Cheerios and Tricycles : Casey David Brake. ♥

Movie afternoon..

2012-01-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

Casey watched Toy Story this afternoon for the first time.. he not only sat through the whole movie, but he watched it twice. He found a few parts scary.. Sid's dog, and Sid's mutant doll head toy particularly.. but he couldn't look away. Hopefully he wont get nightmares tonight!

Giving his bunny girl a kiss :)

She has a name!

2012-01-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

Things are going well with bunny girl! She's been called all kinds of things in the last couple of days, but we're 90% sure her name will be Muffin. You know.. Cupcake and Muffin, lol.

Cupcake is tolerating her, now that she's gotten over the shock of this strange, hopping, long-eared creature.. they'll sit on the same piece of furniture, on opposite sides, ignoring each other. It took much longer for her to get to this point with Oreo, so I'd say it's a good sign.

She loves to explore, run around after Casey, and take naps under our bed.. the only time she'll go to her cage is to eat, drink, or use her litter box, then when we put her to bed at bedtime. I love that she's able to interact with the family, like Cupcake, and not be stuck in her cage all day. The only problem we've come across so far is that she likes to eat Casey's food, so we have to be careful what he is eating around her (they both love strawberries and grapes though!).

There were two little girls at the playground today, with their grandmother.. Casey was playing with them, and kept calling their grandmother 'gran', lol. He'd be like "Look, gran! Watch me, gran! Can you help me, gran!" At one point, he had a tantrum because I was trying to help him with the ladder, but he wanted 'gran' to help him. She was so nice, and paid as much attention to Casey as she did to her own two grandchildren. This is not the first time he's adopted someone's grandparent as his own.. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the fact that we're so far away from all of his grandparents or not, but it makes me feel guilty, and sad for him.

Nameless bunny girl..

2012-01-22T13:25:00.002-07:00

Yesterday we took Casey to pick out another pet.. and this is who we brought home :)

She is still nameless as of right now, but we have a few cute possibilities. It'll be Casey's choice, as long as he stops insisting we name her 'Peter' (although it would have been a great name if she wasn't a female, and it wasn't already daddy's name).

She is a house bunny.. she is allowed to roam free while we're home, then she'll go in her cage at night, or while we're not home. She is so friendly, curious and playful.. Casey has been laughing hysterically playing with her all morning, and last night she was hopping up on the sofa to sit next to Peter. She loves Casey.. I was a little worried he'd be too loud and scary for her at first, but she just follows him around everywhere.. I'm surprised how kitten-like she is. We all love her, with the exception of Cupcake.. we introduced them briefly last night, and she ran after and jumped on Cupcake.. Cupcake was shocked, and not very happy, lol. From everything I've read, and what we were told at the Humane Society, house bunnies and house cats get along very well.. so I think (hope) eventually they'll be the best of friends like Cupcake and Oreo were.

In other news.. I booked our flights to Colorado yesterday.. we'll be there from the 2nd - 12th June.

Goodbye Henry :(

2012-01-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

Casey's guinea pig, Henry, died last night.

This morning we had to explain to him that Henry had been really sick, and had passed away. Being three, he doesn't understand the finality of death.. he has asked me a few times today if we can take Henry to the hospital to make him better, and has come to tell me that Henry's water bottle and food bowl are empty, and he might get hungry.

RIP Henry.. you were only with us for two weeks, but you were already part of the family and we'll miss you.

Bedtime.

2012-01-13T19:32:00.003-07:00

Casey, calling from his bed: Mummy, one more cuddle and kiss!
I go in, and give him a cuddle and a kiss.
Casey: Five more cuddles, mummy, and five more kisses!
Casey (counting my kisses): 1.. 2.. 3.. 4. 1.. 2.. 3.. 4. 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.
Me: Okay, that was 12 kisses.. time to sleep now.
Casey: No, it hasn't been five kisses yet, it was only four!

:)

Christmas is officially over..

2012-01-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

We finally took down all the Christmas decorations yesterday. I'd been waiting for our across-the-road neighbors to take theirs down.. they're very religious, so I figured as long as theirs were still up, I could get away with leaving mine up (we put our tree up late this year.. usually I'm sick of it by New Years day). I'm going to miss the smell of the tree!

The scrape on his face happened about five minutes after Peter left for work today.. he was standing up on the big boy swing, slipped, and fell face first onto the stones.. he cried so hard for his daddy :(
Need to put down sand under the swingset asap.

Shaving.

2012-01-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

It was also all over one of the bathmats, and the bathtub.. at least my bathroom smells good, lol.

More sledding fun..

2012-01-07T23:20:00.001-07:00

Peter's parents, brother, and sister left this afternoon. Casey is going to be so lost now, without any family around. After having my parents here over Christmas, then Peter's family over New Year, he has had an exciting few weeks.

We didn't actually get too many pictures.. and we meant to get a group shot before they left, but we forgot about that too. Here are all the pictures that I did take, on both my phone and camera.. most are from sledding at Mount Lemmon.

Our usual sledding spots were either coned off, or had no snow.. so we found another place, where the hills were a little bumpy, and a bit too steep for Casey.. but amazingly, nobody ended up in the E.R ;)

He is loving his swings.

Ouch.. lol..

Little Henry.. a great addition to our family :)

He loves his uncle James :)

Sitting around the fire with chips and salsa.. we spent a few evenings here.

New family member..

2012-01-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year to all of our family and friends.. I hope 2012 is going well for everyone so far. 2011 was a good one, and I can't wait to find out what 2012 has in store for us!

We have Peter's family here this week, and Casey decided that he wanted a hamster as his Christmas present from them. Yesterday we went to Petsmart, and he picked out a guinea pig (which he is calling a hamster). Here he is:

Casey is still deciding between Winnie and Henry for his name.. 'Winnie' is what he calls 'Linny' on Wonder Pets, and I have no idea where he got Henry from, lol. He is very cute :)

2011-12-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

While cleaning the bathrooms, I noticed that my child was suspiciously quiet..

Grandma and grandpa arrive tomorrow night, for a week!

Santa came!

2011-12-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Mum and dad left last night.. we had a great week together, even if it did go far too quickly. Santa was good to Casey.. he got a swingset, a train table with Thomas trains, a Cozy Coupe firetruck that sprays water, a trailer for his Cozy Coupe car, Lego, a soccer/hockey goal with the accessories, a couple of remote control vehicles, a recycle truck, and lots more. We just stayed home on Christmas day, cooked a big ham and turkey dinner, and put Casey's new toys together.

Doing his new Thomas puzzle with daidi.

Daddy putting together the firetruck.

Trying out the swingset!

And a couple from boxing day..

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

We got all of our wrapping and food shopping done yesterday, then spent today at Mount Lemmon.

Casey wiped his nose on dad's sweater :P

Dad and Peter helping a car stuck in the snow in Summerhaven, lol.. dad is the one pushing at the front, and Peter is inside the car.

Waiting for our lunch at the Pizza cabin.

