My friend Jen and I decided to spend some one-on-one time with our boys (without their little sisters) and took them to see Disney on Ice - Let's Celebrate on Thursday (12/22). Tyler and Kaden were super excited! I told Tyler that morning that we were going to go see ice skating (he had no idea what I meant) but got really excited when I told him there would be princesses there! haha! Here are the boys holding hands on the way to the Honda Center. Whoohoo!
Even with traffic we got there with plenty of time to spare, and grabbed popcorn and souvenirs. Boy, do they overcharge for stuff! Doesn't Tyler look so big here? They didn't like having to go use the bathroom before we checked out the Buzz Lightyear toys for sale!
The show's starting! Our seats weren't bad, but I wish we could have gotten better ones! We saw a bunch of empty seats that were super close - but those weren't available to buy on Tickemaster! We probably could have gotten them from another ticket site but they would have been 2-3x the actual selling price.
Mickey and Goofy ice skating!
Me and Tyler!
Sorcerer's apprentice Mickey dancing with the magical broomsticks.
Princess time! Tyler was very excited and decided that his favorite was Jasmine and Ariel.
They boys were starting to get antsy though, still no Buzz or Woody! We kept promising them that they'd be up soon (crossing our fingers that we would be right...). Here they are at intermission.
Doesn't Tyler have a lovely smile here?
Group photo!
This part was kind of nice - Japanese spring festival celebration.
And Chinese New Years celebration with a dragon and Mulan.
...and finally... the Toy Story gang! Whew, what a relief! The boys loved this part!
Christmas finale!
By then they boys were over it, and were just playing with their Buzz Lightyear souvenirs. They were like $15 and when I asked the vendor what they did (cmon, it has to do something - talk? lasers?) the guy said their legs moved. Great...
Yay for mommy and Tyler time! It was definitely a little weird not having to worry about Katelyn the whole time, and really nice to just get to have all my attention focused on Tyler.
Yay BUZZ Lightyear toys! :)
Friday was Christmas Eve and Will's parents came over in the afternoon. We made our very own pizza and meatballs - yum!
And then Will snapped some photos of the kids in front of our new backdrop. I'm not feeling the grey color too much, but we'll get more colors soon hopefully!
Here's Will's dad and Katelyn!
How cute is this picture of the grandparents with the kids!
Then the grandparents opened our gifts for them. Actually, Tyler opened their gifts for them. :)
Here's me and Katelyn! (Her new hair bows were a gift from my nanny.)
Tyler really liked one of the gifts we got the grandparents - this photo album that records and playbacks a message. The message we had pre-recorded was Tyler saying "I love you nainai and yeh yeh. Merry Christmas!".
Then it was time for Tyler's gift from the grandparents (which we actually got for them to give Tyler) - a new Toy Story bike helmet!
... to match his brand new bike! Tyler has outgrown his tricycle and we were excited to get him a new bike. We went back and forth trying to decide if we wanted to get him one of those smaller, cute, licensed bikes (think Toy Story themed) or a real big kid bike... and decided to go with a nice bike instead. This one he can ride for a while and its also much better quality! Will brought it in while Tyler napped and we put a blanket over it. When Tyler first saw it (he notices anything new so quickly!) he immediately came up to me and asked me who was under it. Hah! I even saw him go up to it and say, "hello?...". Yay for his new bike! He wanted to ride it that night but it was too late but we let him get on it in the living room. I was a little concerned since we had to put him on the bike since it was so tall. Hmm... and he couldn't really ride it on the carpet anyway.
Group picture!
I also let Tyler open one other present that night - my favorite - an electric violin! He loved it! I really want him to play the violin, but he's just too all-over-the-place for me to feel comfortable letting him try a real one without close supervision. This one I got on clearance on JC Penney's online and was perfect! You don't actually have to use your fingers to play specific notes but the movement of the bow lets it play a song. This at least helps him get the idea of how you're supposed to hold the violin/bow and how to make the sounds!
Yay Tyler, future violinist!
He was very serious about playing different songs. :)
This is my favorite photo - I showed him how to hold the violin properly "in resting position". I can't wait until he can actually play a real one!
The grandparents with the kids. What a nice Christmas Eve!
Some more photos from the night. Will's mom and Katelyn.
Tyler helping making meatballs.
Tyler helping make the dough for our pizza.
Katelyn just walked around in her walker in the kitchen, checking things out.
Ooh, she is totally teething - she is biting on everything, even her fingers!
Tyler was actually really helpful when it came to making the pizza dough. He liked using the rolling pin!
Chef Tyler!
