My Little Man is One!

It's been a whole year since my little boy came to join our family. I would love to say that "it went by so fast," but honestly, it was kind of a rough year! Ha! But that doesn't mean that I don't love his guts and kiss his face off every day, because I do! It just means that he's a year old and STILL not sleeping through the night, so I am utterly exhausted ... all the time.  Okay, it's not that bad anymore since I've gotten used to it, but I'm still tired most days.

But I digress.

This little guy is now one whole year old and he's cuter than ever! Seriously, so handsome. And he has quite the sense of humor! For not sleeping much he sure is a happy little dude. He is always trying to scare us and we all pretend to be scared. He'll do anything to make us laugh, and when you do laugh at something he did, he gets the biggest grin and starts laughing with you. It's awesome.

He does patty cake, claps all the time, and loves to dance (particularly to any song that Layla is singing). He is cruising around furniture and stands up to everything, and he's still doing his funny bum scoot crawl. He signs "more," "please" and sometimes "thank you" and points to things he wants. He says the word, "Hi!" all the time and waves bye-bye. He pretends to talk on the phone using either a play phone, the TV remote, or his hand on his ear. He loves when I pretend to talk to him on the phone. I'll say, ""Hello?" and he'll say, "Hi!" It's adorable. He knows who "dada," "mama," and "Layla" are, and he'll point to us when we ask, but he rarely uses our names to get our attention. I'm sure that will come with time.

His favorite place to be is in my arms or on my lap. He gets jealous when Layla sits on my lap and cries until she moves so he can take her place. Mamma's boy for sure! His other favorite place to be is on the couch, with his legs spread, holding the remote. It is so funny how much he resembles a grown man! Ha, ha!

He loves to play "chase" with Layla where they take turns chasing each other. He loves to be scared and usually laughs. He sits in his high chair and yells, "Ah!" over and over, but the best part is that each time he yells, he shrugs his shoulders as if he has to get his whole body into it. He's very enthusiastic.

Marcus thinks Layla is the funniest person ever. He laughs at pretty much everything she does. When he wakes up in the morning and I carry him down the hall into the living room, he gets the biggest grin because he knows he'll see Layla and he's just so excited. Once he does see her he usually says, "Hi" and waves.


He is my snuggle baby! Layla was never a snuggler, but Marcus is a cuddle bug and I LOVE it. Every morning we snuggle in my bed and it's one of my favorite parts of the day. He gives great hugs and kisses. He is so sweet!

he loves me ...

He Loves Me ...

HE LOVES ME!

He also gets a kick out of pinching our faces and making us say, "Owie!"

And he loves to pull Layla's hair!

There's probably something else I'm forgetting that I love about this little guy. He seriously melts my heart. He is a ray of sunshine and brings so much laughter and happiness to our family.

At his one year check up he weighed 22 lbs and is 50th percentile for height and 60th for weight. He's a healthy little man. He does seem to get ear infections when he gets a new tooth and that's a bummer. The doctor thinks he may have low serotonin levels, which would explain why he has never really slept through the night despite all our best efforts. We are scheduled to see a pediatric sleep specialist at the end of this month. I don't really want to go that route, so I am praying that he will start sleeping before then! I am weaning him and only nursing at night, so hopefully once I cut that out too it will help. Someday we'll get there!

                                      
I took some pics of Marcus smashing a cake for his birthday. He wasn't that into it?!? I thought he'd love it, but the boy doesn't seem to like sweet things very much. Weird, I know. He won't even eat Cool Whip or ice cream! Anyways, we still got some cute pics even if it wasn't his most favorite thing in the world. Layla did enjoy eating some of the leftover cake though!


We had a fun birthday party for Marcus! Our families came and spoiled him rotten. We had a brunch and ate crepes and Coldstone ice cream cake. We let Marcus smash a cupcake, which he got into a little more than the cake smash episode. He got lots of toys and clothes and some money for his college fund. The new toys have been great. Oh, and my dad made him the coolest toy chest ever! It looks like a pirate's treasure chest. Mitch said he can't wait to see what Marcus will store in there when he's 18. Ha! That should be interesting.

I love you, my little man! Thanks for making me smile every single day!

DISNEYLAND 2014

We finally made it to The Happiest Place On Earth! I was so excited to tell Layla that we were going, so we told her first thing after she woke up on the morning we left and ... I was a little disappointed with her reaction. Ha! She didn't yell or jump up and down like I was expecting. She did get a huge smile on her face and clap her hands. I think part of it was that she didn't fully understand what "going to Disneyland" meant. I bet if we were to surprise her with that again in the future she would be a lot more excited.

