Thanksgiving Weekend 2011 - Part 1

I mentioned a few posts ago how incredibly special our Thanksgiving was this year.  The kids will never forget their weekend in Thibodaux with their cousins!  There is nothing in the world like running around in the country with your best friends - there is room to roam, shout, climb, play, make a mess, and explore- and Luz and James enjoyed every minute of it (so did I).  It was a total blessing that the Thanksgiving holiday worked out the way it did and that is why I will always cherish the memories.

I am finally taking the time to put some of my favorite photographs from the week/weekend on the blog.  It was hard to narrow it down as there were so many lovely moments, not all of which were captured properly (user error, as usual), but the highlights and the special parts that I would like to remember are below.  I had to break it into two posts because it is simply too many pictures to include in one post. I hope to get to Part 2 later this week if time allows.

Late evening walk in the cane fields with GG on our first day...waiting with HUGE anticipation for the arrival of the Atlanta crew:

Celebrating sweet Liam's 6th Birthday, we could not watit to surprise him with a cake:

Early morning, surveying the scene, hoping that his cousins are awake and ready to play:

Pete and James watching the cane harvest (lots of big machinery out there):

Liam, catching up to join the fun...I cannot remember why he was carrying a broom (I think he and Lucy were sprucing up the doll house):

Turkey in the fryer, off-the-wall (and delicious) microbrew in hand:



The 2011 Indian get-up...I hope this tradition never gets old:

Delicious Thanksgiving meal...the weather was so nice that we were able to set up some tables outside.  Note the gigantic turkey leg in Lucy's hand and her expression.  In typical fashion, Christian made a comment about how he thought it was awesome she was eating a turkey leg, Lucy hated the attention that caused and became sort of pouty for the duration of lunch:

A little post-meal playing:

Pre-turkey coma:

Ready for the hayride, courtesy of Uncle George:

James, cuddled up with Aunt Sue & Liam (note onset of turkey coma in the background of the 2nd photo):

Laim, learning all about sugar cane harvesting:

My South Louisiana boy, double-fisting...satsuma and sugar cane, the perfect Thanksgiving dessert:

My beautiful sis-in-law, enjoying the hayride (I mean really, who looks that good on a hayride!):

Marty, Sue, Pete & Liam:

Sun setting:

Checking the ditch for snakes:

Sorting some rocks he found along the way:

Nana and Pap-T enjoyed the ride too:

Christmas Card Out-takes Attempt #1

Wow...I know you are all probably groaning every time I mention that things have been incredibly busy, but they REALLY have been lately.  Truly.  I think it is a combination of the new job, the holidays and challenging bedtime routine with Jamesy (which has improved thanks to my tough love approach). Whatever it is, it has seriously cut in to my blogging time lately.

I intended to spend about an hour on the computer tonight Christmas shopping (please do not tell me you have finished yours - it gives me miniature panic attacks) and dumping a bunch of sweet pictures from Thanksgiving in a post BUT I am going out of town tomorrow night (and missing Luz's Christmas concert in the process) so I had to spend the last few hours getting everything organized (sort of) for the gang.  I will spare you the boring details of what that involves; suffice it to say, I just want to curl up on the sofa next to Christian and catch up on some neglected DVR'd shows. 

So, I am taking the easy way out tonight and posting the first of many attempts at the Christmas card photo.  This set from a few weeks ago was not terrible, until I realized just how long James' hair was...totally unacceptable:

These are the best of the worst, so stay tuned!

Wedding Day

After what felt like decades, Luis and Casey finally got married last Saturday and Luz and James had the privilege of being a special part of the ceremony as the flower girl and ring bearer.  It was possibly the most beautiful wedding I have ever attended - every detail was so thoughtful and touching - everything from Casey's incredible gown to the unexpected French Quarter musician playing for the wedding party and guests during a photo session in Lafayette Square - that it came together to create a most memorable event.  Even more incredible for me, though, was seeing it all through the eyes of a 6 year old and an almost 3 year old...they were absolutely enamored and did not want to leave Luis and Casey's sides.  I remembered then what I thought about brides when I was a little girl, about how they were princesses and about how a wedding was possibly the most magical thing imaginable...for a while there I felt like I was also a part of this fairy tale, and I suspect I was not the only guest feeling that way.

