Happy New Year - Legoland and Family dinner! (Week 130)

Happy New Year!  2010 is going to be an awesome year with new beginnings.  1) We're going to have a baby girl and 2) I'm going to finish my stupid Masters degree!  Yes. Yes. YES!

Things have been progressing a bit on the potty training side.  When we were in Big Bear last week, Tyler actually #2'd in the toilet (we didn't bring his potty seat).  It was super exciting!  When we got back home, I came up with a new plan of attack.  I had bought these Thomas and Friends wall decals a while back but had never given them to Tyler.  Perfect!  These huge stickers were now going to be his special Poo-poo-on-the-potty stickers!  I gave Tyler the Thomas one to wet his appetite and make him want more (..do I sound like a drug dealer?...).  Let's just say it didn't go as well as I had planned and Tyler screamed and cried for more 'special' stickers, no matter how many times we explained he would only get them if he #2'd in the potty!  Sigh!  That was 12/29 I think.  Lo and behold, his next #2 was done on the potty the 31st (Thursday)!  AHHH!!  He got Edward (the train) on his wall for that.  I was super happy!  Tyler... again... threw a fit because he wanted Percy also.  Um.. no.  Don't worry though, we held strong!    His next #2 was Saturday (1/2) morning in his diaper.  Awww.  But, then his next one was Sunday afternoon (1/3) in the potty. YAY!  This time he got Percy on his wall.  Now it's Wednesday and no #2 yet.  It's out of my hands what he does while he's at school, but 3 out of his last 4 poops being in the potty - that's definitely progress! YAY!  ok. no more talk of poo. :)

Last week we headed down to LegoLand on Wed (12/30) to meet up with Will's college friends.  I had a coupon that expired (buy one get one free!) the next day, and I am a total sucker for coupons!  It was pretty overcast and cold though, and we even though it was an hour drive, we didn't stay too long.  Here we are in front of the Lego Christmas tree!

I thought this picture was so cute - Tyler is the same size as the little lego cutouts!  He almost blends right in. :)

We had taken Tyler to LegoLand once before (last year) and he had been too small to ride anything really.  This time he was excited to see the Safari ride since there were many Lego animals.  OMG, the line was SO long.  We waited almost 45 minutes I think, which was not a good thing considering we only planned to be there 2-3 hours max.  Tyler had little spells of impatience, but he got through the line fine.  I figured Tyler would love the ride since he got to drive the car - and he did, until near the end when the track took them through a covered plant area - not even a real tunnel (you could clearly see the light shining through) but it really threw him off and he wanted off pretty quick.  Sigh. Here's Tyler at the beginning of the ride.  Oh well!

The next (and last) ride we went on was the Fairy Tale boat ride.  This is just like the ride at Disneyland but its a smaller boat with only two rows of seats.  Tyler was excited to see the boats as we went in line and kept saying "I want to go on the boat!".  Good sign right?  ... so I was surprised when he freaked out last second as we were actually getting on the boat.  !!?  Awww Tyler. :(  I figured he would calm down after we started moving but he didn't - sniff sniff, I felt so bad for him - at first he was trying so hard to get off the boat!  We're bad parents for thinking he would calm down, I should have just got off.  Tyler spent the whole ride hiding on the floor of the boat, covering his eyes.  HOW SAD!  I vow to never do that to him again.  Bad mom.  Here's a link to the same boat ride last March - he liked it!

We decided we were done with the rides for the day.  Most of the rides at LegoLand are for older kids anyway, and we headed to the Play Area.  Here's Tyler peering through the mouth of the Lego lion.

The play area was still a lot of fun for Tyler this time around.  There were so many different things for them to climb and play in.  I was glad that he had a chance to burn off some energy (and forget the traumatic boat ride!)  Here's a link to the same picture from our last trip - Tyler is so much bigger (and has way better hair!) heehee!

Tyler's favorite ride that day was probably the Lego Train.  Thank goodness the line for this was quite short since it's geared towards younger kids. 

I wish we could have stayed longer and walked around some more but we had plans to meet up with my sister who was in town.  We let Tyler run around and play a bit more though.  He had a lot of fun!

Here's Tyler with his friends Ricky and Joey.  (Their parents are Will/Carolyn - Will's friends from college!).  Not sure why Tyler looks so grumpy in this picture, but it's the only one that we got! :(  It was good seeing them again!

As we headed to the food area for lunch, Tyler's eagle eyes spotted Thomas the Lego Train in a nearby store and he took off running towards it!  He was so excited!  There was a sign saying no climbing was allowed, but in my defense, I put Tyler directly on for the photo, so...no climbing was really done... ahh, the rules we'll break for our kids! :) 

After lunch Tyler passed out pretty quick in the car for his nap.  I think I may have too. :)  Back in Irvine, Kareen and I headed out for maternity massages.  Sigh.  Even though they are massages, they're never as comfortable as non-maternity massages are.  Why?  Because I can't lie on my stomach!  Ahhh!  Oh well, it's the best I can get for now I guess.  While we were gone, Will and Andy made a gingerbread train with Tyler.  Here's some photos of the progress.  How cute is Tyler!