She asked who was going: "Is Daddy going? And mamma? And Marcus too? I want Marcus to come!"

We picked my mom up on the way to the airport. Layla didn't know she was coming with us yet because we wanted one more surprise, so when we told her the news she was extra excited! My dad dropped us all off in plenty of time. The airport was pretty dead, so we checked our luggage and made it through security in plenty of time. We stopped and ate at Cafe Rio and then waited for just a few minutes before boarding the plane.

Marcus was SO busy on the plane. He couldn't hold still at all. His favorite thing to do was play with the visor on the window. And stand up and wave and say "hi" to everyone. He says it in such a funny little man voice. He was pretty exhausting, but he didn't cry at all and towards the end of the flight he fell asleep in my mom's arms. He was a champ for his first plane ride!

Layla really enjoyed the plane ride and kept saying, "This is so fun!" We were so happy that both kids were good on the flight. And we were so thankful for my mom's help! She was such a lifesaver the whole trip!!!

Our first night there we checked into our condo, bought some groceries, and hit the sack. The next day was Disneyland! We let Layla wear her Cinderella dress for the first half of the day, and then it got too hot and we made her take it off.

She thought it was absolutely hilarious that Goofy lifted up his ear when she told him her name!

Right as we entered the park we saw several characters. My mom spoiled Layla and bought her a "photograph and autograph" book, which was perfect to have the characters sign (and we have since added pics of Layla with each character that signed her book). This was one of Layla's favorite things about the trip: meeting characters and getting their autograph. We headed right over to the princesses and were able to meet 4 princesses without waiting for very long! We met Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora, and Belle.

Layla and her favorite princess.

After the princesses it was time for rides! The first ride we went on was the carousel. Layla loved it, of course, and Marcus liked it initially, and then I had to hold him the rest of the ride. :) We went on a couple more rides and had lunch, and then it got really hot so we headed back to the condo for naps.

She got a little tired ...

Side note: When we planned our trip the weather forecast said it would be in the 70s. Perfect, right? Well, of course we happened to be there during a random heat wave, making it the hottest May in Anaheim in decades. It was over 100 degrees every day we were there, and cooled off the day we left.

That night we headed back to the park. I LOVE Disneyland at night! It's even more magical with all the lights! And we watched the fireworks show which was amazing! I had never seen it before and it was so awesome. We went on more rides too. Layla was kind of obsessed with the Buzz Lightyear ride and went on it several times. The lines were short and we even walked right on to some rides every day while we were there which was great! Mitch and I also went on Space Mountain, my most favorite ride! We lucked out and while we were in the middle of the ride it stopped! The lights came on and we could see everything inside, which is unusual seeing as how the ride is usually dark with only "stars" for light. It was neat to see it with the lights on. We were able to stay in our car and ride a second time without even having to wait in line again! Wahoo! That was the one ride I insisted on going on during this trip, so it was extra cool that we got to ride it twice with only one wait.

I love how Marcus is checking her out.

The next day was our beach day. Huntington Beach. We set up our little place in the sand (thanks to my mom for getting us the stuff we needed and our Cali Fam for letting us borrow their stuff) and headed down to the water. The kids thought the waves were so cool! Marcus would laugh every time a wave washed onto shore and Layla got such a kick out of "jumping over the waves". Watching their little faces light up with excitement at the ocean was one of my favorite parts of the trip! I truly wish we lived closer to the beach; it is so much fun and I could go there every day.

We spent the next morning at the character dining breakfast. Expensive, but so fun! We got to see Mickey Mouse, Daisy Duck, Stitch, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and probably more that I'm forgetting. The food was yummy, especially those Mickey Mouse waffles and the french toast.

After breakfast we headed over to California Adventure. We watched the Disney Junior Live show. It was so cute and we loved watching Layla sing and smile and laugh during the whole show. She thought it was so great. After we left the air conditioned building, we noticed that Marcus was really, really hot. We took him to the first aid station and he had a fever of 103.9! Ahhhh! My poor baby! I had taken him to the dr the day before we left for our trip and he had double ear infections. We tried a different medication to avoid diarrhea on our trip, but it obviously wasn't working! We cooled him down with wet towels, lots of water, and Tylenol, then called the dr and had them call in a different prescription. His fever was not nearly as high, so we returned to the park in the evening and went to Cars Land. Layla did not like the Radiator Springs ride because it made her lose her stomach. She went on it twice in a row thanks to the Parents' Switch Pass (so awesome!) and she cried the second time because it made her lose her tummy so much. Poor girl. We didn't go on it again, needless to say. We stayed until the park closed and then went home.

