San Diego 2010

We went on a family vacation to San Diego. It was Jon's family's "Cousin's Camp" where everyone gets together, and it just happened to be in San Diego. Well, it was in Palm Desert for a few days, but we didn't get there.

We had a blast. It was great to spend time as a family. Planning and packing were a pain, but it went rather well. As a side note - what did our parents do with us in car rides before DVD players? I mean, I don't know what I would've done with Nicholas if not for 6 hours of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse each way. the rest of the time he either slept or sang songs with us. I mean, it was a 12 hour car ride, each way (I blame this on LA traffic which is disgusting and makes me never want to live in LA).

So we left on Monday AM, and we stopped at a military plane museum in Atwater.



I highly recommend this as a stop for everyone. It was great. It had tons of planes to look at, and a little jet plane for Nicholas to ride in. We should've saved the little ride for last, but we did it first (silly us). He also got a t-shirt out of this visit that says "pilot in training." He also ran and grabbed a foam yellow airplane, which was under $4.00 so Jon and I bought it for him. He loves that plane. It didn't leave his hands for 4 days after we got it. It is still the most requested toy in the house (other than play-doh).



We got to San Diego late, then fell asleep. The next day we spent doing what we would do all days - the beach. Nicholas is a beach bum. He loves the beach. He loves building sand castles and having his dad fetch water for him. We built, and knocked down, lots of sand castles. This would've been the only thing Nicholas would want to do if we let him.



Jon took Nicholas, with the rest of his family, to the Wild Animal Kingdom. Why didn't I go? Well, I am seriously pregnant and not a good walker when I am pregnant. The Animal Kingdom is a lot of walking, and if you have seen it once you have seen it. It is fun once, but that's about it. I mean, it is a super large zoo :) I am sure they won't appreciate that comment, but it is. I loved it the first time, and had no desire to go back. Kind of like "It's a Small World" at Disneyland. You have to do it once, but that's all I am obligated to do. So I spent the day at the pool reading, and resting. It was a great day. We still hit the beach after dinner.

We hit the beach EVERY day after dinner or during the day.



instead of going to Sea World, we went to the Scripps Aquarium. Nicholas loved it. He got to touch and feel things - including a real live starfish. Then we hung out at the beach and waited for everyone to get back from Sea World.

Janis took Nicholas for a few hours so Jon and I could hang out. She drew him pictures of fire trucks. Now, Janis is a professional artist. I cannot draw like her. Nicholas loves the pictures and slept with them for a few days. Now they are in a special place of honor on the fridge where he can look at them and say - "fire trucks putting out the fires" - which is what Janis drew with him. I love that Janis draws, I just wish she lived a little closer so she could draw with him more often.



We had a ton of fun. The drive back was less fun, simply because all I could think about was the amount of laundry I was going to have to do. But it was still fun. And Nicholas was fabulous the whole time. He even took naps.

It was a great vacation!

Confidence Cup and first dentist visit

Friday August 6th was a big day at our house. It was Day 2 of potty training (which wasn't going so well), Confidence Cup and gymnastics, and Nicholas' first dentist visit. I did not expect all these things to go so well. Nicholas' old gymnastics teach had left, so this was our first class in the new gym (Tricks in Folsom instead of Tricks in Sacramento) and with a new teacher. Potty training had been going occasionally well, but not really well, and who likes to go to the dentist? I certainly don't.

But amazingly, everything went great!



Nicholas loved the new gym and had no trouble adjusting. His old teacher, and I, had warned the new teacher that he's an "independent spirit" - he doesn't always do what he is told, or sometimes engages in activities he is not told to do - like playing on the equipment during warm-up. Trick's doesn't discourage this, as they consider his class to be a "child-led" class, and Nicholas is happy to lead.



He did so well though! He did the warm-up just like he was supposed to, sat on a polka dot just like he was supposed to, and did everything great. His favorite activity of the day was jumping from a stack of mats to this ring, suspended from the ceiling, that he could make swing hard and swing him around depending on how hard he grabbed it when he jumped. He had a blast.

