Ups & Downs

He may not be as big as he would like (struggles of late have been about who gets to drive) but I think it is safe to say Harry is officially a big kid. This kid has wanted to be big since he was born, and 2 year molars, scabby feet, a bottle of Motrin and some sun block in his eyes are not going to deter him from swimming underwater, following after “Dom-nic”, fishing with PopPop, jumping ocean waves, driving a golf cart or reciting Good Night, Moon from memory. To be honest, I don’t know which of his antics are the most amazing.
Harry has just a touch of stranger anxiety, but once he warms up there is no turning him off. He would prefer to have Snoedel and Baby with him at all times, but losing one of them has become Kevin and my biggest fear. If they leave the house, we become lovey bodyguards. Some may argue we take better care of those two than our own son, but it is because we fear the repercussions of misplacing one of them, and we also really don’t want Harry to go to bed with a peanut butter covered doll! Needless to say, the two made the trek with us to Cape May this past holiday weekend. “Snoedel here?” is the phrase we often hear, followed up with “Where’d Snoedel go?” (Snoedel is often right next to him).
Since Isabella and Dominic did not have their bikes with them, Harry’s never left the van. He spent lots of time with Baby’s stroller, yelling “Car coming!” and scampering to the side of the gravel roads whenever an SUV would show itself…often three blocks away. He has learned patience.
Harry also spent his non-bike time begging whoever was in site to get him the key for the golf cart. Didn’t matter if anyone we knew owned the golf cart- he climbed in anyway and said "Where's the key?" or "No key." Didn’t matter that he couldn’t reach the pedals, he was determined to drive. PopPop and Uncle Dom each let him steer, and he was welcome to spend hours on end sitting behind the wheel…he just couldn’t get enough of it! And after somehow ending up behind the wheel of my car while we loaded up, he has decided that he can now drive that, too. Again, doesn’t matter that he can’t reach the pedals. That he doesn’t have a license. That his car seat is meant for the back seat. That he is 2! Every time we get in “Me drive.” Very matter-of-fact. After I try to explain Virginia driving laws to him, he eventually gives up.
So, in Harry’s world, Snoedel comes first, then driving, then “Dom-nic.” Apparently cousin Dominic is the coolest kid in the cosmos. If Harry wasn’t yelling after him one of the other little boys was. He is the sweetest boy. He loves Harry and he is so patient, but even a saint has limits! It is funny, though, to remember that Dominic used to be the same way with Kayla. And it is neat to see, once again, how much Harry responds to big kids. That is not to say he and Isabella don’t get along swimmingly. She seems to have just the right personality to get along with Harry: Harry plays with all of her toys and she observes him like a lab rat, as if to say “Hmmm….fascinating.”
Kevin suspects it was the hero worship that got Harry to step foot on sand. Maybe. I think it is his love of the water. He has never liked sand. He hated it at our Disney hotel this year and last. I was concerned before we left (since I LOVE the beach), but luckily his love of the water won out. He isn’t an idiot. He has a respect for the water. He likes to know that I am nearby (an inch away with my hand open to grab him) when the waves come. He doesn’t seem quite as concerned about whether I am next to him when he jumps into the pool though! And he seems okay with it if I am not! He doesn’t mind being underwater and he not only jumps under, he will stand there, squat down and put his head in for 10 seconds. It is amazing! Even though we practiced, this is a giant leap. He actually seemed to want to swim underwater, too. He moved his arms and began to float…but there is a fine line between letting him learn on his own and the trauma of being under just a little too long. We have Josh’s pool pass for the summer, so we will keep practicing.
Practice certainly pays off with Harry. After regular readings of Good Night, Moon, I decided to see if he had been paying attention. Often, he would rather ask about the pictures than pay attention to the story, but I guess he absorbed a little after all. He knows what words come next. He likes to refer to the bowl of mush as oatmeal, but he knows it is “mush!” He also knows when the old lady says “hush,” she really means “Night night.” He seems very proud of himself and happy to play along. I just think he is awesome!

WaterWorld…

Crappy movie, but Harry seems to be a big fan of the concept.

All of Kim's swimming lessons and time at the Pool with Lance & Lola have certainly paid off. Over the holiday weekend, Harry spent some time in the baby pool with his new bestest bud "Dom-nic," and proceeded to scare the crap out of everyone with how much he likes to go underwater… eyes and wide open and grinning ear-to-ear, and pop back up with a big belly laugh! He didn't seem to mind, much less notice until well after the fact, how much he feet were getting scraped up on the bottom, but he was having a BLAST!

