Nostalgia

Apparently, there aren't enough chairs in Little Ted's room.  Or at least that was what I concluded after he requested that I pull his Bumbo out of the closet this past weekend.  We didn't use it much when it was "age appropriate," but it was a staple on our trips to Grandma's house.

In any event, he still fits in it.  Getting out is a bit of a problem, though.

Shake It!

Anyone who knows Little Ted knows that he loves to dance.  A long time ago, I (accidentally) taught him a move that I've been meaning to catch on video for awhile - he will "shake it" on command.  I had forgotten about the move until it suddenly popped in my head the other day and, sure enough, he still remembers what to do.  He shows off his moves below.

Luxury Camping

After we recovered from our turkey comas this past Thanksgiving, which we spent with Ted's family, we enjoyed a weekend of lovely weather and set up shop on the back porch.  This "tent" was originally set up by daddy, and the idea was to catch a few zzz's before getting back to work.  That was short lived.  Little Ted took over, asked for snacks and a DVD player, and made himself comfortable.  Is it possible that we spoil this child?

Halloween 2012

Last Wednesday, Little Ted morphed into Spiderman to celebrate Halloween.  Actually, he's been morphing into Spiderman for about a month now, ever since he picked out the costume at Wal-Mart.  Nevertheless, Halloween night was a special night for him because he got to experience trick-or-treaters for the very first time.

Around six in the evening, we set up shop.  He jumped around and had a jolly good time while I snapped some photos of our Halloween decorations (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!).

Notice the pumpkin lights staked in the ground and the lights on the railing in the background.  These were Little Ted's favorites.  After we brought them home, he found them, still in their boxes, in the laundry room.  He exclaimed, "Look!  Pun-kins!  Beautiful!"  Of course, mommy had to make sure we  put them up after that enthusiastic response.

Little Ted loves cats.  The top one is named Gilbert, after the cat on the cartoon "Calliou."  The bottom one didn't earn a name, but Little Ted did pick him out.

And here's our Spiderman.  He was so excited to be dressed up and playing outside in his costume.  But having loads of children decked out in all sorts of costumes come up to our door was the icing on the cake.

Highlights of the evening included seeing another Spiderman identical to Little Ted (he had to adjust his mask to make sure he matched the other little boy perfectly).  Iron Man, Captain America, and the Incredible Hulk were also favorites (do you see the trend here?).  

All in all, Little Ted had a great time and talked about it again the next day.  I wonder which superhero he'll want to be next year . . .

Holiday Inspiration from BU

Inspiration Board board by Yolanda. See more Minted.com

We had cold weather this weekend - the holidays are near!

Calm Down!

We took a trip to our neighborhood park yesterday.  It's been awhile since we last visited, so Little Ted was especially excited to go.  Towards the end of our visit, some children around Ted's age showed up.  He was happy to have children to play with, and mommy and daddy were happy that he was distracted from the other babies that were there (energetic 3 year old + 1 year old wobbly walker = bad combination).

Among these children was a little girl who was nearly a year older than Ted but roughly the same size as him.  Little Ted immediately took notice of her - not surprising because he seldom sees kids the same age/size as him - so he started his typical "Hi, nice to meet you" routine.  Trust me, it's not as nice as you might think.  He growled at her and made sure to use his best dinosaur growl.  On top of that, he was his usual self - happy, bouncy, outgoing, and loud.

For most kids, this routine is a little much and results in funny looks directed at Ted.  This little girl knew how to handle herself a little better than the rest, though.  She faced Ted head on, put up her hand to create space between herself and him, and told him "Wait!  Calm down!"

Of course, Little Ted was not phased by her commands.  He hears that plenty from mom and dad.  He did enjoy the company of the little girl and her family, though, and hopes to go to visit the park again soon.

