October/20 months Update

Another busy month has gone by and been filled with lots of fun.  We had a blast as a family taking Alethea to West Farm Corn Maze.  It was a nice fall activity that we were able to enjoy together.  She actually really loved going through the maze, loved the petting area (not so much to touch, but to look), enjoyed the huge sand pile, relaxed on the hayride, and enjoyed navigating the hay maze they made for little ones her size.  It was nice to have so many fall themed activities that she could actually participate in this year.

Posing with Daddy

And Mommy

Cheesin' it

Walking with Daddy

Climbing on the animal gate (it was empty)

We also had fun at our friends Harvest party.  Alethea loved being around all the people and especially loved their two dogs (that were bigger than her) and running around with them in the back yard.  She was in and out all night long and having a blast.  We even had a chance to carve a pumpkin tag team style between Ben and I and it actually turned out quite well.

Our Pumpkin

The last weekend of the month we made a trip up to Columbia with Ben while he had his grad class Saturday afternoon.  Alethea napped on the way there and then we had fun shopping and playing at the mall while Daddy had his class.  Afterwards we had the pleasure of meeting my cousin Gaggie and her husband Jerald for dinner.  The food and conversation were fabulous.  If you have never had a pimento cheese burger that needs to be added to your to-do list because they are delish.  Unfortunately Alethea came down with a fever (that would last for several days and turn into a rash of Roseola) and so she didn’t really get to visit much because she was asleep in my lap almost the entire meal.  She ended up puny, but overall we had fun with family.

Playing at the mall

Passed out at dinner

            I decided that I really enjoy all the fall themed activities.  We really didn’t get involved in Halloween this year because we didn’t want to spend money on costumes and especially on candy that we really don’t want any of us to be eating anyway.  Alethea and I did, however, enjoy getting her dressed in her pumpkin sweat suit from Mamaw and going over to spend some time with her buddy, Elise down the street.  They were both the cutest little pumpkins!

Enjoying coloring on Halloween

And Halloween stickers!

All smiles

In her pumpkin sweatsuit from Mamaw and Papaw

            This month has been insanely busy for Ben.  I am really quite honestly surprised we saw him at all with how much he had going on between work and grad school.  Alethea and I have been cherishing every moment we are able to spend with him.  He has had project after project for school that requires longer hours in the evening after work and work has been a bit hectic making him stay later than he would like of late.  Alethea and I have been making the best of it though.  I have still been cooking up a storm and really enjoying trying new recipes and incorporating the goodies we get in our CSA bag each week.  Thankfully, many nights Ben has been able to join us for dinner, even if just for a brief time, so he has been able to enjoy the goodies too.  I have also been continuing to run and I honestly believe that combined with healthy eating has been a lot of what has kept my sanity of late when spending so much time with a 20 month old. 

Like father like daughter

Loving some Daddy time

She loves to read with Daddy

Lasagna Skillet

Homemade Mini Pizzas

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

Homemade Pumpkin Puree and Homemade Arugula Pesto

            Now for the fun stuff about Alethea.  She turned 20 months this month.  I can’t believe how old she is getting so quickly.  She is going to be 2 before we know it!  This month was a bit lopsided on growth because she went up in height as usual, but down in weight…not so sure what to think of that yet.  She is now 35.5 inches tall (almost 3 feet!) and only weighs 26lbs (9.6 oz less than last month!).  I keep waiting for the month that the height slows down, but I guess this month wasn’t it, lol.

My big girl loves her babies

            The biggest change this month has been an explosion in language in the last 2 weeks of the month.  She has started repeating most everything we say and using language in her every day communication so much more. I am so thankful for this variety as opposed to her favorite sound she used to make for everything.  She is by no means speaking in full sentences, but she is saying a lot more since words, occasionally pairs.  Two new words for her have been “ree” for read and “booh” for book which are no surprise considering just how much she is obsessed with reading.  She says “maoo” for mouse, “moo” for moon, and “pee-pee” for just what it sounds like though she only wants to say it about Mommy and daddy and not actually use the potty herself.  She also says “wee-wee” for shooweee like I say when she has a stinky diaper and she says “bah-puh” for diaper and will actually lay down on the ground saying it if she wants it changed (regardless of if it actually needs it, lol).   She also says “chee” for cheese, “na-nah” for night night.  She has also finally started to say “beh-bee” for baby which has been super fun for her to finally grasp since she loves babies so much and she even recognizes that she is a baby.  One of her new favorites in “ti-tuh” for stickers which she absolutely loves of late, she says “ga-ga” for Mommy and Daddy’s glasses, “wa-wa” for water, and “boo-Boo” for anything that she thinks hurts (including moles and pimples, lol).  She also says “jah-ka” for jacket and loves to find hers and Mommy’s jackets when it is time to put them on to go outside.  I am sure that I could go on and on about her new language development because I am just that excited about it and I know I am forgetting some of her new words, but I am so glad she is finally taking an interest in expanding her vocabulary for sure!