Marcus's meds during our trip. Poor boy!

The next day Mitch took Layla back to Disneyland while my mom, Marcus and I stayed at the condo. Marcus and I needed some much needed rest after an incredibly rough night of sick baby/no sleep. Once I finally felt rested, my mom dropped me off to join Mitch and Layla and she so kindly took care of Marcus the rest of the day. By this point he was feeling a lot better, but we still didn't want to have him out in the heat. He and Mammie went and hung out with our Cali Family for the afternoon. We ended up staying at Disneyland until 8 pm. We had so much fun! We rode all of the kids rides as well as the jungle cruise and Splash Mountain. Layla didn't mind getting wet on Splash Mountain, but she didn't like it because it made her lose her stomach. But I was proud of her for going! The ride attendant originally had us lined up to have Layla in the very front of the log, but I made her switch with Mitch because I thought she'd be completely freaked out if she was in front and could see how big that last hill is! We rode Buzz Lightyear a couple more times. We got lots more autographs that day and felt like we did all the rides we wanted to in that park. When we finally left it was dark and we walked over to Mimi's for dinner as we were all starving! My mom picked us up and we crashed into bed from the fun day.

The next day was our last day at the park. We spent it in California Adventure. I loved it! We took Layla on the ferris wheel, she saw more characters, we did all the rides in Cars Land (except Radiator Springs), the adults took turns riding the roller coaster, and we even took Marcus on the Ariel ride. He was so funny on the ride! He was clapping, dancing, and "talking" to the characters. He really enjoyed the ride! I wish we could have taken him again, but the park closed early for the water show. We had a quick dinner and then watched the water show, which like everything Disney does, was so cool. We also let Layla pick out a souvenir: she chose a Cinderella necklace and clip on earrings. My mom bought her a Tinkerbell wand that lights up. She loves them!

Ya, so this happened. And no, I didn't break the stroller. ;)

Our last day in Cali we spent relaxing. I think we were all too exhausted to go back to the beach! That evening we went to a bbq at Stacy's house for Judi's birthday. It was really nice to visit with their family. They are like family to us and always so welcoming. My uncle came down from LA so we got to visit with him briefly before taking the kids back to the condo for bed. (My mom was staying at Stacy's house during this trip btw). The food was delicious as Adam was cooking ribs and trying new recipes for the rib cookoff he was entering. Yum, yum! Layla and Marcus had fun swimming in the pool with Sam and Rhonda. Mitch had fun riding on Conrad's Porsche, and I had fun just hanging out. It was a good way to spend our last night of vacation.

A couple of random things I want to remember about this trip that I haven't yet mentioned:

• One night we got back to the condo and told Layla we were going to go in and go to bed. She said, "We better hurry because I only have 12 minutes before I fall asleep!" 
• When Layla met the princesses she was so cute! She would get all quiet and shy and had this little smile on her face. She held her hands clasped together "like a princess" and kept tipping her head to the side and smiling. It was so cute! She loved wearing her Cinderella dress, especially when meeting Cinderella, who told Layla they were "twinners."
• I thought Marcus would be scared of the characters, but he wasn't, not one bit! He grabbed Pluto's whiskers, touched Mickey Mouse's nose, and Minnie's face. He genuinely liked them!

This trip was awesome. I loved it despite the heat and sickness. We made so many memories and had so much fun watching Layla and Marcus experience it all. I am so glad we went and hope we can go again someday!

My mom. This vacation would not have been what it was without her! Not only was she a big help, but she's just a lot of fun to be around! She always thinks of the things we need that we didn't think of ourselves, she was such a help with the kids, and the trip was so fun with her there! Thanks Mom! We love you!

And my husband. He totally went along with my idea to "take the kids to Disneyland!" even though it was expensive (though we did have free airfare and got a good deal on the condo thanks again, to my mom and her time share). I'm sure he'd agree with me though that it was totally worth it to see Layla's little face as she met the princesses and went on the rides. Even Marcus loved meeting the characters and wasn't scared of them! But I digress. This whole trip wouldn't have been possible without my hard-working husband and I am so thankful for him! He is such a great husband and father to our family!

Disneyland 2014 was a success!!!