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.

Florida

Otto and I skipped town for a week and headed to the sunny south to visit Czarina, Ben, Adam and Matt and all the Fla crew. We had a great flight out-I got a bit sick on the first leg (pregnancy related) but the second puddle jumper was AMAZING. We sat next to a very sweet lady who I chatted with and after a few clues realized was TIM TEBOW'S MOM!!!!!!!! OMG!!!! She was lovely and really admired Otto. It was just a big love fest all around. So our trip started out on a very high note and only went up from there. Staying with Czarina was perfect. Her house is amazing and truly set up for kids. Ben and Otto got along famously. We had a great time just chilling at the house and walking around the neighborhood. There is a great park in the neighborhood that we went to a few times, Nikki and Sharryce came over with their kids, Liz and Molly came with their families, and Shana came up all the way from Naples with her kids. Czarina's house was really the hub for the weekend. We took the boys on lots of walks in the wagon or on the skateboards we also went to this amazing park by the beach. It has a huge labyrinth of play structures and a fountain that kids can play in. Ben and Otto got soaked and had a ball! The last day of the trip was the only bummer. Otto got sick and threw everywhere and after several sheet changes we were finally was able to get some uninterrupted sleep. Czarina was AMAZING-the world's best hostess, mom, and nurse. She helped with everything and was so sweet and understanding. OTTO AND I LOVE YOU, CZARINA!!!!! Unfortunately on the morning of our flight I woke up with Otto's sickness. I threw up several times and we pretty much just slept most of the day. Fortunately the last time I got sick was en route to the airport and actually ended up feeling OK in time to fly home. Even thought we both got sick, Otto and I had the most wonderful time seeing our friends and meeting Adam, Caroline, Parker, and Michaela for the first time. It really made me miss home and all my friends but soooooooooooo thankful that I have everyone in my life and now little Otto has all their kids in his life. I'm looking forward to many more vacations with the crew!!!!!

What Otto is up to Now

Otto surprises us everyday with his vocabulary and memory. He can sing just about any song that I regularly sing to him (which is A LOT), he knows the alphabet, he can count to 20 in English and to 5 in Chinese, he speaks in 7 word sentences, he can spell his name, and he says please and thank you regularly. I guess every parent is stunned when their child learns language and I'm no different. It is a remarkable thing to witness. I wish my brain was as absorbent as his. Plus he is just so funny and has Trevor and me cracking up all the time. He is a dancing machine and insists we listen to music or sing songs. We have regular night time dance parties with Trevor and Tam Sam. He loves to laugh and asks us to repeat over and over again words and phrases that he likes the sound of. He is also getting very agile and dexterous. His balance is terrific. He can walk up and down stairs no problem, cruses around on his scooter like a pro and is getting the hang of his park friends' balance bikes (we got him one for his 2nd birthday nest week). He is also running really fast! Trevor has to jog to keep up! He is climbing up the ladders at the park and sliding down the super duper big slide (face first-once) and really becoming a dare devil. He also likes to walk sideways especially if he wants to look at something-he kind of sneaks up to it sideways. Here are a few recent photos. One of Otto in the bath smiling (when we ask him to smile he puts his lower lip out), one on a motorcycle, and one in his proud toddler shirt.

Fall

We had a truly wonderful summer. Otto had so many cool adventures and he was really big enough to take part and enjoy all that summer had to offer. But I have to say that I'm excited that fall is here. The weather is perfect and getting cooler and we are getting excited for Halloween. We've had a couple of fun trips up to Lake Arrowhead. Once with Fisher's family and once for Trevor's 40th birthday party with close friends. Otto loved all the hiking and the boats and enjoyed hanging out at the little beach and feeding the ducks cheerios. We've enrolled Otto in soccer classes. He goes every Saturday morning and although class takes place in a super cool park and it gives us something to do every Saturday morning, I don't think we'll enroll again for a while. He is just a bit to young for the structure of the class. He's slowly learning the routine but I think he'd just rather play "kick the ball down the hall" at Goa's house. I do think he's a pretty good player though and will keep helping him score goals and dribble and get the basics down...but just in our backyard! Otto and I also had a wonderful trip to Florida to see all my friends but I don't have pictures yet from our trip so that will be a later post. Daddy has been working around the clock so I've been trying to keep Otto entertained outside the house but Otto has been wanting to hang around home more these days. Maybe he's getting sick of all the stuff we currently do. I hear Disney calling!!!!