So much concentration with the icing...

Tyler even put all the candy pieces on the train himself (and no requests to eat any thank goodness).

Finished product!  Good thing the boys had an activity to do to pass the time, because by the time Kareen/I got back Tyler had realized I was gone and had started whining.  Awww.

Thanks Uncle Andy (or, as Tyler pronounces it An-nie) for the help!

The next day was 12/31 and we spent the day doing last minute errands and using almost-expired coupons.  Exhausting!  I am a huge fan of napping when Tyler naps... and when he's awake too!  That night we headed up to my parents area in Hacienda Heights to have dinner with them and my brother.  We went to this yummy Chinese restaurant off Fullerton - known for many different types of dumplings!  It was quite yummy.  As many of you know, I am deathly mentally-allergic to mushrooms.  Tyler? - not so much!  Yay!  Whew, at least he didn't get that from me.  Here's Will feeding Tyler a big mushroom (gag).

Afterwards we headed to my parents place to hang out for a while.  Tyler was all about the Karaoke machine!  It was so funny to hear him sing along.

Here's  a video of Tyler getting his groove on to Madonna's Material Girl!  I swear, he loves to dance!!

Love his dimple.  He is so silly sometimes.  Lately he'll laugh/shriek and hide his face when we bust out the camera - I think he may be reaching his limit!

Cheeseball Tyler.  His smile is so hilarious! haha!

Here's a photo of Kareen and myself with my parents.  I think it's the only one I've seen so far of both of us pregnant that I actually like!  Kind of a bummer to think that the next time I see her we'll both have our new little girls!

Whoohoo - happy new year!  We still managed to do some shopping on 1/1 and then get ready for our guests that afternoon.  Tyler had been so happy the last few days having Kareen/Andy around - there was always someone to play cars or trains with him!  I can't even count the number of times I volunteered Uncle Andy to play with him (heehee) - thanks Uncle Andy!!  Tyler was pretty attached to both of them, and would get sad when they had to do something else!

Here's a short silly video of Tyler 'juggling'.  He does not have a future in the circus. :)

Luckily the weather had warmed up and we got to play outside.  Here's Kareen with Tyler.  She's all baby bump!  We had to remind Tyler to be gentle with her belly as well since there was a baby inside too!  Not sure if he understood though.

Soon my parents, my brother and his wife Michelle, Will's parents and Andy's parents arrived.  It's always enjoyable when we all get together.  The dads did some putting on the putting green while the moms played with Tyler and chatted.  Tyler was very friendly and excited that there were so many people interested in playing trains with him!

Funny that we're still at the 'kids' table even though we're all adults now.  Can you imagine though, 5-10 years from now, when we gather with my siblings for the holidays and the Tyler and his cousins will have their own kids table?  Ahhh! We'll be so old!

Group picture!  Usually we all go out to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner, but that's not as fun as being able to hang out at our home.  Plus, it's MUCH easier for Tyler to not be restrained to a table for 2+ hours!  This time we decided to order a lot of food from Buca di Beppo - yum!

And now a bunch of different group pictures.  Here's Will, myself and Tyler with Will's parents.

Here's the Mo picture!  My parents, my grandmother, my brother and his wife, Will/myself/Tyler and Kareen/Andy.  All we're missing is my older sister Grace and her family!  Although, with her 3 kids we definitely wouldn't have fit on the stairs!

Ok, so we tried a big group shot.  It didn't turn out so great.  Everyone in the back is tiny and very dark.  But I'm sure you guys are tired of seeing the same photo on my couch, right?  Tyler was getting a little weary of all the photos at this point and I had given him a lychee jelly to keep him in a good mood.  The photo after this one, my brother (after pressing the timer) came to the picture and sat on Tyler's jelly! ... let's just say Tyler was done with pictures after that!

January 1st is also my brother's birthday!  Tyler was very intent on helping blow out his birthday candles - and very happy to help!

One last group picture for the night.  Later that evening, we had more family drop by!  My aunt/uncle and cousins Stephanie and Nathan and Stephanie's fiance Matt came by.  We rarely see our cousins (they are all up in SF! sniff sniff) so it was really great seeing them. Stephanie is getting married beginning of March in Berkeley - which is bad timing for us because we'll have a newborn at that point.  Boo.  I really wanted to go to the wedding too! 

What a night for Tyler.  It was WAY past his bedtime and soon he had a (very expected) meltdown.  He cried so hard I was worried he was going to choke or something!  Note to self: must get Tyler into bed earlier when we have guests over.  He's usually pretty good when we're at home, but I think he may have just been overwhelmed because there were so many people.  Sorry Tyler!

The next day we headed to West Covina for a baby shower for our friend.  Tyler was all about the video game guitars.  Rocker Tyler!

I love this picture - he's got style! 

Solo number. 

Good thing there was another kid for Tyler to play with.  Tiffany is almost 4 and they had a ton of fun running around and playing. 

And last picture - Jenny (on the left) is pregnant also and due a couple of weeks behind me; Libby (on the right) has a pillow in her jersey.  Heehee.

Hope you guys all had a great New Years!