Baby Loves Disco

Yesterday we tried out a new activity as a family. It is called Baby Loves Disco. They have them in lots of cities all over the US. What they do is open a dance club once a month from 1-4pm. It is open to children from 0-7 and their parents. They have 70's and 80's music playing, a DJ mixing the tunes, lights, balloons, bubble blowers, and a side play room where you can go and cool off after you've been dancing the afternoon away. Our friends Jacqui and Phil were taking their son Hayden for the Halloween themed one, so we thought we'd try it out also.

Taylor is a shark for Halloween this year, and I really wanted to get in the spirit and dress up as a family. I thought it'd be funny to have Jason as a surfer with a shark bite out of his board and I could be a lifeguard. However Jason wasn't quite in the spirit, so I took over as the surfer and constructed a smaller version surf board so it would be easier to carry around. Unfortunately, not many parents dressed up, so i felt a bit funny. Oh well, at least I stayed cool in my board shorts and t-shirt because the place was hot! It was so packed when we first got there that Taylor would not be put down for a second. I can't blame him because on the ground all he would be able to see was knees. So we held him and took turns dancing around and popping bubbles. There were some great other costumes. One baby was a pizza, one family came as the Royal Tenanbalms, and then there were a bunch of little girl lady bugs. We stopped for snacks and watched the action from higher ground, where Taylor and Hayden would actually get down and run around. Then he ventured back out toward the dance floor as the crowds thinned. It was fun and we got some great pictures, but it probably would have been a little better if they had the middle of the floor open for kids and the parents could be around the perimeter, just so it wasn't so overwhelming for the little ones.

After that we kept the party going by heading to the Issaquah Highlands Fall Festival. They had a hay bale maze, pony rides, inflatable, and I think a haunted house. We let Taylor just roam for a bit, which he enjoyed. Then he took a ride on a pony (hesitant at first, then was smiling and laughing), had a couple small bites of popcorn, petted some bunnies and visited with friends. Then it was to Jacqui and Phil's for a spaghetti dinner. It is so fun to watch the boys play together and remember when they were babies and would just lay next to each other. My how they are growing up.

Well, with all the celebrating we already did, it feels like it all should be over, but there is still 5 more days till the actually thing. If Taylor gets a good nap and Jason gets home from work on time on the 31st, we'll probably go to Overlake Christian Church (where I grew up) and enjoy the festivities there. Nana will be helping out with the puppets, so we'll check her out in action.

Fall leaves

After summer is over I start the dread the impending cold/wind/rain/snow. But I always look forward to the beautiful fall leaves. Especially on a nice sunny day, nothing beats it. Boston in the fall?! Forget it! Seattle is the place to be.

Casting Call

It's that time of year again for the Gap baby/children casting call. I hadn't gotten a chance to take any recent pictures but last weekend got a few good ones. Wednesday was the last day to post picts, so I got home from working all night and spent till 11am getting the pictures off my camera and brightened/color enhances/cropped. When I finally went to post them I realized they were all too big! The photo could only be 2mb and all mine were 4-6mb. Grr. So I found two that I took with my other camera and sent them off. Here they are! Lets see what the judges think.

Pumpkins and Dirt Bikes

Today we stayed home from church since Taylor was still recovering from the stomach bug. We had picked up some pumpkins the day before, so after he woke up from his nap we went out on the front lawn to carve them since it was a beautiful sunny day. I took over the carving duty while Jason played photographer. Taylor was interested at the beginning, but when I tried to get him to stick his hand in the pumpkin he took off the other direction running. He did try to do a little scooping of innards with the ice cream scoop, but then realized it was more fun to bang it on the cement and hear the neat sound. So I did my best to carve the pumpkin on my own (which I hadn't done since sophomore year of college). Got some cute picts, and we got one of the three pumpkins ready for the big day. Mission accomplished.

The first cut

Discovering whats on the inside

Helping collect the seeds

Scooping all by himself

A little help from mom

Break for a kiss!

Distracted

Ready to get messy

Doesn't taste as good as it looks

Letting mom do the carving

Then it was Jason's turn to be photographed. He had just bought a dirt bike the day before off craigslist for a sweet deal and couldn't wait to get it all shined up. Taylor was a little timid watching Jason ride it up and down the street, partly because it was so loud. But when it had stopped and he got to sit on it, he was in heaven. He even helped Jason wash it, dunking the brush in the soapy water and scrubbing the big tires. He loves his dad and follows him all around. I'm sure he'll follow Jason's passion for riding and be out there on his own some day. I'm starting therapy now for when that day comes. Do you know they make little kid dirt bikes with training wheels?! Lord help me.

Taylor & Jason cleaning the bike together

Fascinated by the big wheel

"Dad, you missed a spot!"

The boys hard at work

Taking it for a test drive

That evening we went to Nana and Grandpa's house for dinner. Taylor always loves playing in the back yard. This time he discovered the bird bath and how throwing rocks into it is so cool. After some bubble blowing to distract him from the bird bath, we went inside and he played the piano. My mom remembers back to when we were little and sat at the same piano at my grandparents house and played. After some yummy pot roast (definitely a cool fall day meal), we headed home to get our recovering sicky to bed. What a fun day full of lots of great memories, and some great pictures too!

Checking out the rocks

"Throwing rocks in water is so fun!"

Mesmerized by bubbles

Working on his Mozart piece

"Nana & Grandpa's is always a blast!"

Sick baby

Tuesday night Jason called me at work to tell me Taylor had woken up and thrown up everywhere. He has done this twice before a while ago, but only after we had given him egg (which he has not had since). We thought maybe it was something he ate and did bland stuff the next day. By the afternoon he was running around like himself. Wednesday night, however, same thing. I was home so I tried to deal with it as much as possible and let Jason sleep. I was downstairs trying to rock him to sleep for 4 hours. Long night. Next night, same thing. By this point I've figured it probably wasn't something he ate but maybe a virus. He would still eat during the day (Banana Rice Applesauce Toast Yogurt), and drink a ton of water (doesn't like juice). I started mixing Pedialyte into his milk so he would get some electrolyte replacement. The puzzling thing was that he would only throw up in the middle of the night, and right about the same time. He had milk in the morning and before nap, but no throwing up then. I finally took him to the doctor Saturday because I wanted a second opinion and to make sure they didn't think he was getting dehydrated. Also he had developed a rash on him tummy. After the family practitioner sat there and thought about it for a good 5 minutes, he said he thought it was just a virus. Duh! I really spent $10 for someone to tell me what I already knew! He then suggested to cut milk out and see if that helped. I wasn't sure how that would go over because Taylor LOVES his milk and will not drink watered down juice. So that afternoon for his nap I did part water, part apple juice, part Pedialyte. Miracle upon miracles he drank it warmed up and in a bottle while rocking to sleep. That night, no throwing up! I was so thrilled to not have to scrub sheets and pj's and do laundry in the middle of the night, and Jason was so happy to not be thrown up on for a 5th night in a row. We all slept great. Poor Taylor had a few rough nights and slept a ton during the day, but in the afternoon he was always happy to get out and do something fun. What a trooper. Now I think we have a new molar working its way in. Long nights, here we come!