This was our first year of spending Christmas at our own house (and not to mention Kevin's first Christmas in California!!) Although we've gotten trees even when we haven't been here for the holiday-proper, it was nice waking up in our own place and opening presents in front of our tree. Well, I should say watching Nick open presents.
I think as children we think Christmas is all about OUR presents and as we grow up & have kids of our own, we realize that yes, it really is all about the kid-presents. I think Kevin & I had maybe two presents each. While Nick, well, let's just say he has plenty to keep him entertained for some time!
On Christmas Eve, we put out cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. We actually did this quite early as we were going to a friend's house for dinner and Nick would likely fall asleep before we got home.
While I am sure this will change in the coming years, Nick didn't remember that Santa was supposed to come when he woke up on Christmas morning. This was nice as we were able to eat some breakfast and drink some coffee before we launched into opening-present-mode. So mid-morning, we asked Nick if Santa came. Here is the video of what took place after.
We did take any still pictures as we were too busy untying twist ties, putting in batteries, etc., etc. But the video is a good representation of how the rest of the morning went. Nick LOVED all his presents and we think he's pretty darn lucky to have so many people that care about him!!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
More Nick-isms
Driving home from day care with Daddy, they pass a nativity scene on someone's lawn. Nick says "Hey!! There's Mary and Joe!"
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On the way to day care this morning with Mommy:
Nick: There's a purple car!
Mommy: Yes, it's purple! You don't see many of those around.
Nick: No, they're dangerous.
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And - each day this week, Nick has reminded me that we have to get cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer at the store. If we so much as even mention the store, Nick says "And carrots Mommy? For the reindeer?"
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On the way to day care this morning with Mommy:
Nick: There's a purple car!
Mommy: Yes, it's purple! You don't see many of those around.
Nick: No, they're dangerous.
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And - each day this week, Nick has reminded me that we have to get cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer at the store. If we so much as even mention the store, Nick says "And carrots Mommy? For the reindeer?"
Sunday, December 20, 2009
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!
Nick was very excited to help decorate the Christmas Tree this year. He was very careful ("I be careful, Mommy.") with all the decorations. He also thought the lights were "whoa, cool!!"
Here he is carefully putting an ornament on the tree.
The little bugger moves fast - he was in the frame but ran off to get another one. So instead you can see Kevin placing one. Kevin is the "Light Master" and is very particular about making sure the ornaments don't get "bunched up" - love it!
Another ornament. We had to come back and re-distribute Nick's ornaments as of course he put them all in the same place. This does not synch up with Kevin's "No Bunching" policy.
The next day, we decided we'd better take advantage of our Disney passes before they go into their blackout holiday period. I was hemming & hawing about going because Nick still had a little cough, it had been raining & was cold out and I also thought it would be crazy-packed. Well, thank God we went - it was SO COOL!! Here are some of the decorations they had down Main Street.
Nick's favourite has always been Small World. So we headed there first and can I just say: AMAZING. SO, so beautiful with all the holiday decorations! The lines to go on were super long, as you can see here:
The line moved very fast though, and soon we were able to get up close to see all the decor.
Nick had a look of awe on his face but of course, did the cheesy, squinty smile each time I tried to capture it on camera.
I didn't get it on camera, but every 15 minutes or so, they turn off the lights and do a light show on the side of the building. They also mixed in Chrismas songs with the regular Small World song.
Once we got close, Nick didn't even want to look at me for a picture - just "Lights, Mommy!!"
After Small World, we went on a few other rides - Dumbo and the "Horsies" (carosel) being Nick's favorite. Then, as we got ready to leave (at this point, it was just after Nick's bedtime), I saw the Mickey Mouse character standing by the Lincoln Theater at the exit-end of Main Street. Now, Nick has never liked the life-size characters and has never wanted to go see them. Figuring this was still the case and we'd see him & be on our way, I said "Look! There's Mickey!" Nick said, "I wanna talk to Mickey!" So we went over to look and Nick insisted that he wanted to talk to him. We got in line and waited our turn, with Nick saying he wanted to talk to Mickey over & over. We got up to the front, Nick hopped out of his stroller and went over to Mickey. He told Mickey that he was wearing a jacket (which he was) and that he went on a train (which we just had). Then he stood for a picture. I couldn't believe it.
The "Mickey visit coordinator" (I have no idea what to call him - the guy who keeps the line moving) thought Nick was super cute. He knelt down and asked Nick if Mickey was his favourite. Nick said yes, so the guy pulled out a folder and gave Nick some stickers. Nick was SO happy!! But, of course, with all this excitement plus the fact that it was now WAY past his bedtime, it took forever for him to fall asleep. Usually when we're out and we leave in the car around his bedtime, he'll fall asleep in his carseat and we can just move him into his bed. This time we had to actually drive around the block near our house a few times before he fell alseep - close to 10 PM!!
And all week this past week on the way to day care in the morning "Mommy, can we go Disneyland tomorrow?" Aww...
Here he is carefully putting an ornament on the tree.
