Disney Part 1 and 2

Because our time in Texas was a bit bumpy I asked Trevor if he would take a day off of work so the three of us could go to Disney. Even though he had to cancel a pretty big interview he did it and we cruised down to Anaheim. High on the fact that it only took us 30 minutes from our house to the Disney parking lot we decided then and there to buy season passes so we could go as many times as we wanted to in a year. Whether Otto would enjoy himself was still and unknown. The park wasn't too crowded as it was just before the real holiday crunch. Long lines really only averaged 20 minutes. Not horrible. We road the double decker bus first then carousel which were both a huge success. Then Dumbo-another success. Then a particularly long wait for the Casey Jr. Train (a little tough on Otto) but once we were on the ride we all enjoyed ourselves. Otto caught sight of a few motorized wheel chairs and begged to sit on them for what seemed like hours (undoubtedly his favorite ride at Disney!) and then sat on Mr. Toad's car for another stretch. We didn't go on the ride itself because it had one of the longer lines instead opting to make our way over to Toon Town bribing Otto off with a DumDum. With one exception Toon town was great. Lots of cartoon cars, trolleys, and fire trucks for Otto to sit on and the option to take a fast pass on Rodger Rabbit's car ride. That ride seemed tailor made to Otto-bunnies and cars. BIG MISTAKE. It was truly terrifying and Otto begged to get off within 10 seconds of being on the ride. The entire ride was dark with neon signs, cold and bumpy with things popping out, loud music and yelling. Everything that Otto dislikes. It really colored the rest of our day at Disney. After the ride we took a break and bought Otto some new cars and got hot dogs. That helped a bit. Later we went inside Mickey's house-nice and calm, then Minnie's house-fun with the exception of a scary dishwasher and Goofy's house a car-big hit. We tried Chip and Dale's Tree house but that was too scary. Then Otto took a nap in his stroller and Trevor and I got saved seats for the parade with our coats and took a little break ourselves. Otto woke up and he and Trevor rode the fire truck up and down main street a few times. Then we ventured off to try a few more rides. We thought Winnie the Pooh would be begin enough but it too had a nightmare sequence with a heffalump that was REALLY scary. Not at all fitting for toddlers in Trevor and my opinion. Then we tried the train to get Otto in a better mood but the second scare really was too much. We decided to head back and wait for the parade. My mistake was being Johnny on the spot and saving front row seats. WAY too close for comfort. Everything was too big and too loud and when the nutcracker blew his trumpet right in Otto's face he finally hid behind Trevor and started to cry-his position for most of the remainder of the parade. After that we finally took the hint and left. All in all I'm making this first trip sound pretty bad...for a kid who never watches TV or movies I think it was all a bit too much...that said we did have a lot of fun as well. Enough fun that we ultimately decided the season pass was the right thing to do. Either way, it was too late, we already paid for them.
Otto's second Disney trip was a MASSIVE success and truly reinforced that the season pass purchase. Now that Trevor is at Sundance I'm trying to keep Otto and my self entertained for two weeks so I thought I'd give Disney another shot. He was excited from the get go. There were very few lines (the longest being maybe 8 minutes for the train and Dumbo). We rode Dumbo twice, the train once, the tea cups 7 times in a row-BY FAR Otto's favorite ride. We had a great lunch, hung out in Toon town, road the fire engine and double decker bus up and down main street several times, hung out in the fire station, road It's a Small World-the only inside ride we did-and even though it was not his favorite and he didn't want to go again, Otto admitted that "It wasn't too scary." He loved the tram and Goofy's house and he took another nap in his stroller. We had so much fun that we are going to go back next week. As Otto said when we were leaving, "You DO want to go to Disney!!!"

Texas

Otto and I skipped town again during Trevor's busy season of watching movies around the clock. Our trip to Texas started off a bit rocky. Otto got CRAZY sick for the first week we were there. On our flight out he had diarrhea twice so we had to go through two outfit changes. He also threw up all over my back while I was leaning down to pick up his pacifier which he had apparently spit out because he was going to throw up. I found that out the hard way! I thought the diarrhea was a fluke and that he got sick due to an especially bumpy flight (while I was changing him in the bathroom turbulence got so bad that the flight attendant wouldn't let us leave the bathroom to walk back to our seats) but the diarrhea and throwing up continued all day and night so I knew it was a bug. I took him to the doctor the next morning to get meds just to make sure that the twins didn't get sick but unfortunately all we got was anti-nausea medication and probiotics and orders to quarantine. This continued the entire first week. Otto's diaper rash got to bad that we went through a half tub of aquaphor and several bags of diapers. Poor guy. He was in such pain. Unfortunately I got sick too-not the same bug but instead a fever and aches and pains. Lord. It was a tough week. But the twins didn't get Otto's or my bug which I was grateful for. Unfortunately Tucker got a UTI and ended up in the hospital for three days-Thanksgiving included. Ahhhh. What a brutal two weeks. We did have some fun though. I took Otto on a lot of walks, we played in Uncle Ryan's jeep and the garage non stop, we read lots of books, rode the motorized cart at Kroger, went to the big park in the Woodlands, went shopping, and played with lots of toys-especially his new rescue fire team (Yuri, Valdamire, and Mikel) and all their equipment-a gift from Aunt Stacy. It was Uncle Ryan though who solidified himself as Otto's favorite person. He MAY be a bit more comfortable with Trevor and me but not by much. His love for his Uncle was a lucky thing because Ryan watched him one night when Aunt Stacy, Goa, and I went to see Braking Dawn. They had a marvelous time together. Even when I was around Otto followed him around everywhere. Otto loves all of his tools and jeep and his ability to catch lizards and fix stuff. And when we got back Uncle Ryan was all he talked about and kept asking to watch the video of the two of them fixing the jeep together. The picture of Otto measuring the piece of wood was taken during Ryan's Daddy Day Care stint as is the shot with Otto's arms up in the air doing thumbs up (taught to him by Ryan). The other photos were taken of him in the garage (his favorite spot), feeding the ducks, and Ryan and he fixing the jeep.