Mission: Sleep Deprivation at Disneyland

Mission Complete & Successful! For all of you who know Michael well, the two most important things to fulfill his days are food and sleep. If he doesn't get enough of the two things, he will be a grumpy grumpy guy at the end of the day. And today, we had to deprive him of sleep because he is scheduled to undergo a sleep deprived EEG. No daytime naps the day before and no more than 5 hours of sleep the night before. You may ask why he has to have an EEG? Well, a few weeks ago, he was very sick and dehydrated and experienced a few scary seizures, and an EEG can help determine if he has epilepsy...but there's a 50/50 chance that they may not spot it.

Anyway, we spent the entire day at Disneyland and California Adventures. He was a trooper! He stayed awake until the park closed. We spent hours in ToonTown playing in Goofy's playground. Michael got bullied and pushed around by some kid. The first time, he pushed Michael out of this pumpkin that you can crawl into. The second time, he chased Michael and pushed him down to the ground. We yelled, "HEY! You don't push!" He got so frightened his eyes popped wide open. Then his dad came and spanked him in front of all the other kids. Oh he also sat on and hit a little girl who was smaller than Michael. What a brat. I wish I took his picture so I can post it up and warn all of you. After playing we went to Mickey's house and stood in line to meet MM. It's a lot to ask of a 14 month old to wait in line for over an hour. At one point, he wanted to sit on the ground and of course I had to pick him up as the line moved. One lady behind us decided to walk over us and take our spot as I picked him up. Some people can be so rude! Big wow, she was one group closer to Mickey! I wish I could've punched her and her kid in the face. Just kidding ok not really. Well we finally got to meet the mouse, and the photographer snapped 32 pictures of Michael and only 2 of the cutters!!! Losers. They photographer said he's never taken so many pictures of any kid in his life. Michael is such a celebrity! =)

After all of this, we still hadn't gone on any rides and it was already 7pm! We spent the next 3-4 hours having dinner and dancing at California Adventures during their Glow Fest. It's like a rave/street party with neon lights. Michael thought it was so rad as he danced the night away. We'll try to catch the World of Color next time...

Thank you Tita Carmel and Anyleis for keeping Michael entertained all day! Let's do it again next week. ;)

All smiles at 10:30pm!

I'm tough.

Two ladies and my music. What more could I ask for?

Feeding Mickey my hand. He looked hungry.

LA Zoo and the Beach

Michael decided to wake up at 7:30 this morning when he normally wakes up at 9! I think he was really excited to see his friends at the zoo so he woke up extra early to give us enough time to get to LA by 10am. We saw sea otters, flamingos, alligators, chimps, gorillas, lions, a tiger, giraffes, eagles, tortoises, and many more 'sleeping' animals. I guess it was just way too hot for them to be out playing. We saw a few rams, and this one Mexican dad told his kids they were goats! LOL. Maybe he should read the sign and teach his kids properly? He probably thinks eagles are just really big birds.

Michael didn't really care much for the sleeping animals. He loved the sea otters, the roaring tiger, tortoise, and eagles. If you ask him what a tiger says, he will roar but his sounds more like "aargh"!

After the zoo, we headed to Huntington Beach to celebrate Denise's 3rd birthday. It was Michael's first time playing with sand at the beach, and he absolutely loved it! He went crazy with his shovel. He had sand in his hair, eyes, ears, nose and buttcrack! We finally met the two little Browns - Zachary and Wiley who were born just a few weeks ago. They did what babies do best...sleep! Michael tried to share his sand toys with Zachary, and he was insistent that Zachary hold the toys, except he didn't realize that the baby is still just a baby and can't play yet. What a nice boy! He would make a great brother someday...just not today. =)

Where's the chimp?

Betcha can't pet an alligator like me!

Oh the warm sand feels good between my toes

An Afternoon with Mickey & Friends

We skipped naptime to go to Disneyland and meet with a few friends of ours. Michael patiently waited in line to snap a few pictures with his favorite Disney character, Mickey Mouse. On a side note, when we tell him we're getting ready to go see Mickey Mouse, he looks to make sure he's wearing his Mickey shirt. =) Then, we met up with the Cooks & their cousins/friend at the Hunny Pots and rode on the Haunted Mansion. After we parted ways, we met up with Tita Carmel, Jenny & Dennis. Dennis, the giant, held Michael on his shoulders while we watched the Celebrate Street Party. Thanks for the great view!

Mickey likes me cuz he's on my shirt

Where a Kid can be a kid! 5/17/10

It was Michael's first visit to Chuck E. Cheese with his friends Adelyn, Luke, Abby and Sophie. The girls are a little older so they were busy climbing in the tunnels than playing with the little boys. Michael hit it off with his new pal Luke. They rode together in Chuckie's jeep without pushing each other out. It was so cute!

Being a stay at home mom is a very different life from the office-working mom, and I know most juggle both. It is definitely a job, but a great job because everyday I get to witness every new thing Michael learns, make him giggle and laugh, and enjoy fun places together. It's not often that I get to interact with people my age who share the same experiences. So I'm very thankful for Nicole who's brought Michael and me into her mommy-kid circle of friends.

Michael (13 months) and Luke (16 months)

Goodbye Roseola, Hello DCA!

Last week, although Michael was acting completely normal, he suddenly came down with a fever. He had a slight runny nose so we thought he may have had the flu or something. His temperature started at 100.8 then it progressively went up to 103 degrees even with Tylenol. I let him play with his water table and let him splash around until he got soaking wet, but his temperature still remained above 100 degrees. All I could do was make sure he was getting enough fluid and rest. Once the fever subsided, he developed a rash all over his back, chest, neck and face. Ah it looked like the measles! It turns out that Michael had baby measles called Roseola. It's common for children under the age of 2 to contract this infection. It is an airborne virus so you can't really avoid it. Also, it takes about 1-2 weeks for any signs or symptoms to show that you're infected.

He's all healed up now, so we went to California Adventures today. Michael loved the show at Playhouse Disney. They had skits of Handy Manny, Adventures of Tigger & Pooh and Little Einsteins. He fed the birds his lunch, rode on the carousel's sea lion and danced with the High School Musical dancers. It was such a great day to be out in the sun!

13 Month Old Pictures 5/7/10

So, we missed taking Michael's photos at his 1 year mark, but 13 months is close enough right? Perfect timing for Mother's Day and what a present! His pictures came out so great! I rarely get shots of Michael looking in the camera, so I was worried we weren't going to get any good shots of him in the studio. He surprised me and was such a model! He didn't actually pose for the camera; instead he thought he was in a new playground and because he loved being there, the photographer was able to capture such great shots. When it came time to select which shots I wanted, it was so hard to decide because I liked them all. Haha! But here are a few favorites...

Disneyland with Grandpa & Nana 5/2/10

Hooray! Michael turned 13 months today and what better way to celebrate than at Disneyland with Grandpa and Nana... and then later with the Wheelers. After his 3 hour nap, he told us how much fun he had.

M-I-C-H-A-E-L M-O-U-S-E! Michael Mouse!

Grandpa & Me