Sunday, July 31, 2011

Dutch Wonderland

Because I've been a blogging slacker, these will totally be out of order.  I'll eventually go back and put this post with the Wiggles one, but for now, we'll take what we can get!

Anyhoo...as previously mentioned, after The Wiggles concert in Hershey, PA we drove about 30 minutes to Lancaster, PA where we spent the night before spending Friday at the Dutch Wonderland "Music-ment" Park.  I totally should have taken a picture because my child - who is notorious for not sleeping when we're not at home - slept all. night. long.  In a hotel room.  And in a bed by himself (after he kicked me out!).  Missed opportunity for that notorious Kodak moment.  {I would say I'd document it next time.  But that might be jinxing myself!}

So, without further adieu, here are a *few* of the pictures I took at Dutch Wonderland.  It was hot (like, REALLY hot) but perfect for little people like ours!  We'd definitely go back!

Carousels are fun!!

Heading up the silo slide stairs {say THAT 3 times fast!} all by himself!




Heading from the silo slide to the big slide!
Sliding with Mommy

Driving the monster truck (of course they had the blue one!!!)

Riding the monorail

Hudson would much rather be a big boy than sit with Mommy.

My guys.  <3

Taking Daddy for a spin.

I was informed later that it was fate...they got the "redskins car".  Geesh.

Not quite sure that Daddy will be this happy in 13 more years.

Driving the bulldozer.


Little brother didn't think G was doing an adequate job.

Sweet co-pilot.

I think he had a good time.  ;)

It was getting pretty hot, and the boys were getting a little fussy, so we decided to take a break and go for a boat ride around the little creek/moat.  Hudson made some new friends while we waited in line.

He's not allowed to date for 29 more years.  Back off, ladies!!

Garrett just hung out while we waited.

And then we had a little impromptu game of catch.  Daddy lost.

And after our little boat ride, Hudson had finally had enough, threw a total fit, and finally gave in and fell asleep.  While we waited for the big boys to ride the log flume, he stopped sucking on his fingers and when they slipped out of his mouth, I couldn't help but notice the teeth marks in them.  He loves those fingers!!




Then we moved on over to the little train things.  G did the circle twice - after the got the hang of it, he was able to pedal himself (with his arms!) the whole way!


Not sure what this face it about!

Enjoying the airplanes.

A final shot of the boys as we ended our trip with a train ride around the park.  We all had a great time and it was the perfect little family vacation!

13 months

Hudson!  You're 13 (and a half!) months old!!
(PLEASE stop growing up so fast!!!)


What you're up to these days:

* You weigh 21.6 pounds (25%) and are 31" tall (75%)

* You wear size 12-18 month clothes and a size 4 diaper.

* You are a busy, busy, busy little man!  From the time you wake up, you're on the go.  You climb everything in sight and I take you off the end table at least 3 times a day.  You have gotten pretty good at getting down off of things by yourself by turning over and sliding down on your tummy.

* You are still the best sleeper ever created.  You sleep 11-12 hours a night and take a 2-3 hour nap!  Mommy is so thankful for that!!!

* You are still the happiest little guy and it doesn't take much to get you laughing!

* You still only have 8 teeth, but at least 3 more are trying to come in!  (not fun!)

* You LOVE your big brother!!!  Every morning or after nap - if you're up first - you just squeal as you "run" into his room. 

* You definitely understand what we're saying - you wave "bye-bye", give hugs and kisses, give high-5s, show us you're "sooooo big!", and your favorite word is "Uh-oh".  Usually you just say "uh-oh", look at me, and then drop whatever is in your hands!  You also say "Ma-ma-ma", "Da-da-da-da",  "nah-nah-nah" (no-no), and "bye-bye" (with an AWESOME southern accent!) on a regular basis.  You sometimes use a "gah" sound when I think you're meaning Garrett, "Oma" almost sounds like Oma (she worked hard on that one when she was babysitting!) ; ), and you will sometimes say something that resembles "thank you" ... or at least using the same intonation we use for "thank you".

* You are still a Daddy's boy (but you love your Momma too!!) and light up when he comes home from work.

*  We laugh that you have a tape worm...you will eat and eat and eat.  Yet you still seem so little to us! (even though you were only 1 1/2 pounds lighter and 1" shorter than G was at 1!)

*  We love you "more than much" and can't imagine our lives without you!!





 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Literal

I love the mind of an almost 3 1/2 year old.  Some days I could do without the constant inquisitive-ness and other days I wish I could climb in his brain and figure out what he's thinking.  But most days I just try to keep my sanity and enjoy the giggles, kisses, and often laugh at with him.

