Disneyland; Day Two

On Monday, we were at California Adventure right when it opened. Our goal was to get in line for Toy Story Mania, but the wait was an hour, and Scarlett said she didn't want to wait that long. As we walked in, we saw that Grizzly River Run had a 5 minute wait, and Rob doesn't care for many rides, but he LOVES water rides, so we waited in line while everyone else took off. I didn't ride with him, poor guy went by himself, I just do not like being wet in my clothes. He loved it. When we met up with everyone, Dad and Ashley had already been on California Screamin', so while they rode King Triton's Carousel, Rob, Mom and I rode Screamin'. And then we rode it one more time.

Ashley and Scarlett headed over to Mickey's Fun Wheel- Scarlett didn't think it was so fun- and Rob and I ran in to his cousin Joe as we were getting off Screamin'. We visited with him and his wife, Laura for a little while. Mom and Dad had headed to Soarin' Over California to get fast passes. We rode that before eating a yummy lunch at Boudin. We sat with another LDS family. It's funny how we stand out. We can spot each other from a mile away.

After lunch, Ashley, Scarlett and I went to check out A Bug's Land. We stopped and dressed up like Jesse on the way. This girl is so stinkin' cute.

A Bug's Life Tea Cups were no bueno for me. We spun and spun and spun... yuck.

We spent the next little while on Tower of Terror (we almost got Mom on it!), and Monster's Inc.  Scarlett LOVED Monster's Inc.  We borrowed the movie from a friend before our trip, and she watched it 3 times.  Rob also took Scarlett in to the Animation Studio and she had an absolute ball.
Then it was back to Disneyland, and on to Dumbo!

It may seem like Ashley is Scarlett's Mom. But I promise, she is not. She's just the cool aunt Scarlett always wants to be with.

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall...

My Mom found an amazing little spot to take Sydney to keep her cool from time to time- this tiny little room in Cinderella's castle. Amazing find, mommy dearest.

Getting a little cuddle from Granddad. She looks so chubby!

Scarlett is honestly the funniest person I know. She is hilarious. Her favorite movie is Enchanted. She LOVES the songs- especially "How Does She Know". We sing it and dance to it all the time- Enchanted will forever be on our DVR. Ashley downloaded "How Does She Know" on her phone, and in front of Cinderella's castle started playing it, and Scarlett started dancing.

And dancing. And twirling. And singing at the top of her lungs.

This older couple was loving the performance and Scarlett was really hamming it up for them.

We went back to the hotel around 6 and ordered burgers from the restaurant downstairs. Delicious. In a corner of the restaurant, they have a TV that is always playing a Disney movie with lots of little chairs for the kids. Scarlett loved watching. And yes, poor Sydney looks a bit like Elmer Fudd without a headband. But oh, she is cute.

Scarlett was t.i.r.e.d. Look at those eyes.

We missed the 7:15pm shuttle from our hotel back to Disneyland(the ONE time it was actually on time), so we called a cab, and he dropped us at the opposite end of Downtown. We walked, ever so quickly, through to CA Adventure so we could get our spot for The Magical World of Color.

It never ceases to amaze me, that here we are, a family, with children, getting to the show over an hour before it starts so we could have a good view, and yet still, ADULTS come along and stand right in front of us, 10 minutes before the show starts. Unbelievable. Even when we I said something, politely, it didn't phase them that they were being rude.

Sydney did so well with this late night outing- not a peep or a fuss. Not one from Rob, either!

The show really was fantastic. Scarlett thought it was pretty great, and even Sydney watched the whole thing.

When it was over, we left the kids with Grandma and Granddad, and Ashley, Rob and I ran from the show, through CA Adventure, in to Disneyland, and to Space Mountain. Our Fast Passes expired at 9:35 and we made it at 9:30. We got off the ride and started running for Thunder Mountain, but Dad called and said they were just about to get on It's A Small World. We changed directions and made it just as they were getting on the boat.

Pretty bright eyed for 9:55 PM. She really loved this ride.

Scarlett waving good-bye to everyone as we came to the end of our ride.

It was a few minutes after 10, the park was shutting down, and we were heading to the exit. We passed Alice in Wonderland, and my Mom quickly asked the young girl working the ride if Scarlett could ride- she had been begging since we got there, but the line was always so long. She obliged, and Mom, Ashley, Scarlett and myself got an after hours ride.

We were again headed to the exit when Ashley decided she HAD to have some ice cream. We skipped the 10:30 shuttle so she could get her scoop. As we waited for the 11pm shuttle, Scarlett was running around, singing and dancing, and suddenly announced that she needed to pee. With no bathrooms in sight, Rob ran with her to the IHOP across the street, and just barely made it back in time for our shuttle.

We were all in bed by midnight. Tired babies. Tired parents. Tired Aunt.  Tired Grandparents.  But we would do it again, any day.