Needless to say, he did well :) He showed a lot of confidence.



He did great jumping on the trampoline with the other kids, and wouldn't hold still to get a good picture. So I got an "action shot" where he was jumping. Better than nothing right?



He didn't have a ton of patience with getting his trophy. When his name was called, I shooed him up to the platform to get his trophy. He took off running, got up there, and held his hand out to his new teacher, asking for "mine." He then proceeded to not put it down. The Confidence Cup trophy went to the dentist, in the car, to his nap, in his bed, to his grandfather's the next day, and was just left at home on Sunday for the first time - his dad didn't let him take it to church. He knows it is something cool, and he loves it.



The dentist visit went great. We went to Kid's Care Dental in Folsom. They are a great staff that loves kids. If you have a kid who needs a dentist - this is the place for you. Their waiting room is filled with kid friendly things, and the exam rooms are too. His exam room had a stuffed zebra that was bigger than him, but the dentist even examined the zebra so Nicholas could "help" before Nicholas' exam. They let me hold him, and did the whole exam while he was on my lap. It really helped keep him calm. I love this place.

Anyways, that is a smallish update on our lives. Our San Diego trip update is coming soon. And if he potty trains, I guarantee that everyone I know in the whole world is going to hear my shout of joy, no need to look to the blog for it.

Weird toddler behavior unexplained

I love my son, and generally I am able to understand him (except when he doesn't want me to understand him). Just when I think I have a handle on his behavior, and what I need to do with him, he starts being all strange.

This morning, he hopped around the house yelling "Ribbit" and "I'm a kangaroo, kangaroo." I am unclear what prompted such a joyful hopping. And I don't know how to stop it either, because when it came time to put his shoes on to go to day care, he wouldn't stop hopping. when I firmly grabbed him and planted him on the sofa, he started bouncing as best he could. I am so confused!

And this combines with last night, when he was bear crawling around the house (hands and feet, bent in half) and yelling "roar, big boy lion" and "dinosaur." He didn't tell me why, he just kept doing it. Up and down the stairs he went, around the house....it was so odd.

He also does the following things:

1. Eats food and says "yum I love it" but then doesn't want to eat it after saying "yum."

2. Runs naked around the house whenever he gets a chance (shocker).

3. Uses the potty occasionally at day care, and refuses to do it at home because he says he likes diapers.

4. Giggles like a maniac for no reason.

5. Clings to my leg and tries to pull my pants down.

6. Plays catch with his stuffed animals.

7. Sits and cuddles with his bouncy balls.

8. Insists that pianos should be played with his toes - and then gets mad when I don't allow this.

9. Tries to color with the crayon between his toes.

10. Opens and closes doors randomly.

Some of his odd behaviors I understand - his shirts go on inside out because he wants to dress himself. His pants go on backwards for the same reason. He likes to play with play dough...who doesn't?! He loves to see his artwork on the wall, so we have a ton of it posted all over our house. If you come over - you are going home with a Nicholas original.

He is a very smart, verbal, intelligent boy. But sometimes I just don't understand him. He needs to have a balloon over his head so I can understand what he means and what he wants. He cries and says he's not hungry, but if you put food out he eats it all up. Or he says he's hungry, but he won't eat.

Two-year olds are a mystery that have never been solved, and regardless of what the experts say, I think they will remain a mystery that is never solved.

It's a girl

I had my ultrasound yesterday and .... IT'S A GIRL!!!

I am really excited. Since this is our last child, and I really wanted a girl. It isn't so much that I wanted a matched set, as that I just wanted a girl. Plus, I really don't know what I would do if I had two boys. I mean, Nicholas runs me ragged the whole time and has so much energy....what would I do with two of them? I mentioned that to Jon, who warned me that it is likely that the girl will have just as much energy because she's going to want to take after her big brother.

I also want to pick out names (no, we are not taking suggestions). At this time we already had Nicholas' name picked out - and the room panted blue - long before we knew it was going to be a boy. But I want a name picked out so we can start calling her by name instead "baby girl" or whatever term we happen to be using.