The little bugger moves fast - he was in the frame but ran off to get another one. So instead you can see Kevin placing one. Kevin is the "Light Master" and is very particular about making sure the ornaments don't get "bunched up" - love it!
Another ornament. We had to come back and re-distribute Nick's ornaments as of course he put them all in the same place. This does not synch up with Kevin's "No Bunching" policy.
The next day, we decided we'd better take advantage of our Disney passes before they go into their blackout holiday period. I was hemming & hawing about going because Nick still had a little cough, it had been raining & was cold out and I also thought it would be crazy-packed. Well, thank God we went - it was SO COOL!! Here are some of the decorations they had down Main Street.
Nick's favourite has always been Small World. So we headed there first and can I just say: AMAZING. SO, so beautiful with all the holiday decorations! The lines to go on were super long, as you can see here:
The line moved very fast though, and soon we were able to get up close to see all the decor.
Nick had a look of awe on his face but of course, did the cheesy, squinty smile each time I tried to capture it on camera.
I didn't get it on camera, but every 15 minutes or so, they turn off the lights and do a light show on the side of the building. They also mixed in Chrismas songs with the regular Small World song.
Once we got close, Nick didn't even want to look at me for a picture - just "Lights, Mommy!!"
After Small World, we went on a few other rides - Dumbo and the "Horsies" (carosel) being Nick's favorite. Then, as we got ready to leave (at this point, it was just after Nick's bedtime), I saw the Mickey Mouse character standing by the Lincoln Theater at the exit-end of Main Street. Now, Nick has never liked the life-size characters and has never wanted to go see them. Figuring this was still the case and we'd see him & be on our way, I said "Look! There's Mickey!" Nick said, "I wanna talk to Mickey!" So we went over to look and Nick insisted that he wanted to talk to him. We got in line and waited our turn, with Nick saying he wanted to talk to Mickey over & over. We got up to the front, Nick hopped out of his stroller and went over to Mickey. He told Mickey that he was wearing a jacket (which he was) and that he went on a train (which we just had). Then he stood for a picture. I couldn't believe it.
The "Mickey visit coordinator" (I have no idea what to call him - the guy who keeps the line moving) thought Nick was super cute. He knelt down and asked Nick if Mickey was his favourite. Nick said yes, so the guy pulled out a folder and gave Nick some stickers. Nick was SO happy!! But, of course, with all this excitement plus the fact that it was now WAY past his bedtime, it took forever for him to fall asleep. Usually when we're out and we leave in the car around his bedtime, he'll fall asleep in his carseat and we can just move him into his bed. This time we had to actually drive around the block near our house a few times before he fell alseep - close to 10 PM!!
And all week this past week on the way to day care in the morning "Mommy, can we go Disneyland tomorrow?" Aww...
Best Buds
Nick has a friend that he met at day care. His name is Tristan Lu, but since there is at least one other Tristan in his class, they use the last name too. So I think Nick thinks his buddie's name is TristanLu - all one word. It's never just Tristan, always TristanLu.
We've done "play date swaps" with Tristan's parents - it's been great. Nick went over there for a Saturday morning a little over a month ago and Tristan came over to our house a couple of weeks ago. They play SO well together, it's great.
They both love trains, so there was a lot of "choo choo-ing" going on...
It was raining that day, so we couldn't be outside, but it didn't matter. Trucks were a hit as well.
We'll be doing swaps as much as we can - not only do we get some child-free errand running time, Nick gets to have his buddy over and they play on their own. It's great!
We've done "play date swaps" with Tristan's parents - it's been great. Nick went over there for a Saturday morning a little over a month ago and Tristan came over to our house a couple of weeks ago. They play SO well together, it's great.
They both love trains, so there was a lot of "choo choo-ing" going on...
It was raining that day, so we couldn't be outside, but it didn't matter. Trucks were a hit as well.
We'll be doing swaps as much as we can - not only do we get some child-free errand running time, Nick gets to have his buddy over and they play on their own. It's great!
Friday, December 11, 2009
So is the flu season over yet????
Because I really don't know if the family can take much more!! Oy, what an awful time we've had over the last month & a half. All three of us have been on antibiotics and albuterol. Two of us (Kevin & I) have been on steroid inhalers. And one of us (yours truly) was on oral steroids too. Throw in two of us (Nick & I) with either food poisoning or stomach flu and a random nosebleed for Nick - that just about covers it! I suppose I can't forget the cold with yucky wheezing & cough that Nick is currently getting over. Yea, I think we've all had it with illnesses.
I don't know if this is cute or sad, but here is Nick with his "mask". He now insists on doing it himself and is quite content watching "Nick TV" while he's getting his dose of medicine.
The good news (I guess it's good news) is that Nick has had the H1N1 vaccine, so I hope we'll dodge that bullet. I just received notice that my doctor's office is now giving them to adults with asthma, so you can bet I'll be getting that ASAP. What we had wasn't the Swine Flu, but it was horrible enough that I don't even want to chance getting it!!!
