Happy Thanksgiving Again

So much has changed in Little King David’s world since his first Thanksgiving last year. Today, he is thankful for:

His feet that walk him everywhere he wants to go

His big boy words that help him tell Mommy & Daddy what’s on his mind

His teeth that help him chew yummy foods

His hair that keeps his head warm

His mouth that puckers for kisses from Mommy & Daddy

His sisters that taught him to say, “Go away!”

His family that loves him more than he can imagine

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Ocean

My Mommy is from Florida, so she grew up swimming in the ocean. She really loves the water and she isn’t at all afraid of sharks. She likes living near Lake Erie, but it’s not as pretty as the ocean.

I saw the ocean for the first time in my life on our trip to Cancun. My Papa is going to be a little sad that I didn’t see the ocean for the first time at his house in West Palm Beach, but Mommy said this ocean was prettier than Papa’s ocean. The water was very clear and the sand was soft. The waves were gentle and the water wasn’t as salty when you accidentally swallowed it.

The first time I put my feet in the ocean, I was a little scared. It was a lot bigger than the swimming pool at the YMCA. I really wanted Mommy to pick me up. I wanted Daddy to pick me up, too, but he was busy taking photos of me being scared.

After we took some pictures, Mommy & Daddy carried me while they walked out into the waves. We met a very nice lady in the water that was holding a bread roll. She was feeding the fish. I looked down in the water and I saw lots of silver fish swimming around us. The water was so clear that you could see them gobbling the bread. That made me forget how scared I was because I wanted to get in the water and touch the fish. I wasn’t fast enough to catch one, though.

After my first day, I wasn’t scared of the ocean anymore. I loved to run into the water all by myself and watch the waves hitting my legs. I would let Mommy & Daddy take me into the deeper water, but then I would scream at them, “I do it! I do it! I DO IT!!!!” I don’t know why they didn’t understand that I just wanted to stand in the water by myself. When Mommy finally got the message, she let me stand in the water alone. It was fun until a big wave knocked me over, which is when I found out that the water tasted funny.

I really loved the ocean and I want to visit it again, soon!.

My First Flight

I’m sure my Mommy told you how relaxing our vacation was and how she had an opportunity to review her priorities and enjoy the little blessings in life. Now that vacation is over, she’s really busy planning a year-end event at work and she doesn’t look as relaxed as she did in Cancun. I’m trying to help her out, so I’m posting on her blog today. It’s just one less thing she still has to do before we can play with my Magna-Doodle together, so I’m happy to help.

I know you want to hear all about our vacation, but I have to tell you about the airplane ride first. Mommy & Daddy took me to the airport a couple of weeks before our trip so I could explore. They were very nervous about my first flight. I heard them wonder aloud how I was going to sit on an airplane for a couple of hours when I can’t even sit through church quietly for ten minutes. I suppose they just don’t understand how hard it is to be quiet when you have as much to say as I do. I really don’t understand why the Pastor is allowed to talk as much as he wants, but I’m not allowed to talk at all. Don’t you think God wants to hear me, too?

The morning of our trip, Mommy woke me up really early. She usually gets mad at me if I want to wake up at 4:30am, but it was alright on trip day because it was her idea. She asked me again and again if I was ready to ride the airplane, and I just looked at her like she was crazy because airplanes are way up in the sky and they’re really small. Either way, I could sense that we were going on an adventure, so I played along.

After a quick car ride to the airport, we got to ride a shuttle bus from the parking lot to the terminal. I was so excited about the bus ride! When we got off the bus, we had to wait in line to send our luggage onto the airplane. I had lots of fun running around the queuing line. Everyone loved watching me run around and I know they did because I saw lots of smiles and giggles from the people I ran past.

After our bags were gone, we waited in another long line. At the end of the line, I had to take off my shoes and walk to a policeman, which was kind of strange. I didn’t mind, though, because there was a big window next to the line and I could look outside and see a huge airplane! I didn’t want to leave that window.

After we were done waiting in lines, Mommy & Daddy let me run all over the waiting area. I was darting in and out and left and right and up and down the terminal. I was entertaining folks again, which I suppose is just my job. After I got bored with that, we saw an airplane getting ready to leave. I stood in the window and watched the luggage get loaded on the plane and I watched other people walk down the tunnel and get onboard. I was so interested in watching that plane that I argued with Mommy & Daddy when it was time to get on our airplane.

I was supposed to be a lap child, but our airplane wasn’t full, so I got my very own seat. I was obsessed with buckling and unbuckling my seat belt, so I did that for the entire time we were waiting to take off. The sun was just starting to rise that morning as we taxied on the runway, so I could watch out the window as other planes took off. Our plane started to move very fast, which reminded me of a race car, which was really cool. Suddenly, we were up in the clouds, which was very interesting, but not as interesting as my seat belt.

I spent a couple of hours playing with Mommy & Daddy. They packed a big bag of my favorite toys and books and they even brought a couple of toys I never saw before! I really loved having Mommy & Daddy’s attention all to myself. After about 2 hours, I told Mommy that I was “All done,” but she said we were flying over the ocean and couldn’t get off the plane right away. I started to argue with her, but then she promised to sing the Winnie the Pooh song to me if I cuddled with her. I love that song, so I grabbed my blankie and my doggie and cuddled up with Mommy. She sang me to sleep and I napped for the last hour of our flight.

