Tuesday Is Garbage Day

I'm not normally home on Tuesday mornings when the garbage man comes and I've only heard how Owen loves to watch the trucks when they come by.  Today, I got to watch Owen as he watched his beloved stinky trucks.  I thought the cutest part was when he insisted that the window be opened (even though the temperature outside was about 32 degrees) as they pulled in front of our house so he could see and hear it better.  That was, until I saw him wave goodbye to the truck as it drove away. 

Sometimes he out-cutes himself.

Holiday Event 4 of 4 - Celebration Lane

Yesterday we completed our fourth and final holiday activity.  Bellevue Square's "Celebration Lane."  It's a hard thing to explain.  I described it as "parade-like" to Steve and after the show, he pointed out that there was no parade.  So maybe that isn't the best description, but it is kind of like a parade if the parade was on each side of the sidewalk instead of in the middle of the street and the performers stayed still instead of marching by.

This event goes from Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve - but before Christmas it's called, "Snowflake Lane" and it is more Christmas focused.  After Christmas, it changes to "Celebration Lane" and it's more New Year focused.  The lesson I learned this year, is the Snowflake Lane is much cooler than the Celebration Lane. 

They both have live toy soldiers that drum to the loud music and big toy soldiers on stilts walking around the crowds, but Snowflake Lane also has people dressed up in costumes like snowmen, reindeer and ice princesses and the fake snowfall is plentiful and is enough to dust all the onlookers with a coat of faux snow.  The Celebration Lane snowfall was just a small poof of confetti that floated away immediately. 

But, Owen loved it!  He was fascinated with the drummers and really had fun watching them and running around the street.  It was another one of those times where when it was time to leave, the tears were a-flowing.  But it's definitely another event we will definitely be repeating next year!

Holiday Activity #4 - Complete!

P.S.  Here's a picture of the group we were with (except Steve, he was taking the picture.)  Can you count how many kids under 13 are in the photo?  (hint: there are 5)

The Day After

I will be writing a post about Christmas Day, but I need some time to unwind and reflect before I can get my thoughts together enough to write it all down.  That sounds like a better excuse than the real reason of just plain ol' procrastination.

However, Steve took this cute video of Owen on December 26th.  They went to the park in the morning so I could get some cooking done without Owen's "help."  You can see from the video, he needed some down time himself!

From 2009_12_26

Twas The Night Before Christmas...

It's Christmas Eve and Owen is nestled all snug in his bed and hopefully, with visions of something he loves (Elmo?) in his head.

Today didn't go exactly as planned, but it was still a memorable day for me.  Owen and I finished our errands this morning and then spent the rest of the day playing with the toys he may not be interested in anymore after he gets all his new ones tomorrow! 

We watched the toddler version of A Christmas Story (Elmo's Christmas Countdown.)  We took a few pictures in his new Christmas pajamas with my new Christmas gift (a special flash for my camera.)  And while Owen was having his nighttime bottle, we read The Night Before Christmas.  He hasn't shown interest in it yet, but when I had his undivided attention tonight, he enjoyed it.  He even pointed at the Santa pictures and tried to grab the book on the pages with the pictures of Santa.

Steve was scheduled to be home tonight, but due to the major storms in the middle of the country, he was delayed so badly that he couldn't make it home from Chicago.  Tomorrow morning was supposed to be Owen's first real Santa experience, but I think Santa might come a little later in the day.  Most people don't know this, but Santa will come at special times (and sometimes special days) for people who can't be home Christmas Eve night because they are helping other people get home to their families.  Santa thinks people who are helping others on Christmas Eve are really special and he will come back and deliver their gifts when they are home because he appreciates them so much.

Pattycake

I used to play "pattycake" with Owen months ago but haven't for a long time for whatever reason. The other day, I was changing him and started singing the song and he shocked me with doing all the motions himself. Of course, he won't do it on command for anyone else, so I managed to catch him doing it on video tonight.

Enjoy!

Lost Pajamas

I have misplaced Owen's Christmas pajamas. I bought them on Saturday and now they are missing. If I don't find them by tomorrow, Christmas will be RUINED!

Just kidding. But I would really be sad if my first purchase from Nordstrom for Owen has disappeared!