Her new favorite way to carry baby, lol

            She continues to absolutely adore reading.  We hear “ree” and “booh” hundreds of times a day and she is always bringing books over and plopping in our laps to have us read to her.  She even sits down on the couch or in her reading corner to enjoy some quiet reading by herself.  I almost wonder if her love for books is linked to the new language development in some way.  Some of her faves are “Good Night Moon”, “My Personal Penguin” by Sandra Boynton, “Baby Einstein’s First Words” (and any other picture/word book that we point out all the things in), and “But Not The Hippopotamus” by Sandra Boynton.  We love most all the Sandra Boynton books we have, but as longs as it’s a book (or even a magazine sometimes) she is pleased.  When we read “Good Night Moon”, she points out the mouse and says “maoo” on every page and she finds the moon and says “moo” too.

My little computer genius

            Her bedtime routine was completely turned upside down this month in order to wean from nursing.  We were both ready for nursing to be over, especially in the last week since she was nursing for about a minute on each side.  Thankfully that made for an easy transition, even if it was a total bedtime change.  She nursed for the last time on 10/20/12 so we made it 20 months nursing…not to shabby.  One necessity at bedtime is that she has to give Mommy, Daddy, and both Basil and Apollo kisses before she can go to bed.  We have also begun putting more of a focus on praying with her before bed and she will willingly fold her hands and pray with us most days before bed.  Her last hour before bed starting at 7pm now consists of a bath, naked time running around (often chasing the dogs), getting pjs on, reading several books, prayers, Mommy singing to her, and then night-night time.  She has really taken well to it and not skipped a beat with her sleep at all.  Her current sleep schedule is usually in bed by 8pm (asleep by 815/830pm), she gets up between 7:30 and 8am (though I am writing this at 8:15am and she is still sleeping today), and then she naps from about 1:15/1:30pm until 3/3:30pm.  Thankfully we have been blessed with a good sleeper over all.

            Her eating habits, as could probably be assumed by her lack of weight gain, have really been lousy this month.  She is really random, not necessarily picky, but just doesn’t seem interested at times no matter what is offered.  Thankfully, though, she is finally asking to eat by either pointing to her mouth or saying “eeee” so I know she isn’t starving.  She never used to do this so this is a huge step for her, though I feel like she is ending up snacking a lot more and eating less well at meals.  I know part of it is probably attributed to the fact that she is working on 4 canines (one poked in on the 29^th) and she also ended up with Roseola which caused a fever the last 4 days of the month.  But I guess she will eat when she is hungry and this phase will pass in due time.

Blackberry jam and homemade bread...yum!

            She also has really taken a liking to being my little helper.  She loves to put things away in the kitchen, throw trash out, put laundry in the washer/dryer, clean up toys, and more.  I am hoping this only gets better and more useful. J   It is so fun to see how drawn she is to being involved in whatever I am doing, though it can be a bit frustrating when I am trying to be efficient and actually get things done, lol.

            It seems like she is learning more and more each day.  She doesn’t say numbers correct (expect the number 2). but makes sounds with the same intonation as me every time we count to three when she gets out of the bath.  Her knowledge of animals is also amazing!  She can identify so many animals as well as the sounds of those we know the sounds for.  To name a few newer ones, she knows: deer, mouse, camel, butterfly, ladybug, dolphin, shark, turtle, sea horse, crab, and frog (she says “bee-bit” for ribbit).  She is also able, and loves to point to her body parts and then the same ones on Mommy and Daddy, and sometimes the puppies which gets interesting, lol.  One fun things is that she has also started to recognize what is hers, Mommy’s and Daddy’s and she says “ma-ma” for all of Mommy’s things, “da-da” for all of Daddy’s things and has now started to try to say her own name, however, I don’t’ know that I can even spell the version she says of her own name.  Let’s just say it has a lot of “L” sounds, lol!   And one last tidbit is that she loves to crank of the stereo and listen to music, which isn’t always our favorite thing because she isn’t supposed to touch the stereo and can crank it up at inopportune times as a result.

