Okay, we have now settled on the how and the when of telling the girls about our trip. With help from . . . <sigh> . . . Pinterest, we have put together a brief scavenger hunt wherein the girls will follow a trail of clues, culminating in their hopefully finding the cache of Disney-related stuff that we have assembled. The "clues" are so ridiculously simple (e.g., "Look where we keep the silverware.") that if they can't follow the trail, we have been seriously overestimating the intelligence of these two little girls. Ultimately, they will discover the "surprise" by searching our guest bedroom.
As for the cache of items they will discover, we have created a souvenir savings jar for each of them as described in the prior post. Right now, each jars just has a princess sticker with their name on it, and we have several sheets of other Disney stickers they can use to really pimp these things up. We also have an autograph book for each of them to use to collect signatures from the Disney characters we come across in the various parks. Amanda already had one from her last visit, but it only has "Fairy Godmother's" (and, inexplicably, Jackson's) autograph, so it's almost new. Reagan is getting a brand new one (of a different design) which is much cheaper (I'm told) at the Disney store here than at the park itself. Finally, we created a framed 8x10 countdown poster which will track the number of days before we leave for the trip. Again, this was a Pinterest idea (or maybe Etsy, whatever the heck that is). Anyway, it's a simple sheet with the outline of Minnie Mouse's head and (in "Waltograph" font) the words "Days Until Disney!" We'll use a marker to count down the number of days inside Minnie's head.
The countdown poster idea led us to determine the when of disclosing the trip -- 100 days out. That was such a nice round number that it made sense to start there. And that day falls on . . . February 19, 2015! The girls don't know anything special is coming tomorrow, and we're going to have some logistical issues to work out to make it happen. Amanda and Susan have a Girl Scout activity at 5:30 tomorrow, and we're planning to do the scavenger hunt whenever that ends. But we'll need to place the clues first, and that might be kind of tricky since we probably won't be able to do it earlier in the day. I may just lock Reagan in a footlocker while the others are at Girl Scouts and do it myself. At any rate, our plan is for the girls to discover we are going on a Big Disney Trip literally moments before we say, "Off to bed!" Bedtime might be a little more challenging than usual tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Getting Impatient . . .
I know I said we would wait a couple of months before telling the girls about the Disney trip, but I'm getting antsy and don't really want to wait. Susan isn't quite so eager to spread the news, so we'll need to talk it over. We also need to coordinate a plan with the Luskins so we don't ruin whatever their disclosure plan is.
One reason to the girls them soon is that it will give them time to anticipate the trip and to save up some money for it. A friend gave us the idea of having each girl decorate a jar with stickers, etc. and use the jars to hold money for them to use on souvenirs on the trip. Even though we don't give the girls allowances, we could monetize other things to help them fill the jars -- instead of giving Amanda dessert or a treat, we'll put $1 in her jar; if Reagan wakes with a dry pull-up, we'll put $9,000 in her jar (she's having issues); etc. I really like this idea, despite the fact it probably came from Pinterest.
I'm getting close to telling them about the trip anyway. Yesterday I was talking to Amanda about Disney (in general terms), and she asked if we were going to go over Thanksgiving.* I put on my best "I'm so sorry" face and broke it to her that we would not be visiting Disney World at that time. She was supremely bummed. She asked when we could go, and I was non-committal. If I had had a couple of beers, I'm not sure I could have held back.
*We had previously told the girls we were looking at going over Thanksgiving, and we actually did look into it. However, between the cost and the general crowds that are expected that week, we opened it up to other options. After considering and rejecting October (school conflicts), December (too much time off that month), and Spring Break (crowds, marginal weather), we settled on the first week of June on the theory that schools up north will not be out yet, so the crowds shouldn't be that bad. It will also be warm enough that the pools will be fun to hang out at. Plus, we got a good deal on our room. Now all we need to worry about is hurricanes!
One reason to the girls them soon is that it will give them time to anticipate the trip and to save up some money for it. A friend gave us the idea of having each girl decorate a jar with stickers, etc. and use the jars to hold money for them to use on souvenirs on the trip. Even though we don't give the girls allowances, we could monetize other things to help them fill the jars -- instead of giving Amanda dessert or a treat, we'll put $1 in her jar; if Reagan wakes with a dry pull-up, we'll put $9,000 in her jar (she's having issues); etc. I really like this idea, despite the fact it probably came from Pinterest.
I'm getting close to telling them about the trip anyway. Yesterday I was talking to Amanda about Disney (in general terms), and she asked if we were going to go over Thanksgiving.* I put on my best "I'm so sorry" face and broke it to her that we would not be visiting Disney World at that time. She was supremely bummed. She asked when we could go, and I was non-committal. If I had had a couple of beers, I'm not sure I could have held back.
*We had previously told the girls we were looking at going over Thanksgiving, and we actually did look into it. However, between the cost and the general crowds that are expected that week, we opened it up to other options. After considering and rejecting October (school conflicts), December (too much time off that month), and Spring Break (crowds, marginal weather), we settled on the first week of June on the theory that schools up north will not be out yet, so the crowds shouldn't be that bad. It will also be warm enough that the pools will be fun to hang out at. Plus, we got a good deal on our room. Now all we need to worry about is hurricanes!
Friday, January 23, 2015
Three Years Later . . .
. . . and I'm back!