In Memory of Grandpa

Those of you who know my grandfather know how much he loved Nebraska football.  Well, it turns out that someone is working on documentary about Nebraska football and is collecting people's personal Husker stories via Facebook.  My uncle Marlin sent in his story, and it was published on Facebook a couple of weeks ago.  He also sent it to me, and I had to share it with you:

I have never lived in Nebraska, but I inherited rooting for the Cornhuskers from my father.  Though I was raised in Oregon (and have lived in California for 27 years now), my parents both grew up in Nebraska (Broken Bow), leaving in their early 20′s.  Growing up (I was born in ’64), my family never had a television.  Whenever Nebraska played on TV, my uncle would drive down from Washington state and bring his portable TV.  We watched the Cornhuskers!  Then every year on New Years, he would also come down and we’d watch the bowl games.  I think that is why I love college football so much today.  It is really the only sport I pay much attention to.

In 1984, my dad, my uncle and myself drove from Oregon down to Pasadena to watch Nebraska play UCLA at the Rose Bowl stadium - my first look at the Huskers “live.”  We did the same in 1988, though I was now living in central California.  We try to catch Nebraska as much as we can when they play on the West Coast.  1998 was a great year, as we got to watch them play twice, Cal in Berkeley, and then in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl against Arizona.  Also, I was able to take my dad to the 2001 National Championship game versus Miami in the Rose Bowl.

Though he grew up in Nebraska, my dad had never had the opportunity to attend a game in Lincoln.  My dream was to take him to a game in Lincoln.  The perception from afar is that Nebraska football has been sold out for 40+ years and seats are just not available.  How was I gonna pull this off?  But a number of years ago, my niece graduated from Biola and decided to do her graduate studies at Baylor, a Big 12 opponent.  I had just found my way into Memorial Stadium!  When a game in Lincoln came up on Baylor’s schedule, I gave my niece my credit card info and told her to get us some tickets.  I think we ended up with about 8 seats.  We had a grand time experiencing the Big Red Wave in Lincoln!  One amazing experience on that trip happened in Phoenix, Arizona.  I flew out of Sacramento, and my sister flew out of Portland, Oregon.  We met in Phoenix, and had the same flight from Phoenix to Omaha.  I was amazed that there were no less than 15 or 20 people getting on that plane way out west in Phoenix, headed to Memorial Stadium for the game!  My dad had such a good time that several months later he told me, “That was fun.  We should do that again sometime!,” comment totally out of character for my dad.  So, a couple of years later, we went back for a game versus Texas A&M.  The only disappointment is that our two experiences at Memorial Stadium both came during the rather forgettable Bill Callahan era.  Nonetheless, the game day in Memorial Stadium experience is one I will never forget.  

I lost my dad 2 1/2 years ago, but I will be forever grateful that I was able to give him the Husker home game experience.  The tradition lives on.  In December 2010, I took my wife (married July 2010) on a belated honeymoon to San Diego.  She was less than impressed by the Husker’s performance that day in the Holiday Bowl, but she was sufficiently impressed by the major college football game day experience.  Just wait ’till I take her to Lincoln someday . . .

I remember our trip to Lincoln fondly and only wish I could have visited Memorial Stadium again with Grandpa, Uncle Monkey, and my own family.

You know your child is a Texan when . . .

. . . you take him to the neighborhood park and, upon spotting the large sandbox filled with pretty white sand, he runs up to it, stands in the middle, falls backwards, and proceeds to make a snow angel.

Poor, confused child.

How did mommy celebrate her birthday?

She ate cake . . . and she shared!

Mommy's Little Helper

Little Ted has been very helpful around the house lately.  He has taken a new interest in cooking, as you can see from the photos below (sorry for the poor quality).  

LT has helped me make pancakes (actually, when I turned my back, he tried to eat the dry mix.  Oops!).  He's also really good at stirring his juice mix.

LT cleans up pretty well, too.  He puts his toys away when mommy asks, and if a broom is around, he will sweep the floor.

Here's he's taking a break after sweeping the carpet.

Right now, he's resting - he had a busy morning helping mommy and daddy work in the front yard.  He's an all around helpful little boy.

Meet the 3 year old

Last month, this guy . . .

. . . turned 3.  We can hardly believe how big he is!

On the day of, we marked the occasion with Angry Bird cupcakes.  Little Ted was a happy camper.

A few weeks later, Ted's parents hosted a birthday party for LT at their house.  Here's a couple pictures from the event.

Of course, we had to take our annual "Ted" photo to showcase 4 generations of Teds.  

Pretty impressive, huh?

