Zach's first note home from school

Well, it happened. Zach had a note from his teacher in his folder regarding behavior problems. The teacher said that Zach was having problems listening during play time, work time, and line time. That sounds like all the time. He brings home a little report card every day that will have a stamp on it to indicate his behavior that day - a smiley face, a sad face, an okay face. Sometimes he'll get a star on it and a Wow! under the happy face. Other times, it'll be a sad face with a box around it saying he didn't listen. Last week was pretty bad. Lots of didn't listens and sad faces. Then this week has been sad faces so far. I'm not sure what's up. He's been eating well and getting enough sleep. The only other thing is our getting ready to sell the house. There are boxes everywhere and J's been working on the house a lot. So maybe this is unsettling him. Or maybe he's just bored with school now that it's toward the end of the year. How can you tell with a 4-year old?
On the other hand, Zach's eating habits have greatly improved. Along with his fear of the dark and being alone. He'll venture downstairs or upstairs at least once by himself, then he might ask one of us or Asia to go with him the second time. I also found out the kid likes hard-boiled eggs! And raw carrot sticks! That and his usual love of noodles with parmesan cheese (don't you dare put any sauce on it!), meat on the bone (chicken legs or ribs), rice (but has to be sticky), and chicken.

Disney

Today is day three of our Disney World trip in Orlando, Florida. I won the trip in a drawing at work. You get your name put in the drawing when you provide a good work experience for a client or co-worker. So far, 3 out of the 4 drawings winners have been from my interface team. The prize includes 3 nights stay, 3 day park hopper pass to all parks, and airfare. We didn't decide until beginning of February that we wanted to go to Florida during John's spring break. Not the greatest time to go since that's when everyone else in the world goes, right? Oh well. I had to use the tickets in a year and I had won them in September or October. Well, I didn't tell our company travel agent until beginning of February that we wanted to go Mid-March, so she wasn't able to find us a hotel on the Disney property. So instead we're staying at Homewood Suites (Hilton chain) on International Drive. A two bedroom suite - one bedroom has two double beds and the other has a king-size bed. Then it has a common room with sofa, arm chair, dining table with 2 chairs, stove, dishwasher, microwave, sink, and cabinets. Plus all the plates/cups/silverware that you'd need. Very nice.
We took Southwest and arrived around noon on Monday 3/21. Got to the hotel around 2 PM. Then to Disney MGM Studios around 4. The kids loved it even though it poured buckets. I had bought the kids and John and myself rain poncho's - a tip from some Disney and travel websites. We also brought our double stroller that has canopies over each seat. The kids were pretty dry except for their feet (soaked from the run from the car to the parking tram). Parking is pretty convenient because there's a tram train that drives up and takes you to the park. The only inconvenient thing is folding up the double stroller to stick in the tram.
So at MGM Studios, we saw a Little Mermaid show - very cool. It was part laser show, movie, and actors. The beginning had actors all dressed in black holding puppets of fish and Sebastien the lobster. There must have been black lighting or something because you couldn't see the people unless you squinted and stared really hard. We had seats in the 2nd row too. The line also wasn't too long because it was raining and probably less people at the park. There was no line at all to get in to Playhouse Disney's show. We saw Bear in the Big Blue House, Stanley, Roley Poley Olie, and best of all, Pooh Bear. Asia really got excited when Pooh Bear and his friends came out on stage to sing. They were mostly all puppets. Very neat. Also both shows had special effects like bubbles coming down on to the audience. And none of it was scary for Zach. I thought he might get scared when lights went out or in Little Mermaid when the scary Octopus witch comes out. He was fine the whole time.
Wednesday, we went to Epcot. It was a beautiful day. It was supposed to have thunderstorms, but that ended up not hitting til way past bedtime. It was so hot! John paid ten dollars for sun screen. Again, the kids has a good time. We were there from about 11 AM til 3 PM. A little too long for the kids since they started to get too wild and grumpy. There was still so much to see at Epcot. We went into one exhibit that was all about fire safety, TV, and video games. Then we went to World Showcase for lunch. We were pretty hungry so we didn't see most of the different countries and made a beeline for Germany. We ate at a great buffet restaurant that had live German dancing and music. Outside was a model train station that Zach and Asia didn't want to leave. While I was with the kids watching the trains go around (and little lizards jumping around), Zach accosted a curly headed boy and gave him a tour of the train yard. He kept his arm at the kids back and was telling him, "And look at this train there! And this one little one!" It was pretty funny. The little boy's mom and I laughed. Good thing she laughed, too. Wouldn't want her to wonder why this strange boy won't take his hand off of her son's back.
Then we visited the China exhibit and got some paper masks. Also a bus of Disney characters was driving around the park so the kids got to see Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy, etc. Zach said he didn't like the character's costumes, but at the same time, he was intrigued. Asia kept wanting to see Goofy and Mickey. We got back to the hotel around 3 and then went swimming in the hotel pool. The water was freezing! We still had fun. They also had a jacuzzi, so the kids stayed in that most of the time. After about 1 1/2 hours, we went back to our room where Asia took a long nap - maybe another 1 1/2 hours. Ordered out at the restaurant near the hotel, called Bahama Breeze. Then by the time dinner was over, it was already 8 PM. Too late to go to the parks for the kids (Magic Kindom was open til midnight, the rest of the parks closed around9). So we went for a walk down International Drive to a nearby mall. The mall courtyard had a fountain that you could run in - Zach did that and played with another little boy at the park. Then I went shopping at one of the stores and bought myself 2 shirts and Asia one shirt - all for 25 dollars! The kids were pretty tired and we returned home around 10 PM. What a day!