Painting with the letter "O" for October

            As always, I could go on and on about how much Alethea continues to amaze us and share all the fun little cute things she does, but I will stop for now.  October has been a fabulous month despite the business and occasionally stressful times.  I don’t always like how I respond to Alethea in that stress, but I like to think I am getting better over time.  Though we loved October, I am looking forward to a more relaxing month of November with Ben on teaching break and a short break from school over Thanksgiving. (Though with the house being up on the market next month….we will see how relaxing that ends up, lol.)

September and 19 month update

I feel like September absolutely flew by.  Maybe since it was so filled with fun, we didn’t realize all the time was passing.  Alethea reached the milestone of 19 months too.  I measured her at home and she is just shy of 35inches tall and 26lbs 9.6oz.  Each month when I think she might be slowing down with her growth, she seems to grow even more.  She is so tall and already growing out of many of her 24 months and 2T clothes (especially if they are height dependant).  I don’t even know what size clothes to tell family to get her for Christmas!

Getting so big she already has her own car, lol (yay for trash day finds!)

This month, as I wrote about before, we went to Disney World with Alethea and she loved it.  It was a wonderful family trip.  And my parents stuck around for a few days after the trip which was very nice, but not long enough.  One adorable thing from that time though was when Alethea sat mesmerized by Bonanza with her Papaw, lol.  We think it must have been the horses!  Then the next weekend we went to the Columbia Zoo to help celebrate Alethea’s BFFs birthday.  They had so much fun seeing all the animals and we really enjoyed the time we spent with her family too. J  We also took another fun trip to Columbia with Ben when he had to attend a grad school class.  Alethea and I went to the park while he had class and then we enjoyed some Red Robin afterward (the one in Columbia is the closest).  Then the last weekend of the month we had our church picnic which was so much fun.  Alethea didn’t take a nap the whole time and ran around like a champ, but as soon as we got in the car, she was out. So I guess with all those busy weekends it’s no wonder the month flew by.

Watching Bonanza with Papaw, lol!

At the zoo with her BFF, Molly

She loved getting her Chick fil A hat when we went while Daddy was in class

Then we went for a walk in the park and baby came too

so proud of herself

Trying to give Mommy a heart attack!

Silly girl as we climbed the stairs

This month for Ben and I has been a bit of the same old thing.  Ben got a bit of a break from teaching and school the beginning of the month, but since then he has been going full speed ahead.  Unfortunately that means that sometimes it feels like we never get to see him, except on the weekends.  But we are blessed with the opportunity for him to get his MBA and this is just a season of life that will pass, THANKFULLY!  As for me, I have been spending a ton of time just me and Alethea running around town and trying to stay busy so we both don’t go stir crazy at home. I have been running 4 or 5 times a month and that has really helped me to maintain my sanity I feel like.  I am so thankful that she no longer nurses in the morning because that has really freed me to exercise so much more than ever since she came along.  I have also been enjoying our new CSA (community shared agriculture) bag that comes with all kinds of neat new veggies and I have been cooking up new goodies. J

Yummy CSA goodies

Chocolate PB baked oatmeal, YUM!

Alethea is changing so much every day!  I love seeing her excitement for learning and getting into new things, even if sometimes her curiosity or frustration drives me a bit batty at times.   She has learned so many animal sounds, though she is very selective when she chooses to repeat them.  She always quacks at the duck statue in our neighbor’s yard, barks when our dogs or other dogs outside bark, and growls every time she sees a lion or a bear.  This made for great times at the Animal Kingdom and the zoo, lol.  Animals are definitely an early love of hers and it is so sweet to see her excitement over them and each new sound she picks up.

She has also finally began to mimic words that I say, not all the time, but at least she does it at all.  She has learned the words moon, tree, shoe, and a few others this way.  She has also finally learned MOMMY, well “ma-ma” and so now she points to Mommy and says “ma-ma” to Daddy and says “da-da” and then she points to herself and for now I say Alethea, but hopefully soon she will pick up on that one too. J  She also picked up “mi-mi” for Mickey or Minnie from our Disney trip.