We just booked our next Disney World vacation, and I dusted off this blog to review our experience from last time. Since it was so close to the three year mark of my last post, I couldn't resist throwing this up here on the anniversary.
And since it was fun to go back and read what I used to write, I think I'll get back to occasional posting. I'm going to go ahead and apologize to 2025 Reagan for the short shrift given to her years two through four. When she has a second child of her own (no sooner than age 30), she will understand how less documentation/photographs of that child in no way means the second-born is loved or cherished any less than the first.
Anywaaaaaayyyy . . . the past three years have gone well for us and the girls. Amanda is in 2nd grade, and whats-her-name is in 4 year-old preschool with the same teachers that Amanda had. They are both still young enough to enjoy school and not groan at the thought of returning to it every Monday. They also both still believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, but Amanda has called bullshit on the Easter Bunny and has expressed skepticism about the others. We don't expect the other two to survive the year for her, but we hope she will keep the truth from Reagan for a while longer.
In addition to school, the girls are also doing some other activities. For the longest time, Reagan had to just be schlepped along to Amanda's various activities, but she is finally old enough to participate in her own right. Specifically, she played soccer in the fall and has just started a Tiny Tots tennis clinic. Both girls are also cheerleading, which is really cute. Amanda also played soccer in the fall and will return to softball in the spring. She is also in a tennis clinic and takes individual lessons, as well. It's too soon to tell whether either of them will be talented enough to allow us to become (even more) insufferable parents, but our fingers are crossed!
That pretty much sums up the last three years. Our Disney trip is booked for May 30th to June 6th, so if you're going to rob our house, that would be the time. We haven't told the girls about the trip yet, but since we had talked in general terms about going to Disney in the fall, the earlier dates should delight them, We'll probably spring the news on them a couple of months down the road so they have at least some time to anticipate it.
Monday, January 23, 2012
2011 Holidays
Okay, where was I . . . Oh yeah, Disney. I think I'm done with that for now. Here comes a rapid-fire update of the 3+ months that have passed since we got back. I remember being very depressed that we weren't staying at that awesome resort and riding a boat to the Magic Kingdom anymore. What a great trip that was.
Back in the real world, we got back to our lives, which included taking Reagan for her 15-month check-up on October 27th. That appointment went well. She was in the 50th percentile in height, weight, and head size. As long as all of those numbers are in the same neighborhood, that's good. I believe Amanda was always 50th percentile in height & weight, but 95th percentile in head size. It's amazing she didn't tip over more often.
Then came Halloween. Both girls dressed as Minnie Mouse for the neighborhood's Fall Festival, which was a convenient costume that was relatively stress-free for Susan and me. When actual trick-or-treat time came around, Susan stayed home with Reagan while I took Amanda around the neighborhood. We had taken Amanda trick-or-treating when she was Reagan's age, but there's really no point to it. Some would say this is (yet another) example of the second child getting shafted, but I prefer to think we are just wiser and more experienced parents this time around.
Thanksgiving
We spent Thanksgiving in Hilton Head with my parents, which was fun. We stayed with Grams and Granddad (who Reagan LOVED!), and my sister Ellen came from Alabama, as well. My brother Bobby and his family were there, but stayed at a condo rather than try to cram into my folks house. I'll never know why my elderly parents didn't retire to a 7-bedroom home that could accommodate everyone and their children. We all had a nice visit and a great meal. Both girls loved playing with some 50+ year-old toys my mom has hung onto over the years for just such an occasion. Amanda got to stay with Bobby's family at their condo for one night, since she just loves her cousin Carter, and the feeling is mutual.
The day after Thanksgiving, we trekked over to Harbour Town to have dinner and see Gregg Russell perform under the big tree. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones to have that idea, and with our big group (my sister Ellen, along with Bobby and his family came, too), we had to wait forever for a table. By the time we finished dinner, Gregg had already started, and his little area was absolutely packed with people. I bulled my way through the throng of annoying "other people" (dontcha just hate them?) with Amanda in my arms and plopped her down on the edge of the stage. She seemed a little more timid this time around, but she still raised her hand to volunteer to sing. It was not to be, however, as Gregg picked some of the many, many other kids to sing for him. Is there ANYthing more annoying than other people's children?!
After coming back from Hilton Head, it was time for Amanda's next trip to the dentist. Since her previous attempted dentist appointment had been cut short by as bad a meltdown as I've ever witnessed, I made Susan take her this time. Naturally, she did GREAT for Susan. It's nice to know I'll never have to take Amanda to the dentist again!
Christmas
The Christmas preparation began in earnest after we got back from Thanksgiving. This time around, Amanda was really involved in the decorating. She's such a little helper these days! Of course, her help extends the decorating process, but it's totally worth it.
Beginning sometime in November, Amanda started cutting out pictures from the various toy catalogs we kept getting in the mail. She did this in lieu of an actual Christmas list, which is fine, but she didn't understand that by cutting pictures out of a catalog and mixing them with pictures from many other catalogs, she was destroying any chance "Santa" would have of figuring out which catalog had contained which picture. Not that she was going to get all of that stuff anyway, but still.... She ultimately wrote down the names of a few things (with our help - she can't write yet!) on a list to present to Santa. My favorite was "Doll with a broken leg," which was apparently a doll with a crutch and a cast on her leg. She didn't end up getting that, though I considered just snapping the leg on one of her Barbies.
