Peanut's 3rd Birthday: Outer Space

I'm not sure if I've told you this yet but Peanut has been obsessed with outer space for the last 6 months or so.  He loves outer space, planets, rockets and Star Wars.

He can name the planets in the solar system.

I had to look this up.  It's terrible but seriously, do you remember the names of the planets in order?

Anyone who names Pluto is automatically disqualified.

Of course, we still wanted to do Halloween so we just threw it all together in a mish mosh.

A Halloween/ Outer Space/ Costume Party!

Instead of elaborate cupcakes I wanted to simplify and do cake push pops.

We started these at 11 pm the night before.
We had a really full day with another party to go to so it couldn't be helped.

If you really wanted to make them cute you could do flames coming out the bottom!

But you don't do those types of things when you start at 11 pm.

Why won't kids every go to bed on time when you have a deadline?

Anyway, cake push pops.  Hmm, I'm going to try these again but I'm not a huge fan of frosting so an entire layer of it is not a perk for me.  AND the boxed cake mix was too fluffy so it fell apart when we stuffed them.  I'm going to work on this process and get back to you.

Cake decorating is really not my thing.  At all.

Frosting cakes is not my thing.

So I made a sheet cake, froze it, cut out a paper stencil of a rocket,

cut around the stencil and then used canned white frosting on it.

Then I cut the circles out of the stencil and stuck them on the iced cake, cut the fins?  (you see, that's how much I know about rockets) off the stencil and stuck them on the cake.

Added sprinkles to the body of the rocket, removed the stencil pieces,
added Dollar Tree candles, called it a day.

This kid.  Do you see this kid?  

Can you feel the energy coming through the screen?

Yup.  He's hilarious.

His parents are AMAZING and made this for me.

2 1/2 weeks before the party I still had no idea what I was doing for the outer space theme.

His mama sent me a message that she would throw this together.

Can you believe that?

Me neither.

This rockets was completely amazing.

It was completely free standing.

Peanut is still using it, he thinks it's hilarious.

I should just set it up in his room in front of the mirror.

Snow White came by and all the little girls swooned.

Her little Mulan was incredibly adorable.

I love seeing all the kids dressed up.

This little boys birthday party was the day before.

These guys met at My Gym and immediately clicked 

so I guess you could say he's Peanut's first friend.
You know, a friend of his own making, outside of the friends that I have introduced him to.

Oh my God.

A little chicken!

I've really been cutting back on the parties
 but as my friends keep having babies, the parties never seem to get any smaller.

Cousin Daniel, always camera ready and without the strained fake smiles I get from Peanut.

Did I mention the RJ stand for Peanut's initials and the 3 for his age.

They thought of everything!

This is why you have little girls.

Her expression is fantastic.

And then I died.

Come on up little batman!

That finger full was all he ate of his cake which is why I don't believe in putting a lot of effort into it :)

My niece and her baby.

She's a parrot!  And my niece made her costume!

Baby Charlie's parents were pirates for Halloween 

and they looked adorable carrying around their little parrot.

Did I mention that both of them have Dawn as a middle name?

I like to mention that to people.

I did not previously know that spider girl existed but I love her.

Peanut was very envious of her brother, Darth Vader.

She's like the spokesmodel for cake push pops.

AND she has the modeling leg pop down.

I swear, every time I pulled out the camera she struck a pose!

Because my friends are awesome, we got a lot of themed cards and bags and presents.

Snow White made this one.

What 3 year old doesn't want a solar system in his room?

OK, my kid is a little odd.

After most of the guests left Daniel and Ryder decided to open some presents.

What this means is that Daniel opens the presents and we try to get Peanut to pay attention.

Peanut would be happy to open one present and then play with it.

Present opening could take days.  Months even.

I made Halloween and Space felt play boards for the kids to take home.

Thank you mom for the idea as I had no idea what to make.
My mom made them look professional.
I'll post about these soon!

And then there was this face.
You want to squish it and kiss her cheeks don't you?
She'll be a year old this month.

When she smiles, she has dimples and then I give her whatever she wants.

He had a great time!

PS In case you noticed, yes he was wearing pajamas the entire party.
They were supposed to go under his costume that he didn't wear.
It wasn't the type of costume that you can climb around in but I thought I could at least get one picture.
He was in it for days beforehand but you know how these things go.

Fall Felt Fun

Fall is here and we've pulled out some of the play things from last fall.

This means fall books, a few fall movies and this perfect fall felt board.