Feeding "mi-mi"

I am also amazed by a skill we discovered this month where she is able to find matches (I think that is what you would call it).  She has a Disney princess “I-Spy” type book and if we point to the character in the key, she will point to the matching character on the page.  She does this for almost all the items in the book, as long as she is in the mood to, lol.  This is one of her favorite books for sure, but she simply loves books.  She is still an active kiddo but she has seemed to take more of an interest in sitting and reading.  It’s honestly her activity of choice and would sit and read in my lap for hours probably if I would let her.  She just keeps bringing book after book to me (or Daddy) and wants to read it.  We have even found her sitting in her book corner in her room flipping through the pages of books herself.  So, sweet!

In her reading corner

She got Mamaw to come read to her too. :-)

I think the reduced seeing of Daddy has had a bit of an impact on her behavior, though she just seems to be a bit whineier lately in general.  That has become her new favorite way of communicating.  I am glad she has mostly changed from her previous annoying noise, but this one isn’t much better, lol!  But I think I chalk it up to missing her Daddy many times, especially when he is home, but has to study, or watch class in the office.  I know it breaks his heart just as much as it breaks hers and he does his best to spend the time with her that he can, thankfully.  Another contributor to the whining I think is due to teething.  She had a rash on her neck so for most of the month she didn’t have her teething necklace on and I think she is working on her canine teeth coming in.  Although, once I put the necklace back on she still is pretty good with the whine, lol.

One funny thing she has developed this month is a fake laugh.  Many times it just seems to come out of nowhere, but other times it is in response to those around her laughing.  For example, we were getting ready for a group photo at our church picnic and right before the photo she randomly just let out a big fake laugh.  What a ham!  She has also taken a liking to her own version of singing, especially in the car.  I think we are going to have a musical kid our hands with the dancing and now singing, but at least she comes by it honest with her Mommy’s love of all things music. J

She absolutely loves to be outside. We have gone to the park many times and to a few playgrounds near our neighborhood and she always has a blast.  She also absolutely loves to go for walks, so we have been doing a lot of those.  Sometimes she takes her stroller to push with her baby in it, which she stops to take care of periodically as we walk around the block.  But most of the time she just simply needs to have something to carry with her, even if it is just her cup and she is good to walk for quite some time.  Fun traditions on the walk also include being lifted up to slap the stop signs, knocking on all the street sign posts, riding the fire hydrants, and going “boom-boom-boom” as she stops on all the drains and man holes. This has grown to be a fun time for Alethea and I during the day and a special treat when Daddy gets to go at night or on the weekends.

not the most flattering of me, but you can see how much she loves her car!

This month we also had some fun times with sensory play and water.  We made it out in the pool when Daddy had time off earlier in the month.  Then we had fun with colored ice blocks another day...and I learned that I need to use a bit less food coloring, lol.  And last we broke up the beans and she is a huge fan of that.  After the first time at the kitchen table, we realized that it makes much less of a mess in the floor.  Lots of good times!

getting Daddy with the hose 

colored ice blocks everywhere!

Look Ma!

very focused :-)

One final note about her eating.  She is still nursing at bedtime, but I think we are going to start weaning that toward the end of next month.  I am a tad bittersweet with it, but yet I feel it is time and I know she will be just fine.  Though she still seems to be growing like a weed, her growing has slowed down and as a result, so has her appetite.  Plus we have been adding in a smoothie every morning to make sure she gets the milk she needs since she won’t just drink the darn stuff, lol!  So I think that is affecting her bfast and lunch appetite some. She still doesn’t really care for vegetables and anytime they are on her plate she tries to hand them to me and says “uhn-uh”, but I usually just try to get her to keep them on her plate with the hope of her eating them (which she almost never does).  At the end of the month, she decided she no longer liked the purees either so we may be done with veggie purees too which is fine, I just hope she actually eats veggies on her own soon, lol.  She still loves most any kind of fruit though with many being out of season our variety isn’t that great.  She also loves pizza (only fresh), cheese (most of the time), homemade chicken nuggets, ravioli, rotini, cheese eggs, grilled cheese, cottage cheese (only from mommy’s plate), baked oatmeal muffins, homemade granola, and probably a few other things.  But honestly her variety of food seems pretty lame to me, but we just keep trying to expand it by putting little bits of new foods on her plate each meal in hopes of her trying it. J

This has truly been another blessed month and we are so thankful for our sweet little family of three.  The Lord has really blessed us and I have been reminded so much more lately about His perfect timing and even though we had to wait what felt like so long to have Alethea, she has been worth every minute of that time!  God is good and he knows best (even though I don’t always think so at the time)!