Stomach bug hits again

Poor Asia caught a stomach bug, a bad one too. It's funny, she's fine and then without warning, she starts throwing up. She threw up every 3 hours or so. In addition, she had diarrhea. The vomiting lasted for a day, then disappeared for almost a full day, then returned again for another day. The diarrhea lasted almost a week. The poor girl didn't keep anything down or eat anything for 2 1/2 days. But as soon as her appetite returned and she could keep things down, she ate humongous amounts of food - even if it was only Cheerio's, bread, bananas, and other bland soft stuff.
Oh yeah, the day Asia got sick, an hour later, I got it. Just nausea and diarrhea. Then John got it - just mostly nausea. I kept spraying Lysol everywhere, washing sheets and towels constantly, and had to keep telling Zach to stay away from me and Asia. After a day, I missed holding him and kissing him. Zach kept asking when we were going to be not sick. Luckily, he didn't catch the bug. Amazing.

Sick Kids and Dora

It's been awhile since the kids have been sick until now. It started out with Zach and then went to John and now with Asia. I'm probably next. This flu or whatever seems to hit more at night time - when laying down. Coughing, congestion, and fever. Zach was out of it for quite a few days - no appetite, no energy. He slept 1/2 a day and the two days before that, hardly ate anything. And the kid doesn't eat much in general. So hardly eating anything means maybe a bite for breakfast, a bite for lunch, a bite for dinner. Asia didn't really lose her appetite, just really tired and fever. Both kids had a few episodes where they coughed alot at night and then threw up. Zach missed 3 days of school. Asia missed 2 days of day care. The tough thing with Asia's age is that she doesn't really know how to blow her nose to relieve the congestion. So you have to use that nose unplugger thing, the syringe. The dreaded syringe. Who likes a rubber tube going up your nose and sucking the life out of you? Both Asia and Zach would just see that syringe and Dad coming and start screaming and covering their nose. And it takes two to hold them down.
Anyway, Zach's fully recovered. He's been eating like a storm. He ate green beans yesterday! I called them green sticks. I'd hand him one out of the pan. Asia didn't go for them, but she ate everything else.
So what's with the title of this blog? Well, while the kids were sick, they watched a lot of Dora the Explorer on my computer, which can play DVD's. Or they watched a lot of Dora on video. Or read books about Dora. It was Dora all the time, with a little of Thomas or Bob the Builder or others mingled in.