On Tuesday afternoon, we made our weekly shopping trip and once home I was trying to finish up some laundry, unpack the bags, and get dinner started for our company that night.  Both boys were getting hungry, so I'd opened a pack of crackers for them.  Hudson was in the middle of the kitchen floor eating (I mean, where else would he be??) and Garrett was watching something on tv.  Every time he'd come back into the kitchen asking for another cracker, I'd ask him to do something before I'd give it to him.  I'm nice like that. 

On one trip back in, I handed him a bottle of shampoo and conditioner, and asked him to take it to our bathroom.  The following was our conversation:

G: "Another cracker, please?"

Me: "Will you take this into Mommy's bathroom for me first?"

G: "Into Mommy's bathroom?"

Me: "Yes.  Just put it on the counter."

G: "On the counter?" 

Me: "Yes.  On the counter beside the sink."

G: "Beside the sink?"  (picking up on a pattern here??!)

Me: "Yes.  Beside the sink."

G: "Okay, Mommy."   

And off he went. 

Later last night when I was getting ready for bed, I realized there was no shampoo or conditioner on the counter.  Or in the shower.  Or in the sink.  But, what I did (finally!) see......




Well...at least it was in the general vicinity of where I'd asked!!  And note how neatly they were placed beside the sink!  ha!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

A-ligga-ligga-liggles!

Garrett has always loved all things music - beginning very early on with the Baby Einstein videos.  Seriously.  At 3 months old, I could buy 26 minutes by sticking him in front of the television in his swing or bouncy seat, and putting in the Baby Mozart DVD.  Oh yes I did.  And those 26 minutes were glorious.
As he grew, although - to this day! - he will still watch a Baby Einstein video, his tastes have obviously changed.  Soon after he could express his desires, his love for The Wiggles was expressed.  In a BIG way.  I have video of him from early on dancing along with the wiggles, singing their songs even when the television isn't on, and even playing "Wake Up Jeff!" when I was in labor with Hudson.  ha!  (I had actually forgotten about that until I was just typing this paragraph...I'd started having contractions about 2:30pm and by 7:00pm they were getting quite uncomfortable.  We were sitting at the dining room table...killing time until we could head to the hospital and not be sent back home...and at this point even sitting during a contraction was not going to happen.  Every time I'd have one, I'd stand up and lean over onto the table...resting my head on the table until it was over.  And every time I'd do this, my sweet little boy would say, "On the count of 3, I say 'Wake up Mommy' and Mommy waked up.  1....2.....3.....WAKE UP, MOMMY!"  It was cute, even then, but of course there was no laughing on my part at that moment.)

Okay, the walk down memory lane is over...back to The Wiggles.  Sorry for the detour.  Welcome to my brain.  ;)


So....we found out a few months ago that the Wiggles were going to be in Hershey, PA on their USA tour this summer, and knew we had to jump on it!  So, this past Thursday, we loaded up the suburban and headed north.  Even though I had told him we were going to see the Wiggles on a stage and they were real people just like us, with no frame of reference, he was clueless. 
  

The seats were pretty fun, though...

And then, the magic happened....


Although the stage was quite small (probably my only complaint), they brought their "Big Red Car"...
...which was terribly cool.

We were in the first row of the "loge"...also known as the first balcony.  The tickets were 1/2 of the price of the floor seats + extra leg/wiggle room + an unobstructed view = SCORE ONE FOR MOMMY!! 

I knew from seeing some of the videos that they often came into the crowd, but was quite pleased that "Murray" and the random ring master guy both made appearances up on our level.  Yay!
Although Hudson won't sit still long enough to ever watch a video, he did really well and spent much of the show actually watching! (and pointing!)



They sang a little "Fruit Salad"...
...and even dressed the parts!

We even had a little time for self-portrait taking:

After the show, and passing by the extremely expensive souvenirs tables (with a Daddy who just can't say no! =/ ) we headed out to the car.  Much to our surprise, the Wiggles were heading out to their buses and had stopped to sign autographs.  G was completely intimidated and wouldn't stand near them to get his picture taken, but we snapped a couple anyway...
Murray
Sam
Anthony
  Unfortunately, the 4th Wiggle, Jeff, was not on the tour.  Apparently he had to have a pacemaker a few weeks ago and therefore wasn't able to travel from Australia.  This, their 20th "Birthday" was the first time he had missed a tour.  Boo.  We love Jeff.  (There was a stand-in, Brad, who filled Jeff's purple shirt just fine though!)



We continued our mini-vacation by spending the night in Lancaster, PA (where, MY child actually slept...in a HOTEL...from 10:15pm - 7am!!!!  And he didn't even want me to sleep with him!!!) and then spent Friday at Dutch Wonderland Amusement Park.  But, that will have to wait until tomorrow!