From the very beginning…
Posts by Jaxon
Ian’s 1st Stage Show
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Yesterday, I took Ian to his very first stage show – Disney Live! Rockin’ Road Trip. He had such a blast. Initially, I was really nervous about taking a two year old to a stage show at the Palace (would he be entertained enough or would I have a bored toddler on my hands); however, Ian completely surprised me. Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have been nervous since it was a show designed for toddlers and whatnot. Ian was really good about staying with me, which was probably due to the fact that he wanted to be carried, but he really didn’t give me any problems. He held on to our tickets until it was time to give them to the ticket lady and then he handed them over himself. I don’t know how I managed it, but I timed everything pretty good because we weren’t in our seats long until the show started.
Anyway, the show itself was great. We had pretty good seats too considering I picked them up on Thursday, so Ian was able to see the stage pretty well. At first, Ian was doing his whole people watching thing, trying to figure out what was going on, but the moment Goofy stepped on the stage, he was caught. You should have seen his face when Mickey showed up. OMG, it was hilarious. He kept telling me “it’s mickey!” as if he couldn’t believe he was there. During the first half of the show, Ian was totally captivated – I don’t think his eyes left that stage for more than a minute. I want to say he really wasn’t as captivated when Cinderella and the characters from Toy Story were on stage, but I’m chalking that up to the fact that he hasn’t really been exposed to them yet. However, when Tigger appeared…oh yeah, he loved it.
About 40 minutes into the show, they did have an intermission, which Ian took in stride. He was able to walk around our aisle a little since pretty much everyone went out to the concession stands and I was smart and brought some animal crackers with us. Once the second half started, however, he did begin to get a little antsy. I think it took him that long to really begin to understand what was going on and then his excitement took over. By this time, he didn’t want to sit still as much and so wanted to get closer to the stage. He also caught on that he could dance and bounce in his chair along with everyone else. The smile on his face during these times was priceless. I just wish he would have let me take his picture a couple of times.
They did have a photo op with some cardboard cutouts of Mickey and Minnie out in the lobby (it would’ve been nicer if Mickey and Minnie had shown up, but whatever). Since this was Ian’s first stage show, I totally went with it and got him us one. Plus I couldn’t use my own camera until I bought one (greedy Disney). It was a good thing I went with it too. When Ian first saw them, he was so all over it. He kept wanting to go up there and get his picture taken that I had to keep telling him he had to wait in line. He kept trying to cut in front of people or going around the side. The little monkey. Once it was our turn…it didn’t take him 30 seconds to get his butt in front of MIckey and Minnie. He had the biggest grin on his face and loved it. As you can see, I did succumb and get him some ears.
Overall, the entire experience was really good and I would take him again. Seeing the show yesterday, though, made me start thinking about Disney World. Originally, I was thinking of waiting until he was closer to 6 or 7 before taking him, but I’m really tempted to start pricing out three day vacations for his fourth birthday.
Halloween
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Oh yes, Ian scored the loot this year. The little monkey went as a dinosaur and he was his usual adorable self. He had all the neighbors ahhing over his costume and at quite a few scored some extra candy due to his cuteness. He even got me.
Last year, he didn’t quite get the whole “trick or treat” idea and ended up just saying “please” when he made it to the doors. This year, he got the saying down and then some. He would go up, do his “trick or treat” and say thank you. The completely adorable part was when he added “happy halloween” to his thank yous. He must have caught me saying it the couple of times I did and he decided to add it on. There was even a couple of times where he went back to the door so he could tell them “happy halloween”. Go ahead, imaging a two year old saying “happy halloween” and not think it’s the most adorable thing ever.
On Thursday, Jesse’s work had its annual trick or treating for the little kids and Ian had a blast there as well. He scored some loot and it was a good trial run for his costume. During the walkthrough, I realized I was going to have to do some fabric surgery on his costume so he would stay on him a little better and it also gave him a chance to show it off. He loves the tail, I’m not sure why, but whenever he wears it, he likes to swing his butt around.
Fall Leaves
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It’s that time of the year again and our yard was covered with leaves. Ian had a blast jumping into the leaves and couldn’t get enough of them. Jesse even managed to get in on the action and Ian loved it when he swung him around and then dumped him in the leaves. The two of them were quite cute.
Greatest Toy Ever!
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Ian is loving LOVING his new marble maze. This was probably one of the greatest toys we could have given him (to date). We’re in the process of potty training Ian and one of the systems we’re currently doing is the star reward system. He gets a star for each time he successfully uses the potty and once he gets so many (the number started at 20, but we’ve been raising it each time, but he doesn’t know that), we take him to Toys R Us and he gets to pick out a toy. This last time, he picked out a marble maze (although I’m sure Jesse influenced him a little since he’s been looking at them lately) and he has been playing it every night this past week. Seriously, he started school this week (more on that later) and when he gets home, he goes directly into his room and starts playing. The best part about this – he’ll play on his own! Call me a bad mama if you want, but the fact that Ian is actually playing on his own, for more than five minutes, is exhilarating.
Now, I’m not saying we don’t play with Ian and his marble maze, because he can’t set the course up himself just yet. However, Jesse and I have been having fun as well trying out different tracks and seeing what we can do. Once it’s up though, Ian loves watching all the marbles go through it.
Helicopters!
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The boys got some new toys that they can’t get enough of. A couple of days ago, Jesse came home with a remote controlled helicopter and the two of them spent all night playing with it. They had so much fun, that Jesse sent me back to Meijer to get the novice edition for Ian to play with. Needless to say, both of them have been in love with their new toys. The moment Jesse comes home, they go get their helicopters and I get at least an hour of blissful quiet. Not only do I get the quiet, but the two don’t end up yelling at each other either.
They’ve changed up their launch pads a couple of different times, however, the favorite seems to be the top of Ian’s head. I don’t get it, but Ian loves holding one of the helicopters on his head so Jesse can launch it and then Ian will chase after it once it hits the ceiling and flops to the ground. Granted, Ian does a lot of chasing, but so does Jesse. The range on the remotes isn’t that large and it doesn’t take them long to fly them out of it. Regardless, they are having fun with them and it’s great!
My Little Bookworms
0Ian and I went down and visited with PJ & CJ and both of the boys just dove into the books. They were just so cute when they brought them out from CJ’s room and jumped into the chair to read. They were even reading to each other at one point.
If Only It Would Last
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Ian is in a kick where he likes to wash the dishes. Ever since we picked up a stool for him from Ikea, he loves pulling it up to the sink to wash his hands and the dishes that are in the sink. I know it’s a novelty at the moment, but I’m kind of hoping he’ll continue to enjoy doing the dishes once he can actually do them for me. At the moment, he just likes playing around with the water and soap. He does get a few of the dishes clean, but I still need to go back through them. ;P
The Petting Zoo!
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Do you know how hard it is to find a petting zoo? Well, a good one? Ian and I went down to the Battle Creek Binder Park Zoo where they do have one and Ian had a blast with the children’s zoo. There were all kinds of animals to pet, but Ian loved getting in with the goats and feeding them. He was able to get right up to them and pet them to his hearts content. Of course, the goats did mob him when they realized he had food, but Ian just started giggling like there was no tomorrow.
While we were there, we also got to feed and pet the giraffes Binder has in their African Safari section. We even got to see the baby giraffe that was recently born (he was soo cute). I do have to say that I like the Binder Park Giraffe feeding area more than the Detroit Zoos. At Binder, you can feed the giraffes as much as you want and as long as the giraffes will let you.
Overall, it was a great day to be at Binder Park and Ian had a blast. We’ll have to go back sometime soon.