Looks like Santa left a note... and a piece of cookie in the bowl!
A Thank You Note from Santa!
Santa dropped a piece of cookie in his milk!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Cookie in the Milk
Christmas, 2012. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, packages kept arriving at the front door. Of course, Casey wanted to open each and every one the moment they arrived. But we kept telling him to wait until Christmas. The days passed, and the pile of presents under the Christmas tree grew. Finally, it was Christmas Eve. Before going to bed, Casey helped leave Santa Claus some cookies. He personally choose three frosted Animal Cookies, and three chocolate chip cookies. We poured a small mug of milk and wrote a note to Santa. "Help yourself to some milk and cookies- Merry Christmas" Fast forward to Christmas morning. Casey came down to the dining table, looked at the cookie bowl, and said, "He left a piece of cookie!". Then he looked inside the mug and said, "He dropped a piece of cookie in his milk. Let's save it for him".
Looks like Santa left a note... and a piece of cookie in the bowl!
A Thank You Note from Santa!
Santa dropped a piece of cookie in his milk!
Looks like Santa left a note... and a piece of cookie in the bowl!
A Thank You Note from Santa!
Santa dropped a piece of cookie in his milk!
Monday, December 24, 2012
California Adventure
Sydney was a cheap date. Due to his age, he can get into Disneyland,and California Adventure for free. Kinda like a drug dealer giving samples of his product for free. Get the little ones hooked early, and you have a customer for life. Even if it was free for Sydney, we had some planning to do. Going to Disney isn't something to dive into blindly. We sure were not going to go on opening day, we managed to miss the summer crowds, we didn't go on a weekend, we planned the excursion for a weekday in early December. Consider it a stroke of luck, but the day finally came, and it was dark, drizzly and a little chilly... In other words- perfect weather. Apparently, the threat of rain kept the crowds away, because with the exception of one ride, there were NO lines longer than 5 minutes. Before leaving, I consulted with many friends with prior Disney experience, and asked for advice. The most succinct advice I received? 'Don't go'
We got to the park, and went straight for the Carsland Racers. Unfortunately, Sydney got turned away at the gate. Something about not meeting the minimum height requirement. This being the premiere attraction of the park, I assumed it was more of a case of 'Don't give away the milk, or else no one will buy the cow'... Mommy and Sydney shook off the disappointment and headed for Mater's Crazy Tractor and Luigi's flying tires. Tip of the day!!!--- Ca. Adventure has this feature called 'Baby Pass'. It works like this. One parent waits in line for a ride, while the other parent can request a 'Baby Pass'. When parent #1 is done with the ride, parent #2 can present the 'Baby Pass' and go straight to the front of the line. In this case, Daddy waited in the brutal 90 minute line with Casey, while Mommy and Sydney checked out the other attractions. Then, Mommy took Casey, skipped the line and went right back on the ride, while Daddy and Sydney...
ventured over to Bug's Life. We tried to get on the bumper cars, but once again, Sydney was turned away due to lack of height. We did ride the bug train. After we met Mommy and Casey, we all rode the flying something or anothers.. Dont remember exactly what it was called, 'cept I do know we mounted what looked like a giant Chinese Food to-go container for a ride in the sky. After that, we headed BACK to the bumper cars, cause Casey really wanted to go. Mommy stood in line with Sydney, and suddenly, I look back and they made it past the guard and into a bumper car! Don't know if Sydney hit a growth spurt in that 15 minutes, but whatever, it looked like Sydney enjoyed being a Crash Test Dummy! From there, we went back to Carsland and rode Mater's crazy tractors, and Luigi's flying tires. After exhausting Carsland, we rode the giant ferris wheel. After that, we got some ice cream before heading over the Monster's Inc. attraction. Our day ended with a front row seat for the Disney character parade. It featured characters from movies such as Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, etc. Sydney took one nap in his stroller, and made it through the day without any fussing, and complaining. What a trooper!
Bug's Life Train
Merry Go Round 
High Atop the Ferris Wheel 
Bumper Cars! 