I was a little lazy with the camera on Saturday - too busy taking it all in and visiting with family and friends.  I managed a few sweet ones in the park when James and Luz crashed the pictures.  Here is one of my favorites:

Kite Flying

Last Saturday the weather was perfect for kite flying. The wind was strong and the sun was behind the clouds (which made it easy to stare into the sky). Luz had been begging to fly this incredible bird kite for over a year and the timing was never right at the same time as the weather. Saturday was her lucky day.

The kids loved it and were amazed. They had flown kites before but not one as spectacular as this one.

I think Christian might have enjoyed it the most. While Luz and James walked over to Richmond's to see if he wanted to join us for lunch, Christian decided to see how high he could get the kite. When the kids returned and could barely see the speck of a kite in the sky they were devastated, crushed imagining that their kite was gone forever...

And thrilled when they figured out it was not.
 

Giving Thanks

I held my breath and kept my fingers crossed for a few weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. The kids were on the verge of exploding with excitement anticipating Thanksgiving in Thibodaux with Liam and Pete followed by a visit from their cousins, Richmond, Steven and Miller in NOLA. It sounded too good to be true and in the back of my head I figured there were so many moving parts and x factors and so very little about life that we can control, so I tried to play it cool. But it worked, all of the x factors and moving parts came together perfectly for a most memorable Thanksgiving holiday. I know it was one that we will never forget, especially Luz and James and for that I have many thanks to give.

One small snafu...James came home on Tuesday with his first black eye, so at that point I sort of figured my idea for a fabulous family picture and a possible Christmas card photo was out of the question:

I held my breath and kept my fingers crossed for a few weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. The kids were on the verge of exploding with excitement anticipating Thanksgiving in Thibodaux with Liam and Pete followed by a visit from their cousins, Richmond, Steven and Miller in NOLA. It sounded too good to be true and in the back of my head I figured there were so many moving parts and x factors and so very little about life that we can control, so I tried to play it cool. But it worked, all of the x factors and moving parts came together perfectly for a most memorable Thanksgiving holiday. I know it was one that we will never forget, especially Luz and James and for that I have many thanks to give.

With Liam, Pete, Nana &Papa:

With Miller, Richmond & Steven:

There are very few things in life as special to me as my cousins. I know that Luz and James already realize how lucky it is to have cousins and they treasure every minute they are together.

I have tons of pictures from the last few days and I promise to post more soon. The weather was perfect so we spent a ton of time outside (we even ate Thanksgiving dinner outside) - satsuma picking, turkey frying, hayrides, nature walks, lounging in the hammock, golf cart rides, bonfires, 4 wheelin' in Papa's Jeep, etc!

M'lady

At Christian's suggestion and only after making a fair amount of fun of him, we loaded up the kids and headed to the Louisiana Renaissance Festival yesterday.  I am still trying to scratch my eyeballs to erase some of the images that were burned on my retinas.  Suffice it to say, there were way too many women in corsets a few sizes too small prancing (well, lumbering actually) about the place and it was just a tad disturbing.

This was not my first Renaissance Fest experience.  I went to one (again, with Christian - are you sensing a common thread here?) over 10 years ago and remember very little about it, save the giant turkey legs and vague recollections of birds of prey, mead, and cinnamon roasted nuts.  The Louisiana Renaissance Fest is situated on about 12 or so acres of land, so there is plenty of room to roam around and, even with a good sized crowd, it is comfortable.  There are about 5 different stages set up featuring old-timey plays, puppet shows, magic (there was lots of magic going on - I guess because people did magic all the time back then?), roving bands of lute players, drum circles (I still have not figured out why there was a drum circle), jugglers, glass blowing demonstrations, living history demonstrations, rudimentary rides, jousting matches, birds of prey demonstrations, ponies, goats, face painting, hair braiding, and a ton of children's games along the lines of throwing darts, knocking down bowling pins, etc...There were endless food and drink options, none of which were memorable - Luz and James were thrilled to eat chicken tenders and fries followed by cotton candy.  The highlight for me was a soft pretzel and cinnamon cashews.

I have to say, I was a naysayer going into it, but I had a decent time.  Sure, I got really grossed out by all of the carnie types running the show, the matted hair and dirty fingernails from the people working the food stations was nauseating, and I did not love ducking every few minutes when low-flying hawks and falcons seemed to be close enough to relieve themselves on my head, but Luz and James had a great time, which made it totally worthwhile.  

