Seuss Landing

Have I mentioned Noah is into Dr. Seuss?  Well, we definitely had a day at Universal Studios on our agenda for this trip.  Seuss Landing was our destination, and it did not disappoint.  This was by far Noah's favorite day.  Need evidence?

This is Noah on the ride home that day. 

Our first stop was the Cat in the Hat ride.  We missed the sign about no pregnant woman being allowed, so I hopped on the ride with Noah and Dean.  There was a ton of spinning involved.  Otherwise, I think Noah would have ridden the ride over and over again.  Having said that, by the end of the day he did request it two more times.  I think despite the spinning, he just couldn't resist the lure of the "Cat in the Hat."  Always one to follow any and all prego rules, Daddy ex-ed Momma from all subsequent rides. 

Every hour in the Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-pendous there was storytime.  We first found out about when Noah was lured into the tent by Sam I Am.

Who let him check out his Green Eggs and Ham.

This is also where Noah got to shake hands with Thing 1...

And Thing 2.

And Daddy was taunted by the Grinch for texting.

The characters were so great to Noah, and he loved watching them dance and giving them hugs and of course, having them sign his autograph book. 

Daddy convinced Noah to ride the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride by promising a lollipop.  It was all fun and games until somebody got squirted by a fish.  Noah did not like getting wet and promptly asked Daddy for a napkin.   

It was a great day at Seuss Landing!  Noah and I made a stop in Dr. Seuss' All the Books You Can Read bookstore before we left where he choose his very own book, "I Wish I Had Duck Feet."  I tried to convince him to buy "If I Ran the Circus," but he wanted the duck feet.  And, you know what, he loves it!  We've read it every night since.  I love that my little man knows what he wants.  It made me so proud. 

Can I Have Your Autograph Please?

The morning of our first day in Disney, I went to the hotel lobby for coffee.  On the way, I walked by the Disney gift shop and decided to buy an autograph book and pen.  Best. Idea. Ever.  Noah loved seeing the characters this year and really loved having them sign his book.  They all got big hugs and a bit of tormenting from Noah, but it was all out of love.   

Big hugs for Eeyore at Crystal Palace.

Baloo the Bear during the street parade.

Playing with Pluto at Chef Mickey.  These whiskers are just so tuggable.

Annie and Leo at Hollywood Studios.  I think I see something in there.

Handy Manny at Hollywood Studios.  Can you sign my book?

Cars at Hollywood Studios.  A little intimidating in full size.  Noah is off camera in his stroller.  15 minutes in line... somebody had to take a picture. 

Buzz Lightyear at Magic Kingdom.

Disney Trip 2011 Recap

I decided our family of three needed one more trip to Disney before it became a family of four. So, I planned our trip pretty last minute. I knew that this trip would be different than previous ones because of all the changes in Noah this past year. Especially in his ability to clearly express his likes and dislikes.

In fact, when prepping him for the trip, probably 90% of the time when asked if he wanted to "see Mickey mouse," "go to the Magic Kingdom," ride 'it's a small world." The answer was no.  Momma was not deterred, and the trip was planned with or without enthusiasm from Noah.  I will start out by saying we had three really good days, two okay days.  Here is a brief recap:

Day 1:  The Magic Kingdom.  The day we kicked off our vacation.  Noah really loved riding the monorail, or as he called it the "mommy-rail."  He listened very carefully to the overhead announcements and always managed to hold onto the hand rail as instructed.

Our first stop of the morning was breakfast at Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends.  Noah loved meeting the characters and loved handing over his pen and book to get their autograph.

We found out pretty quickly though hat Noah was a bit s-c-a-r-e-d of the rides.  He did love It's a Small World.  He specifically requested after we'd already ridden once. I watched him watching it, almost as though his little brain was trying to catalog everything on the ride.  The face is actually not too dissimilar from his first ride.  Check out the picture here. 

Peter Pan was a little too dark and bad guy-ee for him.  And, after that, it required a little bit of bribery to get him to try anything.  Ice cream seems to always work.  First, we ride Winnie the Pooh, then we watch Mickey's Philharmagic, and then we get ice cream.  After the Philharmagic, which I could have sworn he enjoyed, he looked over at us, and said, "time for ice cream."

Day 2:  Chef Mickey/Hollywood Studios:  The day that things started off poorly.  After day one, I think Noah was a little unsure about things to come.  As we parked and exited the car at the Contemporary on our way to Chef Mickey, Noah vomited in the parking lot.  We decided to chalk it up to a bad case of nerves and chocolate milk on an empty stomach.  He seemed to bounce back after that and enjoyed the character breakfast. 