He also got to spend a day at the beach, where he seemed to be stuck with a surprise hatred for sand and everything about it. Now of course, this immediately got blamed on me. Now granted, other than the obvious effects of sunburn, the only thing I really don't like about the beach is getting sand all over the place (minor huh?), but I can deal with it. Harry wouldn't let his feet touch the ground… even with his shoes still on. Wouldn't walk on it, didn't even really want to be carried over it. I think for the first time ever, I was the one trying to get someone to enjoy the sand… go figure. Eventually we got him to stand barefoot on a beach blanket, but no more budging than that. At that point, Kim swooped him up, and off to the waves they went. I stayed behind, to guard the chairs of course, as I'm not a big fan of Harry in a bad mood.

Whatever she did though, got him into it… coulda been the aforementioned Dom-nic effect, coulda just been the waves, but by the time I ventured down to the water, he was back to his old self again, jumping (yes --- even getting some air) over the water, and running all over the place.

At some point, we'll need to discuss his obvious obsessive tendencies with regards to fishing, golf carts, and Dom-nic, but I need to get some work done.

More to come...

Window?

Harry's doll's, Baby Ernie's, stroller was in the car yesterday, but Baby Ernie was not. Harry asked where he was and I explained that Baby was waiting for him at home. They next logical question: Window?

I always stand at the window when Harry goes to school in the morning. We wave to each other and blow kisses. Harry and I sometimes watch out the window for Kevin to get home, as well, and lately Harry sometimes waits for me there. He was visiting with "Gammom" on Monday while I worked in NJ, and sure enough, when I pulled in the drive way at the end of the day, he was jumping up and down at the window with a huge smile on his face. Luckily, I had left Baby Ernie very close to the window!

Stuck in Boston today. Harry asked if I was on an airplane. But of course. Apparently he also got his shoes and jacket promptly at 4:30 and sat on the sofa because "Mommy coming." He waited patiently. He really is not happy at Yasmin's, but he has only 4 more days there, and I can pick him up early on 2 of them...I am still trying to decide what sorts of flowers and jewels and treasures to bestow upon Menike when she returns from Sri Lanka.

Party Hat

Harry was in the tub last night playing with his toys. He put his green bucket on his had and asked, "Hat?"
"Well, sure!" I said, appreciating his creativity.
Once on his head, he began to sing "Burt-day...".
:-)

***Refer to yellow hat on from page...

Bear Country Jubilee

Taking a break from the Disney recap to explain yet another traumatic moment in Harry's life.

1. Dropping the ice cream.
2. 3-D Bug Movie.
3. Da Bears.

Harry has had an issue with bears lately. I think it is from Dora. A few weeks ago at Great Falls we were looking for bears. Since then, he has become worried about them. It is unfortunate. Also unfortunate is my poker face, or lack there of.

Late this afternoon I was talking to Harry about our upcoming trip to Chicago. He, of course, asked if there were bears. My response was "There are no bears in- uh...(Isn't there a sports team known as the Chicago Bears? Hmmm...I think there is....what do I tell the boy?)". Too late. The boy noticed I was uncertain whether their were bears in Chicago and immediately welled up with tears. I HAVE GOT TO WORK ON THE GAME FACE!!!!

