Fortunately, Unfortunately

Once upon a weekend we had a series of unfortunate and fortunate events. This is our tale...

Joe and I were all packed and ready for our (secret) anniversary trip to Washington D.C. this past weekend. Fortunately, we were using free plane ticket vouchers that Joe won at an MBA conference. Unfortunately, we didn't take the tickets with us as we drove seven hours down to drop off Xavier at grandma and grandpa's house.

Fortunately, we had made the reservations online. Unfortunately, the airline insisted we have the vouchers as well as the reservations and we had to cancel our trip.

Fortunately, we got to take Xavier to Disneyland for his first time along with Joe's parents and niece. Unfortunately, Xavier had a high fever from a stomach bug and didn't enjoy it as much as we had hoped. Fortunately, he didn't get the diarrhea part of the bug and his fever broke an hour before we left Disneyland.

Unfortunately, we were all sore the next day. Fortunately, we rested by going to see the movie, Wall-E, and fortunately again we ate ice cream cake for Joe's birthday! Unfortunately, on Joe's real birthday we were in a car accident on the freeway. Very fortunately, nobody was hurt.

Fortunately again, Joe and I used our second day of our Park Hopper tickets to go to Disneyland by ourselves on Monday. Unfortunately, it was cloudy. Fortunately, there were tons of Disney characters out and about, the ride lines were short and the weather cleared up!

Unfortunately, the next day, we got a flat tire on our drive home. Fortunately, we were stopped at a gas station with a tire shop nearby and quick, cheap service. Unfortunately, all of our tires needed air. Fortunately, we had no more trouble on our trip. And fortunately again, our house was nice and clean when we got home.

Unfortunately, we had to make quick plans to use our ticket vouchers before their expiration date in a week. Fortunately, Joe thought to go directly to the airport where the ticket agents were having a good day and changed our tickets so we can take a trip in a few weeks when it is more convenient. Unfortunately, grandma and grandpa are unavailable as babysitters. (Any takers?)

Fortunately, we will get to visit my pregnant sister and her husband in Georgia. Unfortunately, her baby is not due yet so we won't see the baby. Fortunately, with the change in our trip location and dates, Joe gets to go to the same MBA conference where he first won the tickets that brought about this series of unfortunate and fortunate events. Will he be so fortunate to win them again?

We actually feel very fortunate that our "fortunately"s outweighed our "unfortunately"s this past weekend. May you all be so fortunate this weekend!

The End

The Happiest Place on Earth...if you're not sick (and sometimes even when you are)

Disneyland day with Grandpa, Grandma, Zelia, and us!

It was Xavi's first time at Disneyland but he wasn't feeling well so the face you see below is how he looked most of the day. We took medicine with us and I carried him a lot. Poor baby.

A few things coaxed a smile out of him, though, like Donald's boat in Toontown...

the teacups...

and, of course, seeing Lightening McQueen in the Pixar parade!

Oh, just thinking about our day makes me want to go again! We had a great time! And now we know all the rides that are fun for two-year-olds.

GOOD--the teacups, carousels (both), caterpillar ride in bug world, Winnie the Pooh ride, Monster's Inc. ride, plus the Pixar and Main Street parades, and (depending on the child) the water play areas in bug world and the boat along the boardwalk (do these while it's sunny!) . Xavier liked the Roger Rabbit ride and Pirates of the Caribbean but we sometimes covered his eyes or redirected his attention at scary parts we didn't want him to see or covered his ears because the rides were loud.

BAD--the ladybug teacups (way too fast and can't control them), It's Tough to be a Bug 3-D show (too scary, Xavier threw down his glasses at the start and said No!!! so we waited outside until the show finished).

Our tips for Disneyland: Take as much of your own water, food, and snacks that you can handle carrying. Take two sets of dry clothes for every kid. Take the grandparents, your camera, and... enjoy!

Sneaky Sitters

CHEESE~!

Xavier's friend, Brennen, who he gets to play with while mom studies.

Xavier loves Hilary!

I had a moment of shock when I started uploading pictures the other week because I found pictures on my camera that I knew I hadn't taken! It turns out that I'd left the camera in the diaper bag when I dropped Xavier off with Hilary, his regular babysitter, and she knew just what to do with it! It was a great surprise. Hilary is such a wonderful babysitter. She always seems to know just when I need a boost in my day and has Xavier color something for me or invites me to lunch or does other fun things. Yay for super sitters! And thank you, Hilary, for that fun surprise!

