That's My Boy!

Holidays, Birthdays & The New Year!

Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

Thanksgiving was celebrated at my parents house with the entire family, including the Coblapoli's cats, which Aaron spent the entire night chasing around the house and under the bed!  A few times we had to rescue him after hearing him from the bedroom "Help!  Help!  I'm stuck!".  Dad made his famous turkey and it was the best one yet!  We hung out, ate, played games, ate, watched movies, ate, took naps, ate........ You get the idea.  The next day we took Aaron to Old Elk Grove because they were having a Dicken's Christmas Street Faire and they had supposedly trucked in tons of snow for the kiddies to play in.  And by tons, as you can see, they meant a small truck bed of snow to dump in a small business parking lot with concrete parking barriers hidden under the snow and a brick wall on one side.  Totally safe and kid friendly.  What you see in the picture is pretty much the entire area.  Also, the street faire had absolutely nothing to do with Charles Dickens.  So...... yeah.  But nonetheless, Aaron had fun playing in the snow for the first time!  And he took a picture with Santa and even sat on Santa's lap and told him that he wanted Flo (from the CARS Movie) for Christmas.  And so begins the "If you're good, Santa will bring you...."

Aaron's 3rd Birthday at The Old Spaghetti Factory

Aaron's 3rd Birthday was next.  I am still struggling to figure out how to celebrate his birthday so close to Christmas without any Christmas influence.  It's super hard because every place is decorated for Christmas, starting in like, oooooh, NOVEMBER.  So, being that his birthday is December 21st, he's pretty much screwed on that point.  The first year I wouldn't even let Josh decorate the house until after Aaron's birthday.  I had the party at his great-aunt Kathy's house and she was kind enough to follow that rule too.  Do you know how hard that is?!  So the 2nd year we had it at our apartment complex' community center.  Which was ok, but it's kind of a big space for such a small group.  Not to mention NO ONE SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT PRIVATE PARTY MEANS.  But I digress.  So this year I decided to try a restaurant.  They still had decorations, but mostly in the lobby.  We went to The Old Spaghetti Factory because, well, who doesn't like pasta?  Especially kids!  The party was ok.  He loved his cake (from Freeport Bakery) and all of his gifts, but I think he couldn't have cared less about the lunch portion.  So, next year I'll be back to the drawing board on that one.  The important thing is that he had family and friends there and that he felt like he was the center of attention.

Nordstrom's Breakfast with Santa 2011

For Christmas we started off with our annual Nordstrom Santa visit.  I thought he'd be going to the fabulous Nordstrom in downtown Seattle for most of his childhood, but that didn't happen.  I decided to keep the tradition though and so for the past 2 years he's had breakfast with Santa at the Nordstrom in Sacramento.  This year was the first year he would really be old enough to ask Santa for something so I was pretty excited about it.  He did so well with the Santa at Old Elk Grove and I was hoping for a repeat on that.  Unfortunately for me, that didn't happen.  He wanted to be shy Aaron, not even really wanting to go up to Santa and just talking to him from a distance.  Eventually, we got the picture above, but I really wanted something that was just him and Santa for our card.  Luckily, this Santa was super patient and nice and he came to visit us at our table after we ate and eventually got Aaron to take a picture with him there, which is what ended up on our Christmas card.  Hopefully next year will go a little smoother!  

We spent Christmas morning at our house opening all of Aaron's gifts from us, The Herring Family and Santa, including of course, Flo!  He was so happy to get that car!  Then we all got dressed and headed over to my parents with the whole family again (yes, even the cats).  This year the "adult children" decided to do Secret Santa (best idea ever!) and stocking stuffers for everyone else.  Except for Aaron, of course.  Christmas gifts are really all about the kids anyway!  I think this is one of the better Christmases we've had in awhile!  We were all relaxed, all enjoyed the gifts we got and had fun watching Aaron tear into all the packages!  He was definitely Santa's Little Helper this year!  Eva got a Wii for her Secret Santa gift so we all had fun dancing to Just Dance (all except my grumpy grumperton husband Josh, who won't do anything he considers embarrassing, even if it is just family!).  Even mom and dad got in on it!  It was a good time with great family and good food.  

