My son is just amazing. Every day he does something new that surprises me. Today he and I were cuddling in our bed since I was too tired to get up and play yet, and he took his binky out and put it in my mouth (well, not really IN my mouth, I was pretending). He LOVED this game and thought it was hysterical. Then he pulled the sheet over his head and, after I said, "Where's James?" he pulled it down and I said "There he is!"He would then kick his legs and squeal like it was the best game on earth... and then he did it 20 more times. I love that toddlers have the attention span of a gnat, but then at the same time can become so fixated on a task they will do it over and over.
James also loves to clap to show that he likes something. He doesn't say anything really yet, but tonight I was pointing to a paper turkey I had on the wall and saying "gobble gobble gobble", and a few minutes later he pointed to it and said "Guh guh guh." We have some amazing conversations, my son and I. :-)
I should also mention that James is walking more and more, so much so that we can now hold his hand and walk in the stores instead of always carrying him. He's getting so fast and LOVES to practice stairs and go down slides!
A lot has happened in the last few weeks and we've been busy with projects, parties and job applications. I haven't gotten around to posting about the rest of our Disney trip, but I hope to do so soon... each post takes at least an hour to do, and I just don't have that kind of time these days. I am sewing up James's Halloween costume while also trying to declutter and deep-clean the house before the holidays (and before we possibly move next year). Needless to say, with James going down to just 1 nap a day, I am exhausted and just don't have the time to do all these things like I used to!
Here are a few pics for now to tide you over till I can post again. ;-)
At cousins Levi and Asher's 3rd B-day party (can you believe they are THREE already??) Cousin Asher modeling the Indian vest I made for him... and the boots, fireman hat, and light saber Grandpa got him! One of the many harvests from the garden... this one had carrots! James putting a lego block in the microwave. Good morning! I rarely make things for myself, but this is somethings special I made just for me to carry my music to choir rehearsal. James and I went exploring in the backyard... he loved it when I stomped on the deck. :-) My tribute to Maryland for my husband finally bloomed! He took off running for the stairs, I had to run after him to make sure he didn't tumble down them! Grass! He heard a dog barking, so he was signing "dog" on his chest. Exploring the slide in the living room! We were playing. <3 my son. Eliot putting through the "flash flood" on the mini golf course. James watching daddy putt!
Also, here's a video of James going down the slide all by himself!
He started by pulling the (lightweight) side table over by trying to scale it. He wasn't hurt at all, but it did put a big scratch on the wall.
THEN, while I was letting him "help" me with the laundry, I look over and he is licking the lint off the dryer door. I sharply told him, "No, we don't eat lint" and pulled him away. Then when he did it again, I said, "Mommy told you no" and pulled him away again. Then, with a gleam in his eye, he went for a third tasting. I immediately put him in "time out" on the other side of the safety gate, and he immediately began to throw a fit. He was right next to me and I didn't do anything to him but separate him from what he wanted to do, but MAN did he hate that. I just calmly let him stew for one minute before explaining to him why I had to put him there. Not that he fully understands me, but I think he got the basic concept of "If you don't listen to Mommy, there are consequences."
As if that wasn't enough, I put him down for his afternoon nap and, after rolling around for almost an hour, he starts crying. I go in there to find that he managed to pull his pajama pants off and toss them out of the crib, as well as his 5 pacifiers. Ugh.
I can feel the terrible twos on the horizon, I think they are coming early...
Many of you know that I started singing with the Oregon Chorale again this year after a leave of absence for giving birth to James. Well, my very first rehearsal back (their second for the season, I missed the first due to our trip to Disney) a photographer from the Oregonian was there taking our pics for an article they are doing this Saturday in the paper on the Chorale. Well, at one point in the rehearsal, the guy whips out a camcorder, and suddenly we're being videotaped!
So here it is... one of our first rehearsals, caught on film by the Oregonian. And, for some reason, I'm in it a lot lol!