Sledding!

When we got home, Casey made cookies to leave for Santa.

It's 11:20pm right now, and Santa is due to pass through Arizona in another 40 minutes or so ;)

The Perfect Tree

2011-12-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

Mum and dad arrived last night, and we're so excited to have them here! Today we went to pick out our tree, and finished up mum and dad's Christmas shopping for Casey.

Dad outside the Christmas tree market.

The tree we picked out (we had them cut off that bottom branch).

Dad and Peter tying the tree to the car, lol.

Casey is so funny.. when we got home from buying the tree, he tied a little decorative tree to the top of his car with tie downs, just like dad and Peter had done with the real tree.

Finished tree!

At 38 months, Casey..

2011-12-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

.. is daytime potty trained, and accidents are few and far between. We haven't thought much about nighttime training him yet, but probably will in the next couple of months.

.. loves to talk with nanna and daidi on FaceTime! If one of them calls without FaceTime switched on, he'll get upset, or even refuse to speak. He likes to talk face-to-face, and show them things around the house, which is nice with them being so far away.

.. is recognizing words. With books, it could very well be that we read his favorites so often that he just memorizes where the words are.. but it doesn't seem that way with other things. At the store the other day, I was choosing cereal, and reached for a box of Cocoa Puffs. Without me saying anything, Casey shouted 'COCONUTS!' obviously recognizing the 'coco' part of the word. Or while watching a show on TV, a subtitle came up saying 'Max and Ruby, coming up next..' (plain text, no logo or anything identifying), and he shouted "Yay! Max and Ruby!".. things like that.

.. is just getting over a cold and cough, just in time for mum and dad's arrival tonight! He is so excited to go and pick them up.. he's been picking out 'gifts' from around the house to give them, lol.

Making a cake for nanna and daidi;

I've been slacking at taking pictures and blogging lately, I know. I have my camera charging right now though, so I'll be posting pictures of our activities in the next few days! Tomorrow we're going to pick out our tree, then hopefully getting it up, and decorating it.

"Knock knock.."

2011-12-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

Me: Whose there?
Casey: Orange.
Me: Orange who?
Casey: Orange I glad to see you! (Orange you glad to see me, lol.. close enough.)

Santa, 2011

2011-12-10T23:08:00.001-07:00

We went to see Santa at the mall today. Casey was so excited to see him, but I was half expecting him to decide at the last minute that he didn't want to sit on his lap, lol. He went up without a problem though, and apparently he asked Santa for "toys, trucks, and puppies".

Really meant to take him to get his haircut this week.. oops.

2011-12-08T17:32:00.000-07:00

"Let's open one more shall we.. here's number 9!"

Christmas is coming!

2011-12-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

We're taking Casey to see Santa at the mall this weekend, so he'll be getting a haircut and writing his Christmas list this week, ready to put in Santa's mailbox.
I'm all done with my Christmas shopping for everyone, including stocking stuffers (with the exception of one gift, that I still need to order).. I just need to get everything wrapped, and finish my Christmas cards now. Mum and dad will be here in TWO weeks, and I am unbelievably excited.
Casey told me this morning that Santa wouldn't be bringing daddy any presents, because he picked his scab, lol.

Some pictures I took on my phone today. I've hardly used my camera since I got this iPhone.. oops.. the pictures are such good quality.

I know, he's a little big to be in a stroller.. but it is so cold right now (low-mid 40's today), and he is spoiled ;)

Casey: I'm so happy, mummy.
Me: I'm glad. Turn around and smile for a picture then!

Window #1

2011-12-01T09:21:00.001-07:00

24 days until Santa comes!

3 years, 1 month

2011-11-26T16:45:00.001-07:00

I am really slacking with these monthly updates. I just realized I completely missed his three year update, and I'm over a week late with this month.

Food.
At dinnertime, he'll take a piece of bread and fill it with rice/mashed potatoes/applesauce/peas/whatever sides he has on his plate, and make a sandwich.
He loves to eat peanut butter out of the jar, with a spoon.
He likes most fruits and vegetables, but wont eat the foods three year olds typically like (hot dogs, chicken fingers, hamburgers, etc).. this is a good thing, unless we're eating at a restaurant, lol.
His favorite foods are still strawberries and apples.

Chores:
Feeding Cupcake.
Putting all the toys back in the playroom before bed.
He is great at the first one.. not so great at the second ;)

Activities:
His favorite toys are still his cars/trucks/trains/planes/construction vehicles.. if he's playing with them in the dirt, that's even better!
He loves to be tickled, and to tickle me (or Peter.. but he usually targets me, because I'm much more ticklish).
He loves to fix things with his 'tools' like Bob the Builder.. he uses anything he can find - forks, metal clothes hangers, or old screws he finds in the yard (they did a terrible job clearing up when they finished building this house). Peter got a new laptop for his birthday.. he'd only had it a few days when Casey 'fixed' it for him, scraping the screen, and the area above the screen. Best Buy ended up exchanging it for him (for a different issue), which was surprising, considering it was noticeably damaged. He also flushed Mater (tow truck from the movie Cars) down the toilet so he could 'pull him out' with a rope.. which resulted in Peter and I having to remove the toilet.
He loves playing soccer in the yard with daddy (and daidi, no doubt, when he arrives).. we'll probably put him in soccer next year when he's four.

Randoms:
He can show me on a map of the US where nanna, daidi and Abi live, where grandma and grandpa live, and where mummy, daddy and Casey live.

Some pictures from our walk to the playground this morning (for you, dad, because you're waiting for them). All were taken with my iPhone.

He was telling me "Amsey is such a good scooter, mummy!" all the way to the playground. Then as he was riding down a little hill on the playground path, he lost control and fell off. He declared he would never ever skate again. Guess who had to carry Amsey home?

He thought falling off this was hilarious, and was doing it over and over.

He made a bird's nest, then sat on it. He farted, then looked at me in shock. "It's okay, mummy.. birdie didn't break her eggs, it was just a fart!" I love this kid.

While walking to/from the playground, if he hears or sees a car coming, he'll grab onto me, and say "please stop mummy, and go to the wall.. there is a car coming!"

He scraped his foot, and he wanted me to take a picture of it for daidi, lol.

And a little interview with Casey..

How old are you?
I'm five.

What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?
A car. A car with keys.

What is your favorite animal?
My favorite animal is.. a chicken. And chicks. And eggs, mummy.

What do you like to watch on TV?
I don't know. Caillou. Can I have some peanut butter on toast?

I am thankful for;

2011-11-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

My hard working, loving husband. Our perfect, healthy, and happy son. Family that love and support us. Our warm, comfortable home. And good food on the table.

Four weeks!