We were super excited about taking him to Hollywood Studios since on previous visits he loved Playhouse Disney Live and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.  Guess what?!?  They were both closed.  Total bummer.  We bounced back by getting autographs from a couple characters, watching the parade, and eating a ton of popcorn.  Besides, how bad could the day be with Noah wearing the cutest t-shirt ever, thanks to my friend, Judi.  Check out her blog here for more of her super cute stuff!

Popcorn eating.

Parade watching.

Handy Manny meeting.

Day 3: Universal Studios:  The day that deserves it's very own post.  Seuss Landing at Universal Studios was by far Noah's favorite thing on the trip.  I may have mentioned maybe once or twice how much Noah loves Dr. Seuss and the Cat in the Hat.  Well, he loved seeing them up close and personal even more.  He even got to shake hands with Thing 1 and Thing 2.

The park was pretty empty evidenced by the 5-10 minute wait times the majority of the rides.  Daddy was even able to enjoy some stress relief on all of the park roller coasters.  Noah and I were happy to watch all of that from the sidelines. 

Day 4:  Magic Kingdom:  The day we all needed a nap.  We tried to get to the park early, so we could beat some of the crowds.  Daddy forget his cell phone in the car, so while he went back to get it, Noah and I rode It's a Small World and Buzz Lightyear with no wait time.  These were by far his two favorite rides.  Afterwards, we caught the street party parade, and by the time we sat down for lunch, a meltdown was in the making.  So, we decided to head back to the hotel.  Extremely long naps ensued, and we decided to stay put, order takeout, and just chill to be ready for our final day.  But, he did enjoy the street party.  I love this smile on his face.

Day 5:  Magic Kingdom:  The day we squeezed out every last bit of Disney fun .  We rode It's a Small World three times, Buzz Lightyear twice, watched both the street party and the parade. 

We ate popcorn and climbed Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse twice.  

We did everything Noah wanted to do, and even a few things he didn't - Aladdin Magic Carpets and Jungle Cruise.  Noah and Daddy took a spin on the Tomorrowland Speedway.  What a great day to end a great trip.

Stay Tuned

We just got back from a trip to Disney. And, as Disney vacations go, we are all feeling a little tired from all the fun. Stay tuned for more pictures and stories in the next few days... right now, sleep is calling my name.

Sweet Little Story

Every night before bed we read books.  And every night our last book is "Goodnight Moon."  We alternate between Noah reading it and Momma reading it, but once it's finished, the following conversation always happens:

Noah: "Ready for chocolate milk?"

Me: "Ready for chocolate milk?"

Noah: "Are you ready?"

Me: "I'm ready.  Are you ready?"

Noah: "I'm ready."

And, then he snuggles into his pillow, pulls the covers up to his chin and waits for his chocolate milk. 

Tonight as I was feeding Noah dinner, I realized that we were out of milk.  Noah always goes to bed with chocolate milk.  Always.  And, since getting him to bed can sometimes be a bit frustrating, I was wondering if this was going to result in a difficult evening.  I did briefly think about running to pick some up or even asking my friend down the street.  Instead, I decided to let Noah know that tonight, he was going to bed with apple juice.  I'm pregnant.  The other two options required way too much effort.  I told him that when we read "Goodnight Moon, tonight, instead of saying "ready for chocolate milk," we were going to say, "ready for apple juice."  We talked about it a bit more.  I showed him the empty milk carton.  I told him we were going to bed with apple juice.  And, I just hoped for the best. 

So, fast forward to bedtime.  As I read the last line of "Goodnight Moon," Noah looks at me and says, "ready for apple juice."  Sweet baby boy!  One proud momma!  And, even prouder to say that he went to sleep without getting out of bed for the third night in a row.  Looks like someone gets to go to the bounce house tomorrow. 

We're Going Score Tonight

This afternoon we met up with some friends at the bowling alley.  I wasn't sure how much Noah was going to get the bowling experience, especially when it started out like this.

But, Noah woke up from his 20-minute siesta, ready to go.

Love the bowling shoes, little man.

He carried his own ball.

Loaded it on the ramp.

And let it roll!

Oh yeah!  This bowling stuff is fun!

You did such a great job today at bowling, Noah.  You took turns with your friends, followed the rules, and stayed with our group.  Momma is so proud of you!  Daddy says he's got next game.

