Memorial Day Weekend

Big sister K has been asking to go to Sesame Place, so we finally went this past Saturday.  The few days leading up to it has been great - every time she was about to misbehave, we'd use that as leverage and ask her, "Do you want to go to Sesame Place?" and she'd immediately obey us.  I guess that only worked to a certain extent though, because Friday night was extremely challenging as we tried teaching her how to spell her colors.  She refused to pay attention and definitely tested our patience beyond belief.  We were exhausted and it got so late that eventually we just sent her to bed.  The next morning, she woke up on her own and the first thing she said to us was, "I want to spell my colors by myself."  She then went downstairs, took the book, and started spelling all the colors out loud.  Afterwards, she came back upstairs for me to test her.  When she got them all correct, she says to me, "Now can we go to Sesame Place?"

Big sister K had a bit of a cold, so we didn't let her do any of the water activities at Sesame Place.  Still, she had a good time watching the parade, Elmo's World Live, and the new "Let's Play Together" show in Abby's Paradise Theater.  We left the park early enough so that we'd get home in time for dinner.  On the way out, we saw Zoe and had to let big sister K take a picture with her.  How fitting that she happened to be wearing her Zoe shirt that day!

We went out to Chinatown on Sunday and actually made it somewhat on time to service (first time in a while!).  We only stayed in the sanctuary for worship though, then headed upstairs to the nursery.  Big sister K joined the other kids for the beginning of Sunday School, but started crying while practicing a song for Father's Day, so she didn't stay for the actual lesson.  After church, we went over to M's mom's place.  Everyone hung out there while I paid a visit to the dentist to take care of an abscessed tooth (I am now on antibiotics and was reassured that taking the medicine is fine while breastfeeding).

On Monday, big sister K woke up crying because she had another bad nosebleed (her fourth or fifth one this month).  I kept her nose pinched and was able to stop the bleeding, but both kids had a cold, so we decided not to go strawberry-picking.  Though we didn't do much, I feel like the day wasn't as relaxing as I would've liked it to be.  Then again, I guess it's hard for any day to be relaxing with two kids around.

Piano Lessons

I made my first purchase ever on Groupon.com earlier this week.  I saw a deal for piano lessons at Worldwide Piano in Edison and thought I'd let big sister K try it out.  I bought six private lessons for her and figured she'll get whatever she can out of them.  Even if she didn't like it, they were inexpensive enough that I wouldn't feel like it was a total waste of money.

Big sister K went for her first lesson today.  Both the owner of the place and her instructor thought she was a bit young, but I told them she expressed interest, so I'd have her try it out for a few weeks and see how she does.  Her instructor (Mr. P) was pretty good with her, considering he's never taught anyone so young (I confirmed with him after the lesson and he said that the youngest student he's ever had before big sister K was age 5).

There wasn't much piano-playing during this first lesson; the focus was more on posture and technique.  Big sister K was attentive, but remained shy and was hesitant to respond when Mr. P asked her a question.  I'm sure she'll warm up over the next few lessons though, since she kept asking about Mr. P on the car ride home.  He gave her "homework"; hopefully I'll have enough time and energy this week to let her practice on the piano.

First Field Trip

Big sister K went on her very first field trip to Von Thun Farms today.  Despite the gloomy weather, the trip went as planned and the kids got to see some farm animals and pick strawberries.  I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up big sister K to learn that she didn't have to change into her spare clothes and shoes (I expected the grounds to be muddy from all the rain).  Big sister K had a lot of fun and brought home a pot of petunias, a quart of strawberries, and a coloring book.  She was kind enough to share her strawberries with M and me after dinner, and I must say, she did a good job picking them out.  Maybe we'll go strawberry-picking again this weekend if the weather cooperates.

RL & HF's Wedding

I am so happy for RL and HF who tied the knot this past Saturday.  The weather was perfect, the ceremony was beautiful, the newlyweds were adorable, and baby M got to attend his very first wedding.  M and I enjoyed a brief break from baby duty as everyone wanted to hold him; he got passed around like a football so much that I couldn't even keep track of his whereabouts.  Meanwhile, big sister K had fun dancing at the reception.  At one point, she didn't want to eat her meal and asked to stand in the corner (nothing new to those who've kept up with my blog).  Everyone at the table thought I was giving her a time-out until I explained to them that her "punishment" was self-inflicted.  I'm glad we got to share in RL & HF's celebration, and am hoping that they are now having a blast on their Disneynoon.  Congrats RL and HF!!!

Happy Mommy's Day

K: Happy Mommy's Day, mommy!
Me: Thank you, K.
K: What about daddy's day?
Me: Daddy's day is coming up next month.
K: What about K's day?
Me: Every day is K's day!

Thanks to my wonderful hubby for the beautiful flowers, and for making a special trip to Target with big sister K for construction paper and stickers just so she can make me a card.

 Front and back of the card:

 Inside the card:

Disney Trip Recap

Saturday, 5/5/12:
Our flight to Orlando was delayed as we got stuck on the tarmac for almost an hour waiting to take off.  Baby M did pretty well on the flight there and napped a good chunk of the way.  Big sister K finally got her wish to go on a plane (though this is her fifth plane ride... obviously she doesn't remember the other four times), but I think she expected it to be more exciting.  Everything went fairly smoothly that day.  Once we landed, I fed baby M while M waited for our luggage.  We then found the Disney Magical Express Welcome Center and boarded the bus that brought us to our hotel.