My Version of the Events

Kevin’s account of Disney was pretty accurate, but since he covered 6 days in just a dozen or so paragraphs, I thought I would fill in a few more details.
Sunday morning did indeed arrive early: and with no Dora to buffer the wake! Not just no Tivo, no Noggin or Nick, Jr. period! Luckily, Harry seems to like hotel rooms, so we were able to snooze here and there until the Mouse waffles arrived.
We lucked out with our view of the “harbor” and its boats. Harry loved them. We did take advantage of the opportunity to review colors. As noted, he seems to have a penchant for "Ooornj". “Yellyow” is cool, too.
As noted, Monday was Animal Kingdom day. Kevin brought up the fact that almost everyone we talked to recommended against Animal Kingdom. We assumed it was mostly because they thought it was boring. Many people think EPCOT is boring, too, so we risked it, if only to check out the animals on the safari.
For once, we agreed with everyone else. AK was “eh.” Yeah. Maybe a “C”. For one thing, the walk space was not nearly as wide as Epcot, so you were constantly walking into people. Nothing seemed to loop or flow. It also seemed so much less “authentic” then other parks. Yeah, it’s a theme park, but it was a little cheesy. For a new park created next to such fine examples, we expected more.
Kevin also mentioned Harry’s Simba face. This was kind of a whim. Kevin went to get a Fast Pass (or whatever) for the safari and I plopped Harry in a chair (on my lap, actually). I didn’t even have a wallet on me. Oops! Harry didn’t like it at first, so he was almost a different, less labor intensive cat (A Paka Cat, maybe?) that did not involve eye paint, but he soon gave up the way Bailey does when she gets her nails cut. Learned Helplessness we called it at the Psych building. Regardless, teh result was an adorable Simba in a blue Townsend Kids T. Even cuter with dark shades! I can’t tell you the number of people that stopped to say how cute he was. Harry was not a fan though. That is to say, when he saw himself in the mirror, he did not like it. So I moved him away from the mirror. He was none the wiser, and I was able to add a novel spin to the day's 200 photos.
Next: The African Safari Truck Tour. Harry liked the truck! He really is all about modes of transportation these days. I am sure PopPop will be pleased. He’d been concerned about Harry’s doll and tea set. Anyway, the safari was pretty cool. The scenary was scenic and there were real animals. There was the goofy poaching thing. It was just that: goofy. And they didn’t really elaborate on the problem of poaching, so why bring it up at all?
The Bug's Life 3-D movie ranks right up there with the “ice cream cone incident” as one of Harry’s most traumatic moments. I have never seen him so truly frightened. Lots of shouts of “All Done! ALL DONE! HOME!” We were in the middle of a packed row, so that wasn’t an option. I did take off his 3-D glasses. Fortunately the production was only a few minutes long. When we were done, Harry actually said he liked it.
Moving on... the search for bears… Harry DID have fun looking for bears and even waited in line at the meet & greet for Baloo and King Louie. He practiced his hugs and everything. Once it was our turn, hugging a 7 foot bear ceased to be a good idea. No trauma though. It was all good.
One thing I thought was really cool was the bat exhibit. I have never seen bats like these before. They were close to my height and wrapped up like Dracula. They were the coolest things ever! (Harry slept through those).
Not to be outdone, AK had a playground area too. It was called the Boneyard. They promised lots of fun with fossils. It was pretty cool... Harry probably could have played there all day., but it was very hot and we had to move on.
Next stop EPCOT.
The gardens were amazing as usual. I want to build Tinkerbell’s Garden in our backyard!!!
Harry eventually moved on to the water area. I brought clothes, since I expected this, but I didn’t bring shoes. Oops! Luckily, we were able to track down a new pair from the souvenir shop. $20 big boy sneakers with Stitch on the side. Kind of convenient, actually, since I had searched all over Greenwich, CT for a suitable pair and could not find them.
We then moved over to Mexico and had a not so quiet lunch next to a screaming 2 year old. “Baby cry!” Harry did not like that. He did like his sandwich though, so that was good.
After lunch we were nourished enough to make it through the boat ride in Mexico and then on to color a mask in a little side room where he was able to talk to the kind woman running the operation about Dora, and properly use “Hola.”
The Mexican ride was relatively uneventful, but Harry was not interested in Maelstom. “No boat.” He stated, matter-of-factly. Being the empathetic parents that we are, we put him on anyway. As soon as the lights went out Harry burried his head in the crook of my neck. Lesson learned.
We left EPCOT to go to the pool for a bit. Harry practiced jumping off of the side. He jumps perefectly well if it’s into water!
The sun gave me a horrible migraine but I was able to sleep it off in just a few hours. I missed the lizard run-in though, but I certainly heard all about it!
We finished up our trip with a day at Magic Kingdom. I will let Kevin fill you in on that. As Harry would say, “Daddy turn!”

Part II

Sunday morning began like almost any other -- EARLY.

You'd think after a night of traveling, Harry would have wanted to sleep in. Not so much. That said, the view from the balcony and the extra window afforded us by a corner room, was a great asset. We overlooked the "harbor" from which the shuttle ferried from the Swan & Dolphin hotels over to either EPCOT Center, or to MGM Studios. Regardless of where they were headed, we were assured of periodic entertainment for little man spotting boats and calling out their colors… every once in a while, he even got it right (he seems to have a penchant for "Ooornj").

So out we went to explore the immediate area… lots of running by Harry, chasing by Kim, and catching-up with the empty stroller by me. The weather was pleasant, although still a bit chilly in the early part of the day. Lunch by the pool, some swimming, a nap, more running around, and then dinnertime.

Monday came, and we headed off to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Harry seems to be quite fond of public transportation these days, as evidenced by an overwhelming desire to point out every single Bus, Train, Airplane, and Truck that crosses his field of vision. This is a plus, as we hopped on the shuttle bus after a brief wait.

Almost everyone we talked to recommended against Animal Kingdom. Mainly as they seemed to think it was boring, but we love EPCOT, which they also seem to hate, so we thought we'd give it a go. Aside from Harry's exceptional face painting purchase (a GREAT one of Simba from The Lion King), it wasn't much to speak of. Especially the Safari Tuck tour when we had to run down the poachers. Nothing like the denouement coming at the death of the matriarch of the elephant herd… great for kids I tell ya.