Disney Trip 2012

            September 6^th through the 9^th we took our first family trip to Disney World.  To make it even more fun we brought along my parents, Ben’s mom, and Ben’s sister.  We decided that we wanted to go ahead and make the trip even though Alethea is still so young because we were able to get such a fabulous deal since Ben is in the military.  Plus we live so close right now that we just couldn’t pass up the opportunity knowing that we only have less than a year left here in SC and after that Ben will most likely be moving on from the Navy so we wouldn’t have the discount either.  And it turns out that even though she was only 18 months old she absolutely loved it!  We spent the perfect amount of time there and there was plenty of fun to be had, even for Alethea!

            It is about a 6 hour drive from Charleston so we left as soon as Ben was able to get away from work which ended up being about 10am on Thursday.  So that got us to Disney by about 5pm with stops.  Alethea did awesome on the drive and we were all ready to start having fun right away since we only had 2 half days and 2 full days to spend.  So we quickly checked in and headed over to the Magic Kingdom to grab some dinner.  We grabbed dinner and then scoped out a spot to watch the Electric Parade.  Alethea did awesome for only having a 45 minute nap earlier that day.  We busted out the glow bracelets while we waited for the parade and we all (including Alethea) had a blast watching the parade.  It was our hope that we would keep Alethea up just this night so she could see the parade and then the fireworks to follow.  However she fell asleep on the way to our spot to view fireworks and slept all the way through.  So she has still yet to see her first fireworks, lol!

Checking out the Mickey towels

Chilling out on the bed while everyone gets bags put in the room

Ready to go to Magic Kingdom on our first evening!

The Castle! 

She loves her Daddy and is very happy for dinner

Glowstick fight with Aunt Rachel

Tinkerbell: Such and awesome parade!

Mesmerized by the parade

She pointed at everything!

The night show!

And she's out :-)

            We woke up when Alethea woke up Friday morning, which ended up being about 7:30am, and once everyone was ready we headed out to Magic Kingdom again, indulging in homemade banana muffins on the way. J  Our plan was to center the time at Disney around what would be most enjoyable for Alethea and only really doing the “adult” things if time allowed.  So we went directly to Dumbo first and she loved it so much that we rode it twice in a row.  This was a great time of year to go because we hit hardly any lines!  We spent a good part of the morning in Fantasyland hitting up the Mad Tea Party tea cups, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, It’s a Small World, and the Carousel.  She didn’t really like Winnie the Pooh or Peter Pan because they were both dark (at least I think that’s why), but she loved the rest, especially It’s a Small World.  We actually rode It’s a Small World twice because she loved it so much!  She pointed at everything and was so excited on that ride. J  Next we headed over to Tomorrowland so that Ben and his sister could ride Space Mountain.  While they rode that we tried to get pictures with Chip and Dale, but Alethea wanted nothing to do with them.  She held on to me super tight and wouldn’t let go. After that we rode Buzz Lightyear and the Tomorrowland Speedway go carts and she enjoyed both.  We went to Fronteirland for a lunch break and then Ben and his sister went and rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  While they rode that we walked around Adventureland in hopes of getting Alethea to take a nap, but she was not interested in relaxing, lol.  So instead we checked out the Tiki Room show (which she loved dancing to all the music), then rode Aladdin twice, and went on the Jungle Cruise.   Once Ben and his sister joined us we got some Dole Whip and walked around the Swiss Family Treehouse (which she had a blast exploring).  After that Ben and his sister went to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean ride while scored a great spot for the afternoon parade.  Thankfully while we were waiting my dad was able to walk around and get Alethea to take a nap that lasting until they announced the start of the parade over the loud speakers and scared her awake, lol.  Once she was awake though, she loved the parade, except for when Donald Duck decided to be friendly, but really just scared her to death.  She loved to wave at the characters and point them out as long as they stayed far from her personal bubble!  We rode the railroad back the entrance, walked around main street, grabbed some treats and then headed back to the hotel to rest up a bit (thankfully just in time because it started pouring down rain).

Ready for Dumbo!

Walking to the Tea Cups

So excited in the gift shops

She saw a squirrel, lol

so excited

Chilling out

Attempting to meet Chip and Dale

It's a Small World!