Sunday, 5/6/12:
Our first stop in this week-long vacation was to Magic Kingdom.  This day is such a blur to me now.  The only thing I remember is getting on line to take a picture with Daisy Duck right when we entered the park.  We also took pictures with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and caught some of the Main Street Electrical Parade that night.

Monday, 5/7/12:
Day 2 of our trip was spent at Animal Kingdom.  Big sister K got to take pictures with most of the Disney characters, including Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and the Chip and Dale chipmunks.  We met up with SW and family there, and she had a blast playing with JG and MG.  Her favorite part was probably playing in the Boneyard playground, where she loved climbing up a net to go down the slide.  Unfortunately, this was also where she got hurt.  M and I didn't witness it, but we suspect that she was following someone from behind too closely while climbing up the net, and that person's foot accidentally hit her in the face.  She didn't even complain of any pain until I saw that she had a cut right above her eye and was bleeding.  We took her to First Aid, but that proved to be a waste of time.  The Animal Kingdom closed at 6pm, so we didn't get to do much else.

Tuesday, 5/8/12:
We went back to Animal Kingdom since we didn't get to do much the day before.  Our first stop was to see the show Festival of the Lion King since we'd promised it to big sister K.  Similar to last year, we took pictures with Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger.  We also caught Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade, took the Wildlife Express train, and of course, went back to the Boneyard playground (at big sister K's request).

Wednesday, 5/9/12:
M took big sister K to the pool at the hotel in the morning while I hung out with baby M in the room so that he could get some much needed sleep. We went back to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon and met up with SW and family again.  There was such a short line to the Buzz Lightyear ride that we ended up going on it three times.  Big sister K also took pictures with the princesses (Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, and Tiana).  This time, we stayed for the entire Main Street Electrical Parade that started at 9pm.  Big sister K was so tired that she fell asleep sitting on the double stroller as we were walking to the bus stop.  She had nothing to lean back against, so we were afraid she'd fall off the stroller; I ended up carrying her the rest of the way.  Baby M was also exhausted; he knocked out when the parade started and slept through the loud music (even though he's usually a very light sleeper).

Thursday, 5/10/12:
We spent our last full day of the trip at Hollywood Studios.  Big sister K got to meet and take pictures with Jake and Handy Manny.  M took her to see some shows (Beauty and the Beast and Disney Juniors) while I hung out with a very cranky baby.

Friday, 5/11/12:
Our flight back to Newark was fine until towards the end when we hit some turbulence.  I was holding baby M in one hand, trying to comfort a scared and crying big sister K, and also handing M a barf bag who was nauseous from the turbulence.  I think it will be a while before big sister K asks to go on a plane again.

Overall, the trip was okay.  We spent way too much time at the baby care centers in each of the theme parks.  I felt like big sister K missed out on doing certain things because of that, but she enjoyed watching TV in there.  The time went by so fast each day; we never even got a chance to visit Downtown Disney.  It was a lot of work, but I'm not sure what I would have done differently (other than maybe waiting another six months to a year before going on the trip).

Photo Gallery - Highlights

On the plane with my two munchkins:

Big sister K playing in the pool with daddy:

Big sister K and her mini-Mickey waffles:

Big sister K enjoying her ice cream cone on a hot day:

Photo opportunity with Jasmine and Aladdin:

This is probably one of my favorite pictures from the trip:

Love this face!  Isn't he adorable??

Family photo with Mickey: 

Family photo with Minnie:

 My two munchkins playing with each other.  They adore each other at this point.  Let's hope it continues for years to come!

 Big sister K insisted on taking a picture with the two chipmunks... then decides to look the other way when the camera's on her.
Go figure...

Mother and son... kudos to M for catching my boy with a smile on his face.  He looks so chubby here... like a baby Buddha!

Our most expensive meal of the trip was lunch at Yak and Yeti Restaurant in the Animal Kingdom (I still can't believe we paid $18.99 for beef and broccoli!  Never again!):

Big sister K has upgraded from mini-Mickey waffles to a big Mickey waffle: 

Family photo at the carousel:

My two favorite guys:

Big sister K enjoying her pancakes:

I love these two munchkins!

End of vacation.  Baby M and daddy on the bus ride to the airport:

Big sister K playing with my nook to keep busy on the bus:

A Busy Saturday

Saturday (4/28/12) was a busy day for the Y family.  I brought big sister K to Lowe's that morning for their Build and Grow clinic (she made a terrarium).  Afterwards, we went home to pick up M and baby M, and joined in the festivities of Rutgers Day at their New Brunswick campus.  We tried out the double stroller that MH was kind enough to lend us; it was hard to maneuver at first, but once we got the hang of it, it wasn't too bad (wish I had taken a picture of the kids in it).  Big sister K had a great time jumping on the inflatable bouncers at Rutgers and insisted on going back twice despite the long line.  She also had fun petting a sheep, but was afraid to get near the horses (as she was last year) and didn't want to touch the baby pigs.

After two hours of roaming the Rutgers campus, off we went to KS's birthday party. Big sister K loved it there; she was perfectly content playing on her own and didn't even need supervision or someone to play with. When evening time came, M drove baby M home to feed him. Big sister K didn't want to leave yet, so we let her stay a little longer and I ended up walking home with her (it's so awesome to have friends living within walking distance!). She was so exhausted by the time we got home that she ended up falling asleep in my arms while she was in the bathroom.

A rare photo opportunity with mommy by the big princess balloon:

 Big sister K and the birthday girl:

My little fella and me:

Earth Day

One is never too young to participate in Earth Day activities.  Here's baby M decorating a rock at daycare with finger paint.  He seemed more interested in the bottle of paint than anything else though.