Lady Lucy the Lovely:

Lord James the Joker:

Thinking About Missing Out

So, Luz did loose her tooth while I was in Houston for work last week. I was gone one night, just one, and it happened to be THE night. The build-up was exceptional; the excitement, palpable. The tooth had been wiggled, twisted, coaxed, studied, and discussed for weeks. When I left on Tuesday morning the tooth still appeared firmly planted, at least enough to last another few days. I missed out on the first tooth loss and I sort of understand that losing teeth eventually becomes less exciting, so I really wanted to be a part of this experience, just like I wanted to be a part of so many other milestones and was not. Maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. I always complain about missing out on so much of the wonderful stuff of parenthood because of work, lamenting that it is someone else who fed my kid his/her first spoonful of something sweet or watched chubby, wobbly legs find their footing....ah, so it goes, and I realize it is a tired refrain and that I am not unique.


What I did get was this though:

...a precious gap-toothed smile and a joyous 6 year-old bubbling over with excitement as she described how it happened and what the tooth fairy did and how everything about her day (and night) was almost indescribably incredible. If I had lived it right by her side I would not have had the pleasure of such a heart warming play-by-play of 'The Day I Lost My Second Tooth', by Lucy Vaicius, and for that I am thankful.

Our Weekend

It was another beautiful and busy NOLA weekend and it went by way too fast.  We celebrated a friend's birthday on Friday night at Superior Grill, which was tons of fun, but left my purse smelling like a gigantic burrito...two days later and it still STINKS.  Do any of you have suggestions for how to get rid of that total taco tattoo that you get in certain Mexican restaurants? Superior, although delicious, tends to be particularly offensive in that respect.

After James' R.E.A.D. class Christian and I took the kids to the Blues Festival down the street.  The kids had a fabulous time playing in the many inflatables that were set up and listening to the various bands.  Christian and I enjoyed all of the different food.  I had the most delicious french fries ever (yeah, although I really do not eat fried food as a rule because it makes me feel lousy, I make the very occasional exception for super-awesome fries, shrimp po-boys about 2 times a year, and a fried oyster here and there).  The fries were garlic, parmesan flavor and came with 2 different sauces.  I could have eaten the entire container (they are served in nifty 'Chinese takeout' style containers).  The kids had crepes from Crepes A La Carte (one bacon and cheddar, one banana and nutella); they were delicious.  And Christian finally had a beef skewer from the Brazilian bbq truck.  We went back later that night for more music and food.  I had a 1/2 grill cheese from The Big Cheesy and it was delish (but I haven't really met a grilled cheese I didn't like), we shared a variety of empanadas from the Empanada Inifada truck (beans and platanos, chicken and beef).  I will never find one in the states as good as the ones I ate in Bs As, but these were tasty.  We also sampled a side dish of mac and cheese (this was Jamesy's dinner but he didn't mind sharing a few bites) and the Yakamen soup made and served by the lady featured on Bourdain's last Louisiana episode...wow, it was super-salty but delicious and perfect for a cold night (and probably a hangover too). In addition to the food and music there were local vendors set up, nothing too elaborate, just a nice street festival for a good cause.  The money earned supports Cops 2, a program that provides extra money for the 2nd District NOLA police.  

At some point during the day on Saturday Christian watched the UGA game and James and I took Luz to her friend Maggie's house in River Ridge for her first sleep over! She did not miss us in the least (well, briefly this morning while she was at mass with her friend) and loved every minute of it.  I am happy that it went well and that I did not have to pick up a teary 6 year-old at midnight, but I think this is just another sign that she is really growing up.  James enjoyed a quiet night with 100% of our attention.  We watched Cars 2 and he loved every minute of it.  He lined all of his "Cars" cars up on the coffee table to "watch with us".  I wish I had taken a picture.

Today was spent cleaning and organizing, running errands and (sort of) watching the Saints game.  Here is a pic of Jamesy in his jersey...it is almost too small...I hope it makes it through this season.  He is outgrowing everything these days, pants I bought 2 months ago are too short...he is growing and growing and growing and not at all a baby anymore:

 

Here I Go

My new position is supposed to offer a better work/life balance, and there have been some good improvements in just three weeks.  One of my biggest complaints in private practice was the amount of traveling I had to do in a month.  I felt like I was always missing out on something.  Well, I suppose some travel is going to be inevitable in my profession, so here I go, off to Houston for a night.  Fortunately, it is a quick trip and not something that will happen with any regularity.  Unfortunately, Luz is about to loose her second tooth.  I missed the first one (I was at work) and I am 99.9% sure I will miss this one too.  Oh, and I have to travel one more time in 2011, this time to Florida for two days, one of which is the day of Luz's Christmas concert.  I am sure I can purchase a recording of the concert, but it just is not the same.