2011-11-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

How is it almost the end of November already? This year has flown by. I totally didn't realize Thanksgiving was this Thursday when I was doing the grocery shopping this week.. so we'll probably be spending it on Mt Lemmon again this year, lol. I'm not really feeling Thanksgiving this year anyways.. too excited for Christmas. I can't believe it's only four weeks until mum and dad will be here! Then on New Years Eve, Peter's parents, and younger brother and sister arrive for a week.. for Christmas part 2! I love that Casey will get to spend the holidays with both sides of the family :)

It's getting increasingly difficult to take pictures of him. Every time I get my camera or phone out, he'll say "no pictures of me, mummy.. put that camera away!"

He wants a dog so badly.. he is asking almost daily now. And to be fair, he is great with Cupcake.. he loves to feed her, fill up her water dish, pet her and play with her. We'll probably talk about it again after Christmas.

He still prefers the baby swing.. but doesn't mind the big boy swing when someone is already using the baby swing. I think it's that he doesn't like having to hold on.

Happy birthday daddy!

2011-11-15T10:29:00.002-07:00

I love you more than chocolate (and everyone knows how much I love chocolate)! ♥ Casey.

Doughnuts..

2011-11-12T21:03:00.001-07:00

We go to the swap meet just for these delicious doughnuts. Well.. Casey and I do. Peter goes for all the cheap tools :P

These next three are from my iPhone.. it takes amazing pictures for a phone!

November in Tucson

2011-11-10T22:57:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about this time of year is how cute Casey looks in hats and hoodies ;) The weather has been going back and forth.. it'll be in the 50's one day, and in the 70's the next, and we've had to turn the heat on a few nights when it's hit low 30's.. but for the most part we've been able to leave all the windows open day and night. It's nice to have some cooler weather, after a hot Arizona summer.. and I was excited to see that our electricity bill for October was reduced by well over $100 (can't wait to see the one for November). They've already had snow a couple of times in the last week on Mt Lemmon, and we haven't even been up there to see the fall colors yet. Hopefully we'll get up there this weekend or next!

These were taken a couple of days ago.. the last six are from today :)

This is Peter's hat, but he likes to wear it even though he has his own, lol.

Thank you for this t-shirt Shirley, it's so him!

If you have an iPhone, and don't have the Instagram app.. you should download it.

That mark on his head started out as part of a poison ivy rash from feeding the goats at the bottom of mum and dad's garden.. then he scratched it until it bled and turned into a scab.. now he wont leave it alone long enough for it to heal, no matter what I bribe him with :P

Florida, Part 6 : Naples Pier

2011-11-09T10:11:00.001-07:00

He was trying to make a paddling pool, and couldn't figure out where all the water was going :P

On his way to get daidi back......

Rinsing off all the sand :)

Driving back to the airport :(

After we boarded the plane and were ready to leave, they announced that there was an issue with the starter, so they were going to switch us to a different plane. Casey had already fallen asleep at this point, so Peter ended up carrying him through the airport like this, lol.

Well.. that's it for the Florida pictures :)

Florida, Part 5 : Casey's 3rd birthday party!

2011-11-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

We were in Orlando the weekend Casey turned three, so we did a small birthday party the following weekend. He had a lot of fun, and spent the entire time on the playground, only coming back for food or to get cupcakes for his new friends. We got the pavilion right next to the playground entrance by accident, which worked out really well considering how much time he spent in there.

Guest of honor's chair, waiting for him to arrive ;)

I miss Il Primo.. this picture makes me hungry.

This is how much he loves me ;)

The only family picture we got.. and Casey was trying to escape to the playground, lol.

Dorry is putting together a birthday book of messages/drawings from everyone who was at the party. Such a cute idea!

Jodie writing her message.. and Donald making sure nobody uses her page as inspiration :P

Get that party hat back on, nanna.

Don't mind my face.. Peter was taking 'natural pictures', and I thought it was a cute one of Casey :P

All that playing makes him thirsty.

Nanna's turn to write in the book :)

Had to steal him from the playground for three seconds to sing happy birthday, lol.

This is the only picture I got of little Jason.. he spent a lot of the time in the playground too.

Such a genuine smile..... ;)

"I just want to eat my cake and get back to the playground!"

Mum writing in the book.

Florida, Part 4 : Falling Waters

2011-11-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

Mum and dad booked their flights to Tucson, last night! They'll be here for the week over Christmas.. arriving 20th December, leaving the evening of the 27th. When they arrive, we're going to get our first (first as a family at least) real Christmas tree, and decorate together :)

My goal this year is to be finished with my Christmas shopping by 1st December (with the exception of stocking fillers.. because there is nothing quite like shopping at Toys R Us in December). So far we've got Casey's five biggest gifts, and a few ideas for family gifts.

Loving the pool :)

Calling daidi.

Florida, Part 3 : Lowdermilk Beach

2011-11-02T20:39:00.001-07:00

After Orlando, we headed to Naples for a week.. where we got a couple of stormy days, then finally a beach day!

(Yes I did only pack one bathing suit, and he wore it almost every day.)

Can you tell Peter was behind the camera, and that he's a fan of natural pictures? Lol. I'm almost always the one behind the camera, so it's nice to have a few of Casey and I together.

The storm the day before washed up lots of shells.

'

Trick-or-treat!

2011-11-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Is it dark enough to go trick-or-treating yet?? :(

We got our first trick-or-treaters just before we left the house.. Casey answered the door, and tried to take a handful of candy from one of the kids bags, lol.

He did really well trick-or-treating, and said thank you to everyone.. most houses give handfuls of candy, so by the time we finished with our 'loop' his bag was full. There were loads of other kids and families out, and Casey was saying to everyone "I like your costume!" and "Good job!" to people trick-or-treating at the same house as him.

Some people would ask him "How many pieces of candy would you like?" and he'd answer "All of it!" It was getting embarrassing toward the end.. he was dragging around this big bag of candy that he could barely lift, and was still going strong.. I'm sure people thought we wouldn't let him stop until his bag was full, lol. But we rarely let him have candy at home, so he was so excited to be knocking on doors and getting candy in return. This morning he is excited to be discovering different kinds of candy he didn't know existed :)

A few houses had the 'help yourself' bowls outside, and he'd be there forever deciding which candy to take.

He got into his monkey costume and shoes this morning, and told me he was ready to go out trick-or-treating again :)

Florida, Part 2 : Magic Kingdom

2011-10-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Lots of pictures!

Lunch with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet!

Feeding Tigger ♥

Piglet wasn't hungry, lol.

Birthday cupcake :)

Mum's favorite, Eeyore!

Waiting in line.

Mum was on the little horse, lol.

Mmmm.. worms and dirt.

We didn't have the best experience with Mickey last time we were at Disney, but we were really impressed this time. This was at the end of the day, and Casey was tired to the point he couldn't/wouldn't walk anymore. Mickey got down on the floor to interact with him.. big difference from the one who rushed us in and out last time!

Florida, Part 1 : Seaworld

2011-10-28T20:52:00.002-07:00

We had a great time in Florida, with the family.. wish we could have spent a bit more time with a few of you though! We're counting down the days until Christmas now, when mum and dad will be here :)

For months, Casey had been asking to go to Seaworld every time he saw the commercial on TV.. so that is where we spent our first day!

