Category Archives: toddler

Overnight Trip with the Kiddos

Two weekends ago we decided to take the kids out of town to see a friend of Josh’s get married. We really had no expectations since we knew anything could happen on the kids’ first hotel stay, and first long car ride. The trip actually went much better than we had hoped all things considered, but we also didn’t get that many photos either.

Thanks to the Kindle, the drive wasn’t bad at all since Enzo was able to watch ‘Frozen’ and “Jack Frost” (aka ‘Rise of the Guardians). It was a 4.5 hour drive, so we stopped once to feed Phoebe and let Enzo run around a bit and the rest of the time he napped. When Phoebe wasn’t sleeping, she was happy just playing and looking around, although close to the end she did start to get more vocal, which was her way of showing us she wanted out. Ha ha.

When we got to the hotel we were glad to see there was a microwave and a fridge (both really helpful with kids), but the AC didn’t work all that well and as far as cleanliness goes… yeah, not really that great. Both of the kids were in good spirits, however, and really just wanted to get all of the wiggles out. We got to the hotel right before dinner, and decided to just order in since we figured neither kid would want to get back in the car again.

Not surprisingly, bedtime was pushed back a tad, but Phoebe went down with little difficulty. Rather than bringing the pack n’ play we decided to just each sleep with on the of the kiddos and use pillows to keep them from rolling out. Enzo was thrilled to get to hang out with Daddy, and I only got feet in my back half the night. 😉 Unfortunately, though, Little Miss did not sleep the best and woke up early with a nasty cough, which also meant that everyone was up at 5:30.

We gave in and let Enzo watch TV, and despite the lack of sleep he was ready to run around. We were the first at breakfast, which was helpful with the munchkins. Enzo was all too happy to greet everyone as they came down to eat, but soon got a bit too rambunctious and Josh took him upstairs while I finished with Phoebe, who then decided it was time for a nap.

We had a few hours to get ready, and now that I think about it we probably should have planned to do more out of the hotel room, but with Phoebe needing bottles on a regular basis and eating mostly purees… the food part of things can be tricky. We had a car bottle warmer and a thermos of hot water, but making bottles in the car and then feeding a very easily distracted baby is just not fun.

Thankfully the ceremony and reception was held in a nice location in a large park that had plenty to drive around and see, so we were hoping Enzo could get some wiggles out before the ceremony.

There were several other families out enjoying the day and Enzo desperately wanted to interact and play, but… how do I put it… most of the families were not there to interact with anyone else, so I told Enzo there would probably be other kids for him to play with at the wedding. (Thankfully I was right).

The wedding itself was lovely and Enzo had a ball. We were that family, though. You know the one – the one with the toddler running around and not really sitting still during the meal. We knew we were toeing the line on a potential meltdown, though, since he was missing his nap and had been up early. We did our best to keep him from getting in the way and just let him run around like a crazy toddler. Phoebe was exhausted as well and literally fell asleep while I was feeding her, so she snoozed in the Ergo while I ate and Josh kept an eye on Enzo who was making friends left and right.

I think our first little road trip was a success, and we definitely know what we’ll do the same and what we’ll do differently next time around. Honestly, it’ll just be easier when Phoebe is eating more solids and we don’t have to worry about bottles, so we probably won’t do too many hotel stays until then, but really that’s not that many months away. I think we’ve got some good travelers in the making.

Toddler Talk

Enzo talks a lot, but here are some of the things he says the most, and some of the things that make me smile the most.

“I will have it” Enzo says this a lot, and it’s super cute, especially when it’s something that he really can’t have, so he just keeps repeating it.

“Uv ooo too” or “Love you too” Nothing better than hearing these tiny words, often at bedtime right as you’re closing the door.

“Help! Help!” It’s truly in the presentation with this one. We’ve been encouraging him to ask for help for a while now whenever he’d get frustrated at something that was really just too hard for him to do himself, and it finally caught on. Now, he’ll sit and say, “Help, help” in this overly frantic way that is so funny.

“Enzo ride a camel” (Usually followed by “Daddy ride a camel too”) I’m assuming this doesn’t need explaining, but yes, they rode a camel at the zoo and he randomly brings it up now and then.

“Big poop!” Because poop is funny. Whether you are a 2 year old boy or a 30-something year old man.

“Enzo new choo-choo.” I’m wondering when his choo-choo will cease to be “new” and just be a choo-choo. It is pretty cute when he wakes up and climbs out of bed and runs out to see it. I’m guessing he must dream about trains or something.

“I did it!” This is often followed by clapping and lots of enthusiasm over pretty much anything that he accomplished whether it be climbing, putting something away, peeing on the potty, dumping water where he shouldn’t…

I also love listening to him recite the alphabet and count. Sure, he’s not accurate yet, but I think that just makes it more adorable.

Taste Everything

These pictures are old (as you can tell by the warmer gear Enzo is wearing), but he was so excited to get outside a few weeks after one of the first Spring rains, and for some reason I just haven’t gotten around to sharing these pictures.