As with last year, the kids' official visit with Santa Claus took place at our club's Christmas party. They both did pretty well this year (especially Amanda), but I had to climb in the sleigh with them (and Santa) to help Reagan keep it together. Amanda presented Santa with her list, and he politely took it. She totally fell for it, which was awesome. However, I worry that she may stop believing in Santa Claus sooner rather than later since she asked several pointed questions this year about how he visits all the houses in one night, how the elves make all the toys, etc. She's putting too much thought into it!
This year, we decided to leave a little early for our annual trip to Florida so we could spend Christmas Day there. The trip almost didn't happen because the week before Christmas, both girls got hit by some sort of infection (eye, ear, throat, sinus, or all of the above) and were really pretty miserable. I had to put drops in Reagan's eyes, which she liked not at all, but Susan had to get Amanda to take her antibiotics. That was even more of a struggle since Amanda still freaks out at the thought of taking medicine and flat out refuses to do it willingly. It was to the point where we threatened to cancel the Florida trip if she didn't cooperate. That threat (which we were desperate enough to back up) got the job done, and Susan was able to get Amanda to take this stuff for the full ten days (actually, we ran out after nine days), so we were able to go on the trip. By the time we left, both girls were doing much better.
After a very easy drive down to Cocoa, we stayed a few nights at Hank and Deb's (Susan's brother and sister-in-law) house, then moved to Terri and Rick's house for a couple of days. The trip was wonderful, if a little exhausting, and the girls did great. Virtually every night, we were having a late dinner with lots (20+) people, but the girls just took it in stride. Big thanks to all the family and friends we saw down there and who helped make for a special Christmas.
Gift-wise, Santa gave Amanda a Barbie camper and a couple of Barbie dolls, while Reagan got some building blocks and a little broom & dustpan that remain the hit present of the season. We thought we might have been a little cheap with them this year, but when you factor in all the presents from all the family, the girls made out very well and had no complaints (except for the lack of the doll with a broken leg).
While in Florida, we made our annual trip to the Brevard Zoo, which was a lot of fun as always. The giraffes were very attentive this year, and we got to feed them some crackers. Reagan was a bit freaked out, but nowhere near as bad as Amanda had been with the monkeys a couple of years ago!
We also took the opportunity to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom. I don't believe we'll be doing it that way again. As opposed to taking a leisurely boat ride from the hotel to the park, attending as a "commoner" is quite an ordeal. We had to pay to park, wait for a parking tram, wait at will-call to get our crazy-expensive tickets, wait for the monorail, and only THEN get to the point where the boat dropped us off on our last trip. And, of course, the park was packed on 12/27, so lines were really long, even for Disney. (The actually had to close the gates for a while the next day because of the crowds.) But we got to ride about four things that day, including It's a Small World, so it was totally worth it!!! Next time, I think I'll just burn three crisp 100-dollar bills and save the time and trouble.
On our way back home, we stopped and spent a day in Jacksonville visiting Susan's grandmother and her aunt and uncle. It was great to see Barbara again, and the girls enjoyed her place, too. We even got to pick some fresh lemons from the tree in her back yard. At Aunt Ginger & Uncle Mike's, we had a nice dinner and visit with them and two of their kids (and spouses). The next day, Amanda and I even got to fish a little bit in the river behind their house, and we managed to catch a little trout. Not a bad way to spend December 30th.
We made it home in time for New Year's Eve, and we had a few friends over to celebrate. Amanda really wanted to try to make it to midnight, but she conked out at about 11:00, which was still pretty impressive. It would have been MORE impressive if she had slept her usual 11 hours afterward, but she was up by around 8:00 because that's when the boy who spent the night in her room (Nate Cox) woke up. He has yet to learn how to slip out of a chick's room in the morning without waking her up.
While we had a great holiday season in all respects, I'd have to say my favorite memory was Amanda's almost-constant singing of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." She absolutely latched on to this song for some reason, and she was ultimately able to sing the first two verses all on her own. I'm sure she doesn't understand what all of the words mean, but it's still pretty awesome. I managed to capture some footage of it when she wasn't paying attention (you might need to turn it up):
And she would sing it over and over and over! It was amazing!
Developmental Update
Developmentally, Reagan really took off after we got back from Disney. In addition to walking everywhere and successfully going up stairs, she is adding more and more words to her vocabulary. In addition to "mommy" and "daddy" (which she now finally associates with the correct parents), she has a word for Cheerios which is definitely NOT "Cheerios," but we understand it. Her favorite understandable word is probably "crackers," which she calls the mini-saltines she loves more than she loves us. She's absolutely mental for these things. And she says "crackers" in a high-pitch tone (even for her) with the emphasis on the second syllable. For a while, we couldn't even say "crackers" around her without her looking around and saying "cracKERS?" over and over. To keep her from getting her hopes up about them, we took to referring to crackers as "the c-word." Amanda likes to police our use of it, saying "Daddy, don't say the C-word!" if I slip up and actually say "crackers." If she only knew how funny that sounds! If anyone overhears her saying that, I'm probably going to have my parenting skills called into question. If not, the story in the next paragraph will do it.