ANYWAY.
On to more pleasant things!
This last weekend, the three of us headed up to San Francisco. It was a great trip!! My company had their annual Holiday Party on Friday night. Our friends, Kirsten & Sean immediately offered to watch Nick for us, so not only were we able to get out for a nice evening, Nick had a blast playing with Kirsten & Sean at their house. And, as far as we've been told, he only broke one thing!! Nick was cool as a cucumber as we left; he barely took the time to say goodbye. Always nice to leave him happy than a crying mess.
On Saturday we hit the Farmer's Market with Danielle, Lisa and Maggie. Nick had a great time running all around and yelling at seagulls. I think Maggie got a little exercise chasing after her Godson and Danielle & Lisa sat there in awe of the energy that comes out of a toddler.
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency down on the Embarcadero. The lobby is a HUGE atrium that they had beautifully decorated for Christmas. Nick loved all the lights and the little "towns" they had set-up with trains, snow, people, cars, etc., etc.
They had a ginormous Christmas tree in the atrium.
The atrium goes up about 15 floors - all the hallways to the hotel rooms surround the atrium. At about the 12th floor, they strung lights that hung all the way down to about the second floor above the atrium. You can see them in the background of this picture, but it really doesn't do them justice as to how cool they were.
Completely unexpectedly, the hotel brought in a Santa Claus on Saturday. We thought "Great! We can get a picture of Nick with Santa!" Yea, Nick had other ideas. He was happy to stare at him from afar but had NO desire to go climb on his lap. This about as close as he would get. And clearly rocks are much more interesting...
Nick took a super late, super long nap that afternoon. This worked out well as Kevin took Nick to go meet with Joel, Hope & Emma for dinner and they didn't meet until 8 PM, which is about a half hour away from Nick's usual bedtime. The late nap worked, Nick had a great time at dinner and totally CRASHED after dinner. We didn't have the heart to try to get him out of his clothes...
On Sunday when we went downstairs, Nick was asking where Santa was. Sure, kid, you won't go near him one day but the next it's "Where Santa, Mommy?" Humph. So we let him climb up on the blocks instead.
So once we got back home, we were talking with Nick at dinner. I asked Nick where Santa lives.
"San Francisco!!!"
I suppose some summers could be considered similar to the North Pole...
I don't know if this is cute or sad, but here is Nick with his "mask". He now insists on doing it himself and is quite content watching "Nick TV" while he's getting his dose of medicine.
The good news (I guess it's good news) is that Nick has had the H1N1 vaccine, so I hope we'll dodge that bullet. I just received notice that my doctor's office is now giving them to adults with asthma, so you can bet I'll be getting that ASAP. What we had wasn't the Swine Flu, but it was horrible enough that I don't even want to chance getting it!!!
ANYWAY.
On to more pleasant things!
This last weekend, the three of us headed up to San Francisco. It was a great trip!! My company had their annual Holiday Party on Friday night. Our friends, Kirsten & Sean immediately offered to watch Nick for us, so not only were we able to get out for a nice evening, Nick had a blast playing with Kirsten & Sean at their house. And, as far as we've been told, he only broke one thing!! Nick was cool as a cucumber as we left; he barely took the time to say goodbye. Always nice to leave him happy than a crying mess.
On Saturday we hit the Farmer's Market with Danielle, Lisa and Maggie. Nick had a great time running all around and yelling at seagulls. I think Maggie got a little exercise chasing after her Godson and Danielle & Lisa sat there in awe of the energy that comes out of a toddler.
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency down on the Embarcadero. The lobby is a HUGE atrium that they had beautifully decorated for Christmas. Nick loved all the lights and the little "towns" they had set-up with trains, snow, people, cars, etc., etc.
They had a ginormous Christmas tree in the atrium.
The atrium goes up about 15 floors - all the hallways to the hotel rooms surround the atrium. At about the 12th floor, they strung lights that hung all the way down to about the second floor above the atrium. You can see them in the background of this picture, but it really doesn't do them justice as to how cool they were.
Completely unexpectedly, the hotel brought in a Santa Claus on Saturday. We thought "Great! We can get a picture of Nick with Santa!" Yea, Nick had other ideas. He was happy to stare at him from afar but had NO desire to go climb on his lap. This about as close as he would get. And clearly rocks are much more interesting...
Nick took a super late, super long nap that afternoon. This worked out well as Kevin took Nick to go meet with Joel, Hope & Emma for dinner and they didn't meet until 8 PM, which is about a half hour away from Nick's usual bedtime. The late nap worked, Nick had a great time at dinner and totally CRASHED after dinner. We didn't have the heart to try to get him out of his clothes...
On Sunday when we went downstairs, Nick was asking where Santa was. Sure, kid, you won't go near him one day but the next it's "Where Santa, Mommy?" Humph. So we let him climb up on the blocks instead.
So once we got back home, we were talking with Nick at dinner. I asked Nick where Santa lives.
"San Francisco!!!"
I suppose some summers could be considered similar to the North Pole...
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