Toddlers are kind of awesome and yet terrifying both at the same time in the sense that they have almost no fear and will try just about anything. It doesn’t matter what.

While Enzo will not always eat yummy delicious things like ice cream or homemade mac n’ cheese, you can bet he’ll try anything that’s on the ground even if that means nasty puddle water in the day care parking lot or less nasty water off the picnic table on the deck.

I find it both amusing and exasperating at times that he can be so picky about some things and then not about others. You learn to just roll with it and have no expectations whatsoever. That also means that when a day is going really well, it’s even more exciting and awesome and you feel like you could accomplish anything because not a single meltdown has happened over something like the wrong socks or the fact that he wanted milk (but asked for juice).

While it makes me nervous that he’ll attempt to copy the bigger kids even if a jump makes him think twice, and inevitably hurts himself, I love that he always gets back up and isn’t afraid to try again later. Granted, he’s still freaked out by elevators and avoids them at all cost (which can be a little difficult at times), but who doesn’t have one or two little fears? I’m kind of grateful he has a few considering how many almost heart-attacks this kid is going to cause me over the years to come.

To the Zoo!

We decided that since Memorial Day Weekend was 3 days long we should get out for at least one of those days, so we went to the zoo! We figured it might not be too busy if we went early enough on Saturday since a lot of people were also going to be camping. It’s actually much easier to go to the zoo when there a lot of other families rather than a lot of people without kids who for some reason think it’s crazy that so many people take their kids to the zoo and get pissy if you’re walking slow or are chasing down a toddler who no longer wanted to sit in his stroller.

We brought the barge so that way both kids would have the option of sitting in the stroller at the same time. I brought a sling as well in case Phoebe got fussy, but really enjoyed hanging out in her own special seat, especially when Enzo was sitting in front of her and she could reach out to hold the seat in front of her.

Enzo was a little bit of a grump, but Phoebe was very happy just checking everything out. We thought it might put Enzo in a good mood to try and ride a camel, and he got excited at the suggestion, so $10 later (ouch) he and Josh took a ride around on a camel. Enzo got a little scared at first, so Josh showed him how fun it is to make silly noises because of how bumpy the ride was, and he got more into it. Josh is actually recording Enzo making the silly noises (and not checking Facebook).

We did a fairly quick walkthrough this time around since Enzo was kind of having an “off” day, but did stop to see the otters and wolverine, which he thoroughly enjoyed before heading home. Since we renewed our membership it’s nice to feel like we can stay as long as we want, and it’s okay to only see a few things each time. I’m glad that overall the kiddos generally do really well on our little day trips, though.

It’s also the first time, though (at this particular zoo) that I kind of felt bad watching the animals. I never noticed how small some of the exhibits are and (maybe its hormones), I just felt a twinge of sadness as the lynx slept curled up in a ball next to the glass while small children tried to get its attention by making noise and banging. It all felt a little depressing, to be honest.

And now that I’ve completely ended things on a dismal note (whoops), if I ever win the lottery, I know I want to put some of it towards wildlife conservation. Anything helps, right? Hopefully if you visit your own zoos frequently you’ll educate yourself and see what ways you can help support your local zoo as well as support wildlife in general. There are so many simple things we could all do.

Photo… Dump? Deposit?

Photo dump just sounds so… blech, even though that’s kind of what this post is. I take so many photos of the kids and random things and end up editing them and uploading them, but don’t always use them in posts. So, I thought I’d just do a random mish mash post of things that happened and sort of fell through the cracks in the last few months.

I love making cookies, but when I do I never hear the end of it and Enzo won’t stop talking about them, and he’d sit down and go through the entire batch in one sitting if we let him.

It’s hard not to take about a million photos of this little girl… especially since her brother doesn’t like to sit still anymore and is more interested in what’s going on behind the camera than being in front of it.

She’s not quite as serious as she was a few months ago. Now she seems to be constantly smiling moving – not that that’s a bad thing!

Sigh… soon she won’t be using the Bumbo. She’s been doing so good with sitting up on her own. I still tend to stay really close, but even when she falls over she does it in such a graceful way… not like Enzo who would suddenly just tip and BAM. I guess he got that from me.

Mmm… cake. I should make more of this. However, the caramel sauce that day did NOT cooperate. Why do I have such trouble with caramel??

This guy can be so serious as well… his determination lives on, however now that he’s a 2 year old he makes it known when he gets frustrated. Sometimes he’ll just stay silent for a minute and huff, but other times he yells – more like roars – and throws whatever has made him mad.

In this case, he happened to be mad at Elmo for some reason. Or me… and he was taking it out on Elmo. That happens sometimes. So far we haven’t had to deal with much grumpiness from Phoebe (though I’m sure that will come), so let’s just end this post with another ray of sunshine, shall we?

Dino and Bunnies

Every day adventures