More Summer Happenings

Unfortunately, we got some bad news this summer. My aunt Karen, who had given Otto his favorite motorcycle shirt, passed away. It was unexpected and so soon after Grampy that Goa, Otto, and I had to go to Wisconsin to see the family. We had a very nice time seeing everyone despite such sad circumstances. We stayed at a great hotel with Uncle Jim and Aunt Janine and had breakfast together every morning. The hotel had a water slide and huge pool and allowed dogs so Otto had fun with all of that. We also took an afternoon and went to a very typical huge mid-western water park which was so incredible and brought me right back to my childhood in Illinois. So we really did make the best of a very sad situation and Otto got to meet his family which I was so happy about. The photo of Otto on the 4-wheeler was taken at the Harley Davidson shop in Wisconsin where Aunt Karen spent quite a lot of time. Otto was in HEAVEN!
A week later Goa left us for Texas and the twins but we gained "Tam Sam" as Otto now calls Sam. Sam came for a visit from Florida and decided she would move back at the exact time as Goa left to stay with Cooper and Tucker. With Goa's room vacant Sam moved in and has been a GODSEND helping me with Otto and also doing tons of babysitting. Plus along with Sam we gained Otto's doggie best friend, Maybe!!! They love each other and have developed such a wonderful bond. They love playing and Otto looks for Maybe every time we are home and vice versa. They really are so close-it is a joy to watch! Another fun addition to our summer was the sweet 3 foot deep kiddie pool that Rachel gave us! It provided us with so much fun this summer. And it was hot enough to really warm up the pool so even this Fla girl enjoyed swimming in it. Otto and Dad took a few trips down to San Diego to play with Morgan and Troy and now that Otto is getting a little older we've even been taking him to a few restaurants. Summer 2011 has been a blast!

Alaska

Ok, summer has officially ended without another post. I'm the worst! But fortunately I took lots of pictures. Summer was really highlighted by our amazing trip to Alaska. We had the best time. Otto was terrific on our flight there despite a several hour delay. We got in very early in the morning, had a short sleep, and got picked up in a huge "Monster Truck" as Otto calls big pick up trucks and taken to a small bush plane airport. Otto was THRILLED and ran up to each one inspecting the wheels and propellers. We got in our airplane and flew about 60 miles north to our lodge located right in the middle of nowhere. It was a absolutely perfect day-very clear, sunny, and warm. And our first order of business-a fabulous lunch followed by a helicopter ride surveying the region (glaciers, ice burgs, trees, rivers, and TONS OF EMPTY LAND) and salmon fishing on the rocky bank of a pristine river. Every day brought more helicopter rides, fishing, and delicious food. We were unsure if Otto would enjoy the fishing but he loved it. He had fun sailing down the rivers in boats and loved playing on the banks and loved spinning the reels and playing with the the lures. And of course, who loves helicopters more than Otto? He squealed and kicked his feet when we were on the helicopters and talked about them when we were not. Another added benefit of the lodge were all the 4-wheelers, tractors, snowmobiles, and big farm and building equipment on sight. It really was a vacation dreamed up in Otto's head. Unfortunately we had to leave the lodge but we still had a day and a half in Anchorage which was really fun. By then the weather had turned pretty chilly and overcast so our hike to the city's overlook took place entirely in dense fog and a bit of rain but it just made for a more dramatic feel. We still had a great time and stopped for pizza on the way back. The morning before our airplane took off back for LA we met up with my high school friend, Amanda Loach, and her family. We went on a long walk along the coast and stopped at a playground. All in all, Alaska was a really perfect family vacation! Here are a few pics.