Deep breaths, these inconveniences are just that, inconvenient, but I look at these guys and I remember about how fast life is passing me by and the little inconveniences become something gigantic:

Hooray For Milestones

About two years ago Luz stopped sucking her thumb in public places and about a year ago she stopped sucking it unless she was sleeping. I am sure she will not be happy later in life when she finds out I am sharing this information with everyone, but I am only doing it in an attempt to help other moms who might be out of ideas for coercing a stubborn child to let go of his/her biggest comfort.

Luz sucked her thumb in utero...we have the ultrasound photos to prove it. I was thrilled. She could soothe herself and I would never need to mess with a pacifier (incidentally, James was never wild about pacifiers either - in fact - he had NOTHING to soothe himself with, which posed a challenge now and again). When Luz was a toddler and was still sucking her thumb it did not bother me because she looked cute doing it and it made her so peaceful. I will never forget the smile on her face when I would put her in her crib and she would curl up with her lovey (Bun-bun) and start sucking her thumb.

And it is precisely because of this love that I did not really pressure her to stop...until she turned into a little kid. I started to worry about it and I wanted to be sure that I was addressing it in the 'right' way. Everyone, even the professionals, said not to worry about it, that in time she would stop doing it and that to pressure her before she was ready to stop would be a disservice for a variety of different reasons. I was promised that she would ultimately succumb to peer pressure and stop on her own. But she didn't. And then she turned 4 and the thumb was still around. And then she turned 5 and the thumb would appear at night and that was when I started with the obsessive plans. I tried bandaids over the thumb which worked for about a month. I tried alcohol and other offensive substances on her thumb and that did not work (she would wipe it off or suck through it). I created elaborate sticker charts. In September 2010 I told Luz that she could have whatever toy she wanted in the entire world if she stopped sucking her thumb. She was enthusiastic and eager to please and many nights she would not suck her thumb at all...but not every night.

I finally gave up and took comfort in stories I heard from perfectly normal, healthy, well-adjusted adults who sucked their thumbs for many years. Some even had the misshapen thumbs to prove it. And then, one night in August 2011 a friend told me about how much she loved sucking her thumb and how her mother tried everything to get her to stop and she didn't...until...one night when her mother showed her pictures of 'buck' teeth. I raced home that night and googled 'buck' teeth on the internet and the search resulted in some nasty, offensive photographs of people with severe 'buck' teeth. I showed them to Lucy and she has not sucked her thumb since that night. So, on Saturday, over a year after I made the promise, we headed to the Disney store so Luz could pick out a doll she has had her eye on. I give you, 6, 7 or 8 year-old Mulan from the Disney Animator collection; a decent consolation prize for giving up the thumb. James was excited about the new addition too (although he looks rather serious in this picture).

More Halloween

I have had a tough time getting pictures downloaded to post lately. My camera battery died the one night I set aside some time to do it, and from that point on I just got sidetracked. It is also starting to get cold, which means late at night the last thing I want to do is sit in the somewhat chilly and totally uncomfortable study to wait for the photos to download and then troubleshoot when and if necessary. I finally charged the battery, found the power cord to my laptop, set up shop in the warm, cozy den, and loaded about 100 pictures. I will spare you a ridiculous post filled with nothing but pictures of Luz and James that make me smile and will, instead, just post a few at a time. What follows are a few from Halloween night. We trick-or-treated on State Street with friends and family again this year and, thanks to Aunt Margot, had a home base complete with snacks, drinks, and all of the comforts of home. I allowed unfettered access to the candy for the night with only one caveat - a grown up had to examine and approve every piece of candy before consumption. It worked well for the most part. Luz was actually remarkably restrained, James, not so much. They both enjoyed trick-or-treating, but as it got darker James started to get increasingly more freaked out by the crowds, costumes, and decorations. He quit before Lucy did and spent the remainder of the night handing out candy. The highlight of Halloween this year - a holiday on All Saints Day - I think it would have been impossible to get the kids up, dressed and ready for school after that night.