The other big attraction there was the Bug's Life 3-D movie. This was great until the first audience-scream-point. From there on out, Harry was a bit displeased. Then this huge animatronic grasshopper comes up out of the stage and starts yelling at the audience amidst a huge cloud of fog… then a bug shoots water at everyone… then everyone screams again.

Needless to say, bad idea.

Harry did have fun playing drums and looking for bears (right up there with the trucks & buses), but overall, I'd give Animal Kingdom a C at best.

Next day was the trip on the boat over to EPCOT. As I mentioned, Kim and I are big fans. This time was no different, as Home Depot had sponsored a Garden & Flower exhibition. At just about every other "country," there were these great backyard-playgrounds set up. Harry was in his element, and I think we were both impressed with what you could potentially build in your own yard (for a nominal cost of course).

Harry made it over to Mexico for lunch, and then we headed into the pyramid for the boat tour… he did quite well considering how dark it was. It's pretty mellow though, so a nice starter ride. We got ambitious and then got on the Maelstrom over in Norway. That one was much darker, literally and figuratively. This didn't go over so well, as the loud booming voice of the haunted tree stump that came up out of the water was only about 2 feet away.

So we're pretty much done with rides at this point.

Exhausted, Harry finally fell asleep for a nap, and since we had all-day passes, we decided to head back to the hotel for a swim, and try to come back for the fireworks/light show and parade later in the evening. Whilst at the pool, Kim got an awful migraine, so we headed back to the room, she took a nap, and Harry and I headed back over to EPCOT for dinner. Thomas the Train kept him entertained in the English toy store for a while, and we ate in Canada. Walked around for a bit, and spent the rest of the evening watching the toy trains and playing in one of the Home Depot playgrounds. As we headed back, Harry got good & tired running, until one of the little lizards in the underbrush by the Boardwalk ran across his path…

"Wahs dat?"

"that’s a lizard"

"neez-ird?"

"Yep. Did you see it"

"No … no neez … no leez … no neez-irds. No neezirds."

He repeated that for pretty much the rest of the night, with appropriate finger shaking as well.

When we made the clubhouse turn, I could see Kim watching for us from the 2nd floor balcony. We were still about 75 yards away, but thought it'd be a good idea to point this out to him, as he had been asking where she was for most of the evening. Needless to say, once he saw her, he immediately was telling her all about the lizards and that he wasn't very inclined to see any more of them. All while running towards her, past several other couples, from 2 floors below.

Quite the sight.

And we're back!

Only 1 week later, but it feels like months since we left for Disney, and even longer since Harry's birthday party.

2 hotel rooms, 3 airline flights (1 transfer), quite a few juice boxes, Uncrustables, and Mickey-shaped Chip 'n' Dale Pretzels, and 1 embarrassingly expensive Sushi dinner later, and we're all still just a bit tired.

Apologies so far for not posting any new photos, will work on that tonight (gobs of them from the last few weeks… pre-birthday visits from the Magoo's, party week, post-party DC-ing, pre-trip, in-transit, vacation, back home, and ex post facto), and that doesn't even include the 2 disposable cameras full from our last day at the Magic Kingdom, as I managed to leave the digicam behind, right on the hotel-room credenza for safe keeping.

An early ride to the Airport on Saturday (thanks to Tara the Chauffeur) gave Harry plenty of time to explore Terminal A at DCA while we digested the aforementioned 'spensive Sushi (bad ordering on my part = big bill for me to pay). Harry loved making airplane noises all over the terminal, and no one else was there to "enjoy" them, so it worked out well.

Thru security and into the plane… Kim's idea of loading the car seat on an old collapsible luggage cart was huge, and getting it into the airplane seat was simple. Harry dozed off after takeoff, and we had a smooth ride to Orlando. Getting bags were a bit of a challenge, as at that point in the evening (10:30PM?) all of the luggage carts had neglected to ride the elevator back up from ground transportation (the nerve!).

As we had decided to forego the rental car for the week (no sense in paying for a car for a week just to drive it to a parking lot and then pay for that), we hoped into a cab, popped the car seat back in and were off. Good idea, as we then also didn't need to pay attention to where we were going!

A bit of a SNAFU with the accommodations, apparently no cribs left in the complex, and found the room we got wasn't even ready when we opened the door (think lots of dirty dishes and unmade beds), but after Kim's best tired-traveler tirade at the front desk, and some help from the bellman, a nice room with a balcony and crib a short time later, we were off to sleep.

Day 1 at Disney to follow.