Disneyland; Day One

We drove to SoCal on Saturday, May 19th.  I was skeptical about how the girls would do in the car for so long, but they actually did incredibly well.  We crammed our family of four, along with my parents in our car (yay for an SUV!).  I went earlier in the week to Marin to buy a nice big Thule to put on top of our Highlander.  It was the only way we could all travel together.  Sydney and Rob sat in the third row, I sat in the middle with Scarlett, and Mom and Dad sat up front.  For the second half of the trip, I drove and Dad took my seat.  Poor Rob was smooshed in the back the whole way down.  We made one stop for lunch at a Subway, let the girls stretch a bit, and then another stop for a potty break.  We made the drive in under 7 hours.

When we arrived at the Hyatt Regency, two hours after check-in, our room wasn't ready.  About 15 minutes later, when we went to take Sydney out of her car seat, we saw she had a major blowout, so we went back to the front desk and basically said, you will give us a key to some room so we can go clean up our baby.  Miraculously, our room became ready, and Rob asked what they were going to do to make up for causing us to sit in the lobby- so they gave us a $50 credit. 

Poor Syd in all her poopy glory.

We got the VIP Family Suite at the Hyatt, and it was actually really great.  You walked in to the living room, and off to one side was a bedroom with a king bed and bathroom, and off the other direction was another bedroom, the "kids room", with a full bed, and twin bunk on top, and another bathroom.  The living room also had a pull out bed.  My parents took the king bedroom, Rob took the sofa-sleeper, Sydney had a pack-n-play in the living room, and Scarlett and I slept on the full bed.  I actually started on the sofa-sleeper, Sydney wanted Mommy to cuddle her to sleep, but Rob eventually came out and traded with me.  That bed was evil.  Horribly uncomfortable.  We requested a roll-away the next night.

Sunday Morning, Dad went to pick Ashley up from Huntington (she was there for a conference) and when they got back, we headed off to Disneyland.

We got there just as the characters were doing a little song and dance in front of Cinderella's castle.  Scarlett was thrilled to be at Disneyland.

 Our first ride was Peter Pan (notice Scarlett will not look at or smile at the camera- she "not like to take pictures").

 She was very apprehensive about how dark it was- and ultimately didn't care for the ride.

 She did, however, love the carousel.  She wanted to ride again, and again.

 Rob strolled Sydney over to some of the "big kid" rides to gather fast passes and switch passes (a-ma-zing), while we took a ride on the Storybook Land Canal boat.

And then Scarlett, Ashley and Granddad hit the tea cups.

 After lunch, Buzz Lightyear, and Star Tours (nausea...), we set sail for Toon Town where Scarlett, very nervously, met Mickey Mouse. 

 When we asked her if she wanted to hug Mickey, she really thought about it, with a furrowed brow and everything, and eventually leaned in.

 We played at Goofy's Play House for a while. 

 And all Scarlett asked for all day was a lollipop.  We somehow got the idea that she was calling cotton candy a lollipop, so my sweet parents bought it for her, and she looked at it like "are you crazy?" and said "that not a lollipop!".  By the end of the day, she had six little Mickey's to enjoy.

We headed out of the park and to downtown Disney for some dinner.  We ate at a Mexican place that none of us were too impressed with.  One thing that was fun, and I somehow did not get a picture of, was the guy going from table to table making balloon characters.  He made the girl at the table next to us Ariel- it was amazing.  Scarlett loved it, so we had him make her one.  And for some reason, only a few minutes after having her, Scarlett bit one part of the balloon, popped her head, an arm maybe?  But her perky little bikini breasts stayed right where the guy put them.  It was funny.  And the beginning of a bit of a fit from my oldest.  We headed back to the hotel around 7:30 to put the kids to bed.  My parents and Ashley went back to the park for the fireworks, and they rode Space Mountain a few times, and Thunder Mountain.  Oh, what it will be like to one day NOT need to put tired babies to bed.  Sigh.

We had a great first day and went to bed exhausted.  In fact, Rob fell asleep with Scarlett at 9pm... 

05.29.2012

We saw the pediatrician today.

Sydney's 4 Month Stats:

Height: 25.5 inches (90th)

Weight (she gained!): 13lbs 8oz (50th)

Head Circum: 41.5 cm (50th)

Height to Weight Ratio: 5th percentile.

She did great with her shots.  She didn't even flinch for the first one.  And only cried for about 30 seconds after the second.  Sweet baby.

One of my conversations with Scarlett today:

Me: Scar- can I take a picture of you holding that real quick?

Scarlett: No, thanks.

Me: Just real quick. I want to send it to Granddad.

Scarlett: Mom, I do not like to take pictures. I just really don't like them.

Me: Why not?

Scarlett: I don't like them.