P.S.

Xavier loves watching the short videos of himself as a baby (sorry, the videos aren't working on blogger). The best part is listening to him narrate. On this one, he was saying, "Come on! Come on!" as the baby (himself at about 14 months) tries to step over the ball pit onto the carpet. He cheered, "Yeah!" when the baby made it and then cracked up because "Baby Xavier" fell down on his bottom. X's laugh is so contagious that I always laugh, too! You don't make a child vain by letting him watch videos of himself, do you? I figure it boosts his self-confidence and lets him know we love him at all ages. Right?

Feeling nostalgic

Looking back at pictures and clips of Xavier from birth to now, I am just amazed at how he has changed and grown. We love this baby boy of ours! A few weeks old

One year old, chubby and bald, eating lunch with his cousin but completely distracted and scared of the puppy running around the table.

Two years and three months old, posing with a mouth full of grapes and showing off his "dinosaur" grape vine. I love this imaginative stage! And it is nice to see that he really does have more hair now.

Seven toddler tips for a great weekend

1. Try on your cowboy hat and say, "HOW-dy!"

(By the way, now I really don't know what costume to put Xavier in for Halloween... a pirate? a robot? a cowboy? a cowboy robot? or will he find a new interest by then?!)

2. Sneak some computer time when no one's looking!

(That's his "caught" look.)

3. Take your stroller for a walk!

4. Play in the laundry pile!
(you can't tell but X is wearing a "seatbelt" he
made by wrapping his sweats around him)


5. Practice putting on clothes!

(Xavi likes to be get a laugh out of us by putting his clothes on the wrong body parts, like pants on his arms or shirts on his legs!)

6. Play with your best friend!

7. Spend some quality time with your mom and dad!
(We went to an Italian festival on the wharf. Lots of people, food, and music!)

Our little genius

Do you think most parents think their child is cute enough to win a baby magazine photo contract, and that their child always does things faster than the parenting books' timelines for development say? I, of course, think both of those things of Xavier and I'll add that I think he's a musical genius! He matches pitches, loves drums and beats, dances to any music he hears playing, etc. Now he has learned some songs and loves to sing along with me or even sing on his own. It completely melts my heart to hear him sing "I am a child of God" with Joe and I as we put him to bed, especially because he sings in both English and Japanese. Can a mom feel any prouder? I just love his little voice. One favorite is for him to get under the comforter on our bed with Joe, say shhhh! and then sing the ABC song together loudly. :) He got the idea when he realized that the underside of our bedspread has words or "ABC!"s on it.

X has been going to a music and movement class that our friend, Amy, teaches and it is so fun to see him practice hearing and feeling different tones, rhythms, time, weight, flow, and space of music. His favorites of class today? Listening to animal sounds put to music and imitating animal movements, running fast and slow as Amy sang "my feet feel the rhythm of the popcorn, pop-pop-corn", holding hands and moving in a circle, and playing with his friends. I tried to get several shots of the class when I wasn't involved but my batteries were almost dead and I only caught the few seconds when all the kids decided to take a music break and stand on their heads instead!

"Man" Power

I've been really impressed with the men in Xavier's life lately. He really looks up to them and watches what they do. His daddy, of course, is a huge influence on him, reading stories to him, playing his guitar for him, taking him places, teaching him in nursery, and is a master at getting X out of a bad mood by making him laugh. "E-pa" (Grandpa) is also a favorite who he loves to go on adventures with, and when we get the chance to go to Utah, he loves to work in the yard or play on the court with "G-dad" (granddad). I've also been so thankful for other men Xavier comes into contact with like the garbage men who smile and wave at him each week, "Lilia's daddy" who leads the music each Sunday and who Xavier likes to imitate (and comment on his ties), "Brennan's daddy" who drives a "woo-woo" and lets him pretend to drive his police SUV, etc. I think it is important that children get a balance of men and women to watch and learn from. So, thanks to all the great people helping Xavier learn and grow!

The Sandlot

Our apt has become a mini-sandlot since X and I go to the park almost every day and we always bring back shoes full of sand. I feel so grateful to have sunny weather that I can't grumble too much about having to vacuum up the sand. It is wonderful to be outside again. As everyone else gets ready for fall, we finally get our summer here! Yeah!