Cinderbrella

The exposure to all things girly has begun. I used to tell myself before Asia was born that I wouldn't have my girl all in pink and playing with dolls and doing the girly thing. The problem is, pink looks good on Asia. And everything's pink. And doll stuff really is everywhere.
Like her pull-up's. They have Belle from Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, and Jasmine on them. Disney versions, of course. Then I got her some play-doh that has a Cinderella stamper on it. So of course, I want to get the video and books so she can find out who Cinderella, Belle, and Jasmine are. And for her pull-up's, she only likes the ones that have the three girls on them - Belle, Cinderella, and Jasmine. The pack of pull-up's comes with two designs - one with the three girls on them and one with just Cinderella in a blue dress. Oh, and Asia says, "Cinderbrella," as like an umbrella. "Where's Cinderbrella, Mommy?"

Not Quite There

So Asia's not quite getting the potty thing. She doesn't mind sitting on the potty chair once in awhile, but she just sits there and talks and plays. It's like it's a game or something. Then you put her diaper back on her (or usually a new one because the old one's soiled) and within 5 or 10 minutes, she's pooped or peed in the diaper. Sometimes, she looks like she's about to poop in her diaper so I'll rush her over to the potty chair, but it'll either be too late or she changes her mind. We go through the routine of sitting on the chair, nothing happens. I put a diaper on her, and wham, she poops.
I've tried treats too. "Asia, what do you get when you go potty in the potty chair?" Asia's response, "An M&M!" Or more like "ANEMNEM." Or since we're here in Austin, TX, for a few weeks while my mom recovers from surgery, the reward is going to get ice cream with "Gong-Gong" (my dad). Unfortunately, this doesn't work though. She doesn't seem to get the concept of reward. On top of that, she's not that crazy about candy. For example, if I gave a small lollipop (usually one of those dum dum types) to both Asia and Zach, within 2 seconds, Zach's lollipop will be gone, he'll be gone, and nothing's left but a chewed up lollipop stick on the floor. Asia, on the other hand, will play with the lollipop, lick it a few times, get it in her hair, put it back in her mouth, then demand that John or I lick her lollipop (which, of course, we can't refuse because she's learning to share). If I leave her alone with the lollipop and then return a few minutes later, she's gone and either the lollipop is sitting on the table, Zach's eaten it, or it's stuck in her shirt sleeve.
Anyway, no hurry. It'd be nice to get the whole diaper thing out of our house. Not meaning the kids. I mean the diapers, the smell, the soiled diaper container. Yuck. But our kids are only young once.

Another vacation in the Dells

We went to the Dells again - the Wisconsin Dells, that is. Another short family vacation, since both kids' were off on Friday due to their teachers being in a conference. Since it's winter, we looked at staying at a place with a good indoor water park, but not too expensive. John chose the Treasure Island Waterpark and Hotel. The room was a nice size, had two queens plus a sofa bed, plus fridge and microwave. The first night, we had Asia and Zach sleep in the same bed. Some time in the night, Zach woke up with a nightmare or something so John laid next to him. A little while later, Asia started crying. I woke up and found her on the floor, sleeping on a pillow. Zach was in her place and John next to him. I don't know how Asia ended up on the floor without crying when she first landed on the floor. So for the rest of the vacation, Asia slept in the sofabed. She did fall off the sofabed on her last night. There wasn't much we could do there. She's too big for the portable crib yet doesn't know to stay on the bed. Even Zach still falls off the bed occasionally.
Treasure Island has a pretty nice indoor water park, but we were pretty much done with it after a day and a half. The kids aren't old enough to really enjoy the faster water slides. John and Zach went down one of the big water slides many times. Zach is great in the water. He doesn't mind if he gets splashed or goes under for a few seconds. He'll go down the kiddie slides by himself as long as we're there at the bottom for some of the faster kiddie slides that have a big splash at the end. If he sees that we're okay, then he's okay.
Asia, on the other hand, isn't ready for all that. She doesn't like getting splashed, water on her face or head. Zach was like that, too, so I assume she will grow out of the fear. Asia did like just being in the water park and walking around. She also liked the regular pool and this other wave pool where I could hold her. There was also a small part of the main park that had a "river." You would sit in a large inner tube shaped more like a two-hole doughnut. Then just follow the current around. Some parts were a little scary for Asia because when the river flowed under a water slide, you'd get splashed. So Asia would bury her face in my chest. Also, getting in and out of the inner tube wasn't too easy at first when Asia would be clinging to me. Eventually, she'd be okay with me telling her to sit on the steps until I got on the inner tube. And thank goodness for the water park attendants. For the most part, they'd help you in and out or watch you when you come back around the river to see if you wanted out.
There were lifeguards everywhere. They would rotate from station to station. Zach took a liking to one of the lifeguards and at one point, he only wanted to stand next to the lifeguard instead of swimming when Asia and I were in the wave pool.
I also brought my computer so the kids could watch DVD's when there wasn't anything good on cable. There really isn't much on cable for Zach and Asia's age. Besides the ones that the kids like - Dora, Thomas, Bob, Blues Clues - the rest are somewhat vulgar.