When Nicholas was told it was a girl he looked at me and said "Uh-uh mommy. It's a baby." I laughed so hard. But this morning he said "hello baby girl" to the baby. We gave him one of the ultra sound pictures yesterday and he went to sleep with it. It was cute. He wouldn't give it up.

So we are super excited!

Marine World

We went to Marine World this past Saturday. It is $43.99 for a one-day adult ticket and $49.99 for a season pass. So we went for the season pass. I figure we will go twice (at least) which totally makes up the cost of the season pass. It is only an hour away from here, so it is totally do-able as a day trip. Plus we got a whole bunch of coupons for 1/2 off tickets and even some free tickets. So that was nice. We went to watch Nicholas have fun. I thought we were going to get to see some of the shows - but was I wrong. We didn't see the dolphin or killer whale show - we only saw the short tiger show. Nicholas was not a big fan of sitting and watching animals, so we had to find other things to do. Like go on rides in the Looney Toons area.



We actually got there a little early. I couldn't wait to leave and go, and then there was no traffic on the way there. So we parked and got into the park about 10:00 - but nothing opens except the main area until 10:30. But that was fine. Nicholas spent almost 30 minutes staring at the fountain, running on the bench around it, and yelling "fountain!"



Then Nicholas and Jon went on rides in the Looney Toons area. Since I am pregnant, I didn't go on any. The first ride was this balloon ride that looked great, until I realized the balloons go in circles. But Nicholas liked it. He also liked the merry-go-round and the playhouse they have. He was not a huge fan of the kid-sized roller coaster. But that is fine.



Then we went to the Thomas the Tank Engine area. I thought this would be great, since Nicholas is a fan. He ran to the Harold the Helicopter ride. And we couldn't get him off. However, we then had a huge meltdown when he realized there was a Thomas store and ran in, grabbed a train, and wanted us to get it. He looked at me, with a mean face, and said "Grandma do it." Well, I promptly told him that I was not grandma and we weren't there to get toys. We had to leave because there was a huge meltdown. once we left we gave him some food - even though we had just had a huge snack. He simply needed more food, and then I got my cheerful son back. We went to see the tiger show, and then ate lunch.



After lunch we walked around and saw the elephants, tigers, baby animals, lions, and the kid's jungle area. Nicholas found this ride that had jeeps they could ride in. There wasn't much room for Jon, but Jon gamely went on it 4 times in a row. Nicholas was in love, and we had to finally leave. He cried until we told him we were going back to see the giraffes (which he loves) and feed the giraffes. Then he ran away from us to the giraffes as fast as his little legs could go. Luckily, his dad runs faster.



And then here is the giraffe feeding. Nicholas had a blast. He fed them carrots (big carrots as he says), kale, and green onions. He had so much fun and didn't want to leave. But I was tired, and so was he. Jon was also tired.

Jon lost our car! I told him where it was, but he didn't listen to me. He couldn't find our car! It was pretty funny because he came back to where I was waiting for him at the tram place and told me he couldn't find the car. I told him it was in "B" and faced away from the front of the parking lot. He told me he didn't see it. I told him to try again. He found it. We got into the car and hadn't driven but 100 yards when Nicholas was already asleep. It was such a great family outing.

My first tomato!

I went out to my garden to water today and there was an actual green tomato on the vine! I was so excited. This is my first time growing plants (on my own) and having them survive to the stage where they actually produce veggies and fruits. I am happy. Now if only my strawberry plants would work too....

It is brownie time!

We recently made brownie cupcakes at our house. Jon and Nicholas enjoyed working together. I got all the ingredients together, put them in the bowl, and let the two of them do the mixing. I think there was more eating than there was mixing, but it was a fun family activity.

Nicholas really enjoyed the end, right before I cleaned the bowl. He got to sit on the kitchen floor (with a towel underneath to prevent too much mess) and eat everything that he wanted.

Needless to say - the next stop was the bathtub.