Parrot

Parrots are famous for being able to mimic human speech. Toddlers aren't far behind. Casey has reached that age where he will repeat stuff he hears. No, he's not dropping f-bombs and cursing like a sailor. Amazingly, the four letter words do not flow out of my mouth when Casey and Sydney are around! But recently, Casey has repeatedly blurted out two phrases over and over again...

1.) "You're driving me bananas!!" -- That one is all Mommy.

And the past couple days, when I come downstairs in the morning, Casey points back upstairs and says,

2.) "Go back to bed!" -- He must have gotten this one from us, when we greet him during his 6am wakeup call visits.

Nai Nai's Special Books

Casey and Sydney have the greatest Nai Nai in the world. You see, she makes special books just for her grand kids. They focus on favorite topics, like trucks and animals. Recently, Casey got to experience the world famous San Diego Zoo, (Big Zoo) and the Wild Animal Park. Subsequently, Casey got a surprise in the mail.. His very own picture book, based on his visits to the zoo and animal park!

Casey opening his surprise.. Check out Sydney's expression!


Casey reading his special animal book!

Morning Wake up call

Last weekend, we converted Casey's crib to a toddler bed. Before that day, I didn't know what that entailed. It's exactly like taking the bars off a jail cell. He is now free to come and go as he pleases. Well, today, at 6 AM, what pleased him was to come into my room and say, (and not quietly) "Daddy, wake up!". He followed with, "You want go downstairs". Notice the lack of a question mark. That's cause it was phrased as a command, not a question. I came back with, "No, Daddy wants to sleep, NOT go downstairs."

Casey reiterated, "Daddy want go downstairs, watch TV"... Hoping to salvage something out of the exchange, I said, "OK. Go downstairs and watch Sportscenter."

He didn't fall for it. He said, "No, My turn. Go downstairs, watch Sesame Street."

Long story short, we both went downstairs, we both watched Sesame Street.

Casey checking out his new bed.


JAILBREAK!!!


Sydney... Wondering, "Why can't I bust out like that?"

Boogers!

I know what you are thinking.. Why am I writing about boogers now? After all, Casey has had boogers essentially since he was born. I've previously written about the clear, runny stuff which leaks into his mouth; about the stringie green ones which can hang and dangle; about the solid green ones which he can pick and flick...

Well, now he can blow his nose! We can get a tissue, hold it to his nose, and tell him to blow. Tonight, after his shower, he had some stringie green ones protruding from his nostrils. I got a tissue, held it to his nose, and told him to blow. Some came out, but as I wiped, the stringies just expanded and stretched. So, I grabbed another tissue, and had him blow again.. One wipe later, his nose was all clear!

Roadtrip

Recently, we hit another milestone. Family roadtrip! And it doesn't seem like all that long ago I was the one in the back of the car, whining, "Are we there yet? I'm bored. Drive faster" All of a sudden, I'm the adult? Whoa, how exactly did that happen? I dunno. But nonetheless, we packed the minivan, loaded the kids, and set off for No. Cal. The plan was to drive from Los Angeles to Carmel. Normally, its a 5-6 hour drive, but... Apparently, with kids, it takes longer. We had a stop in Santa Barbara, ate some pizza and stretched out our legs. There is a park smack in the middle of Isla Vista, complete with a children's jungle gym. Surprise, surprise. I lived in that town for, well, a long time.. and I never knew there was a kids park. 2.5 hours later, we were back in the van, continuing up north. We finally arrived at our destination, about 10 hours after we departed. The kids did great on the road, with minimal fussing. I was pleasantly surprised. We checked into our hotel. Real nice place, one of the few we could find that had suites, which we needed to house all of us. It was pretty late, and we needed food ASAP. There was one of those 'upscale' markets across the street. There I got food to go, including $9 a pound mac & cheese! Call it what you want, organic, artesian, etc... its still pasta and cheese.. people, please... That said, Casey did ate that stuff like it was crack...

Each morning started with a trip downstairs to the breakfast room. It was sort of like a B&B, with provided breakfast. And each morning, I would prepare a bagel with cream cheese to bring back to the room for Casey. For other meals, we found it much better to bring food back to the room, as opposed to eating out. Kids fared much better that way. And if the kids are doing good, we are all doing good.

A couple of the highlights were the Dennis the Menace children's park. The kids had a blast there. The Monterey Bay Aquarium was a hit. We also rented a giant bicycle that sat 6 adults and 3 children, and pedaled along the waterfront.

Da boys on the giant roller slide at the Dennis the Menace Park, Monterey, CA



Daddy and Casey at the touch pool at the Monterey Bay Aquarium


Daddy and Sydney

New Bike

A big moment in every boys life is when he gets his first bike! Recently, Casey experienced this, and we were there to capture the excitement. Now, if we can just teach him how to ride it…

This Morning...

We could hear da boys talking to each other in the baby monitor. Sydney has figured out how to pull himself to an upright position in his bed. He faces Casey's bed, and they have conversations. Cute, but wait until you hear what else we heard. Suddenly, the chatter stopped, and we hear their bedroom door open, and as the door is closing, we hear Casey say, "goodnight Sydney". About a second later, from just outside OUR room, we hear Casey say. "Hi guys!"... And he came into our room! We're anxiously awaiting tomorrow morning, to see if this becomes a habit.