Tough Choices

Owen's cousin Audrey is 230 miles away right now with Kelly's family in the Tri-Cities (oh, and Kelly and Michael are there too). In November, the idea was thrown out there to possibly drive down to visit them for a quick 24 hour visit. In theory, it seemed doable at the time. Mainly because kids change from week to week and a whole month away could bring all sorts of changes like, enjoying the car, for example.

We started getting prepared for the trip, vacation time approved, getting Charlie vaccinated and booked into a kennel, hotel reservations, and then it came time to create a mental game plan for Owen. This is where I hit an unexpected road block that I could not resolve. If Owen only takes one nap a day - currently hates the car and won't sleep in it - doesn't easily sleep in a strange place - how are we going to have time to drive, get Owen settled enough to take a long enough nap to recoup from the journey and still have time to visit? And if the first day was hard on him, how do we make the 2nd day easier? The answer seemed to be, "oh well - it's going to be hard, but you just deal."

I'm learning that you make daily hard decisions when you have a child. You are the parent and sometimes you have to do what's best for you, sometimes the family and sometimes you have to do what's best for your child. In this case, it did not feel right to push Owen that hard without enough down time in between. It sucks, because there is nothing more that I would like than to be in the Tri-Cities with my family and extended family and to see my niece for the 2nd time. But I have to remind myself that we can visit them soon in a way that would be easier on Owen and that in not too long of a time from now, Owen will be at an age that a missed nap is not the end of the world. But right now, it's pretty damn important.

Two things make me feel ok with my decision. Well, maybe 3.

1. The day after I made this decision (yesterday), Owen had a horrible day at daycare. He didn't take a nap and he was a mess when I picked him up. I stopped to get nuggets at a drive through on the way home because I thought it would be a good idea to get some food in him as quickly as possible so we could go immediately to bath/bottle/bed when we got home. Everything went fine until bed. 10 minutes after I put him down, he started screaming. I went up to check on him and he had thrown up all over his bed, himself, his upstairs bunny, everything. He has never thrown up solid food before. He was so overtired and combined with the greasy food, I'm sure his system just rejected it all.

2. This was going to be my 3rd reason, but it seems better placed at the 2nd position. Mama knows best. Almost every time I doubt my instincts they prove to be right. I realize everyone has an opinion, but nobody else is Owen's mom. I have to remind myself that no matter when I make a decision that I feel is in O's best interest - it's the right thing to do.

3. I know my family understands that a little one changes things dramatically and I know they support me and love Owen.

4. Ok, I thought of a 4th one. This isn't the only time I can see little Audrey! Hopefully there will be lots of visits this coming year when Steve is based in SLC. We're already trying to figure out a weekend in January that will work!

Holiday Event 3 of 4 - Tiny Tots Special: Holiday Hooray!

On Friday, Steve and I took Owen to his first performance at Benaroya Hall. I told Steve when it was over, "That went worse than I imagined it would go, but better than a disaster."

Owen is a funny kid. I hear from many parents that their child's happiest time of the day is in the morning. It makes sense because they have just slept 12 hours and are supposedly well-rested. Owen...notsomuch. Don't get me wrong, he is generally a very easy-going and happy child. But, he does like time to wake up and ease into the day. And his absolute happiest time is the afternoon and right before bed. He takes after both his parents!

So...back to the TTSHH recap. Because the show was for 0-5 year olds and because most 0-5 year olds wake up early, the show was at 10:30am. It was Friday and since we had to drive into downtown Seattle during the tail end of the morning commute, we left early and arrived with time to spare. We got coffee and sat in the "gallery" (outside the lobby) with a few dozen other parents and toddlers. I was not aware, but there are full-length windows facing the street from this gallery area. These windows provide an unobstructed view of a major city bus stop. Owen was SO excited to see so many "bee's" outside that he kept running up and down the room, stopping at each window pane, pressing his face up to the window and shouting, "bee! bee!" and waiving to them as they drove away.  As he was running up and down the length of the room, he got to the end where there were some elevators. Owen has a few experiences with the elevators at my work. He is always in charge of pushing the button when we need to use them. So, he wasted no time in running over to the elevators and pushing the button for the door to open, running over to look at the open elevator, waiting for the door to close and running back to push the button again. Lather, rinse, repeat. If we had just stayed in the gallery and watched busses and played with elevators all day - he would have been happier than if we were at Disneyland.

