Since Oliver turned two 15 days after Hazel was born, we didn't do anything big to celebrate his birthday. Instead, we planned a Disneyland trip for after Hazel had had her first round of vaccinations. Because of the timing, it worked out well to celebrate both Oliver's 2nd and Steve's 32nd birthdays!
Hazel's all "WTF?" and Oliver's all "Hahahaha!"
We made a real vacation out of it. We arrived at the Carousel Inn (not an official Disneyland hotel, but right across the street from the park entrance, making travel with two kiddos and a stroller easy-peasy!) late Saturday afternoon. We were upgraded to a premium room in its own "tower" (use that word lightly), with no one above or below us. This worked out really well when, at 9:00 at night, Oliver was so jazzed up he was running back and forth across the wood floors. It worked out less well when we had to get the fully-loaded stroller down a flight of stairs. You win some...
We'd planned to take advantage of the hotel's heated rooftop pool for some swimming Saturday night and, if the timing worked out, we might have seen Disneyland's fireworks show from there. Unfortunately, an hour-fifteen drive turned into more than two-and-a-half hours, we were starving, and the kids were exhausted (until that 9pm second wind), so no swimming happened.
Ready for Disneyland, Day 1!
Our good friends P&L flew in to join us. They stayed with us Saturday night, visited the park on Sunday, and flew back home that evening. Our other friends J&E were also in town, and J had never been to Disneyland! Sunday was a fun friend reunion.
C3POliver
We walked over right when Disneyland Park opened. The day was hot and crowded and, to be honest, probably a little overwhelming for Oliver. He was clingy for the first part of the day, napped only in his stroller (even though we'd had every intention of going back to the hotel for a nap...), and cried when his favorite rides were over. He didn't quite understand that we couldn't just ride again!
"Oo-oo-oo!"
No babywearing on Astro Blasters, apparently! Off the ride...
Best. Ride. Ever!
We took it as easy as we could, sitting out the bigger rides with Kid Swap and letting Oliver try on funny hats or play with the rotating water sphere (the only way I can describe it). He got to ride several rides: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Astro Orbiter, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, King Arthur Carousel, and Dumbo. All in all, it was a lot of fun!
Mickey sandwich treat - YUM!
Family carousel ride!
Dumbo, pre-Steve & Hazel exiting
Wheee!! Flying elephants are awesome!
On Monday, we had reservations for a character breakfast at the Paradise Pier Hotel, Steve's birthday gift from my parents. Oliver had been excited about meeting Mickey for days, and this was our chance! Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Pluto, and Stitch were all at the breakfast.
Not so sure about this Mickey character...
On Oliver's first trip to Disneyland, he was dressed in a Sully onesie (from Monster's Inc).
For Hazel's first visit, I found a Stitch onesie at the outlets, and a
coordinating Stitch t-shirt for Oliver. It worked out perfectly that
Stitch was one of the characters at our breakfast!
ALL THE STITCHES!
Stitch, meet Mini-Stitch!
Funny story: our bench seat was divided between our table and the one next to ours. Oliver kept climbing onto our neighbors' seat (before anyone was sitting there), and I told him he had to stay on our side of the line. I had to tell him this several times, reminding him of the line that was the edge of our seat. "Rawwr!" Oliver said, finally, a big roar. I'm sure he thought I was cuckoo, because he didn't know what "lion" I was referring to!
Found Goofy after breakfast.
Who's this cool kid in his Oswald ears and shades?
After breakfast, we went to California Adventure. I don't know if it was the fact that it was less crowded, the fact that it was just our family on this day, or that Oliver had gotten the hang of this theme park thing, but Oliver seemed much more comfortable on Day 2.
Kids in their matching Stitch gear
My view for most of the day.
We rode Ariel's Undersea Adventure; Monsters, Inc; hit up the Animation Building for a character-drawing lesson*, Turtle Talk with Crush, and a nap**; Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Flik's Flyers, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, got soaked at one of the splash pads, and no trip would be complete without a ride on King Triton's Carousel.
These tractors were WILD!
The Chew Chew Train was much calmer.
Water FUN!
Smiling in the stroller.
Carousels are great!
We finished up the day with what turned out to be the absolute highlight: the Pixar Play Parade.
Watching Oliver get so excited about the parade actually makes me tear up. Even now. I love seeing that magic in his eyes!
I think it was a wonderful way to do Oliver's birthday, and I don't think he missed the party we didn't have. Disneyland is not cheap, so we won't be going often. Even if Oliver and Hazel don't remember this trip, Steve and I certainly will. * I've been wanting to learn to draw Oswald the Lucky Rabbit for years. Ever since I found out he was in rotation. We went over there first thing to see when he was scheduled to be drawn. Hazel was fed and asleep and we timed it perfectly! Until Hazel woke up about 3 minutes in. I had her in the Ergo, we were in the back row, and it wasn't very crowded, so I stood and bounced, rocked, and walked. She just ramped up. I left as to not disturb anyone. As soon as the doors closed behind me, she fell back asleep. And they wouldn't let me back in. I wanted to cry! The "helpful" cast member told me I should have just walked around in the back instead of exiting. If I'd known I wouldn't be allowed back in, I might have done that. Boo. ** The Animation Building is the perfect place for a nap! It's air conditioned, dark, and there are couches scattered all around. Huge screens lining the walls of the main room play a constant stream of Disney clips, so there's something entertaining to watch while you're sitting there for an hour. This building was the best kept secret (and probably my favorite place in both parks) until they put in a Frozen meet-and-greet, but it's still a great place to just chill for a bit.
You had a really fun second month. You met your Aunt Jessica and Uncle Joel when they came to visit, and got lots of great snuggles. You went to your first Strawberry Festival wearing a strawberry on your butt, an outfit Oliver picked out for you.
We started going to PEP again, something I did with Oliver and found extremely helpful. And every Wednesday after our meeting, we go and visit Dad at work!
The biggest change in you at two months is your smile. You have seemed so serious, often with a little furrowed brow, but your smile lights up your whole face! You smile at Oliver, which totally melts my heart.
We haven't had your two month appointment yet, but you were 11 pounds 10 ounces (unofficially, and fully clothed) at Monday's breastfeeding group at the hospital. Oh, we've been going to that, too. It's a handful of moms with babies of varying ages, from days old through toddler and above, I suppose, who all breastfeed. Meetings are led by a lactation consultant. Moms and the LC can all answer questions on breastfeeding, but mostly it's just moms chatting about life. Like sleep habits and kid-friendly restaurants and potty training, etc.
Speaking of sleep, you're having a good run. You wake up between 2:00 and 5:00(!!), after going down between 8:30 and 9:00. I'd say your most recent "usual" has been about 4:15, which gets me a nice six, six and a half or so hours of sleep.
Naps are a little trickier. Your longest stretches are when you're asleep on my chest, which makes it a little tricky to get things done. I've had some luck putting you in the moby wrap and going for long walks or, once or twice, doing things around the house. (That's harder because leaning over or bending down is a bit difficult.)
My favorite thing by far is seeing you and Oliver together. He loves you SO MUCH! He gives you hugs (sometimes full-body crushes that we have to keep a close eye on), kisses, and looks for you every time he comes into a room. And now, you smile back. It's the best thing ever.