When we got to the new airport, I got to ride an elevator and we waited in line for immigration and customs. I love lines because there are lots of bored people to entertain there. After that, we got on a big tour bus with huge windows and we took a two hour bus ride to our resort. I loved looking out the windows because Mexico looks so much different than Cleveland. I liked it.

We had a really long day. Mommy told me that we were traveling for a total of 7 hours and I didn’t cry once! Mommy & Daddy were shocked. I’m such a big boy. I would love to ride on an airplane again. I want to go on the airport parking shuttle bus, too.

Back in the Saddle Again

I’ve been dying to write a blog post and tell you all about our fabulous vacation, but I don’t know where to begin. I’m also drowning in work, so blogging is a seriously guilty pleasure at the moment. I just can’t resist the urge to indulge.

I won a 7-night, all-inclusive vacation package from Apple Vacations as part of my Makeover Prize. On the advice of several travel agents, we chose to visit the Riviera Maya region of Cancun. We stayed at the Grand Palladium Resort and we took our toddler along.

The trip was so fabulous that I really don’t know where to begin. I think I’ll have to share multiple posts about it, but the highlights are that Little King David absolutely loved the airplane ride and our travel days were tantrum-free. The people in Mexico were among the nicest folks I have ever met in my life. My first reaction to the gift of this vacation was a sense of dread because I really don’t enjoy wearing a bathing suit in public. I grew up in sunny Florida, so the idea of a tropical vacation wasn’t a novelty to me. I assumed the beach in Cancun would be just about the same as the beach at my father’s house in West Palm Beach, which we visit annually.

Thankfully, I was wrong. The beaches were beautiful and the ocean was serene. I spent a couple of days twitching from withdrawal after realizing that I didn’t have access to email, the internet, or my cell phone. A few pina coladas did wonders to help me relax.

I learned several important life lessons from this vacation.

*Stop and enjoy.

*The urgent details aren’t so important once you take the time to walk away.

*Toddlers are wise. Live at their pace and enjoy the peace.

*God is awesome. Look at everything he made!

Enjoy the pics and stay tuned for all the vacation details. I’ve heard a rumor that Little King David will be here later this week to tell you all about it from his perspective.

Bye Bye!

Tomorrow!!!!

The time has finally come!!!!

Our bags are packed and David is anxiously awaiting his first airplane ride. We'll be waking up at 3:30am tomorrow to catch our 7:00am flight to Cancun.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that David can refrain from throwing a massive tantrum for the first day in months. I'm trying to be optimistic, but considering that the kid refused to put on a shirt today until we took him outside and he realized that it was darn cold this morning, I think the likelihood of an entire day without a meltdown is asking for too much.

I've resolved to enjoy myself, anyway!

I'll be thinking about all my bloggy friends while I'm laying on the beach. I promise!!

Chocolate Addiction

Although I am obsessed with vacation preparations at the moment, I feel obliged to share the details of David’s first Halloween celebration.

This is technically his second Halloween, but he was sick last year and didn’t get to celebrate. These are photos of the costume he planned to wear and what he actually wore last Halloween.

This year was a different story, thankfully. The weather here was gorgeous and sunny, thanks to the delayed time change. David went trick or treating with his sisters and their friends, which was funny to me because last year they felt they were too old for such nonsense. How could a person possibly be too old to collect free candy????

The concept of trick or treating was a little lost on David, though. At the very first house, our neighbor dropped a candy bar in his bucket. David stood right in front of her door, took the candy bar out of the bucket, threw the bucket on the sidewalk, and unwrapped the candy bar. He repeated this process at every house until we got smart and took his candy bucket away.

I bet you’ve never met a lion that was a Chocolate Addict!!

David Reviews the Circus

My Mommy has been busy packing for vacation lately, but she finally let me get online because I want to tell you all about my first trip to the circus. We went last week, but it took me awhile to write this.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is in town and my Mommy got some discount tickets from work. She said it was really hard to find a show time that wasn’t at my naptime or bedtime. I don’t know what she was worried about because I’m never in a rush to go to sleep. I would rather be anywhere than in my crib, but the circus is especially more fun than sleeping.

Daddy bought me some cotton candy as soon as we got to the circus. He was so excited to give me my first cotton candy that he was almost jumping up and down. I didn’t really like it at first because it felt weird on my tongue, but I got over it when I realized that I was eating sugar.

My favorite parts of the show were the motorcycles, the elephants, and the confetti during the finale. The worst part was the tigers because they are really slow and quiet. I also hated the clown that was trying to steal the circus from the ringmaster. He had a really creepy foreign accent and a bad toupee. I also got really freaked out when he brought out a bubble machine. I can’t really explain why I was trembling, but I really didn’t like that clown or his bubbles.

After the show, Daddy told Mommy to let me pick a toy for a souvenir while he went potty. When he came back, he saw me screaming and yanking on a toy motorcycle. I didn’t know that it was anchored to the display so a ranting toddler wouldn’t run off with it. I just knew I needed to have it. My Daddy bought it for me and I’ve been carrying it with me everywhere I go ever since. I sleep with it and I eat with it and I take it to school. I really love my motorcycle.

Mommy and Daddy tell me that their favorite memory of my first circus is when I told them for the first time, “I happy.”

I think they will take me there again. I loved it!