Luigi's Flying Tires 
Luigi's Flying Tires 
Napping in his stroller 
We got to the park, and went straight for the Carsland Racers. Unfortunately, Sydney got turned away at the gate. Something about not meeting the minimum height requirement. This being the premiere attraction of the park, I assumed it was more of a case of 'Don't give away the milk, or else no one will buy the cow'... Mommy and Sydney shook off the disappointment and headed for Mater's Crazy Tractor and Luigi's flying tires. Tip of the day!!!--- Ca. Adventure has this feature called 'Baby Pass'. It works like this. One parent waits in line for a ride, while the other parent can request a 'Baby Pass'. When parent #1 is done with the ride, parent #2 can present the 'Baby Pass' and go straight to the front of the line. In this case, Daddy waited in the brutal 90 minute line with Casey, while Mommy and Sydney checked out the other attractions. Then, Mommy took Casey, skipped the line and went right back on the ride, while Daddy and Sydney...
ventured over to Bug's Life. We tried to get on the bumper cars, but once again, Sydney was turned away due to lack of height. We did ride the bug train. After we met Mommy and Casey, we all rode the flying something or anothers.. Dont remember exactly what it was called, 'cept I do know we mounted what looked like a giant Chinese Food to-go container for a ride in the sky. After that, we headed BACK to the bumper cars, cause Casey really wanted to go. Mommy stood in line with Sydney, and suddenly, I look back and they made it past the guard and into a bumper car! Don't know if Sydney hit a growth spurt in that 15 minutes, but whatever, it looked like Sydney enjoyed being a Crash Test Dummy! From there, we went back to Carsland and rode Mater's crazy tractors, and Luigi's flying tires. After exhausting Carsland, we rode the giant ferris wheel. After that, we got some ice cream before heading over the Monster's Inc. attraction. Our day ended with a front row seat for the Disney character parade. It featured characters from movies such as Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, etc. Sydney took one nap in his stroller, and made it through the day without any fussing, and complaining. What a trooper!
Bug's Life Train
Carsland!
For years, Casey's favorite movie has been Cars. He owns the two movies, books and a boatload of the toy cars. He knows all the names of the characters/cars. So, when Disney announced they were opening a theme park named Carsland, I knew it was only a matter of time before we HAD to take Casey there. We sure were not going to go on opening day, we managed to miss the summer crowds, we didn't go on a weekend, we planned the excursion for a weekday in early December. Consider it a stroke of luck, but the day finally came, and it was dark, drizzly and a little chilly... In other words- perfect weather. Apparently, the thread of rain kept the crowds away, because with the exception of one ride, there were NO lines longer than 5 minutes. Before leaving, I consulted with many friends with prior Disney experience, and asked for advice. The most succinct advice I received? 'Don't go'
We got to the park, and went straight for the Carsland Racers. Casey and Daddy waited in line for about 90 minutes. Surprisingly, Casey did pretty good in line. I thought he would be bored out of his skull and going crazy. We finally got on the ride, and Casey was a little scared, but had fun. Toward the end of the ride, he looked over at me, and said, "I'm a little scared". Too cute. When the ride ended, Casey had the option of immediately going again, with Mommy. He didn't hesitate, and wanted to go again. I guess fun won out over scared!
From there, we rode Mater's crazy tractors, and Luigi's flying tires. After exhausting Carsland, we proceeded to Bug's Life. We rode the flying something or anothers.. Dont remember exactly what it was called, 'cept I do know mounted what looked like a giant Chinese Food to-go container for a ride in the sky. Then Casey saw the bumper cars. As we approached the cars, Casey pushed me out of the way, and announced, "I'm driving"! Apparently, he likes driving and crashing, cause he insisted we do this ride multiple times!
Casey requested we ride the giant ferris wheel. After that, we got some ice cream before heading over the Monster's Inc. attraction. For a spell, Monster's Inc. was a close runner up to Cars for Casey's favorite movie. Sure enough, he requested we take multiple turns on this ride as well. Thankfully, there were minimal lines, which made all these multiple rides real quick and easy. Our day ended with a front row seat for the Disney character parade. It featured characters from movies such as Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, etc... It was so cool watching Casey recognize the characters and movies.
All in all, a wonderful family day. It went better than anyone imagined. Minimal lines, NO meltdowns, both boys throughly enjoying themselves ALL DAY long.
Carsland- Radiator Springs Racers Ride
"I'm a little scared" 
"I'm a little scared" 
Lighting McQueen 
Crazy Tractors 
Merry-go-round
Mater's Crazy Tractors 
Casey driving bumper cars 
Casey driving bumper cars 
The boys on the ferris wheel 
We got to the park, and went straight for the Carsland Racers. Casey and Daddy waited in line for about 90 minutes. Surprisingly, Casey did pretty good in line. I thought he would be bored out of his skull and going crazy. We finally got on the ride, and Casey was a little scared, but had fun. Toward the end of the ride, he looked over at me, and said, "I'm a little scared". Too cute. When the ride ended, Casey had the option of immediately going again, with Mommy. He didn't hesitate, and wanted to go again. I guess fun won out over scared!