Then, on December 29th my sister-in-law had a baby!!  So now I'm an auntie!  I was SO excited!!!  I only wish I could see him in person!  

And now the New Year is upon us.......

I think things are starting to look up for us and most people I know.  I can only hope that this trend continues and grows in the new year.  

I wish all of you a wonderful, happy and prosperous 2012!  

On the eve of Aaron's 3rd Birthday......

I invite you all to look back to his 7th month - YES, he was only 7 months here.  And now we remember the "CHUBBS"! 

Our Christmas Card Preview from Shutterfly!

Polka Dot Christmas Wishes Christmas

Shutterfly has classic, elegant Christmas invitations for your party.

View the entire collection of cards.

You're Welcome, Society.

This boy knows how to say:

"What the hell/heck?"

"Woot Woot! Holla!"

"YOUR MOMMA!"

You're welcome, society.  You're welcome.

HOWLOWEEN

Halloween?  Make that, HOWLoween!  This year October turned out to be a busy month for us and we never got around to the pumpkin patch.  Then, a few days before Halloween Aaron caught a cold and of course, gave it to me.  (Side note: if anyone in the house gets sick, I WILL CATCH IT).  So, not only did we not do our usually October family fun, but we didn't even get around to decorating or costume shopping before Aaron and I were down in the dumps. 

Josh was running around on the Eve of Halloween searching for a suitable costume.  What makes it even more sad was that this was the first year that Aaron actually knew what he wanted to be for Halloween and we just couldn't find it!  Chubbs wanted to be a pumpkin.  He'd been saying it all month.  "Dadda, I'm gonna be a pumpkin and you're gonna be yeeh-yok" (aka yogurt for all you non-Aaron speakers).  But apparently, pumpkin costumes in a size 4 toddler are hard to find, especially the day before Halloween!  SO, I sent Josh to Gymboree (I called ahead to make sure they had costumes in his size) and his choices were Zoo Keeper or Werewolf.  Ok, so the obvious choice is Werewolf.  I mean, who the heck wants to be a zoo keeper for a Halloween?  And what kind of costume is that anyway -- khaki shorts and shirt with a badge?  WOW.  Big whoop.  So Josh brought the Werewolf costume home, I showed it to Aaron and he seemed pretty excited about it so we tried it on and he loved it!  He was all smiles!  Phew.  Saved on that one!

We decided to spend Halloween at my parents' house because they live in a neighborhood with lots of families and plus, they had at least some decorations out.  I wasn't even sure Aaron would go trick or treating since he'd never gone before and he doesn't even really know what candy is.  The past 2 years (Year 1: Chubby Skeleton, Year 2: Pirate) we had gone to the zoo's Halloween event.  But we taught him how to say trick or treat, dressed him in his costume and then I asked if he wanted to go trick or treating to the "Halloween houses" and he said YES!  (Thanks to books that his tia Bea & tio Sonny gave him and to a few cartoons, he already understood the basic concept of the holiday).  So off we went on Aaron's first trick or treating adventure!

I have to say, he kind of loved it.  He tried to go into the first house because he thought there was more to see in there.  He loved all the decorations and loved saying "trick or treat" to everyone.  Chatterbox that he is (wonder where he gets that from?  READ: Josh), he wanted to talk to every single person at every house we stopped at.  "Trick or treat!  I'm going to the Halloween houses!" or "You have a cat!" or "We are walking to the houses and saying trick or treat!" or "You are a witch!".  Haha!  What a ham.  We only did a handful of houses because it's a lot of walking for such a little guy and that werewolf hood was HOT!  So eventually we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's were tia Eva and Grandma Yvette were  handing out candy.  Aaron did one last trick or treat at their house and got 2 new Cars toys from his dad (Sarge & Filmore).  Then we dumped all the candy he collected in our bowl to hand out to others!  Recycling candy! 