Still, there are some things Reagan doesn't quite have down yet. For one, if she sits/falls in the middle of the floor, she sometimes can't stand up with out getting help or crawling to a piece of furniture she can pull up on. She also isn't adept at descending stairs yet. Speaking of which, here's the dubious parenting story: One evening I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready; Amanda & Susan were somewhere else (maybe choir?). One moment, Reagan was playing in the playroom (where I could see/hear her), and the next moment I'm hearing her tumble down the stairs, landing with a thud. She starts wailing, and I utter a mild oath and race to her assistance. Fortunately, she was unhurt and bounced back quickly. The only "damage" was a little red mark on her head that meant I couldn't hide the incident from Susan, like I had done when Amanda fell of the changing table one time when she was a baby.
Reagan is also finally using some of the sign language we've tried to teach her. Mostly it's just "more", "milk", and "water", but those come in pretty handy. She will also use "help" and "all done", but only if we ask her first if she needs help or if she's all done. We've tried to work on "I love you," but it hasn't taken yet.
She has also been learning to use eating utensils, which is cute, but can be very messy. There have been many meals where we say, "Look, she ate all of her peas/rice/etc." only to slide the tray off the high chair and find a fair portion of the food on her lap and around her in the high chair.
So, everything with Reagan seems to be going really well. That said, she might be entering the "terrible twos" a little early since she can get really mad when things don't go her way. It's not a big concern, but she's shaping to perhaps be more difficult at this age than her big sister was. She also seems, however, to be bolder and less wimpy than Amanda was, so maybe that's the tradeoff we are going to have to deal with. It's going to be a fun ride. Unlike, say, It's a Small World.
I think that brings everybody up to date, at least until Reagan's 18-month check-up on 1/27/12. Both girls remain a joy to have around, and we count our blessings every day. I'll post some more pictures in the coming days, but I wanted to get this up there since I've been getting grief again.
Back in the real world, we got back to our lives, which included taking Reagan for her 15-month check-up on October 27th. That appointment went well. She was in the 50th percentile in height, weight, and head size. As long as all of those numbers are in the same neighborhood, that's good. I believe Amanda was always 50th percentile in height & weight, but 95th percentile in head size. It's amazing she didn't tip over more often.
Then came Halloween. Both girls dressed as Minnie Mouse for the neighborhood's Fall Festival, which was a convenient costume that was relatively stress-free for Susan and me. When actual trick-or-treat time came around, Susan stayed home with Reagan while I took Amanda around the neighborhood. We had taken Amanda trick-or-treating when she was Reagan's age, but there's really no point to it. Some would say this is (yet another) example of the second child getting shafted, but I prefer to think we are just wiser and more experienced parents this time around.
Thanksgiving
We spent Thanksgiving in Hilton Head with my parents, which was fun. We stayed with Grams and Granddad (who Reagan LOVED!), and my sister Ellen came from Alabama, as well. My brother Bobby and his family were there, but stayed at a condo rather than try to cram into my folks house. I'll never know why my elderly parents didn't retire to a 7-bedroom home that could accommodate everyone and their children. We all had a nice visit and a great meal. Both girls loved playing with some 50+ year-old toys my mom has hung onto over the years for just such an occasion. Amanda got to stay with Bobby's family at their condo for one night, since she just loves her cousin Carter, and the feeling is mutual.
The day after Thanksgiving, we trekked over to Harbour Town to have dinner and see Gregg Russell perform under the big tree. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones to have that idea, and with our big group (my sister Ellen, along with Bobby and his family came, too), we had to wait forever for a table. By the time we finished dinner, Gregg had already started, and his little area was absolutely packed with people. I bulled my way through the throng of annoying "other people" (dontcha just hate them?) with Amanda in my arms and plopped her down on the edge of the stage. She seemed a little more timid this time around, but she still raised her hand to volunteer to sing. It was not to be, however, as Gregg picked some of the many, many other kids to sing for him. Is there ANYthing more annoying than other people's children?!
After coming back from Hilton Head, it was time for Amanda's next trip to the dentist. Since her previous attempted dentist appointment had been cut short by as bad a meltdown as I've ever witnessed, I made Susan take her this time. Naturally, she did GREAT for Susan. It's nice to know I'll never have to take Amanda to the dentist again!
Christmas
The Christmas preparation began in earnest after we got back from Thanksgiving. This time around, Amanda was really involved in the decorating. She's such a little helper these days! Of course, her help extends the decorating process, but it's totally worth it.
Beginning sometime in November, Amanda started cutting out pictures from the various toy catalogs we kept getting in the mail. She did this in lieu of an actual Christmas list, which is fine, but she didn't understand that by cutting pictures out of a catalog and mixing them with pictures from many other catalogs, she was destroying any chance "Santa" would have of figuring out which catalog had contained which picture. Not that she was going to get all of that stuff anyway, but still.... She ultimately wrote down the names of a few things (with our help - she can't write yet!) on a list to present to Santa. My favorite was "Doll with a broken leg," which was apparently a doll with a crutch and a cast on her leg. She didn't end up getting that, though I considered just snapping the leg on one of her Barbies.
As with last year, the kids' official visit with Santa Claus took place at our club's Christmas party. They both did pretty well this year (especially Amanda), but I had to climb in the sleigh with them (and Santa) to help Reagan keep it together. Amanda presented Santa with her list, and he politely took it. She totally fell for it, which was awesome. However, I worry that she may stop believing in Santa Claus sooner rather than later since she asked several pointed questions this year about how he visits all the houses in one night, how the elves make all the toys, etc. She's putting too much thought into it!