Video of Tyler helping to make the pizza crust:
Yum - finished product! Tyler made his own little pizza for himself with LOTS of cheese. He was very excited...but didn't eat much of it. Will's parents are always saying he doesn't eat enough, but I'm not really into forcing him to eat if he doesn't want to - as long as he eats his meat and veggies I'm fine.
How cute are these little gifts? They were gifts from Tyler's school friends!
Oh man, Christmas Eve we had a REALLY hard time to get Tyler to go to bed. I'm not sure if he was really excited, or just not wanting to listen... he's been really fighting bedtime lately - it's SUCH a frustrating situation sometimes! Often times we'll be watching him on the monitor try to sneak out of his room, and we'll say "Tyler! Get back into bed!" over the monitor and he'll immediately lie back down. It's such a battle sometimes. Argh!
Christmas morning. Tyler had some breakfast first before we headed over to check out presents!
Even Katelyn was in the giving mood. :)
Hanging out with Will during breakfast.
Time to open presents! I want to say we didn't go as crazy as we did last year, but I still think Tyler got too many presents. He's so spoiled!
Aww, here's Tyler and Katelyn in front of the tree!
Family picture Christmas morning! Even Mojo is in there in the background!
Tyler's haul for Christmas. See a theme of what he likes? Toy Story Toy Story Toy Story!
While Tyler was preoccupied opening gifts, Katelyn snuck in some playing time with one of Tyler's Buzz Lightyear action figures. heehee. She always sees Tyler playing with it and he is NOT into sharing them with her - so it must have been exciting to finally get a chance to take a look at one!
Later that Christmas morning we headed over to Will's parent's place. Definitely very convenient that they they spent the night at their Irvine house! They were happy to see the kids again even though we just saw them last night. I love Katelyn's red peacoat!
Katelyn's hair is actually slowly coming in, enough that these bows will sort of stay in by themselves!
She liked crawling around Will's parents' house - nothing really to get in her way!
Tyler and I checked out their new 3D TV, and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I was impressed how clear the 3D was!
Then we went outside so that Tyler could try out his new bike for the first time! Right next to their house is a little park with a half basketball court - the hoops can be adjusted in height so that they're suitable for little kids! Here's Will's parents with Katelyn.
She was happy with her little spoon...
Our friends the Garners live in the same Woodbury area as well, and met us at Will's parents place (they walked over!). Tyler was excited to have his buddy around to ride bikes with him. This is the driveway between the houses. At first I was nervous to have Tyler ride his bike - it was so big! But we put him on and he just started pedaling like crazy!
And then we headed to the park next door. The half basketball court was perfect for Tyler to ride his bike. Tyler was a pro! He was going so fast and making sharp turns!
At one point he took a turn REALLY fast and the bike tipped and he fell into some bushes. Oops. I heard loud crying but I think he was just scared, because after 10-15 seconds or so, he got right back onto his bike like it never happened. Ahhhhh! He's so big now! Plus he loves his Buzz Lightyear helmet. :)
Saturday afternoon Kareen and family came over! Not a great photo of Katelyn but Leah has a cute smile! They are getting so big, almost 10 months!
Here's a photo of my mom, me and Katelyn. 3 generations! We were getting ready to head out to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant to meet up with more of our family.
Dinner that night was my grandmother, my parents, my parents side: my brother Lindon and his wife Michelle, Kareen/Andy/Leah, Will/me/Tyler/Katelyn, and then my 1st Uncle and his 3 kids, plus 2 of their spouses and their 2 newborns! My grandmother actually has 4 great-great grandkids that were all born in 2010! Here's my grandmother in purple.
My sister-in-law Michelle with Katelyn.
Loving Katelyn's cupcake bib!
The 4 babies having a conference. Leah is the oldest and then Katelyn (both just about 10 months) and then Miles (6 1/2 months) and then Hank (4 months). Miles and Hank are my cousins' Aileen and Richard's first babies.
Me and Tyler! He was feeling a bit left out that all the babies were getting their photos taken...
Love this picture! Here we are with the babies! By then it was getting late and none of the kids were in too great of moods...
My grandmother with Kareen and me with our kids! I can't really remember the last time we ate out for Christmas dinner, but it was quite yummy. This Chinese restaurant was PACKED too! We had a room reserved for us and had 2 tables banquet style - and the food was really tasty!
Sunday, 12/26! After Katelyn's morning nap, we headed up to San Gabriel to Will's parents' house for lunch with them and his grandmother and aunt. Katelyn was still rocking the same cupcake bib. :)
Video of Tyler playing his 'stop sign' game with Katelyn. He's holding a swiffer and pretending it's a traffic light. Not so hygienic but Katelyn thought it was hilarious!