Feeding the sting rays.

FYI, they do not feel like dolphins.. they're slimy. Don't let Peter tell you otherwise :P

At the Shamu Stadium, waiting to see Shamu!

Tilikum.

Mum's favorite ride ;)

Abi and Alex.

His favorite ride was the Shamu Express.. which is a pretty big roller coaster for a three year old. This is a picture of a picture, but you get the idea :)

Waiting for Peter and Casey in the big play area. After he was done playing here, mum and dad went to take him on Shamu Express again, and he fell asleep waiting in line, lol. He also missed out on Spooktacular (trick-or-treating at Seaworld), but Peter and I managed to get a few pieces of candy :P

Ready for Halloween!

2011-10-27T18:34:00.005-07:00

We're going to be eating pumpkin bread for weeks ;)

I'm so sad that Halloween falls on a Monday this year, and Peter wont be able to come trick-or-treating with us. For the last couple of years, we've gone out trick-or-treating, then watched scary movies once Casey was in bed.. but since Peter is on second shift now (3pm - midnight), he'll be working. Unless I can convince him to take the night off...............

We're home, and a final sunflower update.

2011-10-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

When we arrived home from Florida, Casey's sunflower was a foot taller, and had a flower.. but the water in the Aqua Globes had run out, and it wasn't looking too healthy. I pulled off the dead leaves, put it back in the sun and gave it a load of water, and within a few hours it was looking much better. Until.. Casey picked the flower off.

At least we got to see a flower this time though :)

Florida pictures coming soon!

Sunflower and Florida!

2011-10-13T13:52:00.001-07:00

Almost as big as him!

We leave for Florida tomorrow, and since we already have a ridiculous amount of carry on, I probably wont be bringing my laptop with me. We'll be spending the first few days in Orlando, doing Disney and Seaworld, before heading to Naples.. then Casey's birthday party will be either on Thursday 20th October, or Saturday 22nd October at Sugden Park (where we had his first birthday party). We're also planning to check out some venues for our vow renewal while we're there, so we'll hopefully have a definite date by the time we get back.

See you all back here in 12(ish) days!

Weekend pictures

2011-10-10T19:02:00.001-07:00

Can I just say, it's so nice to have Peter back home.

We spent most of Friday at the mall.. we all needed a few last minute things for Florida, and Peter wanted to get his new phone (the Droid Bionic).

On Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch.

Daddy helping Casey cut his pumpkin..

On the hayride.. he loved the tractor, lol.

Someone was asking him which pumpkin was his, lol.

Our fall display. We're going to carve the two pumpkins on the floor when we get home from Florida.. just before Halloween.

We spent Sunday on Mt Lemmon.

Collecting materials to make a nest.

His nest.. the pine cones are eggs ;)

Getting ready to sit on his nest.

Our first cold day of Fall..

2011-10-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

56 degrees, with a cold wind. I wasn't expecting this kind of weather to arrive for a little while yet. It's supposed to warm back up to the 70's by Saturday.. which will be perfect, since we're planning to take Casey to pick pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

Catching crickets :)

He found a sunflower seed.

He loves to sit and watch the diggers and mixers, lol.

A digger was moving dirt into the dumpster, and he was saying "urghhh, dirt!"

Treasures in his pocket.

Swinging.

2011-10-05T22:14:00.001-07:00

The weather is perfect right now.. low 70's with a nice breeze.. I almost put jeans on Casey this morning.

Pocketing the treasures he was finding as we were walking..

On the big boy swing!

Still prefers the "yellow swing" though :)

1 more day until Peter is home, and 8 days until Florida!

A flower..?

2011-10-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure.. but I googled some pictures, and I think it might be. Anyone know?

It's still quite small for a giant sunflower (I'd say around 14 inches, but Casey broke my measuring tape).. but it does get a lot of sunlight and water. I wondered if the pot was getting too small, but I'm scared to move it now that it's grown so much.

In Casey news.. after a trip to the hospital the other night, I think he's really over this stomach flu this time. The listlessness and unresponsiveness was caused by dehydration, and it was so scary to see him that way. But he woke up yesterday morning back to his normal little self, and has been fine since then!

He's taken up feeding Cupcake every morning, as soon as he wakes up. He pours the food into her bowl, fills up her water dish with fresh water at the fridge, and brings it back to her, very carefully. He such a big help :)

Casey: Policeman Casey! Please STOP talking!
(A few minutes later..)
Me: Can I speak now, policeman Casey?
Casey: I am getting really cross!

Casey: Get in my ambulance, mummy.
Me: I can't.. I'm too big. You might fit though.
Casey: No, mummy.. I can't.. my ears are much too big.

35lbs of perfection.

2011-10-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

Two weeks!

2011-09-30T19:56:00.001-07:00

Casey: TWO weeks, mummy! TWO weeks!

Me: Where will we be going in two weeks, baby?

Casey: See Nanna, daidi and Abi! In Florida, on the airplane! Seaworld, mummy!

Staying hydrated with "yucky" ;) orange Pedialyte popcicles.

As you can see, he is so much better today.. eating, laughing, playing.. such a difference from yesterday :)

6 more days until Peter is home! This week can hurry up :P

Thomas and cookies.

2011-09-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

Casey hasn't been very well for the last couple of days.. so we've spent most of the last 48 hours on the sofa, watching Thomas (and Caillou, and Driver Dan..).

We did get off the sofa to bake some cookies.. Thomas and cookies are two of Casey's favorite things :)

Hoping whatever this is will pass quickly, and he can feel better ♥

A message for his daidi..

2011-09-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

Muffins for breakfast, etc.

2011-09-23T12:41:00.012-07:00

Casey comes into the bedroom this morning, eating a muffin.

Casey: Mmmmm.. so good!

Me: Oh Casey, you know you're supposed to ask mummy before you take treats. You haven't even eaten breakfast yet.

Casey: It's okay mummy, there's still lots left.. just had one!

_______________

He came over to me a few minutes ago with the video camera, and told me he was going to ask me some questions (like I did with him last week).

Casey: What's your name, mummy?

Me: My name is mummy.

Casey: How old are you, mummy? Are you 5?

Me: Nope.. I'm 24.

Casey: Oh.. I see.

_______________

Playing 'doctor' with a measuring tape around his neck.

Casey: Say 'ahhhhh' mummy.

Me: Ahhhhh.

Casey: Good job! Let's see your back quickly. Boom Boom.. Boom Boom.. Boom Boom.

3 weeks today..

2011-09-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

..and we'll be on the way to Florida!

More baking and eating pictures for you.. muffins today ;)

Yum yum!

He hit his eye on the coffee table last night, playing with Peter :(

Casey turned the box we keep his Matchbox cars in into a drum earlier, and told me to sit down while he played music for me. I asked him if he could sing along with the drumming, and he launched right into a made-up-as-he-goes song about (what I assume were) all the things he was thinking about (mummy, cars, hamsters, and grapes, with a little of the 'Elmo's World' song and the alphabet song thrown in). When he finished and I started clapping, he stood up and took a bow, saying "Thank you! Thank you!" Cutest thing ever.