For the remainder of the night, Aaron helped me hand out candy to the rest of the kids by running to the door and saying "Happy Halloween!" to all the trick or treaters!   All in all, I think it was a great night even though we didn't prepare as much as we would have.  I think we all enjoyed the night, and, we all enjoyed each other.  What more could you ask for?

Happy Halloween!!!!

Too Cool For School

That's my kid, in a jean jacket, headed to his first day of a preschool daycare program.  He is just too cool.  I should have popped his collar.  Aaron won't be going to this school full-time, or even part-time really.  It's more like a drop off basis type thing.  But Grandma & Grandpa were out of town for the week to celebrate Grandma Yvette's birthday (Happy Birthday Momma!) so we needed a back up.  And luckily were I live currently there is one right across the street.  They take kids from infants up to 12 years old for before and after school daycare as well as all day care that includes playtime and curriculum.  They even throw in some Spanish and Potty Training!  Woot!  Of course, by throw in I mean more like I just paid $191 for 3 full days of care.  And THAT, my friends, is WHY he won't be going full-time.  

It is a great back up and resource to have and he seemed to like it, though I'm sure he thinks of it more as play time than anything.  But it's something new for him and it gets him to socialize with other kids, keeps his brain working on new things and I'm sure (hopefully) they do a lot more activity than we do with him since on our days off we just want to relax.  But his Grandpa & Grandma take him on adventures like the story time at the library which he loves.  In fact, the teacher at the school said Aaron knew most of the stuff they were going over so he was able to join right in.  :)  Hooray for reading to him since he was a baby!  He loves his books.  In fact, he has a Blues Clues video that he watches where Blue reads Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and I kept telling him I would buy it for him once I found it.  The other day we were at "the circle market" (aka Target) and there it was!  I think Aaron saw it as soon as I did and he immediately started "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!  Will there be enough room?".  He would not let go of the book once it was in his hands!  

This of course, doesn't bother me at all and I never consider books as toys or "gifts" in the sense that he has to ask for them as a special treat because every kid should have books!  Now toys, that's a whole other issue.  Frankly, his bedroom is more like a playroom with more toys than furniture but as the only small child in the immediate family -- it's to be expected I guess, right?  But since birthday #3 and Christmas are coming up and just wanna put this out there -- he has plenty of toys!  He does grow out of clothes constantly, however and is now wearing between a 3 and 4 Toddler.  He's also a size 9 Extra Wide in shoes.  PS - he now comes to my waist.  Granted, I'm only 5' but still.  It's a bit daunting to see your (almost) 3 year old be almost half your height already. 

Aaron is still naked potty trained for the most part, but we are practicing with underwear more often and that's still hit and miss.  On his big boy bed, well....... Being with Grandpa & Grandma for a week while Josh and I were on vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC meant that he got to sleep with Grandpa & Grandma in their bed and that put us back a notch or two.  So now we're working again on getting him to sleep on his own in his own bed again.  Having a toddler use you as a head pillow while simultaneously kicking your husband in the kidney (Ow! My pancreas!) and smacking you in the face is not a good way to sleep my friends.  Not At All.  

But this boy, this boy is a crack up.  He as learned that saying "What the hell?" gets a funny reaction out of adults so he's been using that phrase quite a bit more often.  He still loves his singing and dancing.  He still falls asleep faster to Dave (Matthews Band) faster than mostly anything else.  He is still really into The Cars movie and practically every day asks his dad "Can we go to the circle market and get another toy?".  Right now we're on the hunt for Flo & Ramone!  And a kid friendly cd player/radio because he loves music.  And momma's gonna teach him to shake his booty!

Life with Aaron is wonderful.  


The rest of our adult life is stress and work and bills and debts and chores and everything else YOU are also going through.  And today, if I wasn't before (I totally was), I am now most definitely the 99%.  But this blog isn't about that so .......


I'll just say again life with Aaron is wonderful.  He reminds us to love, to smile, to dance to sing, to laugh.  


If you ever need a reminder, just let me know and I'll send you a picture of Aaron!