Asia and the potty

Asia went potty in the potty chair! This happened last week. I didn't even know she went. Zach was sitting on the toilet before his bath, so I put Asia on the potty chair and told her to do what her brother was doing. That's a little tough during times when he's standing up to go potty. She's tried that before and doesn't understand why she can't always go the way Zach goes. And Zach will ask the same thing - I go potty standing up, why can't Asia? Or he'll sit on the toilet and say, "Now I'm going pee pee and poo poo just like Asia - sitting down!" The other day in the bath, Asia was putting soap on Zach, patting him on the back. Eventually, she was playing with his "wee wee" wondering what it was. Oh the joy of explaining the human anatomy to a 2 or 4 year old.
So anyway, back to the potty thing. Zach got into the bathtub first. Then when I picked up Asia to put her in the potty, there it was! A little bit of pee! And she did it again the next day, but in the big toilet with a different kind of potty chair on top of it.

Asia holding her big care bear ("Wish Bear") that she got from her cousin Lizzy. She's also holding a police car that her baby sitter Joyce gave Zach.

Asia eating cake and ice cream. She's still getting the hang of using utensils.

Zach after eating ice cream.

Asia Subdued

And here is Asia all subdued when 20 some people are all around her singing Happy Birthday. She got so serious and wouldn't blow out the candles, or didn't really know what to do. Lizzy and I helped her instead.

Here's Asia while I was lighting the cake.

Asia and Audrey sharing a chair.

The cake.

Asia's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Asia's 2nd birthday today - a day early. Her birthday is tomorrow but on Wednesday, I fly out to New Orleans for a company trip until Saturday, so I figured it would be better to celebrate now when I'm not in a hurry packing and finishing up last minute projects. We had around 20 people over for dinner. I ordered a few party trays from Jewel (a real time-saver) - chicken wings, cheese tray, vegie tray, and shrimp cocktail. Marissa made a strawberry birthday cake. Joe A made a great spinach alfredo pasta dish. And Sue C brought some cookies. I also ordered a pizza from Pompeii and baked BBQ chicken. We had plenty of food! Asia had a ball with all her babysitters (past and present) there, plus cousins galore. Here's a picture of Asia with our neighbor and former babysitter, Ellen.

Little Bob, Lizzy in Aunt Shirley's jacket, and Wendy, and Big Bob.

Asia in her cat outfit. As you can see, it's a little big. And by the end of the day, she had a lollipop stuck in the furry part of her sleeve. I found it days later before I put the outfit into the wash. And she wouldn't let me draw the rest of the whiskers on her face. But boy, did she enjoy trick or treating. She'd take the candy from people's outstretched hands and say "Thank you!".

Zach at pre-school. Next to him is Hailin as a lion and Ryan as Thomas the Tank Engine.

Zach in his Bob the Builder Halloween costume. Okay, so it's store bought from Jewel. He liked it and his friends liked it. As soon as he walked into the school and all his friends saw him, they yelled, "It's Bob the Builder!"