Lunch was hotpot, and, uh, there were SO many things I didn't eat. So many types of mushrooms. UGH! Luckily, they know of my phobia, and I pretty much had a pot all to myself - I ate a lot of fish balls and vegetables. Tyler really liked the fish tempura cakes. Group picture! I love how Katelyn is crossing her feet here, she always seems to do that when she's sitting - she likes to hook them!
Monday 12/27 - Kareen/Andy/Leah head over to our house. We get them for two nights - yay! Very exciting that the kids got to take a bath together! It was Katelyn's first time not using the baby tub, and I dug out all of Tyler's old bath toys for them to play with! It's always good having them stay with us! We even got to squeeze in some Poker and Shik do Rak!
Our Christmas lights! The lights in the window - which you can't really tell in this photo - are of a snowflake, a reindeer and a snowman.
Tuesday 12/28 Kareen/I got to do some pampering (brow wax and a mani/pedi) and the kids played at home. I took out this Ikea tunnel that Tyler used to love playing with, and sure enough, so did Katelyn! Tyler thought it was hilarious to throw balls into the tunnel while Katelyn was trying to get to him.
Hi Katelyn! I know you want to walk, just figure it out already! :)
Tuesday afternoon we had some friends over and Tyler immediately took to our friend Michelle. Probably because she was the most patient with him! :) Here they are looking at some photo books.
He loves the attention!
Before Tyler's bedtime, he insisted on playing this Toy Story memory game. FINE we said. Except then we all got really into it and Tyler lost interest. Haha! Whenever it was Tyler's turn, he'd just flip over the same cards he flipped over before! hahaha!
Ahhh, Tyler's basking in all the attention from Michelle. :) After Tyler went to bed we all hung out - actually the first time in a long time I can remember hanging out with people at our house after the kids were in bed. It's actually doable! Interesting...
Wednesday 12/29. Kareen/Andy left in the morning and we started thinking about taking down the Christmas tree. Awww, Christmas is over! In the afternoon Will's college friends dropped by on their way down to San Diego. They have two boys and are pregnant with a 3rd! HOW EXCITING! Here's Tyler with his friends Joey and Ricky.
And then one with Katelyn added in!
and then one with Will and Carolyn. They really are some of Will's oldest friends and I think its awesome that we see them periodically even though they live in SF. So excited for them to be having a third baby! 3! Three! I'm going to need a couple years to think if we can manage it! :)
Cutie Katelyn with Will!
Katelyn is all about cruising these days, especially if it gets her closer to my iPhone! Hmm... she's going to need one of her own soon! Hah!
Look what I've got mom!
Crawling around with her lovey.
She loves her little lamb lovey! We need a more creative name than "lamby"...
Walking with dad!
Video of Katelyn with her walker all by herself! She's getting better and better at it!
Favorite food: iPhone.
so Christmas-y red!
with Mommy!
and another one...love her little belly!
ok last one with me - I couldn't decide which one I liked the most!
Ooh, forgot to mention - on Monday we had dentist appointments. Tyler is an old pro now but it was Katelyn's first! Luckily no cavities for either. Tyler was totally fine just hanging out while the dentist checked and cleaned his teeth.
Katelyn was definitely concerned. I put her on my lap and had her backward on Dr. Harvey's lap. She didn't mind at all while he was checking and flossing her teeth. It wasn't until he started polishing a bit that she got really angry! She has nice gaps on her top teeth (no flossing needed) but her bottom ones are close so we'll need to start flossing those. Hopefully she'll be like Tyler and love to floss (although I do have memories of sitting on Tyler to force him to brush his teeth when he was younger...)!
good things both Will and I went - one to hold on to each kid!
We had yogurtland after Shik do rak on Monday and Tyler was really into taking photos on my camera! Tyler vision!
He was so into taking photos that he didn't even finish his yogurt. Which, if you know Tyler, is just crazy! More Tyler vision!
Tuesday night we had dinner with our friends at BJs. Eating out is seemingly getting more and more difficult - Katelyn is much harder to appease these days! I have to bring a wide variety of snacks to keep her interested!
And some random photos. Katelyn and Tyler in a shopping cart!
Katelyn's new favorite toy - the ball pit. She climbs in and out like a pro!
Definitely a great investment! Tyler even still gets in it with her!
1 comment:
Exciting Christmas week! Looks like you all had a great time with family and friends. Happy New Year!
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