Laughing

Our blog has a notable lack of activity, not because we are doing nothing, but because we've been a little too busy lately.  That said, we have lots to talk about, like Little Ted's 3rd birthday!

But before we get to that (I still need to upload the photos and video to my computer), I give you this video of Little Ted enjoying a YouTube cat video (one of his favorite activities).

Shirley Temple

Little Ted enjoyed his very first Shirley Temple at Mi Tierra last week. His favorite part? The whipped cream, of course!

Bike Ride

At the beginning of the month, we took our bikes out. We could do this thanks to a new store in town. They are located at the edge of downtown, within walking distance of Cameron Park, and they have a bike trailer for rent.

We are in love with this thing and will probably break down and buy one eventually. It can seat two children, and some models convert into regular and jogging strollers. Neat!

Little Ted had a blast on outing. We rode to the playground and stayed there for about an hour. He enjoyed chasing the other kids and watching them play. I almost convinced him to try out a slide, but he changed his mind at the last minute. We'll have to face that challenge next time.

Super Hero

A week or so ago, we had to run an errand in the rain. We put LT in his rain jacket for the very first time (thank you grandma Gonzalez!).

He knew the coat was different and inspected himself in the mirror after I dressed him. Apparently, he liked what he saw because he would not take it off. The coat became a kind of super hero cape, though I admit he looks more the Gorton fisherman than he does a super hero.

Eventually, we peeled the coat off of him, though it did take some effort.

Yes Sir, Mama!

Lately, we've been working with Little Ted to get him to say "yes sir" or "yes ma'am" when he is asked or (as is more often the case) repeatedly reminded to do something.  He's catching on, for the most part.  It has become his go-to phrase, especially when he has done something he knows he's not supposed to do.

Sometimes, he says the phrase in response to just about any question.  For example, I was feeding him breakfast a couple of days ago, and his yogurt cup was just about empty.  I asked him, "Are you finished?"  He answered, "Yes Sir, Mama!"

I don't so much mind being called sir, so long as it's followed by 'mama' and is said by my little boy.

More Weekend Pics

When we visited Bryan and Amy this past weekend, they planned to take us to the zoo to celebrate Little Ted's birthday (what good godparents they are!).  Well, that didn't really pan out - the zoo was packed and we got a little turned around trying to get ourselves there using the rail system.

Instead, we ended up at the Museum of Natural Science. It was a nice change of plans - we had air conditioning, we were out of the sun, there were plenty of places to sit, and the museum has a McDonald's in it!

Of course, there were also great exhibits, including a full dinosaur skeleton, terra cotta soldiers in the "Warriors, Tombs, and Soldiers" exhibit (the pictures you see below), and a pretty cool Titanic exhibit that makes you feel like you are actually on the ship (we also took a picture that, thanks to Photo Shop, shows us inside of the ship).

 When Little Ted got bored, we enjoyed the front of the museum, which included a fountain, tables, and lots of shade from big trees.  My favorite moment: a little girl, probably about three years old, entered the museum with her mother and grandmother.  They were obviously out that day to take pictures of the little girl (the museum is on the edge of Hermann Park, a large recreation area near the hospitals in Houston, which also serves as a good backdrop for photographers).  She was dressed up to look like a bee, with yellow and black leggings and wings to match.  Little Ted, who has only limited experience with bees (he's familiar with the ones in Dr. Seuss), spotted her and correctly identified her costume.  He shouted, "A bee!  A bee!  Bzzzzzzzzzz!"  Luckily, he didn't panic the way he usually does when he sees flying bugs, so I guess not all flying bugs are monsters in his mind.

Before we left, we shot this pic of Little Ted and our hosts.  Overall, we had a great time, and Little Ted is ready to go back and visit his pet friends.

2 yr old Speller???

When bedtime rolled around this evening, the 3 Gonzabloggers were relaxing upstairs.  I wanted Little Ted to know that it was time to start our nightly routine, so I said,

"It's time to take a b-a-t-h."

Now normally, I don't spell the word.  I typically say "bath," and that generally leads to a negative response from the toddler.  I didn't want to get him too worked up since he did not get his usual nap today; hence my decision to spell rather than say.