This year, we decided to leave a little early for our annual trip to Florida so we could spend Christmas Day there. The trip almost didn't happen because the week before Christmas, both girls got hit by some sort of infection (eye, ear, throat, sinus, or all of the above) and were really pretty miserable. I had to put drops in Reagan's eyes, which she liked not at all, but Susan had to get Amanda to take her antibiotics. That was even more of a struggle since Amanda still freaks out at the thought of taking medicine and flat out refuses to do it willingly. It was to the point where we threatened to cancel the Florida trip if she didn't cooperate. That threat (which we were desperate enough to back up) got the job done, and Susan was able to get Amanda to take this stuff for the full ten days (actually, we ran out after nine days), so we were able to go on the trip. By the time we left, both girls were doing much better.
After a very easy drive down to Cocoa, we stayed a few nights at Hank and Deb's (Susan's brother and sister-in-law) house, then moved to Terri and Rick's house for a couple of days. The trip was wonderful, if a little exhausting, and the girls did great. Virtually every night, we were having a late dinner with lots (20+) people, but the girls just took it in stride. Big thanks to all the family and friends we saw down there and who helped make for a special Christmas.
Gift-wise, Santa gave Amanda a Barbie camper and a couple of Barbie dolls, while Reagan got some building blocks and a little broom & dustpan that remain the hit present of the season. We thought we might have been a little cheap with them this year, but when you factor in all the presents from all the family, the girls made out very well and had no complaints (except for the lack of the doll with a broken leg).
While in Florida, we made our annual trip to the Brevard Zoo, which was a lot of fun as always. The giraffes were very attentive this year, and we got to feed them some crackers. Reagan was a bit freaked out, but nowhere near as bad as Amanda had been with the monkeys a couple of years ago!
We also took the opportunity to spend a day at the Magic Kingdom. I don't believe we'll be doing it that way again. As opposed to taking a leisurely boat ride from the hotel to the park, attending as a "commoner" is quite an ordeal. We had to pay to park, wait for a parking tram, wait at will-call to get our crazy-expensive tickets, wait for the monorail, and only THEN get to the point where the boat dropped us off on our last trip. And, of course, the park was packed on 12/27, so lines were really long, even for Disney. (The actually had to close the gates for a while the next day because of the crowds.) But we got to ride about four things that day, including It's a Small World, so it was totally worth it!!! Next time, I think I'll just burn three crisp 100-dollar bills and save the time and trouble.
On our way back home, we stopped and spent a day in Jacksonville visiting Susan's grandmother and her aunt and uncle. It was great to see Barbara again, and the girls enjoyed her place, too. We even got to pick some fresh lemons from the tree in her back yard. At Aunt Ginger & Uncle Mike's, we had a nice dinner and visit with them and two of their kids (and spouses). The next day, Amanda and I even got to fish a little bit in the river behind their house, and we managed to catch a little trout. Not a bad way to spend December 30th.
We made it home in time for New Year's Eve, and we had a few friends over to celebrate. Amanda really wanted to try to make it to midnight, but she conked out at about 11:00, which was still pretty impressive. It would have been MORE impressive if she had slept her usual 11 hours afterward, but she was up by around 8:00 because that's when the boy who spent the night in her room (Nate Cox) woke up. He has yet to learn how to slip out of a chick's room in the morning without waking her up.
While we had a great holiday season in all respects, I'd have to say my favorite memory was Amanda's almost-constant singing of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." She absolutely latched on to this song for some reason, and she was ultimately able to sing the first two verses all on her own. I'm sure she doesn't understand what all of the words mean, but it's still pretty awesome. I managed to capture some footage of it when she wasn't paying attention (you might need to turn it up):
And she would sing it over and over and over! It was amazing!
Developmental Update
Developmentally, Reagan really took off after we got back from Disney. In addition to walking everywhere and successfully going up stairs, she is adding more and more words to her vocabulary. In addition to "mommy" and "daddy" (which she now finally associates with the correct parents), she has a word for Cheerios which is definitely NOT "Cheerios," but we understand it. Her favorite understandable word is probably "crackers," which she calls the mini-saltines she loves more than she loves us. She's absolutely mental for these things. And she says "crackers" in a high-pitch tone (even for her) with the emphasis on the second syllable. For a while, we couldn't even say "crackers" around her without her looking around and saying "cracKERS?" over and over. To keep her from getting her hopes up about them, we took to referring to crackers as "the c-word." Amanda likes to police our use of it, saying "Daddy, don't say the C-word!" if I slip up and actually say "crackers." If she only knew how funny that sounds! If anyone overhears her saying that, I'm probably going to have my parenting skills called into question. If not, the story in the next paragraph will do it.
Still, there are some things Reagan doesn't quite have down yet. For one, if she sits/falls in the middle of the floor, she sometimes can't stand up with out getting help or crawling to a piece of furniture she can pull up on. She also isn't adept at descending stairs yet. Speaking of which, here's the dubious parenting story: One evening I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready; Amanda & Susan were somewhere else (maybe choir?). One moment, Reagan was playing in the playroom (where I could see/hear her), and the next moment I'm hearing her tumble down the stairs, landing with a thud. She starts wailing, and I utter a mild oath and race to her assistance. Fortunately, she was unhurt and bounced back quickly. The only "damage" was a little red mark on her head that meant I couldn't hide the incident from Susan, like I had done when Amanda fell of the changing table one time when she was a baby.