But, eventually it was time for the concert (and time to let people actually use the elevators) so we left the gallery area and entered the Grand Lobby. Oh, how sad that made Mr. Owen. He was not in the mood to say goodbye to the busses and elevator and made it very clear to us and everyone else that he would rather stay where he was. But luckily, out of sight = out of mind and we were able to play a little bit on the wooden xylophone they had available for the kiddies to play. It was a cute set up - they had many instruments (most too advanced for O) for kids to try, a coloring station, and of course - vendor tables.

After a few minutes on the xylophone, we headed upstairs to the auditorium. This was the recital hall and it was a nice size for this event - no "bad" seats. It was general seating which was great so we were able to sit on the aisle. We sat down about 3 minutes before the start of the show which was about all that Owen could handle (toddler lesson: when they are in a new and exciting place, they want to explore - not sit in a parent's lap.) When Lisa and Linda (the stars of the show) appeared and the audience clapped - Owen was intrigued. When they started to sing - Owen was very interested. Even when the 3 guest musicians from the University of Washington played songs from the Nutcracker - Owen listened quietly. When Lisa and Linda stopped to do a little dialogue between songs - Owen HECKLED them. Steve summed it up well when he paraphrased for Owen, "Dance, Monkey!" O was in the mood for either: watching busses, playing with elevator buttons, or listening to music. O was not in the mood for narration. Each time Lisa (or was it Linda?) started talking like, "Hey, kids…do YOU know what my FAVORITE thing to do in the snow is?” Owen answered as loudly as possible, “I DON’T GIVE A CRAP…KEEP SINGING!” But it sounded more like,  “EEEEEYYYYAAAHH!” Then they would sing and Owen would listen and then they would talk and Owen would heckle. Sing, heckle, sing, heckle. For about 30 minutes and then it was over.

All in all, I’m glad we did it. He looked adorable in his Christmas sweater and he did enjoy the majority of the morning. Next year, we’ll make sure we allow more time for busses.

No pictures from this event because they said there would be no photography in the auditorium and I didn’t feel like risking leaving my camera in the car, but I have posted some images I found on the internet of the building and the Chihuly glass that was hanging above Owen’s head as he watched the busses drive by.

Holiday Activity #3 - Complete.

Holiday Event 1 of 4 - A Meet n' Greet With Santa

A picture speaks a thousand words.  Not much to say about this one except...

Holiday Activity #1 – Complete.

Holiday Event 2 of 4 - Zoo Lights

When your husband is a pilot, there are very few days when he is home and there is nothing to do.  Every month after Steve gets his work schedule, we go through the month and plan our personal calendar.  December is one of the toughest months to fit everything in since there are so many parties, celebrations, family get-togethers, shopping trips, and general holiday craziness.  This December, because Owen is now old enough to participate in more holiday activities - I have planned a total of FOUR FAMILY HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES.  I felt like four was a reasonable/reachable goal.  See list below:

1. Visit Santa and get a picture.  DONE, CHECK, CROSSOUT, FINISHED.  Picture coming soon.
2. Zoo Lights at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.  DONE, CHECK, CROSSOUT, FINISHED.
3. Tiny Tots Special: Holiday Hooray at Benaroya Hall.  Friday, 12/18
4. Celebration Lane at Bellevue Square.  Monday, 12/28

Two of my four activities are outdoor events. Seattle is a rainy city. I didn’t consider that when I created my list – there would be a possibility of any of them being cancelled due to weather. We came awfully close to skipping Zoo Lights today for that reason.

The plan was to meet my mom in Gig Harbor for an early dinner and a modeling session of some new, cool gloves she got for Owen (see pic below) before we headed up to the zoo. On the way to dinner, our windshield wipers were on full blast. Rain had been pouring down all day. I was determined to give the zoo our best shot, so I thought we’d wait until the very last minute to make the go/no go decision. On the way into dinner, it was a downpour. On the way out, a drizzle. We decided to go for it and I’m so glad we did!

Owen had a blast running down the pathways covered in lights. He has been so cooped up lately because of the rain that you could see it in his face how happy he was to be outside and free to roam. In fact, we heard his complaints quite clearly each time we tried to carry him anywhere. He only fell down a few times which resulted in some pretty soggy clothes but he couldn’t care less.