Everything Else Starts with E

Bedtime remains an ongoing process.  90% of the time, it's a non-issue, but it's that 10% (see previous post) that kicks me in the butt.  So, in yet another attempt to nip this in the bud before number two arrives, I have brought back the sticker chart.  Bigger and better than ever.  This time his reward is a trip to the bounce house.  This is night number two and so far, he's still in bed, albeit reciting Green Eggs and Ham.  It does make me think that sticker chart thing definitely has some merit. 

It's seems to me that his biggest problem is that he just has trouble actually falling asleep, so in recent nights, I have gone in his room to rock him to sleep.  For posterity's sake, I wanted to post the lyrics to the song I sing him at night.  He loves it because it's the alphabet, and it's long enough that if I sing it twice through, he's usually out by the end of it.

"Everything Else Starts with E"

by Justin Roberts

A is for the applesauce

That mother pours into my bubble bath
And bath starts with B and don't starts with D
And I forgot C, but everything else starts with E
F is for the fruitcake that father hid in the garage
Garage starts with G and hid starts with H
And I begins and ends with I
J is for jump and that's what I did
When I stepped on the fruitcake that father had hid
And I kicked it around on top of Dad's Lincoln
And that starts with L and that's just what I was thinkin'
When mother ran out and she starts with M
And she said N Ð O and that spells no
And P is for please and Q is for quiet and
R-S-T-U gonna come in cause you need a bubble bath again
And V is for very and Wets what she got
When I X-identally pushed Mom in the tub
And Y I don't know Y is followed by Z
Z rhymes with P, P is for push and that's what I did
A is for the applesauce
That mother poured into my bubble bath
And bath starts with B and don't starts with D
And I forgot C, but everything else starts with E

The Snow Day that Wasn't

Noah 's school was closed on Friday.  Houston was expecting record low temps and icy conditions, so the city went into somewhat of a lock down.  All schools closed.  Roads closed.  Businesses closed.  The snow never showed up, but there was lots of ice.  Noah and I spent the day at home.  Dean wasn't so lucky.  His normally 30 minute took him closer to 2 hours.  He even played good Samaritan with some other commuters to help a lady whose car had spun out on an icy bridge.  I saw on the news that there were over 800 wrecks in the city.  For once, I was happy to not be on the roads.  It had been quite a long time since Noah and I had a entire day at home, and aside from feeling a bit of cabin fever, we enjoyed some nice rest and relaxation. 

We watched an insane amount of television, because, really what else were we going to do.  I finally convinced Noah to watch a real movie.  Toy Story 2.  I skipped to the middle, to avoid the Buzz Lightyear fight sequence and Woody's kidnapping, and he seemed to like it much better than previous attempts.  In fact, he insisted on watching Toy Story 3 next.  I indulged him because, really, what else were we going to do. 

I did go into the secret toy stash and surprise Noah with a Green Eggs and Ham game.  It is a little more advanced then his favorite Cat in the Hat game, but it didn't stop us from playing it over and over again. 

Nothing says stuck indoors all day, quite like a tent made out of a sheet and two chairs.  Noah seemed to really love his new hangout. 

And, of course, what better way to warm up on a chilly day than with a big pot of Gumbo.

Everybody Hurts

It is so painful when your once 12+ hour sleeper starts waking up in the middle of the night. I guess he's trying to prep me for his little sis, but you know, I think I'm good for now. Your guess is as good as mine as to why my dear sweet child has starting waking in the wee hours of the morning... again. Maybe he has to pee or maybe his runny nose is bugging or maybe it's the crazy weather. Whatever the case, for the past two nights around 2:45, Noah has come shuffling into our bedroom.

He tries to climb in on Daddy's side of the bed. I think because Daddy sleeps in a mini-coma and if I can't get around the bed fast enough, Noah is in and over and under the covers before I have a chance to grab him. Smart boy. I'm sure you're thinking why not just let him sleep with us. That doesn't work 1. because I already share a bed with someone and 2. Noah has no intention of sleeping in our bed. He thinks it's play time. So, my plan of attack is to just walk him back to bed with minimal conversation. Over and over and over. I can't even guess how many times I did it last night, but probably close to eight. And, my plan of attack sort of goes awry as the clock clicks closer to 4:00 AM. I fuss. I bargain. I take away his pencil. I think that is what finally worked last night. I'm sure at one point I promised him ice cream if he'd stay in his bed.

So, this morning he climbed in my bed at 7:30 AM. And surprised me with the following: "Wake up Momma. I'm so proud of you. You stayed in bed all night. Let's go get some ice cream." Ummm... That's not exactly how it works little boy.


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