Yes, he is wearing a swimming diaper, lol.. he picked it up from the laundry room when I asked him to go and get some clean underwear.. they're pretty similar to pull ups, actually.

In other news, Peter left for Hartford, CT, today with work. His goal is to eventually get on the MRP (mobile repair party) team.. which means he could/would be called out to different locations (usually for a day or two at a time) for emergency repairs. So hopefully him taking these two-week trips will look good on his MRP application, once a position comes available.. especially if his supervisor receives the same kind of feedback from Hartford as he did from Wichita.

So.. the countdown begins. Hopefully we don't have any more cars stuck down toilets, or leaking dishwashers while he's gone ;)

Giant sunflower!

2011-09-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

A, B, C, D, E, F, G..

2011-09-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

A couple more videos we made today, at nanny's request :)

2 years, 11 months!

2011-09-17T23:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we're only a month away from the big THREE! I wonder where the years have gone.. but at the same time, I can barely remember a time before him. Two has been such a amazingly fun age, and I'll definitely miss it.. but I'm excited to see what new adventures three will bring! I can't believe we only have one more year until he'll be starting preschool.. eek.

This is the first year that he really understands his birthday is coming up, and he is really looking forward to it. Every time they read out the birthday cards on PBS Sprout, he'll remind me that it will be his birthday soon, too. He asks me often if it's his birthday yet, and if he'll be getting balloons and cake, lol. He's also started asking when we can go 'trick-or-treat, mummy!' every time we're out walking. We got his costume last week, and I die from the cuteness of him in it :P

We have good days and bad days with the potty training, but he hasn't worn a diaper during the day in over a month now. He'll sometimes even wake up during the night, wanting to go to the toilet.. so I think the accidents are mostly laziness/not wanting to stop playing to use the toilet. Or it could be because we're going longer between rewards, and he's losing interest a bit.. I don't know. He does great when we're not at home though, and he's only ever had one accident while we've been out.

I thought I'd try to do a little video interview this month, and let him tell you about his favorite things himself. His answers were so random, and not what I expected, lol.. biscuits?

This was probably our 4th attempt.. he kept telling me "NO, mummy, I'm shy" :P

Newer house pictures

2011-09-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd show some updated pictures, since the last ones I put up were before we moved in. We haven't painted anywhere, and probably wont (besides Casey's room). One of my favorite things about this house is how much natural light there is.. such a difference from the last house!

Little ladybug thumbtacks :)

Our poor neglected bedroom, lol.. we did put a fan up though!

Casey's room.. not much to see. We still need to paint, and put up his shelf and fan.

From the driveway.

As for everywhere else.. the laundry room is a big mess of clothes and baskets, and the playroom is just toy storage right now.

Casey's tattoo :)

2011-09-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

"Just like mummy and daddy's!"

Supposed to be taking a nap ;)

Happy Grandparents Day..

2011-09-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

..to our grandparents, and great grandparents!

Almost-3-year-olds are almost as uncooperative as almost-2-year-olds ;)

Sunflower update - Day #17

2011-09-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Casey watched me move the smaller guy into a separate plant pot the other morning.. then he decided he wanted to move it back while I wasn't watching. He must have damaged the root, because we weren't able to save it.

The bigger one is still doing good, though.. I have high hopes of eventually getting a flower from this one :)

Daddy is home!

2011-09-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

Peter arrived home on Friday morning, after being away for 12 days with work.. so we've been making the most of the four day weekend before he has to go back to work tomorrow. We missed him a lot!

We went to Mt Lemmon today, for the first time since June. We spent most of the summer up there last year, for the cooler weather.. but we haven't had much opportunity so far this year. It was closed until mid July due to high fire risk, then we were busy packing and moving.. and we'd only been in the house a week when Peter left for Wichita.

Peter and Casey waiting in line at the Cookie & Pizza Cabin.. the line was all the way outside, and down the steps.

Eating the delicious giant cookie, waiting for the pizza.

Collecting pine cones 'like nannas' :)

Potty training is going well, for the most part. Sometimes he'll go days with no accidents, and other times there will be a few in one day.. most days are good days, though.

Sunflower update - day #12

2011-09-04T19:39:00.001-07:00

So far, so good.. they've made it further than any of the others :)

If you can see the little bite mark on the biggest one, that was Cupcake, lol.

Growing.

2011-08-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

Sunflower and potty training updates

2011-08-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

There was nothing there when we watered the seeds last night.. woke up this morning to this:

Potty training is still going well. We did have a rough couple days, where he completely lost interest.. he'd been upset and missing his daddy, which I think had a lot to do with it. Today and yesterday have been much better though, with only one accident :)

Casey's pig.. he has no ears, lol.

Casey's third birthday (& pizza)

2011-08-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

I just booked our flights to Florida, for Casey's birthday! We're flying into Tampa on Friday 14th October, and meeting mum, dad, Abi and Alex to do Disney and SeaWorld that weekend.. then we'll head back to Naples for a week, before flying back on Monday 24th October. We'll probably do a small birthday party on the second weekend (since every time I bring up his birthday, he'll get all excited about balloons and cake, lol).. most likely at the same place we had his first birthday party.

His pizza.. all his own work, besides the sauce (in case you were wondering, none of us eat cheese in this house, lol.. Casey and I don't like it, and Peter is lactose intolerant) :)

Sunflowers - third time lucky!

2011-08-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

After our two failed attempts at growing sunflowers (the first ones were eaten by a rabbit, and the second lot mysteriously stopped growing at just over 2 inches).. we're trying again.

His grass cow:

He did this by himself.. dissolved the soil pellet in the water, spooned 3/4 of the soil into the cow, sprinkled in the grass seed, then covered with the remaining soil. Now we wait for it to grow!

Potty training, day #8

2011-08-22T22:29:00.001-07:00

Potty training is still going great! I've noticed he does better while we're not at home.. which I think is because he'll get too wrapped up in playing with his toys at home, so he is more likely to forget. Having said that, he's only had a handful of accidents in over a week (all have been at home).. and only one has been in the last three days.

He doesn't like having to put a diaper on at bedtime.. not sure if that's because he knows it's bedtime, or if he just doesn't like having to wear a diaper after being in underwear all day. He told me yesterday that diapers were for little babies, and Casey was a big boy, lol. When did he grow up?

In other news.. Peter left yesterday afternoon to go to Wichita for 12 days, with work. This is going to be the longest we've been apart since we've been living together, and I'm already missing him like crazy. We did look at flights for Casey and I.. but since it was a last minute thing, we were looking at paying over $1000 just to sit in a hotel room for 12 days. Casey got upset last night, and told me his daddy was not going to Wichita on the airplane (he realizes now that airplanes usually mean he's not going to see someone for a while). The extra money might make our savings account happy, but 12 days without daddy definitely doesn't make Casey (or mummy) happy.

