Losing the Name Game

Because we traveled for Christmas, a couple people gave the kids gift cards instead of gifts that would have to be packed and shipped when we came back to California. Yesterday we decided to was time to cash in on the Build-a-Bear cards.

It was our first time to try Build-a-Bear and it went pretty smoothly. First the kids picked out which animals they wanted. Xander picked a black bear and Josie went with a puppy dog. Josie loves stuffed animals, I was afraid she'd get upset and want all of them. She dealt with the whole experience really well.

Next, the animals were actually stuffed. This was the only part that was a little disappointing. The lady who stuffed them had them put a little heart in each animal and they have a little routine to go with the heart. Something like "Rub it on your knees so it's a good runner, rub it on your nose so it's silly, ....". She did the whole routine while gazing off behind us and saying it as one long run on sentence. Xander couldn't really keep up. Josie had no idea what was going on.

Next was naming the animals. Chris's suggestions to Xander ran along the lines of Riley (the name of a coworker's son), Rowdy (my brother's dog) and Rusty (the family cat who has passed). Xander decided to name the bear Dusty. Dusty also happens to be the name of Xander's friend here.


I helped Josie. And all I could think of was Sparkles. The creative portion of my brain completely shut down. Sparkles. Growing up, I always named stuffed animals, plants, cars, etc. Now with the kids the stuffed animals are just called whatever they are. Teddy Bear. Koala. Hippo. So put on the spot, all I could come up with was Sparkles.


Then we picked out clothes. Chris grabbed a soccer outfit for Dusty the Bear. It even included shin guards, which you can't see because of the black fur. I figured to Sparkles the puppy should live up to her name and grabbed her a sparkly ballerina outfit.


The kids love their new friends. Both had to sleep with their friends last night. Xander tried to feed Dusty at breakfast time. Josie carries Sparkles everywhere by her neck.

Monterey Bay

This weekend we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. A friend we met at church was kind enough to lend us two adult membership passes and Josie was free. We bought and printed a ticket online for Xander (and really appreciated those free adult passes, saved us $60!).

When we arrived, we had just missed the otters being fed. Josie and I still thought they were the cutest things ever.

They had a big jellyfish exhibit which was amazing to look at. No fancy environment, just a couple of jellyfish (or in one case about twenty) floating around.


They also had a big seahorse exhibit. It went through stages of life and had a wide variety of species. These in the picture were crazy, their camouflage to look like plants was amazing.


There were penguins and flamingos. The coral reef had fish with amazing neon colors. The kelp forest was huge and the size of the fish was astonishing. The octopus was big and was crawling across the window. The kids didn't seem to caret but Chris and I were amazed to watch it.

Xander's second favorite part was the touch pool. There was kelp and other plants, shells and starfish.


Xander's favorite part was the splash zone. A huge 'wave' was released onto a glass ceiling and wall.


Josie did not like it quite as much.


She did like the flamingos and was rather upset when we left them. The penguins made her feel a little better.


There were several play areas for the kids, but we only made it to one section on whales.


To commemorate the day, we told the kids they could pick out souvenirs. Josie immediately grabbed a stuffed baby penguin. Xander played with a few toys. Then they spotted the sparkly cups with the twisty straws. Let me tell you, they suddenly love water (I will only let them drink water from the cups).


After the aquarium, we went to a park in Monterey Bay called Dennis the Menace park. Let me tell you, it was an awesome park. Several play structures, a garden maze, bridges and even a train engine to climb on. Since it was 70 degrees out, everyone else wanted to go to the park too. And it was a little big for Josie, who split her lip on the first slide she went down.


Overall, it was a good trip. The aquarium wasn't too crowded and the 1.5 hour drive went surprisingly smoothly. We may go back (but only if we get free tickets again).

Tilden Park

A couple Saturdays ago we decided to venture off to a new park for some adventures. We decided on Tilden Park because, despite it being over an hour drive, it had a steam train to ride. Upon hearing that, Xander dug out his train hat to wear for the day.


It was a fun ride. There were several places along the track where there were miniature buildings built to the same scale as the train. There were also several places where you'd get a great view of the valley. The kids also found out that the train's whistle can be loud and a little bit scary when you are standing next to it.