We ended the night in his favorite place – the carousel. The next time we go on a carousel, I need to bring our video camera and video tape his facial expression when the ride starts. He is All Business. It’s his favorite thing in the world, but he takes it very, very seriously. We always ride 2 or 3 times and he will break a smile after a few times around (for clarification, the picture below was taken before the ride started.) But in general, it’s not a laughing matter, especially when we have to get off and leave the park. Meltdown City. Tonight he was extra sad since he was having so much fun in general being outside and out of the house. As soon as he realized we were going home, he got saaaaaddddddd.

But now he’s sound asleep and hopefully dreaming of his fun night with Dad, Mom and Grandma at the Zoo.

Holiday Activity #2 – Complete.

First Snow Flakes

On Sunday, a few little snow flurries came down for the first time this season.  Owen has seen snow before, but I'm sure he doesn't remember it.  Unfortunately, this year the first snow decided to come down in the middle of his nap.  Usually, it will take Owen about 10-20 minutes to completely wake up.  You will hear him stirring and talking to his Bunny and then he drifts off again for a few minutes.  You know he's fully awake when he having full conversations with Bunny or banging on the walls.  This past Sunday, the moment I heard a whimper, I ran upstairs - pulled him out of bed and threw on his parka I bought this summer (on sale at Costco!) and a hat my mom gave him for Christmas last year, grabbed my camera and video camera and ran outside to try and catch the last of the falling flakes. 

The pictures didn't turn out as Winter Wonderland as I had hoped, since there were so few flakes.  But you can tell that he enjoyed himself and he pretty much rocked the snow clothes.  We'll consider this our practice round for the full meal deal when it decides to show up.  I can almost see him boarding down the mountain in a couple years!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

I am a self-described Christmas snob.  I love the holiday and I love classy, Martha Stewartesque decorations.  I turn my nose up at poorly hung lights.  I am especially turned off by the ever popular "from the roof to the fence" hanging style of many houses I see on my way home from work.  This is probably why our house is lightless.  I realize I need perfection to be happy with the final product, but I also know how difficult perfection is.  Luckily, I have this house as my neighbor.  Not only are their lights crooked and uneven - there is SO MANY of them.  I'm not exactly sure what their message is...Merry Christmas?  Peace on Earth?  Winter Wonderland?  Go USA?  Again, a poorly executed light display in so many ways.  I will keep pondering this until January when they take their lights down (but leave the gigantic plastic bow on the side of their house up all year).

So, while the neighbors light up the night sky - I have been decorating inside our house for our first Christmas with a toddler in the house.  The Christmas Tree is up and decorated.  Lights from top to bottom and ornaments from top to middle (so our tree looks like it's wearing an ornament shirt with no pants - Donald Duck style.)  Also, this year - the ornaments are all non-breakable.  All the beautiful, shiny, glass ornaments are safely packed away.  We have been using the tree as a learning tool to teach Owen the difference between "take" and "just touch."  He can "just touch" all the lights on the tree.  To my surprise, he is doing great!   He likes to run up to the tree and touch 3 different lights and then run away and continue with whatever he was doing.  The ornaments though, are fair game.  Although we've limited the amount he can reach by using the ornament shirt method, there are still a handful he can stretch to touch.  These are pulled off and placed back into the tree where they promptly fall down to the floor. 

Santa has become a daily topic of discussion too.  We will be visiting Santa again this year for the obligatory photo shoot, but I have some concern that Owen will not be as excited to sit on a strange man's lap as he was last year.  So, whenever Santa makes an appearance on TV, in books, items at the store, I get all excited and point to him and say, "Owen, LOOK!  It's SANTA!" and he smiles and points.  I can't wait to see how fast that smile turns into a "oh, HELL NO!" when Santa takes him into his lap.  Fingers are crossed though!

I think the Holiday's are so much more special when you are seeing them through the eyes of a child.  Owen is still too young to understand what is going on, but there are still some special moments where even if he doesn't understand, he enjoys.  He loves the lighted tree in the house - he dances to Christmas music - he points to Santa - he didn't watch any of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade until the Sesame Street Float appeared and then he was mesmerized.  This month, we will be going to the light display at the zoo, a holiday sing-a-long for toddlers at the Seattle Symphony, a visit with Santa, and Snowflake Lane (think fake snow with lights and music along the streets of Bellevue).  All things that Owen will have no idea what they mean, but he will hopefully enjoy the experiences.