End of 2013 Recap

So it appears any attempt to thoroughly recap 2013 is a lost cause. This will be my lame attempt and then it's time to move on to 2014.

Halloween 

In the months leading up to Halloween, I was pretty sure LB was going to be a pilot. I had this super cute costume picked out and thought he would love it. As we got closer and started talking about it, he was not enthused about the pilot idea. I didn't get it. He's Mr. Plane. Right around that time we discovered the TV show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates." It's on the Disney Channel, which we don't have, but we found it on Netflix. This was also around the time that LB discovered the movie, Peter Pan, which he fell in love with. I did not remember all the sexist and racist comments in Peter Pan so I cringed through the first viewing and thought maybe LB wouldn't like it. WRONG. He's obsessed. He started to say that he wanted to be a pirate for Halloween. It was a tad confusing because his "r" sound still very much sounds likes a "l." So I kept clarifying by asking him, "You want to be a pirate like arrrghhh matey or a pilot that flies planes." He would always answer back "argghhh matey." I found a Jake costume online and showed it to him and we had a winner! As soon as we got it, he had to put it on right away and we also got him a little Jake kit from Tar.get that had a sword, spy glass, gold coins and a map. He was pumped.

Halloween morning they were having a parade at school and the kids were encouraged to wear costumes. I got his out and was super excited. LB decided he wanted nothing to do with it. I was all of a sudden devastated. He flat out refused to wear his Jake costume. My mom had come to town for the week (which was great since D was out of town) and she had brought with her a Pilot shirt from the new movie, Planes. She convinced him to be a pilot for the parade at school. Although he refused to even put the pilot shirt on until we got to school. In hindsight, I think he was overwhelmed by the idea of the parade and kids and teachers wearing costumes. But once he got to school and realized none of the costumes were scary he relaxed and seemed to enjoy it. I would also say that I set my expectations WAY too high for the day and didn't act with a whole lot of compassion towards his refusal to be Jake at school. Expectations always get me in trouble.
Here are a few pics from school:

Yes, his best bud was also Jake and they would have been SO CUTE together but oh well. He's a cute pilot too.

Thankfully, he totally embraced being Jake for trick or treat and he had such a blast that night. My mom is the most amazing grandma and dressed up like the Cat in the Hat. LB has the coolest grandma ever. We have a tradition of trick or treating at our friend's house with another family and they have the perfect street for the kids. Lots of street lights and friendly neighbors. It was such a fun evening! Oh and D made it back in time for trick or treat, which was nice!

November

I tried to do some cute Thanksgiving crafts with LB in the week leading up to the big day and I would say our favorite one was his thankful turkey that we made out of a paper plate. I cut out the feathers and asked him to list 5 things he was thankful for and I wrote them on the feathers. I also cut out the other parts to the turkey and then LB glued everything together. He was really proud of it and we had it displayed in the living room through Christmas.

The weekend before Thanksgiving we met LB's cousins at the zoo for the holiday light show. It was freezing but we endured the cold and had a fun night. The kids also got to see Santa, which ended up being a nice reprieve from the cold, and since not too many people were brave (or stupid) enough to be out in the cold we didn't have to wait in a long line. LB asked Santa for "a plane and a drum." I didn't realize you could ask Santa for two things but I guess LB decided it was okay. He stayed consistent with those requests all through December. (Confession: We ended up seeing Santa 4 times before the big day. LB is a fan.)

Actual Thanksgiving day was a bit of a bust. D's parents were hosting Thanksgiving but not until Friday to accommodate every one's schedules. So our plan was to chill at home on Thursday and put up all our Christmas decorations. It was a good plan but LB woke up in a foul mood and I think I was in a bad mood too. I was missing my family and just felt blah about the whole thing. So the tree got put up and we did some fun Christmas crafts but overall it was just an okay today. Not what I hoped. Thankfully, Friday was fun and we stuffed our faces and LB played with his cousins. Somehow I managed to take zero photos. I must have been too busy eating and drinking.

December

We got a fair amount of snow in early December and LB had more stamina this year in terms of being willing to play in the snow. And he has learned to put his gloves on all by himself which meant I cursed much less this year. Is there anything more annoying than trying to get gloves on a toddler? I think not. 

We had several fun playdates with old friends and new friends. I have loved watching LB develop good friendships at preschool this year and to see him seek out his special friends.

LB had his Christmas program and party at school. I was in love with the shirt I bought him for it. I'm biased but he was so darn cute.

Okay, so I lied. I have rambled enough and I still need to recap our trip to Tulsa for Christmas. That will have to come later. 

Until then..... I hope January is treating you well, friends!

Unexpected Fun

Most of the fun activities and special treats we did this summer were all planned. I had a list of places and things I wanted to do with LB so I spent the summer trying to check things off the list. However, on this occasion we happened to be in the right place at the right time. Totally unplanned fun!

