California Adventures

A Happy Minnie Birthday to Z!

The birthday girl!

Joe and I finally bought our last year's anniversary, Christmas, and this year's Valentine's present--a new camera--just in time to try it out for Zelia's birthday at California Adventure.

The weather was great and the blossoms blooming!

Patiently waiting in line for Z's birthday ticket.

Handy Manny and his tools up close!

X did not want to leave this spot.

Waiting to meet Minnie Mouse...

The fun Playhouse Disney live performance!

(We also got to see Aladdin live which was very impressive.)

We met LOTS of characters throughout the day.

Just being funny for the picture!
I don't think he even saw the stick behind him...

X may have been confused on Wall-E, though, since it was only a cutout.

Showing his own character! He posed himself.

The Redwoods climbing area--X loved it, especially jumping in the water!

The Pixar parade--before we ran to catch one last ride all the way across the park.

Xavi made sure I got this shot of Buzz Lightyear on the camera!

Disney puzzles while waiting for our dinner at Denny's

And at the end of every day...the boy we love so much!

Vampire Kid

So the other day X and I were cuddling on the bed before his nap, he was rubbing my arm for comfort, when suddenly I felt a big pinch in my upper arm which turned out to be a bite from my sweet little X! OUCH! I was so shocked that he'd bitten me because it was such a calm time. I can only think that my juicy arm lying over his stomach was too much temptation for my little vampire and he wanted to see what it tasted like or at least how it felt to bite.

I immediately said "NO! We don't bite people" and kind of tapped his cheek before leaving the room to calm down. He knew he'd done something wrong and stayed quietly on the bed. I went downstairs to think of what to do and remembered something I'd read--give them alternative things to bite. So, I grabbed a towel and some Tylenol, in case he was teething or had pain from his cold he was getting over and went back upstairs. I gave him the Tylenol and then told him again that we don't bite people because it hurts but that if we need to bite we can bite a towel. He accepted that easily and even had fun practicing "biting" the towel I gave him.

Before bed, we were reviewing (with Joe present so that he'd know what happened), the fact that we don't bite. I knew X understood because he then rattled off a list of no-no's for us. "No pushing people. No bonking people. No biting people." Bonking refers to running into people with a toy, especially his shopping cart. This is also a problem we are working on. Does anybody else have little vampires or such in their families? What do you do? I feel like his aggressiveness reflects badly on our parenting or something so I want to find alternative ways to use his energy. Sometimes when he wants to throw things, I'll pull out the laundry basket and have him throw balls into it, or if he keeps knocking his cousin's things over I'll build a tower of blocks just for him to knock over or ram the little grocery cart into. Anything else?

A Quick Hello

Life is busy from the time we wake up until the time we drop into bed. Joe likes his job, even with his three to four hour commute everyday; I have started watching X's cousin, Z, during the days, so I'm figuring out how to be a mom/aunt/childcare provider/entertainer to two almost-three-year-olds. Xavier is pottytraining and also having to learn that it's not okay to push, bite, spit, bonk, throw things at, run over, or slap anyone, including parents, cousins, grandparents, and friends. Luckily, X & Z both like playing with each other most of the time and we've found some fun things to do outside the house, like playgroup, open play at a gymnastics studio, bowling, and the indoor playground at the mall. They also like to do arts and crafts in the mornings. Here are some pictures of what they've been up to during February:

"Bubble baths" using all sizes of balls

Stained glass (a.k.a. plastic) painting

Trains, vacuuming, cooking, puppets, etc.

Decorating gingerbread men

Making glittery heart crowns out of paper plates

Stringing candy necklaces (with lots of help). X ate most of his before it made it on the necklace. Thanks to the Dollar Tree, Michael's craft store sales, and especially Grandma's art supplies, the three of us do lots of creative activities together.

Bony Toes

So Joe and I met with our new bishop today and while we were surprised that we didn't get any callings yet (he just wanted to learn more about us), I was surprised to learn that I have bunions on both of my big toes. Talk about feeling OLD! I didn't know what bunions were until today but I've heard of them and it was not in reference to young people. (FYI: A bunion is bone that grows on top of your normal big toe joint if you have damaged your foot somehow, if you have arthritis, weird foot structure, etc). It might be hard to picture but I damaged my big toes on my mission because I was constantly putting my toe on the ground in my dress shoes to stop my bike and hold it up.


Anyway, if you're wondering how I learned that I had bunions during a bishop's interview, it's a good question. When the bishop introduced himself, he mentioned that he was a podiatrist, so at the end of the meeting when he asked if we had any questions, I asked if he might know why my feet hurt so much. And ta-DA! I learned that I have some arthritis in the toes, permanent bony growths on my toe joints, and will need new shoes. Not what I expected. For being the somewhat hypochondriac that I am, I'm surprised I hadn't thought to look up foot pain symptoms before now. I just figured it was due to exercising more diligently (no, not my New Year's resolution, I'm just loving that my in-laws have On Demand Exercise TV and I've been having fun with all the variety of exercises available!) Anyway, I thought it was a great blessing that just as my toes have started hurting to the point of extreme discomfort, I met someone who could tell me why! Now the question is: Do I buy the dorky orthopedic shoes or try to get around them with roomy running shoes?

What I like about you, Joseph (also known as Husband Tag)

1. Where did we meet? Apparently I asked him to take a picture of my mission district at a missionary conference in Japan. However, my first memory of us meeting is when I moved into the Foreign Language Housing at BYU after my mission. I went looking for Elder Carruth from my mission who was supposed to be living there and was pleasantly surprised when Elder Banks from my mission walked out from the back of the apartment instead, talking with his mom on the phone (I knew he was a sweetie right then).