This proved to be even more fun this year than it was last year!

He loves putting all the leaves up just right.

Believe me, I am often called out on my faulty leaf placement and 

he'll then correct my placement to suit his design.  

I'm not sure why this is necessary because the highlight of getting all the leaves up is that he then swipes at the tree to watch all the leaves fall down in a heap on the ground.

Peanut just got over a mild case of Pneumonia in which he seemed to go thru long spurts of being tired and very short spurts of crazed energy.

In any case, some easy, quiet, inside play was perfect.

If you want to see how I made this DIY Fall Felt Play Board you can find it HERE!

(or any of the other many places I linked on this post)

SeaWorld: Dolphins, Dirty Looks & a Drenched Boy

Hello friends, join me on this lovely photographic journey of a day at SeaWorld...

a wonderland of toddler emotions.

Between the excitement of being with cousins, and the constant over-stimulation of an amusement park, it's amazing we made it out without any meltdowns.

Attitude, definitely.  Meltdowns?  Only by mommy.

The Dolphin Show.

You see, shows are odd for toddlers because we sit in venues that look as if something exciting might happen and we wait for 15 minutes before anything does.

That's the equivalent of spending six toddler months just looking around and trying to figure out what in the world we are supposed to be watching..

But then the dolphins show up and you're all like....

OMYGAWD!  DOLPHINS!

I was super impressed that someone was able to train these dolphins to flip over and splash the crowd with their tails.

Peanut was insistent that it was his turn to do it next.

He wanted to sit next to that lady with the tarp.

Which makes me wonder, why do you sit in the designated soak zone and then cover your legs with a flimsy blue poncho?

Dylan was mesmerized.

Either that or he was calculating how to get out of there before he got splashed.

Riding two dolphins is not nearly as graceful or feminine as one might think but she is quite talented.

This was also something that Peanut insisted was his turn next.

This is when we buy stinky fish, wait, we didn't buy that- thank you to whatever auntie or uncle got that for Peanut!- and we try to feed the seals that are fed all day, every day.

As you can see, these guys aren't exactly racing to the edge to receive their treats.

The only logical thing to do is pelt the noisy beasts with your fish.

I'm pretty sure they're just yelling at him and not trying to eat the fish.

Unless you can find this bird.  He wants all the fish and he's not afraid to step on a seal to get to it.

Cousin love.

This was a hug.  Or a tackle.

It depends on how much space you give them and how much energy you have.

If you're tired or hot and you think it might be a tackle but noone is screaming yet, you can call it a hug and actively ignore it.

But really, this was a hug.

The Shamu show starts at 1 pm.

1 pm = Nap time

After a weekend of excitement and random schedules and noise and food and whatnot, naps are important BUT it's Shamu.

We had a whole group and you can't miss the shamu show.

So we did what every parent in this situation does.  We hype it up.

LOOK PEANUT!  IT'S A WHALE!

I look at him with that frozen excitement face plastered on.

You know, the one that involves raising your eyebrows and shoulders, mouth open in a wide grin in the hopes of getting some kind of reciprocation.
I know you're mimicking it right now.
Your excitement face doesn't seem to me working either.

WOW!  LOOK AT THOSE WHALES JUMPING AND FLIPPING!

AREN'T THEY AMAZING!

HAHAHA!  AREN'T THEY SILLY!

.................

AND SPINNING, BABY!  SEE THE WHALES SPINNING!

I clap my hands wildly, snap a few pictures and give him the excitement face again.

Um, what?

This is either the look angry celebrities give the paparazzi for jumping out from behind a bush for a surprise this unwanted picture of you will be on tomorrow's cover
  OR
he's making an obscene gesture.

You call it.

But then some Gangnam Style song came on and I guess he couldn't help but pound his fist to the beat.

He has never, to my knowledge, been exposed to this music.

I'll be honest,
I found his immediate response a bit alarming.
















Of course, daddy decided to go on a big ride with his cousins.
I knew the only way to keep him from a meltdown was the water play area.

This kid LOVES the water.

As you saw HERE.

I kinda wish that you couldn't see this area from all the kiddie rides.
It's hard to keep him away and not something I want to do repeatedly through the day.

But did you see that kid's face?

I cannot resist it.

And 15 minutes later.

Memorial

Today I went to the memorial for our next door neighbor.  He died in an accident on his grandparents ranch last Thursday.  He is the second of three boys and he was only 10 years old.