Luz & James w/ their friends, Emma & Luke, before heading out to trick-or-treat James made a last-minute costume change and opted for Batman instead of the pirate (which totally irritated me because it was the 2011 Halloween theme, but he is only 2 and apparently does not understand why themes are important to me)

Luz w/ Katie (who is dressed as a sort of cat - adorable and festive)

Luz w/ her parrot - Katie found this perfect addition to the pirate costume. At one point we crossed paths with a guy dressed up as a pirate (the Johnny Depp Pirates of the Caribbean pirate) and he started harassing Luz, saying she took his pirate and it was pretty authentic and she started to totally freak out until I got involved and straightened things out which required looking at the dude with a 'hey, pal, you are taking this one a little over the top, easy' kind a of look...funny stuff.

My Favorite Time Of Year

I love the period of time in a calendar year that begins just a few weeks before Halloween and ends on January 1. I love everything about the holidays and appreciate each one in different ways. I think it is something about the cooler temperatures, the endless excuses to celebrate with family and friends, the seasonal tv specials, and always having something to look forward to. Next up, Thanksgiving in Thibodaux with family followed by Luis and Casey's wedding one week later! Until then, I will be thinking about nothing but sugar cane, bonfires, and satsumas...it is, after all, that time of year.

Halloween In C-Major?

To celebrate her favorite holiday of the year Luz composed a little number for the piano.  I do not remember much about the piano and have not ever really understood anything about reading notes and composing music but Luz seems to enjoy it.  This one is short and dark and dramatic and perfect for Halloween night...it also kind of makes me laugh. She loves to play it though...anytime, anywhere for anyone willing to take a listen.

Happy Halloween!

My little pirates have seized every opportunity to get into costume.  And even though they have already collected more than enough candy for any little kid over the past few days, they are eagerly awaiting tomorrow night...and I am sure they are dreaming about x-large pixie sticks and twix bars...

We had a great weekend - Boo at the Zoo, the Jazz 1/2 Marathon, the French Quarter for beignets and the search for the perfect pumpkin, a quiet afternoon with an old friend and his precious family, and a gorgeous Sunday spent mostly outside, carving pumpkins and enjoying the gorgeous weather.  Oh, and my first week at my new job...so far so good...I promised I would give myself a few months before I made a decision about whether it is right for me, but it feels right after just one week.

Paint The Gym Pink

Tonight the ASH Volleyball team hosted the annual Paint the Gym Pink night and managed to pack the gym.  I made it in time for the varsity game but James was ready to go home (understandably) after a long day, so I did not get to see any of the excitement.  Fortunately, Luz brought some of the excitement home with her:

It took about three really intense washings to get this stuff out...good times.

Boo

We are in full-on Halloween mode around the Vaicius house.  Luz has already eaten more Halloween candy this season than I did in all of the Halloweens of my youth combined...seriously.  She continues to be obsessed with ghosts and is fascinated by a book about Alabama ghosts that her Aunt Kate sent (13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey...very creepy).

It was a busy but lovely weekend around here.  I celebrated my 20th, yes 20th high school reunion, we watched a ton of volleyball (my first time making it to one of Christian's games all year), spent some time with Mary Cox and Katie, enjoyed some of the most incredible NOLA weather ever, and rested up for the start of my NEW JOB tomorrow morning.  Yikes.

I am capping off the weekend watching an easy Saints victory and checking out some of the many pics I took over the weekend at the reunion festivities.  My favorite, by far, is this one:

Pumpkinhead

In a move that caught me so off-guard I had to pick my bottom jaw up off of the ground, Luz and James shrieked with excitement and begged for a chance to sit on Pumpkinhead's lap for a picture while we were at the mall after their dentist appointment this afternoon.  There was just so much that was wrong with the request - James has screamed every year we have put him on Santa's lap, he hated the guy dressed up as the Easter bunny standing outside of church, he barely cracked a smile at the characters in Disney World, he only somewhat tolerates Gumbo and only from a distance and, with much urging, he lightly hugged Clifford last weekend.  But it was not just the past behavior, this Pumpkinhead character is frightening and Luz and James have been a bit jumpy with the start of the Halloween season and all this talk of ghosts and goblins.