From there, we rode Mater's crazy tractors, and Luigi's flying tires. After exhausting Carsland, we proceeded to Bug's Life. We rode the flying something or anothers.. Dont remember exactly what it was called, 'cept I do know mounted what looked like a giant Chinese Food to-go container for a ride in the sky. Then Casey saw the bumper cars. As we approached the cars, Casey pushed me out of the way, and announced, "I'm driving"! Apparently, he likes driving and crashing, cause he insisted we do this ride multiple times!
Casey requested we ride the giant ferris wheel. After that, we got some ice cream before heading over the Monster's Inc. attraction. For a spell, Monster's Inc. was a close runner up to Cars for Casey's favorite movie. Sure enough, he requested we take multiple turns on this ride as well. Thankfully, there were minimal lines, which made all these multiple rides real quick and easy. Our day ended with a front row seat for the Disney character parade. It featured characters from movies such as Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, etc... It was so cool watching Casey recognize the characters and movies.
All in all, a wonderful family day. It went better than anyone imagined. Minimal lines, NO meltdowns, both boys throughly enjoying themselves ALL DAY long.
Carsland- Radiator Springs Racers Ride
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Ivory Clouds
Casey and I enjoyed a fun rainy day project today while Sydney was napping.
We made Ivory soap Clouds. You take a bar of Ivory soap and put it on a piece of wax paper then put it in the microwave for a few minutes. It can make quite a mess but it is fun to crumble it and make it look like snow flakes falling.
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| Casey and his Ivory Cloud |
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| Crumbling his cloud into "snow flakes." |
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| It's fun to crumble it. |
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| Casey's very own little soaps. |
It was a fun time and apparently tiring because Casey fell asleep on the couch while mommy cleaned up.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Brotherly Love
Dialogue between Casey and me (mom) on September 27th...
It was afternoon Sydney was taking his nap and Casey was playing cars. Sydney started making noise and Casey ran to check the video monitor....
"Mommy Sydney's awake."
"See look, see him, right here." (as he turns the video monitor to me so I can see)
"I'm gonna go play with him."
No Casey, he's not feeling good, he likes to wake up slow.
"but I want to play with him"
Casey, mommy will go get him, you stay here.
"Why? Sydney doesn't like me?" (sadness in his face and voice, mommy's heart breaks!)
He loves you baby! He's just not feeling good, he's sick and doesn't want to play too much right now.
"I go get him." (he takes off up the stairs)
Casey WAIT! (He waits then when I am half way up the stairs he heads up the rest of the stairs and opens the door)
"HI SYDNEY!!"
Poor Sydney was not ready to be awake. He just wanted to cuddle and go back to sleep. Of course he couldn't with big brother in the room because every few minutes Casey would make some noise or come over and try to tickle or hold Sydney. Big brother just wanted to hug and comfort his little brother but Sydney wanted no part of it.
I felt so bad when Casey said "Sydney doesn't like me?" I don't want him to think his baby brother doesn't like him. I think my poor big boy is feeling neglected since Sydney has been getting so much attention and extra cuddles this week. I need to give him some extra love!
He LOVES his little brother!!!
It was afternoon Sydney was taking his nap and Casey was playing cars. Sydney started making noise and Casey ran to check the video monitor....
"Mommy Sydney's awake."
"See look, see him, right here." (as he turns the video monitor to me so I can see)
"I'm gonna go play with him."
No Casey, he's not feeling good, he likes to wake up slow.
"but I want to play with him"
Casey, mommy will go get him, you stay here.
"Why? Sydney doesn't like me?" (sadness in his face and voice, mommy's heart breaks!)
He loves you baby! He's just not feeling good, he's sick and doesn't want to play too much right now.
"I go get him." (he takes off up the stairs)
Casey WAIT! (He waits then when I am half way up the stairs he heads up the rest of the stairs and opens the door)
"HI SYDNEY!!"
Poor Sydney was not ready to be awake. He just wanted to cuddle and go back to sleep. Of course he couldn't with big brother in the room because every few minutes Casey would make some noise or come over and try to tickle or hold Sydney. Big brother just wanted to hug and comfort his little brother but Sydney wanted no part of it.
I felt so bad when Casey said "Sydney doesn't like me?" I don't want him to think his baby brother doesn't like him. I think my poor big boy is feeling neglected since Sydney has been getting so much attention and extra cuddles this week. I need to give him some extra love!
He LOVES his little brother!!!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Halloween 2012
This being this third time around, Casey is getting pretty good at this. Weeks ago, he went costume shopping with Mommy. He saw a brown UPS outfit, and he fell in love with it. His first day home, he wore it, and insisted that he sleep in it! In the days leading up to Halloween he would blurt out, 'I want to go trick or treating'. I would ask him what he was going to dress up as, and he would reply, 'Brown delivery truck man'. To help celebrate the season, Casey had a field trip to the pumpkin patch. But we wanted to do a family outing to the pumpkin patch to introduce Sydney to the concept. Ol' Casey was a veteran, and was anxious to show his lil bro how to feed the animals and pick pumpkins.