Reagan is also finally using some of the sign language we've tried to teach her. Mostly it's just "more", "milk", and "water", but those come in pretty handy. She will also use "help" and "all done", but only if we ask her first if she needs help or if she's all done. We've tried to work on "I love you," but it hasn't taken yet.
She has also been learning to use eating utensils, which is cute, but can be very messy. There have been many meals where we say, "Look, she ate all of her peas/rice/etc." only to slide the tray off the high chair and find a fair portion of the food on her lap and around her in the high chair.
So, everything with Reagan seems to be going really well. That said, she might be entering the "terrible twos" a little early since she can get really mad when things don't go her way. It's not a big concern, but she's shaping to perhaps be more difficult at this age than her big sister was. She also seems, however, to be bolder and less wimpy than Amanda was, so maybe that's the tradeoff we are going to have to deal with. It's going to be a fun ride. Unlike, say, It's a Small World.
I think that brings everybody up to date, at least until Reagan's 18-month check-up on 1/27/12. Both girls remain a joy to have around, and we count our blessings every day. I'll post some more pictures in the coming days, but I wanted to get this up there since I've been getting grief again.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Last Day at Disney World!
We got to the Magic Kingdom at about 9:30 or so on Friday morning, not sure what to expect, crowd-wise. Would it be great, like Sunday? Or crowded as a Mumbai street market, like Monday? Fortunately, the crowds, weather, and overall experience turned out to be just fantastic.
The experience was probably helped by the fact that we had very limited goals for this last trip to the Magic Kingdom: we wanted to ride the Jungle Cruise (after being stymied by long waits on Monday), meet Tinkerbell (ditto), and ride It's a Small World. Again. Anything else we could fit in would be gravy.
First stop, Jungle Cruise. While the wait time had been 45 minutes or more on Monday, we just walked straight onto the boat on Friday. I'm not quite sure what the big deal is with this ride since everything on it couldn't have looked any faker. Even Amanda was unimpressed. And if the "big deal" with the ride is all the high-larious puns delivered by the captain, I'm sorry, but it's totally not worth it. If we had waited an hour on Monday for THAT, I'd have had some choice words for Mickey Mouse next time I saw him.
But with no wait, there was no harm done. On to It's a Small World! Again, there was no wait, and we got right on the boat. Reagan assumed the position, this time on my chest. That was the best part. I believe this was our third journey through the magical world of first generation animatronics, so Amanda (and everyone else) was becoming quite familiar with the scenes. The funny thing is, while she talks about how much she LOVES the ride (it was her favorite), you'd never know it by watching her ride it. Rather than laughing, singing, or even smiling, she just calmly looks around at everything. Studying. We fully expect her to see some random object in a few months and say, "that's just like on It's a Small World!"
After Small World, we headed over to Tomorrowland to ride the Astro Orbiter, which I can't help but call the Astroglide (heh heh . . . some of you out there know what I'm talking about, amirite?). Anyway, this is the ride Amanda saw from the race car, causing us to slam into the guide rail. It's like Dumbo on steroids -- rocket ships spinning around a central tower, going much faster (and higher) than Dumbo. I fully expected Amanda to get cold feet when she got a close look at it, but we braved the 20 minute wait, and she rode it with no problems. I started getting a little queasy, but she was a champ.
Then, Amanda wanted to ride the Teacups, so Susan took her on that while I played with Reagan, who was happy to get out of the stroller for a bit. By this point, it was getting close to lunch time, so we headed over to Adventureland to eat at a Mexican quick-serve place Susan had spotted. The food was good, and so were the girls.
After lunch, we went to ride Peter Pan, which we had gotten FastPasses for earlier in the day. FastPass is definitely the way to go for Peter Pan since the lines are always really long for some reason. Amanda wasn't too fond of the ride when we did it the first day (something about volcanoes), but we bribed her to try it again by promising we would ride Small World again if she did. She eagerly jumped at the offer. Yay.
So we did Peter Pan and got in line for Small World. By this time, the line was maybe 15 minutes long, still a far cry from Monday. But it was worth it to have Reagan resting on my chest again.
When we finished Small World, we split up. Susan took Amanda to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which was to be her first real roller coaster), while I took Reagan to ride Dumbo. Ever since the first day, Reagan would point at the ride and say something that sounded a lot like "Dumbo" every time we walked near it. We therefore assumed it was her favorite ride and favorite character, so we wanted her to ride it again before we left. She was actually a little fussy riding it with me this time, so maybe I ruined her love of Dumbo. Or maybe when she was pointing and saying what sounded like "Dumbo," she was actually using her baby word for either "foreigner" or "morbidly obese person on a rented scooter." Lord knows the park was loaded with both of them.
After Dumbo, we reconnected with Susan and Amanda, only to learn that Amanda was just barely too short to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The park had three different people measure her, but she was too short by about a quarter of an inch! She was definitely going to ride it and had really gotten all psyched up for it, only to have those hopes dashed. She was very disappointed, but she handled it really well and knows that next time she comes to Disney, she'll be big enough!