Hopefully the next 11 days will go by quickly!

Potty training, day #6

2011-08-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

We were out all day, today - haircuts, lunch, sofa shopping, dinner, then Target - and he stayed dry all day! Tomorrow makes a week of being diaper-free (besides for bed), and we can now tell you where the restroom is located in almost any store in Tucson :P

Tomorrow we move onto sticker chat #3 (he only used the chart a couple of times today, since we were not home for most of his bathroom visits).

Potty training, day #5

2011-08-19T22:04:00.005-07:00

Casey used the toilet twice by himself today, without even telling me! He stayed dry while we went grocery shopping.. even after falling asleep in the car.

No accidents at all today - we're so proud of him ♥

Casey, at 2 years & 10 months

2011-08-19T01:21:00.001-07:00

He has given all of his big toys names. The scooter is Amsey, and his tricycle is Tamoolah (which is how he pronounces 'Tallulah' on Driver Dan's Story Train).

He thinks it's the funniest thing in the world to smother me with big, wet, kisses all over my face.. and I have to pretend that I don't secretly love it ;)

The potty training is going amazingly well. He even used two public toilets today (he has a fear of using the toilet without his training seat, and has always been terrified of using public changing tables), and stayed dry the entire time we were out. He is on his second sticker chart, and has only had three accidents in four days. The first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning is tell me he has to go to the toilet.

He walked in while I was in the bathroom today, and started cheering, telling me I was 'such a clever boy' lol.

Strawberries are still his favorite food. Peanut butter is a close second, and he'll eat it by the spoonful.

Every time he wants to show/tell his nanna or daidi something, he'll open up my laptop, like he expects them to always be there on Skype, lol. The other day when we turned on the computer and nanna wasn't online, he got upset and started shouting "GET IN THE COMPUTER, NANNA!! GET IN THE COMPUTER!!"

Every time he sees a picture of himself, he'll say "there's Casey Brake, mummy!"

He can say/sing the alphabet perfectly.. only at the end, instead of "W, X, Y and Z" he says "W, X, Y, M, Z" lol.

He is extremely loving. He tells us he loves us often, and always has hugs and kisses for his mummy and daddy :)

Potty training, day #3

2011-08-18T00:38:00.001-07:00

He earned 7 stickers (which makes 24 total), and only had one accident again today!

Tomorrow we're taking him to pick out his prize! :)

2011-08-16T23:00:00.047-07:00

Potty training, day #2

2011-08-16T22:08:00.001-07:00

17 stickers, and only one accident today!

Potty training - attempt #2

2011-08-15T22:37:00.001-07:00

A year ago, Casey was almost completely potty trained (at home). Then suddenly he developed a fear of using the toilet, and it all went downhill from there. He'll use the toilet/potty here and there, but now that we're approaching his third birthday, I've decided it's time to get serious about it. So as of today, he is back in his Thomas underwear, and there will be no more daytime diapers.. even outside of the house.

His sticker chart. Every time he uses the toilet, he can choose a sticker to put on the chart. Once he finishes the chart (20 stickers), he'll get to pick out a toy. So far he has been enthusiastic.. he earned six stickers, and only had one accident today.

I'm (finally) going to be Mrs Peter Brake!

2011-08-12T22:52:00.001-07:00

We got some good news today.. Peter's green card has been approved! Now we're just waiting for the approval notice to arrive in the mail (it was sent out today), and we can get married :)

We have internet!

2011-08-11T00:47:00.002-07:00

Yes, that is a carrot in his hand.. he picked out his own 'delicious snack'.

I'll post some house pictures as soon as it's looking a bit more put together.. right now we're just focusing on getting the other house ready to turn over the keys. Casey wanted me to take a picture of his bedroom for his nanna though :)

.. and his ice cream truck for daidi, lol.

Cupcake has finally decided to come out of the laundry room, and is exploring the house. Just checking to make sure the boy is asleep, first!

House pictures.. finally!

2011-08-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

I forgot to take a picture of the outside, so here is the one I posted before, to refresh your memory ;)

We didn't even get they keys until around 8:00 last night, so we haven't started moving in yet. It's a good thing we don't need to be out of here until August 15th.

Casey's room.

Casey's bathroom.

Playroom.

Laundry room.. pretty big. And (the best part) you don't have to walk through it to get to the garage.. the garage has a separate door. She decided at the last minute she was leaving the washer and dryer.. so yay for not having to go and buy our own, lol.

Dining area.

Kitchen.

I can't wait to get in here with my cleaning supplies.. holy streaky counters, lol. There are built in shelves for baskets around the right hand side (and I love baskets).

Huuuge drawers.

The walls are all plain white, so we can do whatever we like without having to consider the paint colors. Not sure whether or not we'll paint the main living area.. I'd like to do a really light beige, but because everywhere is open (and the ceilings are quite high), it would be so much work.. it took me long enough to paint Casey's room. We'll probably paint Casey's room the same color as it is here.

Living room.. actually a lot bigger than it looks in this picture. I have a lot of furniture/decor ideas that I am excited about :)

Entryway.

Master suite.

Walk-in closet #1.

Walk-in closet #2.

Backyard! Plenty of room for both the pool and a swingset (which Casey is getting for Christmas).. and completely unlandscaped, so we don't have to worry about Casey picking all the flowers off plants, or running over them with his tricycle. If we owned this house, we'd probably put grass down.

Don't mind his hair.. we ran over there straight out of bed this morning, lol.

So who is coming to visit us? ;)

Only 3 days..

2011-08-02T20:58:00.001-07:00

.. until we get the keys for the new house!
I still only have one room completely packed and cleaned (and that is only Casey's bathroom).. and a few boxes from around the house. I spent the last couple of evenings sorting out all the closets and drawers though.. so packing should just be a case of throwing everything into boxes or bags now.
We got all the important stuff done today.. electricity and water is set up to transfer into our names on Friday, insurance is sorted, and the moving truck is reserved for Saturday.

I'll put up some pictures of the inside on Friday.. I'm too embarrassed to take any while she's there, lol.

California, 2011 - Malibu beach, etc.

2011-07-28T17:02:00.001-07:00

We really didn't do any 'touristy' stuff, since we've done it all before.. but I wanted to get pictures of Casey in front of the Hollywood sign.

I couldn't decide on these because his facial expressions are a little different in all of them, so I put up all three, lol.. it's not often Casey and I get pictures together.

Malibu beach.

Casey's first time at the Pacific Ocean.. a lot colder than the Gulf of Mexico, lol.

This was so funny.. he was eating his fries on the way to Santa Barbara, and suddenly he started giggling to himself. He is his father's child.

Our hotel.

British chocolate in Santa Monica.

Downtown L.A.. pretty sure I have this exact same picture from the last time we were there.

