So That's Christmas

We weren't sure what Karston would think of Christmas this year. On Christmas Day yesterday, he enjoyed opening presents at home with his parents and his Mimi. He especially liked getting more wooden train tracks right after he asked for mo' twacks, and getting two Thomas engines and a Percy. Going to see his cousins was fun until nap time (I wanted to nap too, but I was driving so I stayed wide awake). He likes Christmas trees, especially if the lights are on, and he likes taking a tour of the ornaments. It's another opportunity to ask what's this?, although he tells everyone in sight which ornaments are trains!

However, Christmas clicked today. When Karston saw that his new toys were still here, still under the tree, that made it make sense to him. He had even more fun playing with his toys today! For his bed time story, he asked Daddy to read The Night Before Christmas, and he said ho ho ho every time he saw Santa in the book. So next year, he will definitely understand Christmas (at least the part with the presents). Too bad he has to wait 364 days after that concept to do it again!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

What's This?

We had a number of conversations that started with What's this? today. I'm sure it could get old soon, but right now I'm loving it! What's this? -It's brown rice, dear. Brown nice. Yeah, brown rice! Brown rice. Sometimes he would correct me. What's this? -It's a door, dear. No, this! (pointing more insistently) -It's our front door. No, this! (tapping door handle) -It's a door handle. Handle. Yeah, handle. It's a handle.

Lately it's been hard to say how many words he knows. He'll repeat some of what we say, but we don't know if he knows what he's saying. Then out of the blue, he'll rattle off a complete sentence that he clearly means, and we wonder where he learned all those words! Add some what's this? to the mix, and I expect his vocabulary to take off like a rocket! He knows what he's asking, he knows what he wants to learn to say, and there's no stopping his language now. So far, it's a lot of fun to teach him what he wants to learn!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

Rest

We thought we might do three parks in four days at Disney, but we decided to let our feet recover, to kick back and enjoy the resort. That's a much better plan! We had a nice omelet on-site for breakfast. We took the bus to Epcot so we could ride the monorail to Magic Kingdom; Karston loves trains! We had a quick lunch at the Contemporary Resort. I was hoping to see uniquely modern decor and maybe get some ideas, but it was the cold and sterile version of contemporary. So we hopped on the monorail again, to catch a bus back to our room for Karston's nap. For dinner, we had reservations at Shutters restaurant. Good food, and everyone working there was so nice to Karston! We had a relaxing day to recuperate today, so that we can head home refreshed tomorrow before jumping back into the work week.

Technorati Tags: Toddler, Travel

It's a Small World

Today we went to The Magic Kingdom. That's the Disney experience! We got there early, just as they opened, and had no trouble getting on some of the popular rides. We had lunch at Pecos Bill, and all I'm going to say about that is Don't get the beef there! Less said, the better. We timed the afternoon just right for Karston's nap, so he was not fussy. After the nap, we came back to Magic Kingdom. We had a Pinnochio dinner (much better than Pecos Bill's beef that I still tasted all evening), and Karston enjoyed the Magic Kingdom so much, he didn't want to leave. It got dark, he loved the parade. It got darker, he cuddled with me during the fireworks. We didn't leave until after 10 PM because Karston was so involved in the experience! I think we'll sleep well too.

I'm saving today's highlights, as you might guess from that synopsis.

This morning, Karston woke up and asked for Mickey. He's never asked for Mickey before, but we quickly determined that he wanted to watch Mickey Mouse cartoons while we ate breakfast, and then go to the park to see Mickey. Wow, Disney catches 'em quickly!

Absolutely the best ride in Magic Kingdom, if you ask Karston, is It's A Small World. We rode it three times, and each time Karston had more fun than the previous time. Cinderella's Carousel was good, Dumbo's Flying Adventure was OK, and everything else whatever. He rode in my lap for the first trip through It's A Small World first thing in the morning. For the last trip at 10 PM, he announced, Karston sit in middle! and he sat between us.