Xander was rather upset that we didn't immediately get back on the train for another ride, but it was pretty busy. We managed to get the first ride of the day but there was a large crowd waiting when we returned. The parking lot was also packed, so we decided to move on to the 'nature' section of the park.

The nature section has mandatory building with maps, collections of stuffed animals and other exhibits. Nearby were several trails we could hike. But first we headed to the Little Farm. Xander was excited to see the cows, Josie was fascinated but would not get close. Josie did love all of the birds that were there. She would get as close as she could to the geese, ducks and turkeys.


We headed out to walk on a trail that was under a mile. Josie was in the backpack, but was squirmy and cranky. Xander walked and was slow and cranky. I was worried that we'd take a wrong turn and end up three miles from our car (I need to tell you about that some time). At least they did take some time for leaf tossing fun.

When we finally packed up for the day I tossed a granola bar at each kid and we took off. A few miles down the road Xander gave a few deep coughs and vomited. In the car. Over an hour away from home. With no change of clothes. So he rode the rest of the way home in Spider-Man underwear and a couple fleece coats draped over him. He didn't get sick again, so we think it was just some coughing that caused up chucking.

Holiday Travels - Overview

I figured since it was well past the middle of January, I should finish up the holiday posts. I know we still have our little tree up and all of our cards up (since we weren't here to enjoy them) but I think most of you have probably moved on by now.

We stayed at our home in Ohio during our visit, which was awesome. We really, really miss our house. The only hard part was that we lent out our television and DVD/VHS player and were left with an old TV that did not pick up the digital television signal (we sold our converter box) and a small DVD player. Oh, and all of our child appropriate movies were in California. So when my parents came to visit the first day back and asked if we needed anything (they probably meant food) we kindly asked to borrow a few movies. Xander greatly enjoyed Cars, Robots and the Incredibles a couple times each.

We made several day trips. On Christmas Eve day we visited one of Chris's uncle's families. That was one place we saw Santa Claus.

On Christmas Day we visited another of Chris's uncle's families. We found the greatest babysitter ever: someone else playing Nintendo DS. It's Killian who is Chris's cousin's son, which I think would make Xander and Killian second cousins. Am I off base there? Anyway, Killian was an awesome sport for letting Xander hover on his shoulder the Entire Day.


A neighbor also lent Xander a Leapster with one game. Xander carried that thing with him everywhere for the rest of the trip. And as much as Xander enjoys technology, I'm happy to have just have our blocks, board games and PBS online for now.

We spent a few days staying at my parents' house and celebrated a late Christmas with my family there. That is where the true chaos of gifts came in.


And of course the gift bags were as popular as the gifts. Also, Rowdy the dog was a big hit.

It worked out well that my parents, siblings, sibling-in-laws and niece were all able to make it and celebrate together. Xander and Josie were showered with attention and even now Xander will say he misses them. Just yesterday he says he misses Uncle Mark and Uncle TJ (at which point I kindly remind him that it is Aunt TJ). The day before it was Uncle Lee and Aunt Andrea and Rowdy (at which point he would sit down and scratch his ear with his foot, just like Rowdy).

Chris especially had a good time with our niece Adyson. He played 'Kerplunk' with her, which is always a hit with our kids. It's basically dropping her and catching her, but safer than it sounds. We also tried teaching her how to hold our hands and climb our legs and flip over. Hopefully she'll remember when we return in August.

We also managed to visit my sister down in Cincinnati. Most of our two weeks in Ohio were in below freezing temperatures with a little snow, but the temperature actually reached 60 degrees during the last couple of days. We'd planned on going to see the Fantasy of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo, so it was nice that the weather cooperated.

Holiday Travels - Santa

Xander and Josie were lucky enough to meet Santa twice in Ohio. There was one time in California that they nearly met him, but he was out doors on a chilly evening and we decided to wait. By the time we returned to the car and were buckled in, it dawned on Xander that he didn't get to talk to Santa. This turned into a long, teary saga of "But I really want to talk to Santa!" all the way home. This from Xander who wouldn't go near the big guy last year.