One day in mid August, LB convinced me to go to the OSU airport. Again. I was reluctant but I didn't have any other ideas for activities that day so off we went. As we were walking into the building, we walked past two men in suits. For some reason, LB thinks only pilots wear a jacket and tie. D is able to dress pretty casually at his office so I guess that is why LB associates a suit with pilots. As we were walking, LB says quite loudly, "Mommy! Look! Pilots!" The two men heard him and smiled. One of them started engaging LB and asking him about the planes LB was carrying and the planes on his shirt. LB is happy to have a conversation with almost anyone, especially if they want to talk about planes. So LB showed them his planes and told them how he is going to be a "pilot of jets" when he is older, etc. They were charmed. Then one of them hands me his business card and explains that he is with the company, Net Jets. I have only heard of them because LB and I spend so much time at the OSU airport and we often see planes owned by Net Jets taking off and landing. They are like a rental car company but for planes. And clearly, the pricing is a little different. A lot of athletes use them, like professional golfers and tennis players, as well as businesses. I looked at the card and the gentleman, Mr. Brown, was the Senior VP of Sales. I started to get a feeling we were in for something good. He told me they had a plane landing in about 30 minutes and if we were still around he would love to show LB their plane. Yes! (I didn't tell him that a typical trip is about 2 hours.) So LB and I went up to the observation tower and did our normal thing. About 30 minutes later a jet landed and I saw Mr. Brown walk out onto the runway. After it landed he looked up to the observation tower and waved us down. I hadn't said anything to LB because I didn't want to promise him something in case it didn't work out. I told him we were going out on the runway and that he was going to get to see a jet and probably go inside. His eyes got huge. We got out there and were introduced to the two actual pilots. One of them picked LB up right away and started showing him around the plane. He showed LB where he checks the oil and they looked in the engines and at the wheels. I was so excited for LB that I could hardly contain myself. I was pretty much holding back tears the entire time.

Then they let us get on the plane and LB got to sit in the cockpit. It was a tight squeeze so I didn't get any photos of him sitting in the cockpit but the other pilot let him push a lot of buttons and see them light up, which was a thrill. LB impressed him with his plane lingo as he referred to the steering wheel as the yoke. I also think LB just loved sitting in the big, leather seats and looking out onto the runway at all the other planes that were close by. The plane was gorgeous. They gave us some of the fancy Dean and Deluca snacks that they have for their passengers and then we had to go as they were flying somewhere else.

Look at that smile. Pure joy. We walked back into the terminal and headed up to the stairs to the tower. As we were going up the stairs, LB turned to me, wrapped his arms around my neck and said, "I'm so happy." I was too.

I think I got teary about the whole thing because it was just so generous. They are busy people and they took time out of their day to give a three year old a special experience. I think it's easy to get bogged down in all of the nastiness and meanness that exists in our world but this was a moment of true kindness. Don't you think we all need reminders of that every now and then? Net Jets is my new favorite company. If only I could afford their services....

New Mexico Vacation 2013

I haven't done as thorough a job as I would have liked documenting our summer but LB started preschool this week so I'm feeling the need to move on. However, I can't move on without posting about the absolute highlight of our summer. At the end of July, we boarded a plane for New Mexico and LB had the time of his life. We met my parents and my sister there and we all stayed in a rented house together. This was our first real vacation with LB. We have a traveled a ton with him but mostly for visits to my parents, which is like a vacation but not officially, and he's been to Pennsylvania for my cousin's wedding and St. Louis for my sister's graduation and we went to Florida when he was 11 months old but none of that really counts. This was a true vacation. LB experienced so many firsts and he still talks about them. I think it helped for it to feel like a vacation for D and me since we had three other adults, who happen to love LB and he loves them, with us. I highly recommend the 5 to 1 adult to child ratio when going on vacation, especially since some of his favorite people were with us. I was usually number 5 on the adults he came to for something. I was able to read a whole book. I read, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, which I highly recommend. It was one of those books that I didn't want to end.

LB did great with all the traveling it took to get to Taos. We decided to take a direct flight to Denver and then drive 5 hours to Taos rather than take a connecting flight into Albuquerque and drive for 3 hours. We're still not sure if that was the way to go since the Denver airport was such a pain but that's what we did. LB had a moment during the drive that was unpleasant because he had to go to the bathroom and there was no exit in sight but other than that he handled it all like a trooper. Air travel isn't so bad when you have a child obsessed with airplanes. There was even a time on the plane where I got a glimpse into the future. I hadn't brought anything to entertain myself on the 3 hour flight to Denver because I assumed I would be keeping LB happy and occupied. Well, at one point I looked over at him and he had the Ipad in his lap and some pretzels in his hand and he was perfectly content. I thought to myself, "I should have brought a book!" and "I could have bought a trashy magazine!" It was a crazy thought. But one I welcome. Oh trashy magazines, I have missed you.