However, that leads into the gotcha that got Karston. The line for the Pirates of the Caribbean had been long, so when we saw a short line late in the evening, we headed in. The boats for this ride are exactly the same as the Small World boats, so Karston announced that he was sitting in the middle between us. First you go through a misty face of Davy Jones, and Karston buried his face under my arm. Then the boat drops abruptly and passes between two ships firing cannons at each other! Karston gave up his seat to jump in my lap and hide his face in my chest for the rest of the ride. Pirates of the Caribbean is no small world!

Technorati Tags: Toddler, Travel

Mommy's Disney Birthday

Today is Mommy's birthday. Going to Disney (somewhere warm!) is a great present for me.

Several times today, one of us, usually Daddy, would ask Karston if he wanted to tell Mommy Happy Birthday. Each time he gave the same loud answer: NO!

We went to Pepper Grill for breakfast again, for the same reasons as before: more menu selections with fruits and veggies. The fancier menus just didn't tempt us. After breakfast, we went to the hotel where we'll stay the rest of this trip, the Caribbean Beach Resort. We had to check in at next resort to get our park tickets, and going to one of the parks was our plan for today. So we shuffled our bags to the transfer station and got a taxi (faster than waiting for the Magical Express transfer). When we got there, our room was already ready (surprising when the resort is full!). Caribbean Beach Resort feels exactly like the sort of place we like to vacation. Ah, how relaxing!

If you want to follow along, you can look at Google Maps for Walt Disney World to locate the various attractions.

We headed to Animal Kingdom today because it's new and we've never been there. I don't want to say anything bad about it, but it really made me appreciate the NC Zoo. We've got a really good zoo that holds its own with Animal Kingdom for animals, botany, and playgrounds. Go Zoo! Animal Kingdom does have The Tree and town replicas. The architecture was cool and different, and it was worth going once. Africa was mostly walks, although we did get on The Safari Ride before I saw the sign that said expectant mothers should not ride. I was fine, but Karston needed some snuggling. Oh, and as expected, Fast Pass is really nice! I'm not fond of lines.

We finally had lunch at Pizzafari. I had a hard time finding food that I wanted to eat; it all sounded so greasy and unhealthy, and I just didn't want an upset tummy. We notice the customers weren't as large at Pizzafari as the other restaurants we saw at Animal Kingdom, so all of us there were looking for healthier food.

In the Asia section of Animal Kingdom, we took the Maharajah walk. Karston was either a zombie in his umbrella stroller, or he crawled up on me to fall asleep. He's so often a Daddy's Boy, but when it comes to pure comfort and a missed nap, Mommy wins. That was a nice birthday present of love from my toddler! But you know ... just say NO! to saying happy birthday to Mommy (Karston said so)!


We took a break, and went back to our room for a nap. Ahh ... vacation naps are just plain delicious!

We had dinner in the food court since the restaurant wait was long and we were hungry. Then we took Karston to the playground. The playground at Coronado Springs said 2-6 years old; the playgrounds at Caribbean Beach all say 5-12 years old. So although we like the feel of Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs has some strong points on the playground, and on a slightly nicer room. Karston still went on the slide with Daddy although he was less sure of himself, and then asked to swing (most of us would call it a hammock, but it's just another kind of swing to Karston). Then Karston spotted a baby chair, a small chair his size, in the chair line-up on the sandy beach, so we watched egrets walk by lake-side from beach chairs. I thought that was a good birthday evening right there.

We were getting Karston down to bed when I started to wonder, What is that rattle? Guess what it was? Well, let's just say I have never on my birthday watched fireworks through palm fronds in a teeshirt! Or walked around outside barefoot on my birthday! The only thing I missed for this birthday was talking to my mother, breaking a long and wonderful tradition. Then we ate some chocolate cake by the pool. What a wonderful birthday!

