It’s taken me a while to write this post. Partly because I’ve been consumed with sewing and partly because I wasn’t sure what my message was. For Jason’s second birthday we took him to Magic Kingdom, thanks to Disney’s Give a Day Get a Day Program.  He LOVED the Buzz Light Year ride, but I think we all would have just as much if not more fun at the park with perhaps a trip to the Disney Store to pick out his Buzz and Woody action figures (which he too loves). So, rather than tell you not to take your toddler to the most magical place on earth, I’m going to tell you how to ensure you have a good time.

Do yourself a favor and take the day off to go on a weekday. Although Disney goes to great lengths to entertain in the lines, it soon falls on deaf ears. Hit the park early, be there 45 min before the park opens, allowing you to park, get tickets and take the ferry or metro rail over to the park.

You can’t do Disney without a plan. Check out the Magical Beginnings website and see what rides and attractions are suitable for the little guys. You can go here and customize a free full color map and they will mail it to you.

Bring your own lunch and juice/water. A lunch from home would have been more tasty and less expensive than what we picked up.  Check out the dining available and if you plan on eating at a restaurant, make reservations.

My suggested plan: Hit Fantasyland first. It’s where you’ll see all the scaled-down classic Disney attractions. After hitting up Tomorrow land’s Buzz ride head back to sit down near Pooh’s playground have some lunch play a bit and let them crash in the stroller (or head back to the hotel if you have one), relax on a shady bench or check out the air-conditioned Tinker Bell’s Treasures shop at Cinderella’s castle. From Fantasyland, stroll over to Mickey’s Toontown Fair. The parade is at 3pm and they have shows prior to that in front of the castle. If you can’t make it that long in the park, head over to Downtown Disney for some fun shopping, legos and even some dinner. Again, don’t think about dining without a reservation.

We missed out on Disney’s Harmony Barber Shop on Main street and got his hair cut a week later, but I’m sure that is probably the best place ever for a first haircut, although its hard to top watching Buzz in a Taxi.

I hope this helps. We’ll probably go back when he’s 8 or when he asks whichever comes first.

Brian and I were talking at dinner about one of Jason’s words we haven’t been able to decipher, Ala. As were thinking of what it could be, Jason is rolling around on the floor with his fire hat with more baby babble. Then he starts repeating kabala. Brian suggested if he is in fact saying allah and kabbalah and says torah next, we should start listening more closely. He was trying to say cowboy (who says a cowboy wouldn’t wear a shiny red hat?) at dinner, and still no idea what ala is.

Today Jason got his first haircut. We went to Cool Cuts 4 Kids and it was a blast. Jason sat in a taxi and watched Toy Story(there is a glare but its on). Before we knew it it was over and he played on a train station while I paid. It helped that I spray him with detangler all the time and have taken scissors to his head before, but these people know what they are doing. Brian actually goes to a similar place, Sports Clips. It is a sports themed environment and the guys get to watch sports while they get their hair cut. Now, if only I could get the style channel while I get my hair trimmed we would be all set.

My Mom took this photo on a recent visit. Its such a treat to see her so frequently and for her to play with Jason. I love this photo, Jason has his full palm on the ball, one foot in the air ready to take off across the court.

Jason now has maybe 12 or so blankets, but loves only five. They are: Mine, two, three, pink (his unconceived sister’s), little and new mine.  Hopefully he will share them with his siblings one day. For now he will watch “sonar” (dinosaur) train and eat grapes with them. Can you tell which is the original?

Earlier this week, Jason fell off of an exhibit at the Museum and landed on his chin. He was a trooper while we restrained him and stuck him more to fix it up. He did ask through his tears if he could go home, after he told me he was stuck. I had hoped that this would teach him that he wasn’t exactly invincible and to be just slightly less careless in his attempts to climb the walls. I’m afraid that’s not the case.

I received this image from a forward yesterday and couldn’t google my way towards it origins, but love it. I am certain that Jason would attempt this. He is not officially skateboarding, but has been practicing on his cousin Jake’s since May. I know that Jake will have him up and running in no time. So for now, thankful for the flat land in Florida and enjoying where our adventures take us…just not to the ER.

When I first thought of blogging, I said my first entry would be about how great it felt to floss. As a child, we did our regular check ups in addition to our monthly visits once we got braces. Each time we would be sent home with floss, and upon each return visit, as my gums would bleed, they would suggest I start flossing. It wasn’t until I was an adult at college that I picked up the floss picks and fell in love with clean teeth. It was about that time that I stopped buying cheap toothbrushes and invested in the $7 or $8 toothbrush. I now floss daily and on a good day twice a day, and am still surprised at the smelly grossness that comes out between my teeth. Combining mouth rinse in my daily routine, my mouth feels fresh longer through out the day.

For some time, Jason has been sucking on his toothbrush. In the past two weeks or so I have had him brushing once a day. It wasn’t until I had him brush mine that the brushing of his own became more efficient. I still need to go behind him and get the hard to reach places, and he cries while I do. As soon as we get past they crying we will go to twice a day…maybe sooner.

Its funny how much things change when you have little ones. Things that I thought were important don’t seem to matter much anymore and something as simple as a diaper sprayer makes me elated. Basically it is a small hand held sprayer that hooks up to your toilet. You spray the grossness from the diaper into the toilet, therefore eliminating the old dunk and swish method. This thing is a little slice of heaven! It actually has a really good amount of pressure behind it. I couldn’t imagine using cloth diapers without them (thanks Mom for dunking and swishing!) but use it ALL the time for everything else that we create that is too gross to go directly to the washing machine.

A good friend of mine was using the kitchen sink to wash dog poop off of shoes. She didn’t realize that the germs and bacteria in feces should be separated entirely from the room you cook and wash dishes in.  This sprayer is the perfect solution. I have cleaned my fair share of poop off of shoes and clothes with the sprayer, but am spraying dirt, paint and spaghetti off of clothes and shoes too, they wash so much nicer if I treat them after the high pressure wash with my sprayer.

The cheapest diaper sprayer I could find was on Amazon.com for $35.00.  But you should be able to search online for promotion codes and come up with something cheaper. I also found a link for a DIY Tutorial…this is what we had in our old home. Even if you arent using cloth and are expecting a new baby…wether you are expecting it or not, you are going to have 2-3 outfit changes a day for the first few months and this sprayer will make life much more pleasant.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have so much love in my life. There were some lovely presents under the tree for me, but the best gift Brian has ever given me is the chance to stay home with Jason, despite our inability to “afford” it. Here are some shots of the big day:

New Shoes, New Kitchen

New Tools

Play Dough with Dad

Helping Sew

More Help

Hugs

Sleepy Boy Sharing his Blanket

After breakfast when I asked Jason if he wanted to go to the local park and play he responded that he wanted to go to the Zoo, so we did. Spontaneity is hard to come by in our busy lives, but it’s so important. Not just with our children, but in all of our relationships. Freedom from the cares of the world is the very essence of childhood and when we respond to their spontaneity, those moments develop over time into great childhood memories.

Parents today load their kids’s schedule with enrichment activities, hoping to get them ahead of the curve. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that spontaneous “kid play” is actually what kids need and crave for healthy development and the building of appropriate social skills. Jason has been using his imagination for a while now, feeding his stuffed puppy snacks or letting his horse drive his train. Besides being fun to watch, the uninstructed activity might be the healthiest development of all for him. If I could just get him to stop pushing our friend “E”.