The house my parents rented was gorgeous and ended up working out perfectly. LB called it "New Mexico." He is still a little unclear on the whole concept of geography. We we would be out and about somewhere and he would say, " I want to go back to New Mexico." And when we'd pull in the driveway he would say, "There's New Mexico." It was so cute that I hesitated to correct him. 

LB woke up the first morning at 4:30am. That was not fun but we expected it would take some time to adjust to the 2 hour time difference. The second morning he was up at 5:30am and by the third morning he was up at his normal time of 6:30am. So it wasn't too bad. That first morning he made himself right at home and set up his planes on the table on the patio outside. His New Mexico runway had much better views than his Ohio runway.

That first morning he was also very eager to check out the hot tub. I think he convinced my dad to get in with him before 8am. He loved it and I'm not gonna lie some days the hot tub served as his bath.

The hot tub was one of several firsts for LB and he responded to all of them with such joy and excitement. He saw a rainbow in the sky, a glider and a hot air balloon. The below picture is right after the rainbow. You can't see the rainbow but you can see the happiness in his smile.

He went on his first hike, saw a waterfall, got to sit in a helicopter and saw all sorts of new bugs. The rest of us had been to Taos several times so I think we all enjoyed viewing it from his first time perspective. He also forced us to notice little things that normally we would walk on pass, like butterflies along the trail or a "really big rock." Some days we would be driving and he would shout "Look at that really big mountain." I loved being there with him.

The food in Taos is amazing and D and I were talking about it before we even got there. Since Taos is such a relaxed place most of the restaurants are very chill and kid friendly. Several of them even have these big outdoor areas where kids can run around and play while the adults finish their beers. And, of course, they all have amazing views.

LB really had a blast. He wasn't perfect. He is three. There were some bedtimes that were challenging and a few times he wanted things he couldn't have but those aren't the moments that I think of when I look back on our trip. I remember the good stuff because there was so much of it. My mom and my sister both came armed with bags of tricks for downtime at the house, which helped tremendously. I was really happy that he was so happy. I guess that's how it works.

On our last night there we went into town to the plaza and there was a bluegrass band playing. LB didn't hesitate and went straight to the area where people were dancing. My mom danced with him for a while but mostly we just watched him.

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures from the week.

Hopefully, we'll go again next year.

The Joy of Popsicles

*This post was NOT sponsored by Edy's Outshine Fruit Bars. This is just a memory from Summer 2013 that I want to remember.

This summer, LB discovered the joy of a cold popsicle on a hot day. I offered him popsicles last summer but no matter how hot it was outside he declared them to be "too cold." This year he was singing a different tune. It's become almost a daily or every other day tradition for us. To help him get out of his post nap fog I'll suggest we go outside, watch some cars and have a popsicle. He'll jump up and down and run to the freezer. I enjoy this tradition too considering most days I partake in the popsicle consumption.

At the beginning of the summer, I was perusing the frozen treat section at our grocery store and picked out these Minute Maid popsicles that I remembered from my childhood. I checked the ingredients and lo and behold they all had food dyes. I kept checking other brands and they would have the food dyes and high fructose corn syrup and 20 other ingredients I couldn't pronounce. Yuck. I'm pretty strict about keeping that stuff away from LB. Clearly, I had them as a child and survived but it's a thing I have and I am sticking to it. Finally, I found the Outshine popsicles and they had no dyes, no HFCS and just had a handful of ingredients, all of which I could pronounce and understand. LB has tried most of the flavors and has become very partial to the lime popsicles, which I think is kind of interesting for a three year old. I like good, old fashioned strawberry. So he'll grab his lime one and we'll head to the front steps.

Even though LB loves popsicles now, he still refuses to bite them. So he just licks and licks them into oblivion. If a piece breaks off in his mouth then he spits it out. He's weird. Since he doesn't like to bite them it takes LB about 20 years to finish his popsicle. No joke. And even though I love this daily tradition the mess makes me twitch. I am usually really good about messes but there is something about sticky messes and watching that sticky mess trickle down my child's arm to his elbow and then drop onto his thigh that makes me want to look away. I decided this trickling, sticky mess needed to be documented. Some days he'll let me keep the wrapper on and that decreases some of the stickiness but most days he just wants to hold the stick and doesn't care.

Are you twitching? So gross. But it makes him so happy so I've learned to deal. Once he's finished his popsicle we head straight to the hose and then he ends up playing in the water for a while, which is a good afternoon activity. It works out well. If we have somewhere to go in the afternoon then I try and avoid the popsicle licking extravaganza. Some days we just go straight to the pool. 

It's 66 degrees outside currently so our popsicle days may be numbered for this year. Maybe next year he'll work himself up to taking bites. We can always hope.

I'm feeling nostalgic about Summer 2013 coming to a close already. LB starts preschool next week!