His response:

"No!"

Me: "And what does b-a-t-h spell?"

LT: "Bath!"

At this point, Ted and I looked at each other in surprise and awe.  Does our two year old actually know how to spell???

Probably not, but he did a good job of deducing what mom was referring to.

Guess this means we won't be able to do much "spell speaking" in this house when talking about things we don't want Little Ted to know.  I'll have to brush up on my Spanish skills or learn Arabic so we have other options!

Weekend Trip

Last weekend, we visited Ted's friend, Bryan, and his wife.  The last time we saw them was their wedding day, almost a full year ago.  Since then, they've bought a home and settled in with their three cats and one dog.

They've been asking us to visit for awhile now, and we finally had some time to get away, so we packed up the car and headed SE.  As you can imagine, Little Ted was more than a little excited to share a house with so many critters.  By the time we left, Palmer, Phoenix, Rocky, and Charlie were thoroughly terrorized, and Little Ted was exhausted and sad to leave.  He still remembers his animal buddies and even asked "Can we see the puppy?" as we were headed to the grocery store this afternoon.

Ted shot the video below while we were there.  In it, Little Ted is calling to the animals, and they are doing their best to stay away.

Funny Face

This is what happens when a toddler gets a hold of your camera phone - he makes faces at himself.

Flying Monsters

Today, we discovered that Little Ted is afraid of flying monsters. You may know them as flies, moths, and butterflies. In theory, they are fine and even fun to watch. But things change when they start flying towards you and buzz around your head. The last straw for Little Ted happened when a butterfly tried to share his PB&J this afternoon. Little Ted broke down in tears and went back inside for the rest of the day.

I guess I should be glad. He could try to sneak bugs in the house in his pockets, or worse.

One Last Spring Break Memory

Here's a pic of Little Ted and Grandma Gonzalez from our trip to Chuck E. Cheese (Little Ted's very first visit!).  As you can see, a fun time was had by all.

Hear the Engines Coming

My favorite part - his train noises.  He's got them down!

Sweet goodness

All children I know seem to love icing more than they love the cake or cookie. Ours is no exception to this rule.

Congrats to the Lady Bears.

As we predicted, our Lady Bears are this year's National Champs.  We're still celebrating here in Waco.  For example, you will see this billboard in the same spot that was once devoted to celebrating Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin:

And kudos to CNN's Kyra Phillips, who did a segment on the Notre Dame Coach's comments on our star player:


Six-foot-eight, Brittney Griner, leading her Lady Bears into the history books with a perfect season and an NCAA title to boot.

But still, within all of that glory, Notre Dame's coach says Griner, quote, "is like a guy playing with women."

OK, Coach, you say you were lifting here and to your credit Brittney took it as a compliment. But come on. Do we need to go there?

That analogy is as old as Augusta's archaic rules, so let's retire it now.

And, while we're at it, let's retire runs like a girl and throws like a girl. Have you see Flo-Jo run? What about Jennie Finch pitch?

In the words of our favorite sports columnist, Christine Brennan, comments like this just rev up nastier words and thoughts.

Brittney Griner is an amazing athlete, period, and, Brittney, if you're listening, you got skills, you've got brains and you are today's rock star.

We should all aspire to: 

Hello!

Little Ted loves to play outside.  His favorite toys are sticks and puddles of water that have been left over by recent thunderstorms.  Here, daddy catches him in the act, so to speak, and Little Ted uses his little boy charm to deflect any memory of his possible wrongdoing.

Never Give Up!

Ted's parents visited us over Spring Break, and I've been lax about posting some of our media from their visit.

The video below is yet another example of Little Ted's singing skills.  My mother-in-law is the videographer, and she captured the munchkin singing along to one of his favorite Thomas the Tank Engine YouTube videos.  The song is "Never Give Up"; it's a long one, and Little Ted sticks with it the whole way - and then some.

Enjoy!

Check it . . .

Two newly remodeled bathrooms.

Bathroom 1:

Bathroom 2:

Both have new paint, flooring, hardware, fixtures, and newly stained cabinets. Bathroom 2 has a new faucet and newly textured walls.

Ted did most of the staining, and the rest was handled by a contractor. We love the end product.