California, 2011 - Legoland

2011-07-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

He had seen a ride while we were driving in, and he was so excited :)

Lining up for the first ride.. Coastersaurus. His first roller coaster, and he loved it.. we rode it three times. The third time, he was even brave enough to keep his arms up.. where did my little baby go? :)

Buying the picture.. he was anxious to ride again, lol.

Beetle Bounce.

He was telling the lady at the end "that's mummy over there" ♥

He rode this train over and over, lol.

Driving the safari car..

Miniland, USA. I'm not going to post pictures of everything, because there was just so much. Everything was so detailed.. they even had a school bus that drove around a San Fransisco neighborhood, and stopped outside of every house, and a car pulled over by a police bike.. Casey liked to watch all the vehicles moving.

I love that they have the tourist taking a picture under the Vegas sign, lol.. that was us.

New York!

Golden Gate bridge.

Where they build the models.

The 'real' Bob the Builder was there, and we lined up to take a picture with him.. but when it got to our turn, Casey refused to stand with him and ran back to the stroller, lol.

Rawr.

He was playing in the Duplo playground with a load of kids, and stopped to tie his shoe.

Relaxing in his Legoland stroller :P

Coastersaurus one last time before leaving!

We had a great day, and I was surprised there was so much for his age group (being barely 36 inches). There were about 12 different rides that he was able to go on, then a couple of play areas. And we didn't even get to the water rides.. we'd planned to go back and do them at the end, but by that point, it had gone pretty cold.

The rest of the CA pictures will be up tomorrow! :)

He picked a flower for his nanna..

2011-07-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

He wanted me to take a picture to show her.. so here you go, mum ♥

We're moving!

2011-07-18T15:21:00.002-07:00

Not across the country this time.. just 0.58 miles up the road, lol.

I don't have any pictures of the inside, but it's open, light, and full of upgrades.. stainless steel appliances, granite and upgraded cabinets in the kitchen and both bathrooms, upgraded faucets, two big walk-in closets in the master bedroom, 2.5 car garage, and a big yard.

We gave our 30 day notice here on Saturday, so we have to be out by the 15th August. We get the keys for the new place on August 5th, so it's going to be nice to have those ten days to get this place cleaned up, replace the blinds in Casey's room, etc.. especially since we don't have mum, dad, and Abi to help with the cleaning / packing / moving this time.

We leave for California on Friday morning.. I'm excited!

Talking to his daidi..

2011-07-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

At 2 years, 9 months, Casey..

2011-07-15T00:52:00.000-07:00

.. can count to 10.
.. can identify 1-10 on paper.
.. knows all the basic colors.
.. can identify basic shapes (circle, square, triangle, star).
.. can identify all letters of the alphabet.
.. knows all body parts.
.. can identify common animals.
.. knows his full name and age.
.. recognizes his name on paper.

His favorite game is hide-and-seek. He's not so great at the hiding (he doesn't have the patience to stay in his hiding place long enough to be found), but loves to cover his eyes, count to '3', and come looking for me. Considering I'm only given three seconds to hide, I've found some great hiding places! When he's taking too long to find me, I jump out at him, and he thinks it's the funniest thing in the world. ♥

His favorite toys are his Matchbox cars. He'll spend hours creating little scenarios.. setting up a crash scene, then coming to pick up all the vehicles involved with the tow truck.. setting up a parking lot with rows and rows of parked cars (with empty parking spaces left randomly), then driving around and parking cars in the empty spaces.. or building garages and car washes for them out of blocks, for example. He always has at least one car with him.. at the grocery store, in the car, in the bath, and in bed.

In the car the other day:

Casey: Mummy, where's daidi?
Me: Daidi's in his house, in Florida.
Casey: In nanna and daidi's house?
Me: Yep!
Casey: And Dabi's house?
Me: Yep, it's Abi's house too.
Casey: And Nelly's house?
Me: And Nelly's house.
Casey: Daidi in nanna, daidi, Dabi, and Nelly's house. Daidi not in Casey's house.

We had a similar conversation tonight, but it went like this:

Casey: Mummy, where's daidi's car?
Me: It's outside of daidi's house, in Florida.
Casey: Nanna, daidi, Dabi, Nelly and daidi's car's house.

And speaking of daidi's car.. we were in the tent at the campground, and a car started up outside. Casey started screaming "DAIDI! DAIDI'S HERE!!" The car turned out to be the same as my dad's.. he recognized the sound of the engine.

He has an amazing memory when it comes to cars.. he recognizes the make, model, and color of everyone's cars. He'll see a Nissan Sentra, and he'll shout "DABI'S CAR!".. or a Mazda 3, and shout "NANNA'S CAR!" When the family were out here in June, we rented a minivan for two days.. on the way to return it, Casey sees the same make and model minivan driving in front of us, and tells us "Daddy's new car!" This is something he's been doing for a good 10 months now (he was pointing out 'daidi's car' when we got home from Florida in September).. but I can't remember if I've ever mentioned it.

Don't mind his hair.. the guy at the hair salon gave him a lollipop, and lollipop = sticky, lol.

Feeding a cookie to Mater.

Every time I asked him to smile with teeth, this is what he'd do.. and I was laughing so much, he was doing it even more, lol.

I tried to make a little 'interview' video tonight, after seeing one on someone else's blog. We did a practice interview, and he answered all the questions, perfectly.. but as soon as the video camera came out, he was bored of it, and would not cooperate. I thought it would be something cute to put in his update every few months. I'll try again in the next couple of days and see what I can get.

Our cress men have hair!

2011-07-11T19:14:00.006-07:00

Almost ready to be made into egg and cress sandwiches!

I'd like for Casey to experience growing (and eating) some of his own foods.. but since anything we decide to grow right now has to be grown in pots or planters, our options are limited.

I've been reading up about growing strawberries here in Arizona, and I'm thinking about giving them a try once the weather cools down slightly. We don't really have the best climate for them, but a lot of people seem to have grown them successfully (of course they're probably experienced gardeners, unlike me).

A herb garden would be a bit more realistic, I'm sure.. but definitely not as exciting for Casey. Maybe we should move back to Kansas and grow potatoes and carrots, lol.

Camping at Patagonia Lake

2011-07-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

After Casey's second bee sting of the weekend, we decided not to stay a second night, skipped the paddle boating, and just came home. How is it that I have never been stung by a bee in my life, but Casey manages to get stung twice within 24 hours?

No pictures, please!

Making s'mores..

And cooking hot dogs at the same time :P

First s'more.. he wasn't a fan, lol.

He ate all the chocolate, and left the marshmallow and graham cracker, lol.

There were loads of cows, just roaming around.

Sleeping with one of his cars :)
He slept really well in the tent.. but was up with the sun at 5:30, lol.

Cookies for breakfast!

Didn't want to brush his teeth :P

Cress men, sunflowers & 2 year check-up.

2011-07-07T18:50:00.002-07:00

Casey and I made cress men, yesterday. I thought everyone grew cress in primary school, but apparently Peter didn't. You'll need a small container (like a yogurt pot, or an egg cup), a packet of cress seed, and cotton balls/paper towels/toilet paper.