Me: You will wish you had them when you are old. You can look back and remember what you did when you were little.

Scarlett: I just think that is a really bad idea.

Love her!

Four Months

My sweet Sydney Lucile turned FOUR months old on the 20th, and we celebrated by taking a trip to Disneyland (more to come on that).  She really came alive on this trip and has started laughing, and is really talking up a storm.  She likes to make her presence known by squawking and watching to see who turns to give her their attention first.  We started her on rice cereal at 3 1/2 months, then added avocado a week later.  She loooooves food.  She will dive toward the spoon if you are feeding her avocado.

Sydney is not a consistent sleeper- some nights are great, others are OK, and some are terrible.  She loves her pacifier and will wake up needing it to be returned to her mouth from time to time.  We're working on that.  She likes to nap for 1-2 hours about an hour and a half after she wakes up in the morning.  She then goes back down for anywhere from 2 to 4 hours in the afternoon.  She will put herself to sleep for naps, but likes to be rocked (mostly by Daddy) before going to bed for the night.  Sydney is in love with her sister.  She likes when Scarlett is rough with her (not too rough), reads her stories, sings to her... and when Scarlett and I have dance parties in the kitchen (1-3 times per day), Sydney kicks and waves her arms as if she is joining us.

Sydney is not a fan of her bumbo, but she loves her activity jumper.  She will use her elbows to push against your chest when being held to sit up.  She rolls from back to tummy, and tummy to back.  She has what we thought were 3 teeth on top that look seconds away from breaking through, but the doctor said they are just ridges.  She is always chewing on her hands or whatever toy she can get ahold of.  Or your hand, if it is available.  She goes to town on Sophie the Giraffe.  Her hand coordination is getting better and she can actually pick things up and bring them to her mouth, or in front of her face for a better look.

Sydney is very laid back and easy going.  She likes to be up looking around, but is OK with having to sit in her Boppy chair and relax.  She loves all the people who stop us when we are out, wanting to ooh and aww over my girls.  Scarlett always proudly says, "that my sister, Sydney Lucile".  We don't see the pediatrician until next week, but I know Sydney has finally gained some weight.  Her little thighs finally have some meat on them, and she is tall, just like Scarlett was, and still is.  We're still not sure what color her eyes are going to be.

These pictures are from 05.20.2012 at Goofy's Play House, playing with Daddy.

 Laughing that little grunt laugh.

 Mamarazzi strikes again.

We are so grateful to have this little girl in our family.  We love you, Sydney Lu.

And a little update on what Snicklefritz is doing...

Cuddle time, one morning in May.

Snicklefritz is what my Aunt Deb has called Scarlett for a long time... It has stuck.  Scarlett loves the big sister role.  She happily shares her toys, sometimes not happily, but she does it anyway.  She always wants to be helpful and will be my gopher when I need her to.  When Syd was only about a month old, I laid her on the couch and went to get a diaper.  Scarlett took it upon herself to undo the current, poop filled diaper, and started wiping her for me.  She actually did a great job.

Scarlett has been completely potty trained, day and night, for about 3 months now.  We had day time down a month before Sydney was born, but I didn't want to deal with any bed wetting, so I always had her sleep in a diaper.  One night, Daddy was on bedtime duty.  When Scarlett woke up in the morning, she came and got in bed with me, as per usual, and when I patted her bum, I said "Daddy, did we forget to put something on last night before bed?"  She hadn't had an accident, so we thought there was no reason to go back.  And that is how Scarlett became night time potty trained- Daddy simply forgot the diaper.   

When Scarlett turned one, we took her pacifier away and she knew she could only have it in her crib for when she was sleeping.  At two, I asked the doctor how to get rid of it, and she said with a new baby coming, we should leave it alone.  She said by three she will give it up herself.  Since Scarlett stopped napping just before Sydney was born, she was only having it at night.  We tried the Saturday before Easter to cut it up, actually, Scarlett cut it up herself, and then we were up until 2am dealing with her tantrum.  Only a few weeks later, though, she agreed to give it up again.  But then asked for it, AGAIN.  So we gave her one that had the tip cut off.  She took a "rest" with it.  I cut more off before bedtime.  She told me she didn't like the hole in it, and gave it back.  And we have been pacifier free for over a month now.  There isn't anything "baby" anymore, about my little ScarScar. 

Scarlett got in to the preschool of our choice for the fall and she is so excited.  She talks about going to preschool almost everyday.  The school is a co-op, which means parental involvement is heavy.  I am required to work in the classroom twice a month- and I am so excited to get to see what she is doing at school.  She knows her ABCs, she counts to 14, and knows all her colors.

Scarlett has a bright, social and determined disposition.  She is a spit-fire.  And we love her for it.  She says some of the funniest things.  I really need to be writing them down.

I love my girls, and am so grateful to be their Mom.