Not that it's the same thing, but we decided to take her on the regular railroad, which happened to have a stop right there in Frontierland. That was a nice relaxing way to kill 20 minutes, and we got a good view of the huge expansion of Fantasyland that will open in 2012. We've got something else to look forward to now.
After the train dropped us off where we started, we had one more attraction to visit -- Tinkerbell. For some reason, they've got the Tink meet-n-greet set up in Adventureland instead of Fantasyland, but whatever. This line was supposed to take 30 minutes, but it actually took closer to an hour, making it the one thing that day where the wait got a little monotonous. After the wait, we got to meet and take pictures with one of the other fairies (I think she's called Fawn) and with Tinkerbell. I guess Amanda did fine, but she acted really weird around them -- she would stand very still and force a smile for the pictures. She wasn't unhappy, but she wouldn't really engage them in conversation, despite the best efforts of the fairies. You'll see that in one of the pictures I'll upload. Very odd.
After the Tinkerbell experience, it was time to do some souvenir shopping (we'd gotten off remarkably light to this point) and head back to get Reagan a nap to make sure she had a good night's sleep!
After the nap and a quick dinner at the hotel (using the last of our meal plan meals), we started the depressing job of packing to go back home. We wanted to pack as much as we could on Friday night so we could have a stress-free breakfast at the hotel and hit the road right afterward.
It was a good thing we packed most of our stuff the night before because Reagan decided our last morning would be the morning she would give us problems. Beginning just after 5:00 a.m., we heard her fussing pretty good in her pack-n-play in the closet. Even at home, she still cries out for a few seconds some nights without actually waking up, so this wasn't particularly unusual. But she seemed a little more upset than usual, and it went on a lot longer. Finally, after she had cried for over 20 minutes, I broke down and went to check on her. There she was, standing up, wide awake, looking at me with her lower lip jutting out. I couldn't resist such a sad face, so I picked her up. She immediately quieted down and got incredibly happy! I bent over to put her back down, and the crying started. Stood back up, happy again! Amazing how that works!
Since I apparently had no other choice, I brought her to our bed to see how that would work. Let me tell you, she had a grand old time. She crawled around, climbed on the pillows, laughed, got cuddly, etc. Although she would lie down and seem like she might actually go to sleep, it never lasted more than a few seconds. This behavior would have been adorable if it hadn't been 5:30 on the morning we were facing a 500 mile drive.
Finally, at about 6:30, Susan did us both a favor by putting Reagan back in the pack-n-play. She (Reagan) fussed for just a moment or two before going back to sleep. We also went back to sleep and almost missed our breakfast reservation thanks to Reagan's morning antics, but it worked out fine.
We left the Wilderness Lodge at 10:40 a.m. and made remarkably good time. We had expected to make several stops to calm down a fussy child (or two), but both kids did really well for almost the whole drive. We actually made it in about eight hours, which was about two hours less than we had prepared ourselves for. Reagan was happy for most of the trip, even though the sun was in her face for virtually the whole time. She even made up a little game where she would take her pacifier out and put it on top of her head. Then she would laugh until it fell off, at which point she put it up there again. It was actually pretty impressive that she was able to balance it there repeatedly, and her squeals of laughter really cheered everyone up.
Amanda was just wonderful, too. She didn't whine at all and was very helpful keeping Reagan entertained by retrieving dropped toys, feeding her cheerios, etc. Toward the end, Reagan got tired and hungry, so the last 30 minutes were a little rough for her, but overall it was a very pleasant end to a wonderful vacation.
The experience was probably helped by the fact that we had very limited goals for this last trip to the Magic Kingdom: we wanted to ride the Jungle Cruise (after being stymied by long waits on Monday), meet Tinkerbell (ditto), and
First stop, Jungle Cruise. While the wait time had been 45 minutes or more on Monday, we just walked straight onto the boat on Friday. I'm not quite sure what the big deal is with this ride since everything on it couldn't have looked any faker. Even Amanda was unimpressed. And if the "big deal" with the ride is all the high-larious puns delivered by the captain, I'm sorry, but it's totally not worth it. If we had waited an hour on Monday for THAT, I'd have had some choice words for Mickey Mouse next time I saw him.
But with no wait, there was no harm done. On to It's a Small World! Again, there was no wait, and we got right on the boat. Reagan assumed the position, this time on my chest. That was the best part. I believe this was our third journey through the magical world of first generation animatronics, so Amanda (and everyone else) was becoming quite familiar with the scenes. The funny thing is, while she talks about how much she LOVES the ride (it was her favorite), you'd never know it by watching her ride it. Rather than laughing, singing, or even smiling, she just calmly looks around at everything. Studying. We fully expect her to see some random object in a few months and say, "that's just like on It's a Small World!"
After Small World, we headed over to Tomorrowland to ride the Astro Orbiter, which I can't help but call the Astroglide (heh heh . . . some of you out there know what I'm talking about, amirite?). Anyway, this is the ride Amanda saw from the race car, causing us to slam into the guide rail. It's like Dumbo on steroids -- rocket ships spinning around a central tower, going much faster (and higher) than Dumbo. I fully expected Amanda to get cold feet when she got a close look at it, but we braved the 20 minute wait, and she rode it with no problems. I started getting a little queasy, but she was a champ.