Decorate the container to look like a face (when the cress grows, your guy will have hair), then fill the container with dampened cotton balls. Sprinkle the seeds on top, and leave it in a warm, light place. The cress will start to grow literally overnight.

Our sunflowers are getting big!

I finally found Casey a pediatrician here in Tucson, and made a long overdue appointment for his two-year check up. He was a little nervous at first, and didn't want to take his clothes off to put on the Dr Seuss gown.. but as soon as the doctor came into the room, he was his talkative little self. Everything was good.. he was in the 40-50% for both height and weight, and right on track developmentally. She was saying that children his age typically only eat a good meal every seven meals.. so that made me feel better about his lack of interest in food lately (and I can stop trying to force feed him PediaSure). He had to get two shots, and screamed for a good 10 minutes.. but the good news is, he doesn't need any more until he's four :)

Happy 4th July..

2011-07-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

.. from our American baby!

Sorry.. he was not cooperating for pictures today, lol.

Sunflowers.

2011-07-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

Four in each pot!

Oreo update

2011-07-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

.. not that there really is an update.

We filed a missing pet report with both the microchip company, and animal control. The microchip company told us to put her litter box outside.. that way if she's lost and can't find her way home, she'll be able to recognize and follow her own scent. We've walked for hours around the neighborhood (and the desert area around the neighborhood) calling her name.. put notices in both the 'lost & found' and 'pets' sections on our local Craigslist, put flyers on all the mailboxes in and around our street, and posters on all the stop signs in the neighborhood.. we're hoping that someone has taken her in, thinking she's a stray.

I had a missed call tonight from a Tucson area code.. got all excited, thinking someone must have found her. Turned out, the woman was missing a black and white cat, also named Oreo, and thought we'd found her. Coincidence? I don't know. Makes me wonder if;
a) She does have Oreo.. but by the time I returned the call, she either decided to keep her, or her kids/husband talked her into keeping her. Because wouldn't she have noticed that the picture wasn't of her cat before calling?
b) Another cat is missing.. are there coyotes around?

I just hope that she's safe somewhere.

Sunflower update - Day #4

2011-07-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

All three of these are in Casey's pot.. not sure what is happening with mine, lol.

This one still has the seed attached, lol.

Pictures from the last few days

2011-06-30T23:04:00.002-07:00

The pool water is so nice and warm now.. we've been out there until 8pm the last two nights.

Casey is loving the swings right now.. whenever he starts to slow down, he'll tell me "Push me again, mummy! Push me high like the birds!"

Gymboree & sunflowers

2011-06-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

Casey did great in his class today! He followed directions, concentrated on his activities rather than his surroundings, and sat still (for the most part) during storytime. He still has to work on playing nicely with other children - particularly taking turns - during open play, but we saw a big improvement in all areas this week :)

The theme today was 4th July, and he got to play with glitter!

We found out that our Tucson location will be closing at the end of this week, and they'll be relocating to a new building. They're working towards a reopening date of August 1st, and are trying to find a temporary location for classes during July. Hopefully they'll figure something out, so he doesn't have to miss too many classes.

In sunflower news.. I went to check on the one remaining seedling this morning, and it was gone. We got some Jade Hybrid Sunflower seeds today. They were all out of the regular sunflower seeds.. these are more of a lime green-ish color, and apparently grow to be 4-5 ft. We planted four in each pot and covered them with netting, so now we'll wait and see what happens!

Bad news re: our sunflowers

2011-06-26T18:33:00.001-07:00

Went out this morning to see how much our sunflowers had grown overnight.. only to find Casey's plant pot empty, and this in mine:

I think this one has a pretty good chance of surviving.. but it's definitely the only one left. I went through the soil to make sure, and there was nothing.. even the roots are gone. We'll pick up some more seeds after Casey's class tomorrow, and some kind of netting to protect them from the birds (or whatever it was).

On the bright side.. they were growing, so at least we know we were doing everything right. Hopefully we'll have better luck this time around!

Baby sunflower.. day # 7

2011-06-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

Got up this morning, and found this little guy in Casey's plant pot:

There are two smaller ones in my pot too (not big enough to get a decent picture), but no sign of the other three yet.

In other news.. our California trip is all booked! We'll be staying at the Marriott SpringHill Suites in L.A, over the weekend of my birthday. We're finally taking Casey to Legoland, and I'm looking forward to some beach time too :)

Reid Park Zoo

2011-06-23T18:59:00.001-07:00

Watoto.

We spent over $30 feeding the giraffes, because Casey kept lining up for more carrots.. he thought it was great! The lady said he'd be their favorite person ever, lol.

Denver and Texas.

Looking at the elephants.

Dippin' dots!

M is for Mouse

2011-06-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

Just about the only part of storytime he participated in, lol.

Watering his sunflowers.

2011-06-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

It is day #3 today, so hopefully we should see some results by the end of the week. Casey keeps asking why they are not growing, lol.

He was asking me to take a picture of a bug on his hand, but I couldn't figure out how make his hand clear, and the background blurred.

Casey: Oreo, come in the bath!
Me: Oreo doesn't take a bath.. Oreo cleans herself with her tongue.
Casey: Eww.. Oreo! Yucky!

Gymboree Play & Music

2011-06-20T16:37:00.001-07:00

We did our free trial class at Gymboree this morning. Casey was so excited to go to 'school' like Caillou, and had a lot of fun! We enrolled him in the class, so he'll be going every Monday, from 9-12 (gym play, and art).

We definitely have to work on following directions, though. During circle time and parachute time, he'd keep getting up and going to play on the slide/soft play, rather than participating in the songs.. then during storytime, he'd be getting up and walking around. The teachers were good with him though, and a couple of the other mothers told me that their children were exactly the same the first few times, then settled down after a few classes. I think the social interaction with children his age is going to be really good for him.

His favorite part was the slide.. every time we ask him if he enjoyed school, he'll say "Yeah! School! Slide!" He was a little disappointed he didn't get to ride the school bus.

The art theme today was 'weather'.

Play-doh!

Making rain makers.

Concentration mouth, lol.

Snack time.

Playing with pinto beans and pasta (uncooked obviously, lol).

He was exhausted by the time we got home, and slept for two hours.

Reading his bedtime story last night..

Me: Casey, what kind of bird is this?

Casey: A cardinal.

Me: Yay!

Casey: So smart!

Sunflowers, and painted pots.

2011-06-19T15:04:00.003-07:00

Painting his plant pot, ready for his sunflowers..

He painted his face like a cat.. whiskers, and nose, lol.. wouldn't let me wash it off when we were done painting, so it stayed there all day.

Planting!

We planted three seeds in each pot.. so if they all grow, we'll just move them into their own pots. I figured the more seeds we used, the more chance of getting some sunflowers!

We have a few other types of seeds too, which I'm thinking about putting in either hanging baskets, or a planting box out in front of Casey's bedroom window.. but we'll see how we do with the sunflowers first.

Out in the sun :)