2. How long did we date before we were married? Officially, ten months. In my heart, a little longer.

3. How long have we been married? Six years and four months. Wow.

4. What does he do that surprises me? He can find anything on the internet. I can search all day and not find what I'm looking for but he can find whatever it is in a few minutes. And somehow if my computer (or other technology I am using) is not working, all he has to do is come near it and it starts working again. Truly surprising.

5. What's my favorite feature about him? His cute smile!

6. What's my favorite quality about him? His patience. And that he never says mean things about other people.

7. Does he have a nickname for me? No nickname. Actually, this question reminds me of a Dharma and Greg episode about a couples retreat where the couples got to put rocks in their baskets for each "romantic" thing the leader named off, such as having nicknames for each other, and Dharma and Greg got worried because they weren't getting any rocks! :)

8. What's his favorite color? green

9. What's his favorite food? Lasagne, even though we only eat it on New Year's Eve. We were lucky enough to find a way to make lasagne for New Year's every year we lived in Japan (see below).

10.What's his favorite sport? running

11.Who said "I love you" first? I'm pretty sure it was Joe.

12.When and where was your first kiss? Valentine's Day (2002) on my doorstep. He had very soft lips and his kiss literally took my breath away!

13.What are your favorite things to do as a couple? Read books together, play Lego Indiana Jones, go places together (anywhere's good!).

14.Do we have kids? Yep, one cute little X-ray who everybody says looks like Joe.

15.What's a hidden talent that he has? He has an excellent memory and can name off song titles and artists just by listening to a few notes of music. He is also an amazing meat chef, a good photographer, and an amazing teacher!

16.How old is he? Turning 30 this year (and finally catching up to me!)

17.What's his favorite type of music? Rock and J-pop (J is for Japanese).

18.What do I admire most about him? That he loves being a dad.

19.What's his favorite pasttime? Running cross country.

20.Do you think he's going to read this? Definitely. And he'll probably correct my memories. :)

Cute Quote

When trying to pep talk X into liking the idea of being pottytrained, I asked him if he wanted to get pottytrained like his cousin. Xavier responded, "Where'd the potty train go? Downstairs?" It made me laugh because he was trying to associate the word I was using (pottytrained) to what he knows (the potty, and trains). I wonder how many times we miscommunicate like this ourselves? Well, let's hop on the potty train...choo, choo!

A blog is a blog is a blog

After a hectic but successful move, the three of us are settling in to life in southern California. One of my friends who helped us move told me unpacking was harder than packing and I'm finding it is true! I think this is because you finally just got all your stuff to fit somewhat nicely into the boxes and into the truck and it seems silly to undo all of your hard work so quickly. So a lot of boxes sit there waiting for you to decide if they are important enough to get opened. In our case, most of our things went into storage so that made the unpacking easier to manage.

Xavier is loving life at Neema and Grandpa's house. This is such a great way to transition to whatever life brings us next because X has been here many times before and was comfortable and excited from the start. Occasionally he mentions something about "mom's house", meaning our old apartment, and was very excited when he saw pictures of it, so I know he misses it but he has been very calm about all the changes. He did have one night where he woke up disoriented, saying that we were in the "wrong bed" but otherwise it has been a pretty easy adjustment. Now that it has been a week, he is even making some headway with the two big dogs here. Normally he climbs up as high as he can on the closest adult until the dogs are put outside, but tonight it was raining so the dogs were in the house. X really wanted to play though, so as long as the "big dogs" weren't in the room or were visibly sleeping he stayed on the ground. Yeah for progress!

An added bonus this week was that his close-in-age-cousin ("Z") was sick and got to play with us (wait, I mean, recuperate with us) rather than go to her daycare. We all watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse together in the mornings, checked out nearby libraries, did art projects, read stories, and just played with all the fun things around the house. One favorite of mine was watching them take turns filling up a small watering can and pouring it on the "garden" (a random patch of dirt in the yard) while the other person dug around the wet dirt with a little plastic tool. They play so much better together now that they are older; they are even each other's accomplices. One day Z showed X where to hide from us (in the pantry) and they didn't make a peep for what felt like a long, heartpounding time while Joe and I searched the house in a panic!

Today, Xavier surprised me during our art project time. He took a Sharpie and was making squiggles all over his paper but when I looked again he was tracing all the letters on a flyer (he was tracing UPGRADE $99, etc.). I didn't even know he could do that!

Xavier loved being a "builder" at My Museum

Tonight I took Xavier outside to visit Grandpa's garage. Minus the dogs, I think X was in heaven! Xavier loves all the tractors and motorcycles and things Grandpa is fixing up. He got a huge kick out of sitting on a green tractor and pretending to drive and "fix" the tractor, even asking for "Turner" (a flathead screwdriver from Bob the Builder). We are definitely going to have to invest in some little toy tools and projects that X can do out there.

And should you wonder how our Christmas went, here are a few pictures of X on Christmas morning. The rest are on Joe's computer. I have to say that holidays are much more fun with a little one around! X got to open his Handy Manny pajamas on Christmas Eve (mostly because I was dying to have him open something...waiting is not my strong suit!). The pjs have the little feet and he looked so cute in them. He had to unzip them at night, though, because he likes me to rub his back and belly while he falls asleep!

He loved opening presents and eating the Clementines and chocolate in his stocking.

Joe's splurge for X--an I Spy Wall-E book

Very cool Buzz Lightyear glasses from the Gensels

My splurge for X--a drumset! We have a great drum solo to post when we get a chance.

X's size 3 soccerball. He tried it out on several soccer fields and basketball courts.

X's grandma and grandpa came up to spend Christmas with us and we got to see lots of fun things (like the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary and the sunset on the coast) and open lots of presents (like his remote control truck and a puppet theater). Xavier loved every present this year and hasn't stopped having fun with them yet!