We planned on taking the kids on a weekday morning while at the mall in Ohio. There was still a line, but it wasn't long. That didn't stop Josie from getting squirrely, so I distracted her with pretzel goldfish. When it was our turn, Xander ran right up and sat down. Josie threw a fit. They snapped a picture. Look closely if you'd like to see what partially chewed up pretzels look like.


After the picture, I picked up Josie and let Xander chat with Santa.
Santa: What would you like for Christmas?
Xander: Presents!
Santa: Oh? What kind of presents?
Xander: ...New presents!
Hugs: Would you like a ball?
Xander: Yeah!
Santa: What kind of ball would you like?
Xander: A new Ball!

We spent Christmas Eve with Chris's uncle and his family. Santa Claus made a surprise appearance there. Xander has been working on his vertical this year and showed it to Santa.


This time while talking to Santa, Xander said he wanted a Hide and Seek Jo Jo. Which is what his cousin, who went right before him, also asked for.


Once again, Josie would not go near Santa without the comforting presence of Mom.


Santa left presents for the kids at our house in Ohio which included blocks and books. Xander and Josie both had a blast building (and knocking over) the blocks. Xander's ability with symmetry surprised me, then he'd surprise me with a completely lopsided building, then he'd be completely creative. This was the island he built for me.

Upon returning to California, the kids found that Santa had left a baseball mitt for Xander and a baby stroller for Josie. The kids also received Chutes and Ladders, Candyland and Hi-Ho-Cherry-O. Josie's a little too young to play, but Xander cannot get enough of them. I'm really happy they've enjoyed the gifts this year.

Holiday Travels - The Airports

We spent two weeks in Ohio over the holidays. That of course involves taking planes cross-country with a three year old and eighteen month old.

From California to Ohio we had to get to the airport early and had a layover in Las Vegas. For added fun, the airline asked for proof of Josie's age while we were checking in. Oops, we'd never been asked for that before so I didn't bother to bring it. We ended up having to buy another ticket since her obvious size and language skills were not enough to make her a lap passenger. That actually worked out well because we had some extra room. By the end of the day, Chris was sprawled across three seats while Xander played.

However there was panic before the return plane ride. It occurred to us the day before our flight that we needed to get proof of Josie's age. We didn't have an birth certificates in Ohio. The county offices to get birth certificates were closed. We called to check and there were no tickets available. We were able to get copies of some paperwork from the doctor and, thank goodness, the airline accepted them.

The ride to Ohio went fairly well and was uneventful. We'd been prepared with food, books, toys, kid phones and iPhone apps. Josie was also able to fall asleep while I was holding her without much fuss.

The return ride was a lot more difficult. We left the house at 9 for our noon flight. We had a short flight first and made it through that and even arrived at our layover early. Which sounds great on paper, but meant that we had time to kill with two squirrely kids.*

So we took our time, let Josie and Xander stop and look at things, and kept a lookout for things to do. I've heard that some airports have kid play areas. Las Vegas didn't seem to. Instead they have shiny, bright, loud, blinky slot machines. We had to repeatedly explain to Xander that they were adult games and he couldn't play. We found moving sidewalks and took a lot of time going back and forth on those. We looked out the windows at the airplanes and practiced out trust falls. We even splurged on ice cream.



Josie didn't get a nap in and within an hour of being in the air on the second flight she was losing it. Nothing made her happy. I had to walk the aisle with her. After a while of walking, I wondered if she'd fallen asleep. A couple people actually gave me a thumbs up that she was asleep. And no one gave me dirty looks, thank goodness.*

By the time we arrived back, Josie was ready to lose it again and I tried to walk her around. Fortunately she was distracted by some birds that had come in and were hanging around baggage claim. She and Xander and some other kids chased them around and had a blast, it was very cute. After we packed up, the kids zonked out. They didn't even realize that Santa had left presents in the house here when we arrived.

*Yeah, I was tired when I wrote this. The first leg was the long one with Josie losing it. The second leg was short and uneventful.

0.2 pounds

I will soon give updates about our holiday travels. Meanwhile, here is a tale to tide you over.

While I was in the bathroom packing, Josie walked in and stepped on the scale. Then she stepped off, sat down, took off her socks, stood back up and stepped back onto the scale.

She didn't learn that kind of behavior from me, that's all I can say.