Then, Amanda wanted to ride the Teacups, so Susan took her on that while I played with Reagan, who was happy to get out of the stroller for a bit. By this point, it was getting close to lunch time, so we headed over to Adventureland to eat at a Mexican quick-serve place Susan had spotted. The food was good, and so were the girls.
After lunch, we went to ride Peter Pan, which we had gotten FastPasses for earlier in the day. FastPass is definitely the way to go for Peter Pan since the lines are always really long for some reason. Amanda wasn't too fond of the ride when we did it the first day (something about volcanoes), but we bribed her to try it again by promising we would ride Small World again if she did. She eagerly jumped at the offer. Yay.
So we did Peter Pan and got in line for Small World. By this time, the line was maybe 15 minutes long, still a far cry from Monday. But it was worth it to have Reagan resting on my chest again.
When we finished Small World, we split up. Susan took Amanda to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which was to be her first real roller coaster), while I took Reagan to ride Dumbo. Ever since the first day, Reagan would point at the ride and say something that sounded a lot like "Dumbo" every time we walked near it. We therefore assumed it was her favorite ride and favorite character, so we wanted her to ride it again before we left. She was actually a little fussy riding it with me this time, so maybe I ruined her love of Dumbo. Or maybe when she was pointing and saying what sounded like "Dumbo," she was actually using her baby word for either "foreigner" or "morbidly obese person on a rented scooter." Lord knows the park was loaded with both of them.
After Dumbo, we reconnected with Susan and Amanda, only to learn that Amanda was just barely too short to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The park had three different people measure her, but she was too short by about a quarter of an inch! She was definitely going to ride it and had really gotten all psyched up for it, only to have those hopes dashed. She was very disappointed, but she handled it really well and knows that next time she comes to Disney, she'll be big enough!
Not that it's the same thing, but we decided to take her on the regular railroad, which happened to have a stop right there in Frontierland. That was a nice relaxing way to kill 20 minutes, and we got a good view of the huge expansion of Fantasyland that will open in 2012. We've got something else to look forward to now.
After the train dropped us off where we started, we had one more attraction to visit -- Tinkerbell. For some reason, they've got the Tink meet-n-greet set up in Adventureland instead of Fantasyland, but whatever. This line was supposed to take 30 minutes, but it actually took closer to an hour, making it the one thing that day where the wait got a little monotonous. After the wait, we got to meet and take pictures with one of the other fairies (I think she's called Fawn) and with Tinkerbell. I guess Amanda did fine, but she acted really weird around them -- she would stand very still and force a smile for the pictures. She wasn't unhappy, but she wouldn't really engage them in conversation, despite the best efforts of the fairies. You'll see that in one of the pictures I'll upload. Very odd.
After the Tinkerbell experience, it was time to do some souvenir shopping (we'd gotten off remarkably light to this point) and head back to get Reagan a nap to make sure she had a good night's sleep!
After the nap and a quick dinner at the hotel (using the last of our meal plan meals), we started the depressing job of packing to go back home. We wanted to pack as much as we could on Friday night so we could have a stress-free breakfast at the hotel and hit the road right afterward.
It was a good thing we packed most of our stuff the night before because Reagan decided our last morning would be the morning she would give us problems. Beginning just after 5:00 a.m., we heard her fussing pretty good in her pack-n-play in the closet. Even at home, she still cries out for a few seconds some nights without actually waking up, so this wasn't particularly unusual. But she seemed a little more upset than usual, and it went on a lot longer. Finally, after she had cried for over 20 minutes, I broke down and went to check on her. There she was, standing up, wide awake, looking at me with her lower lip jutting out. I couldn't resist such a sad face, so I picked her up. She immediately quieted down and got incredibly happy! I bent over to put her back down, and the crying started. Stood back up, happy again! Amazing how that works!
Since I apparently had no other choice, I brought her to our bed to see how that would work. Let me tell you, she had a grand old time. She crawled around, climbed on the pillows, laughed, got cuddly, etc. Although she would lie down and seem like she might actually go to sleep, it never lasted more than a few seconds. This behavior would have been adorable if it hadn't been 5:30 on the morning we were facing a 500 mile drive.
Finally, at about 6:30, Susan did us both a favor by putting Reagan back in the pack-n-play. She (Reagan) fussed for just a moment or two before going back to sleep. We also went back to sleep and almost missed our breakfast reservation thanks to Reagan's morning antics, but it worked out fine.
We left the Wilderness Lodge at 10:40 a.m. and made remarkably good time. We had expected to make several stops to calm down a fussy child (or two), but both kids did really well for almost the whole drive. We actually made it in about eight hours, which was about two hours less than we had prepared ourselves for. Reagan was happy for most of the trip, even though the sun was in her face for virtually the whole time. She even made up a little game where she would take her pacifier out and put it on top of her head. Then she would laugh until it fell off, at which point she put it up there again. It was actually pretty impressive that she was able to balance it there repeatedly, and her squeals of laughter really cheered everyone up.
Amanda was just wonderful, too. She didn't whine at all and was very helpful keeping Reagan entertained by retrieving dropped toys, feeding her cheerios, etc. Toward the end, Reagan got tired and hungry, so the last 30 minutes were a little rough for her, but overall it was a very pleasant end to a wonderful vacation.
Friday, October 21, 2011
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