Ok, I am finally getting around to posting about our trip. It was a great trip, but traveling with a toddler is exhausting, and it has taken me awhile to recover!
The plane flight there was pretty uneventful... our first flight out of Eugene, James played with the toys in the waiting area and we had no problem boarding (well, some people at the ticket counter were rude and the person who issued my tickets spelled my last name Gasso, but other than that everything was fine). The whole first flight, we just played with James and gave him a snack, and he did well (for his FIRST flight ever on September 15, 2011!). He even knew the sign for Airplane and we practiced it while we were pointing out the airplanes.
Our second flight was delayed and oversold, so by the time we had hauled our ridiculous amount of stuff through TWO gate changes, we boarded the plane an hour past James's second nap time, after he'd already missed his first nap that day. Needless to say, he was cranky and exhausted, as were we. He finally fell asleep on my lap while we were in the air... I took the opportunity to practice my crossword puzzles. :-) Us with all our stuff waiting for the supershuttle. What is not pictured is the diaper bag in the bottom of the stroller and the backpack on Eliot's back. Please also note the carseat rigged up on the suitcase.
So after getting to our hotel (the Park Vue inn right across the street from the entrance to Disney), we settled in quickly and got James to bed. The next morning, we got up for our FIRST Disneyland day bright and early (6:30am) and had a free breakfast up on the terrace of our hotel.
James liked the birds that were trying to get our breakfast. We then packed up and headed for Disneyland, since we had a magic morning hour starting at 8am (one hour before the park opens) and wanted to make the most of it. We arrived only a minute or two late, and practically ran to the rides. We first stopped at space mountain and rode that because I knew it would be closed the rest of the trip. One of us stayed with James while the other one rode the ride... I let James walk around the Captain EO line (which was empty at the time). Then we walked past the finding Nemo submarine ride (MINE!) and rode the Matterhorn before hitting up Alice in Wonderland with James (His first ride ever!! He did very well, didn't cry once thought it was loud and dark) and then... DUMBO!!!
James and Daddy waiting to fly! We picked a blue Dumbo for James. :-)
Next, we went on Peter Pan's Flight. I think James liked the Pirate ships.
Then, Eliot and I switched off for Splash Mountain (we sat in the back so we wouldn't get wet and by using the single rider line, we had no wait!). James hung out in his stroller and had a snack. Eliot enjoying Splash Mountain!
We took James on the Winnie the Pooh ride next, as you can see the honey comb behind us that we were about to climb into. James was a trooper, just took it all in and wasn't scared at all.
The Haunted Mansion was closed to prep for Halloween, so we just took a pic outside it. They deck it out with Nightmare Before Christmas stuff.
We then took a break and enjoyed some pineapple floats! James didn't like it much, so he had a toddler cereal bar instead.
Riding the train to Toontown! Choo choo!
In Toontown, we tried to go see Mickey, but the wait was too long. So instead, we let James run around Goofy's Bounce House. He LOVED it! It's a special area for kids 2-5, and it has rubber flooring so if James fell, he didn't get hurt. We let him play there for quite a bit, I think it was his favorite part of the park!
Then we went to explore the rest of Toon Town... some things were even James's size!
After Toon Town, we went on the Teacups! :-)
Casey Jr. Train!
For dinner, we enjoyed a quiet dinner at the Big Thunder Ranch. It was relaxing, a peaceful corner of the park with BBQ and live music. The waiter played with James and James loved his hat, and the guitarist played many songs my dad used to play for me when I was little. As we were packing up to go, he even played Sweet Baby James. <3
The rest of the night concluded with the Fantasmic show around the Rivers of America, followed by a spectacular fireworks show over the castle. We cheered for Tinkerbell as she zoomed across the sky, and I teared up as they played the song "Baby mine" while James fell asleep snuggled against me in the Ergo. It was a dream come true to take my family there, especially my son for the very first time. Our first day was truly a day to remember!
