The Holidays, Part 1

Last week, despite my better judgment, I boarded a plane bound for North Carolina with one ticket, and one 35-pound toddler. I had weighed several options for making the flight as pleasant as possible; either binge-drinking ahead of time for me, or medicating Preston with moderate-sedation levels of benadryl. But, alas, I went through with it with all parties sober. I started second guessing this choice as Preston started screaming before we even left the ground, (when I broke the news to him that he would not be getting his own seat.) Luckily, the nice lady who got to box us in to the window seat whipped out her iphone and started showing Preston videos of her horse. Worked like a charm. The rest of the flight was smooth sailing. It was truly amazing. We arrived in Charlotte and spent the next several days visiting with Uncle Mike and Aunt Sarah, and more importantly, their cat, Precious, and their scooters. (Apparently I only took pics of Precious on the ipad, those pics to follow.)

Warning: large quantity of pictures ahead that are likely to be rather boring unless you are immediate family.

1st morning: UM & AS both at work, Preston busy exploring their new house, and testing their attempt at baby-proofing. Here he is braving the 40 degree weather on the screened-in porch. He is unphased. I am taking the photo from inside.

"I'm standing on the sofa!"

"Bike."
And thus began the P-man's complete obsession with UM & AS's scooters.

Exploring new house= very tired baby.

Later that day, UM took us to the Discovery Zone in downtown Charlotte. Here, Preston is enjoying his first experience with a water table. I'm pretty sure he would have been completely content spending the rest of the day right here. 

Checking out the aquariums with UM.

The latest facial expression, in lieu of smile.

AS insisted on the P-man opening some presents that evening, which was a good thing, because someone, ahem, came seriously unprepared with no toys.

Spiderman instrument set. Here, the Spiderman drum is captured for posterity. Shortly after this picture, it was the victim of a beating with the flute (apparently it was not built for that). Subsequently, the Spiderman drum was rendered unsafe for further use.

Tickle time with AS.

Day 2: Monkey House. Despite the potentially hazardous appearance of some of the following moments, at no time was Preston's safety at risk. But if it was, we had a board-certified pediatrician on the premises.

Day 3: The scooter. Notice Preston is still in his pajamas. This is because it is early in the morning, and this is the first thing he wanted to do with his day.

Notice: change of clothing. Later in the day. Back on the scooter.

"Cheese."

Notice change of clothing, again. Day 4. Back on scooter.

Exploring the park. Our last hurrah before getting back on the airplane.

And thus concludes our NC camera pics. Next I will attempt to attach ipad pics to this same post without screwing the whole thing up. The ipad blogger app, however, does not allow for further commentary in between pics, so this is it. The plane ride home was completely uneventful as Preston slept the entire way (unmedicated, I swear.) I'd like to think it was my excellent parenting skills which led to such success, but I think it was more a stroke of pure luck, and we won't be testing his tolerance for flying again anytime soon. (As enjoyable as it was to cram a 6-foot mother and extra-large toddler into a 2-square foot space.)

ipad pics:

Another haircut!

After lots of flack from both friends and family about the length of Preston's hair, I relented that in fact he's been stuck in this in-between length for a little too long, and decided to chop it once again. I had been hoping for a cute, lengthier do, but his hair completely loses it curl by the end of the day and he's just been looking unkempt more than anything. So last week I broke out the scissors.

                                                                          Before:

                                                                           During:

                                                                         After:

                                            

December 17, 2012

Yesterday, Preston skipped his usual 2 hour midday nap, and instead opted for 2 very brief catnaps during the day. Needless to say, I put him in the bathtub a little earlier than usual in hopes he would go to bed a little earlier than usual. After the bath and getting into his pajamas, Preston instructed me to go "that way'" (one of his favorite lines), and directed me out to the sofa. I put him down, and asked him if he wanted milk, to which he said yes. (Our normal routine is a bottle, a few books, and off to bed.) I walked into the kitchen, pulled the milk out of the fridge, went over to the cupboard, turned and looked into the living room, and saw this: (literally, not 30 seconds later)-

December 13, 2012

Preston's 2nd birthday is almost a month away, and it's starting to freak me out. 2? Already?? When did that happen. Suffice it to say, we have officially arrived at the terrible 2's. It's SO much fun. Preston is constantly testing his boundaries with me, including resisting almost everything I ask him to do. I made the mistake of saying "stop" to him the other week (as an alternative to saying no), and now, I get to hear "Stop!" all the time. Which can actually be hilarious at times, but usually it's when I'm doing something like keeping him from out into a parking lot, in which case it's not as entertaining. I've tried to be very judicious with my use of "no," so that when I do say it, it actually means something. This approach has failed miserably. Also, any time I ask him to "come here," he thinks it's a hilarious opportunity to run the other way. And he's mastered the requisite toddler skill of letting his arms go up and snaking right out of a hold and quickly collapsing to the ground.
Here is a current list of things Preston hates:
Brushing his teeth.
Getting his diaper changed, still.
Taking a bath.
So, on a daily basis, atleast 5-6 times a day, I get to struggle with a 35-pound toddler kicking and screaming, to accomplish the above tasks. What joy!
On the other hand, he is still the funniest, cutest and most amazingly precious human being I have ever known, so I guess I'll keep him.
Here's a series of photos from bathtime the other night, which was a rare success in capturing some real smiles for a change.