She waved at every kid and animal on the ride

time for the carousel

Aladdin

finally out for a nap

still sleepy for the first part of the parade

The Beast

An awesome balloon before leaving for the day

            After Alethea went to bed, my parents stayed with her so that Ben, his mom, his sister, and I could head over to explore Epcot.  We didn’t really have much planned for Epcot other than seeing the lights show and grabbing some dinner.  When we first got there we just walked around all the countries and found a spot to watch the lights show.  It was a great show (not as good as Magic Kingdom though) and then we grabbed some dinner in Mexico.  I loved my empanadas, but evidently that was a better choice than what the rest had.

            Saturday morning we woke up with Alethea again right around the same time and then grabbed some McDonalds on the way to Animal Kingdom.  This park definitely turned out to be a hit!  We headed over to Asia to ride Everest twice right off the bat while Ben’s mom hung out with Alethea.  So much fun!  Then we went to Dinoland and rode the Triceratops Spin with Alethea and then the Primeval Whirl while the Grandma’s watched Alethea and then ended off our time in Dinoland by catching the Finding Nemo Musical.  I was worried about going to a show at first because I didn’t know that she would sit through it, but I was definitely wrong.  She was so excited and pointing at everything throughout the show.  So cute!  Then we headed over to Africa to go on the Safari and the Exploration Trail.  Alethea (as well as everyone else) loved these.  This was like a zoo on steroids.  Alethea made so many animal noises and was super excited about seeing all the animals and we all enjoyed watching her excitement.  We grabbed lunch in Africa before heading over to Camp Minnie-Mickey where we tried one last time to get Alethea to meet a character, Minnie, but she wanted nothing to do with it again.  So we just headed over to the Lion King Show which was awesome.  She loved this show too!  She actually started drifting off a little bit during this show at the end so we kept trying to keep her awake so she would be able to nap longer in the stroller.  Well that plan backfired because she ended up not taking a nap at all that day.  Thankfully she was a great sport anyway and you never would have known she hadn’t napped except for the occasional loopy-ness. J  We got our spot for the jungle parade and then enjoyed yet another fabulous Disney parade.  After that Ben, his sister, and my dad headed over to Hollywood Studios to catch some coasters while me and the grandmas took Alethea to play in the boneyard and then to get some ice cream.  She had a blast running around the boneyard and then we took her back to the hotel to eat dinner and go to sleep. 

So excited on the safari

She was very intent the whole time

"Look Ma!"

tapping on the glass at all the fishes

looking at the fishes with Mommy and Daddy

Waving at the gorillas

 

drink break with Papaw

trying to meet Minnie = fail

Waving at the characters in the Jungle Parade

Until they come to say hi, lol

So excited playing in the boneyard

            I am not really sure all of what they did in Disney before my mom and I joined them, but after Alethea was asleep (which she went down almost instantly 30 minutes early without having napped) Ben’s mom stayed with her, so we could go join the rest at Hollywood Studios.  We got there just in time to grab more ice cream (yes I may I have a bit of an obsession and this was my dinner, lol) and then we got our spot for Fantasmic.  That is definitely my favorite nighttime show.  The do a wonderful job!

            Our last day we got up with Alethea again, enjoyed banana muffins, packed up/checked out, and then headed back to Hollywood Studios before we had to head home that afternoon.  This last day was literally a wash since it was raining the whole time, but we made the best of it.  We caught two shows: Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and they were both excellent and Alethea love them.  She is such a musical kid!  We also saw a short session about animation before catching several rides.  We rode the Toy Story ride with Alethea and then rode the Rockin’ Roller coaster twice and the Tower of Terror while Ben’s mom watch Alethea.  Ben’s mom had to leave to catch her flight so my Dad watched Alethea while we rode the Rockin’ Roller coaster the 2^nd time and much to my surprise she was passed out on his shoulder when we go out.  I guess a little Aerosmith I a good lullaby, lol!  She got a good 45minute nap while we rode and then walked to the car, but she was woken up when we put her in the car seat.  So that created for an interesting sleeping situation for the trip, but she was still a trooper and did great in the car given the circumstances.

Beauty and the Beast

Papaw worked his magic

Tuckered out on the way home

Her new Mickey and Minnie kept her company too :-)

            This was definitely a fast paced, whirlwind of a trip, but it was oh so worth it.  We got to see everything we wanted to at 2 of the parks and a lot of what we wanted to at the others.  (We didn’t have much interest in Epcot.)  It was a successful and fun trip full of great company and I am so glad we decided to do it!  This was our first big family trip and it is full of many wonderful memories to last a lifetime!