We've been living here for almost a year and I'm sad and a little embarrassed to say that we don't know the family very well.  We say hellos and exchange small talk.  I often make a mental note to get to know the neighborhood better.  Most have lived here the last decade, all of those kids growing up together, and I see the tragedy reflected in everyone's eyes.  I'm still reeling from the news.

I feel shock, tears, anger and sadness.  I play with Peanut, we eat our dinner, we go through the bedtime routine, and I cannot stop thinking that 10 feet away their family is in a living nightmare.  It's any parents nightmare.  How do you survive everyday without your child?

I want to be able to help.  I want to give them their privacy.  I wish desperately that they could have their little boy back.  Every day I'm reminded of something that they won't get to share with their boy.  I think of holidays, graduations and weddings.  I think of breakfast, baseball and passing by a room to see him reading inside.  He was just about to start the fifth grade.  I think of Peanut, and the way he smells just before bed, as I step into the pantry to cry.  Mostly I think about that little boys mother.

In the backyard there is the low rumble of talking.  It comes in soothing tones or perhaps the murmur that comes when you lack the energy to speak in more than a whisper.  The pain is so raw and deep, I can feel it through the walls.  Or perhaps I'm projecting my own visions of myself if I were to lose Ryder.  I think to myself that they will never be OK.  Never.  They may survive and they may find happiness, but they have been robbed of so much.  Of their little boy, of the future they could have had, of an innocent childhood for their 2 surviving boys.  I'm angry and heartbroken simultaneously.  I pray that their family will make it through this intact, or as intact as you can be when you're missing one of your pack.

Today we listened to his father read something written by his son.  It was a list of things that this little boy foresaw in his future.  When I am 20 years old, when I am 30 years old, when I am 50 years old, when I am 75 years old....  it made me laugh and cry.

The church was packed full of people who loved him.  People he inspired with his smiles and kindness shared stories of him.  The little boy full of "What if's"  had a big smile, a big imagination and a big heart.  There were kids wearing jerseys from teams they were on together and teachers talking about his eagerness to learn.

I don't know how to wrap up this post.  I could say something about cherishing every day with your loved ones.  I could talk about the gift of children.  Maybe I should just ask everyone to pray for this family.  Send good vibes.  Bow your head.  His loss is tragic, unfair and awful.  I wish it were also untrue.

n t

Summertime

East meets West, the Cousin edition

We spent this past weekend on a much needed vacation in San Diego.

4 whole days visiting with family that flew in from as far as China and Boston for B's cousin's wedding.  The highlight for Peanut was spending time with all his own cousins.

I've been negligent in downloading pictures this summer, and the result is 969 new pictures for me to sort through.  Instead of doing anything in an order that makes sense, I'm going to start with the last outing of the weekend.

We had dinner at awesome Point Loma Seafoods which sits just next to the docks.
It was a bit grey but the weather seemed so fitting to the scene around it.
Besides, I don't mind a bit of grey after a day in scorching SeaWorld sun.

I wasn't really sure how dinner would go considering the only nap that day was 35 min at SeaWorld.

Apparently a dinner of a crab cake sandwich and clam chowder is plenty to keep him happy.

Seriously though, the crab cakes are fantastic!

Meet Dylan!  Dylan and his family flew in from Boston and rented a house in Mission Beach that we used as base all weekend.  He and Peanut are 3 months apart and were fast friends as soon as they met.

I'm already fantasizing about a trip to Boston.

Plus, Dylan's mommy is an ER doctor in Children's Hospital Boston which is pretty much the best thing ever when you have 2 wild boys galavanting around.

I was like, don't worry about Peanut, Katie can save him if he falls down those concrete stairs!

My father-in-law commented the other day that trying to get all the kids to look at the camera for a picture is like trying to herd cats.

I'd say that's pretty much accurate.

So.tired.

And goofy.

Peanut has taken a sudden interest in my camera.

I'm assuming because it's expensive and he feels deep down that he needs to get his hands on it.

He took this picture of his cousin; I think it's pretty good.

Watching these boys together is awesome.

They are at that age where they can actually have conversations,

 and we can still marvel that they are communicating.

Stop growing kid.  Just slow down.

And then we let them run down this dock approximately 184 times.

Everyone needs a buddy to run down a dock with at 8pm on a summer evening.

But this is my absolute favorite of the night.

This picture captures the fun and giggles and squealing and friendship and breathless tromping around, all in one perfect moment.