which allowed us entry to the park 1 hour and 15 min prior to the usual time. Other than this special offer (which I think was primarily because of the December measles incident), only guests that stay on the Disney property have this benefit, so it's definitely a way to get in the park while the lines are minimal!
Once we entered the park gates and walked down Main Street, there was such a magical feeling. The theme song from "Up" was playing, and I recall getting the chills. Happy people everywhere. Beautiful weather. And the start of a vacation we will always remember.
We headed to Fantasyland first to start out with all of the classic rides. Nico loved the teacups and kept wanting to spin faster.
He thought it was the funniest thing to control Dumbo up and down. His laughing increased each time Dumbo reached the highest peak.
He had breakdown 2/2 this morning while we were in line for a boat ride. Don't ask me why, but he started whining that he wanted to go back to the hotel. I was so mad at that kid for about a 10 minute stretch and kept thinking about how ungrateful he was and all of the kids that would die to go on a trip like this. David (and later, my mom too!) then compared Nico's moment to how much of a brat I was on my Boston trip with my dad when I whined about not wanting to walk the historical red line. Dang it, they were both sooo right. Like mother, like son?!
Luckily, a popcorn break helped him regroup, and there were no problems from that point on!
It's a small world after all...
We spent about 1-2 hours going through ride after ride on that side of the park, and then we headed to Mickey's Toontown!
When asked what he wanted to do, meeting Minnie was at the top of his list today.
The wait for this was about 45 min. Not too bad but definitely our longest wait yet. We were accustomed to about 10-15 min max wait at that point! Because it's difficult for a 3 year old to stand still for more than 30 seconds, you could find him climbing over all of the railing in any line we were in. About halfway through, he lost his balance on one of the rails and landed in a flower bed. A few of the flowers broke off, and David suggested that he bring one to give Minnie. He held that flower so tightly and carefully for the remainder of the line and was so pumped to give it to Minnie. He smiled so proudly when I kept telling him that he was being such a gentleman.
(Then ofcourse, he became bashful when his moment came.) Nico has such a big heart.
After accepting her flower, she gave him a big kiss. He didn't like that and later told us, "Minnie kissed me and I wiped it off!" He thought he was so clever with his wipe off move.
Mickey's house was next door, and this was a must do. Even though it was another long line, at least both lines toured through their homes and had some interactive things to see and do.
He wasn't as shy around Mickey and walked up to him to give him a high 5!
We went on Nico's first rollercoaster here in Toontown thereafter, and he cracked up loudly the entire time. I can still vividly remember the sound of that. Pure happiness.
He sure was my buddy today and was so clingy. He only wanted me to push him in his stroller and mainly wanted me to ride on the rides next to him. Not to mention, he often would kiss my cheek and tell me, "Mama... I love you." I soaked in every minute of that.
We went back to the park for a couple hours and went on a few more rides. One of the highlights was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a rollercoaster that definitely was a step up from Nico's previous one in Toon Town. I was hesistant about this since it was also dark, and I knew it would be going fast and curving through tunnels, but his laugh on that first rollercoaster convinced me that this would be fun too. He definitely laughed SO loudly again- the entire time! The ride came to a stop and he said, with such energy and excitement, "That was fun! Let's do it again!!" We also went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and the jungle cruise before the park closed.
While walking out of the park and back to the shuttle, he spontaneously told us, "I had a really fun time at Disney."
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