Then came time for the main event: Halloween night. In what has become somewhat of a tradition, Casey went trick or treating with his buddies... Allison, CJ, Ian, Sammy. Often Casey the elephant led the charge from house to house. Despite all the excitement, he minded his P's and Q's, saying thank you to each and every house!
Casey the UPS Delivery Man
Feeding the goats
Hoisting the pumpkin
Group Shot
Trick or Treat!
Leading the Charge
Big Bro and Little Bro taking a break from trick or treating
Then came time for the main event: Halloween night. In what has become somewhat of a tradition, Casey went trick or treating with his buddies... Allison, CJ, Ian, Sammy. Often Casey the elephant led the charge from house to house. Despite all the excitement, he minded his P's and Q's, saying thank you to each and every house!
Casey the UPS Delivery Man
Feeding the goats
Hoisting the pumpkin
Group Shot
Trick or Treat!
Leading the Charge
Big Bro and Little Bro taking a break from trick or treating
Monday, November 5, 2012
Halloween 2012
We recently celebrated Halloween 2012. This is the first one where Sydney had the ability to explore and learn on his own. Last year, he was confined to a stroller following his big brother around. Sydney had his first visit to the pumpkin patch. He was dressed as Tigger. Just to be safe, we made sure his costume was ready for any floods, just in case Hurricane Sandy touched down anywhere near us. (Sorry, too soon for Sandy comments?) Sydney has developed a habit of saying 'ouch' anytime he doesn't like something. It doesn't have to hurt, but apparently he has figured out if he says 'ouch' we'll come and remove whatever he is tugging at. In this case, he clearly didn't like the Tigger headpiece. And by the looks of it, the combination of the costume being a little small and his head being a little big, the headpiece wasn't very comfortable. We introduced Sydney to pumpkins, and he got to feed some animals. I think the animal tongues tickled his hand has they ate food out of his palm!
For Halloween night, Sydney resumed the family tradition of donning the Emperor costume. As soon as the Emperor exited his vehicle, he took off down the sidewalk. Perhaps he remembered the concept from last year, or maybe he quickly saw all the others traveling up and down the sidewalks, but he took to this trick or treating thing like no one's business. I didn't exactly have to twist his arm to get him to approach a strange house and stand by the front door. Granted, I had to do the knocking for him, and he can't yet verbalize "Trick or Treat". But once they held the candy bowl out in front of him, he KNEW exactly what to do. He reached in there and grabbed the KING SIZED 3 Musketeers bar. With a little prompting, he remembered his manners and signed "Thank You"... After that, he was off to the races. He proved to have more stamina than his older bro, as Casey called it quits and Sydney wanted to keep the night rolling.. Alas, the final tally showed Sydney scored a bigger haul than older bro! Not bad for a beginner!
Tigger is ready for the flood waters!
Bros! 
Pumpkin! 
His tongue is tickling my palm! 
Fences are for climbing! 
Sydney the Emperor! 
Pitching a Fit 
Group Shot 
Digging In! 
Score! 
Distracted 
Helping Hand 
Trick or Treating is Hardwork 
For Halloween night, Sydney resumed the family tradition of donning the Emperor costume. As soon as the Emperor exited his vehicle, he took off down the sidewalk. Perhaps he remembered the concept from last year, or maybe he quickly saw all the others traveling up and down the sidewalks, but he took to this trick or treating thing like no one's business. I didn't exactly have to twist his arm to get him to approach a strange house and stand by the front door. Granted, I had to do the knocking for him, and he can't yet verbalize "Trick or Treat". But once they held the candy bowl out in front of him, he KNEW exactly what to do. He reached in there and grabbed the KING SIZED 3 Musketeers bar. With a little prompting, he remembered his manners and signed "Thank You"... After that, he was off to the races. He proved to have more stamina than his older bro, as Casey called it quits and Sydney wanted to keep the night rolling.. Alas, the final tally showed Sydney scored a bigger haul than older bro! Not bad for a beginner!
Tigger is ready for the flood waters!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Long Hot Summer
The summer of 2012 was a hot one. Even located near the beach, it got uncomfortably hot for long stretches of time. Often, we found solace at the pool or at the beach. Thankfully, Sydney got acclimated to water pretty quickly.
A few pics of Sydney enjoying pool time!
A few pics of Sydney enjoying pool time!
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