Technorati Tags: Toddler, Travel

Going to Disney

Well, we made it Walt Disney World! We packed light (I think). OK, it's only 4 days, but our bags are only 32 pounds! I packed in less time with less stress thanks to TiddlyWiki Packing (and I use TiddlyWiki D3 for GTD).

So this morning, we all flew to Orlando. The flight attendant said to Daddy about Karston, He couldn't look any more like you! And when we got on the bus to go from the Orlando airport to Coronado Springs Resort, the bus lady said to me, Look at that belly! Guess it's obvious that I'm pregnant now.

We got to Coronado Springs about 1:30 PM. Our room wasn't ready until 4:30 PM, but the wait was not at all annoying. We started with lunch since we hadn't eaten yet. The on-site dining choices didn't offer very many veggies with the meals, and we went to the place (Pepper Grill) with the highest veggie chances. I was one of the lighter women there, especially in the over-30 set; oddly that makes me want to lose weight. After lunch, we went to the Dig Site and Explorers' Playground. Karston mostly wanted to slide again and again and again.

We're staying at Coronado Springs one night; it's pretty nice, reasonable size room (we won't be in there much, but we're not sliding around each other and there's room for two suitcases). Oh, and I saw a new (to me) hotel feature: the alarm clock radio had an MP3 line in! I can see how that's popular in the iPod era. The hotel store was actually useful because they had beer!

We had large salads for dinner, so on the way back, we walked the long way around the lake to try to walk some of it off. Karston said no playground, go to house, so we went back.

When we got back, Karston noticed where I burned my arm on the oven last week. He grabbed my arm, pointed, and said boo-boo! When Karston says boo-boo (especially when there isn't one!), he wants to kiss. I knew it would hurt to have him kiss my burn, but he's such a sweet child that I asked him if he wanted to kiss Mommy's arm to make it better. He said, No! Gross! Until that moment, I had no idea that gross was any sort of deterrent for him! If I say something is gross, he doesn't slow down at all; I just figured that's how boys are. But if he thinks something is gross, well that's another story.

Daddy got annoyed that we weren't asleep yet, but he's the one snoring loudly. Gee, I wonder why everyone else is awake? Thumper (meaning Cale) kicking Karston doesn't help him sleep either; I think the snoring only bothers me so I packed ear plugs. Since my waist has disappeared, I don't need a pillow under my waist to straighten my back, so that does make sleeping in a hotel easier since I don't have to request more pillows.

Especially with the delay getting the room and how nice the grounds were to explore, I'm really glad we didn't try to do more today! I think it would have been stressful for no reason. Oh, and I want a surry bike! You can rent surry bikes here, and they look very cool! Some of them are four-passenger in a two-by-two configuration; Mommy and Daddy could sit next to each other on a bike, and we could both be pedaling too. Interesting idea.

Technorati Tags: Toddler, Travel

They're Gone

Karston's has been kissing us a lot lately (thank goodness he's not sick!), and he really is very sweet. Take today for instance.

Daddy needed to go to work this afternoon, and luckily his parents came over for lunch so they could watch Karston; but when Karston woke up from his afternoon nap, only Daddy was home. Daddy picked him up for his post-nap hug. Karston pointed to the kitchen, then to the frig for his juice. After drinking some juice, he looked around and said in a forlorn voice, They're gone, his first words after his nap. We're guessing Karston had a wonderful time playing with his grandparents before his nap!

Technorati Tags: Toddler

Under 30

Well, Karston is 29 months today ... and my, the changes are fast! He's talking and running and playing full-bore. Today he really wants to kiss and to play with his wooden trains, especially to re-design the track layout. By my measurements, he's almost 34" tall (between 5th and 10th percentiles), weighing 22.8 pounds fully dressed but with a fresh diaper (still not on the charts but following the curve), and 19" head circumference (25th percentile). He's getting taller quickly, mostly in the legs, but not gaining much weight.

Technorati Tags: Toddler