No matter, it required no pumping up, no steeling of wills, no waiting in lines (there are not too many kids at Lakeside Mall on Wednesday at 1:15, and even fewer who care to sit on Pumpkinhead's lap), no coaxing for smiles....they just saw something they agreed looked like total awesomeness and went for it.  It was worth the $24.99 for the memories and the hope that, just maybe, the reaction to Santa might be a bit more enthusiastic this year:

New Orleans Public Library Book Fair

Last Saturday the main branch of the NOLA public libraries, hosted a wonderful, totally free, book fair for kids.  It was the 2nd annual event - somehow we missed it last year - and it was excellent.  The fair was well-organized and provided tons of entertainment for the kids.  The best part about the event was that no child left empty-handed.  There were multiple tables filled with brand-new books, courtesy of Scholastic (mostly), Highlights magazines, used books looking for a good home and other odds and ends.  Each child was given a free tote bag and within an hour the bags were full.

I do not know if every kid likes books as much as Luz and James do, but they could not wait to get home and check out their haul.  Luz picked out a few "chapter" books, including a new Junie B. Jones, and James opted for a book about pirates and a sweet bedtime story book.

There were free Lucky Dogs, drinks, red beans & rice, cookies, pony rides (well, the pony rides were actually $3 each, but I did not mind a little splurge under the circumstances), crafts, a petting zoo (yes, Luz and James each touched an armadillo and a snake - gross), Clifford the Big Red Dog (I pity whoever had to wear that get up), face painting, balloon creatures, an exhibit curated by The Ruby Bridges Foundation (who Luz learned about last year and is very fascinated by), and a stage with music and readings by local authors.  My favorite, by far, was listening to/watching Alex Beard read from his book, Jungle Grapevine, with his son. I love his art and his story-telling...very engaging.  If you do not know about him, check out his website, www.alexbeardstudio.com, or buy one of his awesome books:

All in all, the festival is a great event and I hope it is one that they do ever year.  I will attend as long as Luz and James are interested and I gather that will be for at least a few more years.  Here are a few pics from the event.  I am still adjusting to the Tamron...getting there:

LLV Favorites

These days Luz loves:

1.  School - almost every minute of every day...I am shocked, my memory of First Grade is that it was hard and boring
2.  Scooby Doo - any episode, classic or contemporary, Scrappy or no Scrappy
3.  American Girl Dolls - all of the dolls and all of the accoutrement with very little appreciation for the price
4.  Her cousins - why are they all in other cities...
5.  Going to the park, any park, with friends
6.  Wednesday afternoons with mom-mom
7.  Trips to Atlanta to visit Nana and Papa-T and spend time with her cousins
8.  Halloween - not just because of the candy, she has always liked creepy things, and this year the hot topic is ghosts/spirits
9.  Swimming
10. Reading, especially Junie B. Jones books (and, yeah, she can pretty much do it herself)
11. Being a big sister to James - which involves endless amounts of patience and good humor
12. Playing 'school'
13. Math homework, I am not kidding, just wait until she learns my dark secret about hating math
14. Movies
15. Theater, all kinds, but most recently and most especially, The Addams Family
16. Top 40 Music...yeah, I know....
17. Her bun bun, still...but the need for a lovey is dwindling...lately I find him on the floor and across the room and even in the hallway when it used to be that she could not sleep without him
18. Clothes that look like they would be worn by a teenager, I guess there are no more smocked dresses in her future...
19.  The IPhone, IPad and Droid and all of the games available on those devices
20.   Dogs...when are we getting a new one...I have no idea...

JCV Favorites

These days James loves:
1.  The Ipad (Plants v. Zombies, Angry Birds, Animal Train Safari, Driving, etc).  He also loves looking at photos on the Ipad;
2.  Christian's IPhone (all games mentioned above and Star Wars Lightsaber Ap);
3.  My Droid, although not nearly as much;
4.  OJ...ALL DAY LONG;
5.  Music, all sorts, especially whatever Luz is into;
6.  Movies (Yogi Bear, Tangled, Toy Story 3);
7.  TV (Dora, Team UmiZoomi, Jake, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins);
8.  Books (Scuppers the Sailor Dog, Goodnight Moon, Big Red Barn...still);
9.  Trains (Chuggington & Thomas but any old train will do);
10. Cars (especially THE CARS but any old cars will do);
11. All trucks, boats, planes, etc...especially live ones;
12. Pasta (any kind - plain more so than traditional mac and cheese these days);
13. Hugs (this guy loves to cuddle and I know that will end soon);
14. Copying Luz...every day, all day;
15. Running and jumping, especially long distances and off of furniture;
16. Fake talking to Nana on the phone...this goes on all day long;
17. Playing at the park, any park, especially when other kids are there to play with him;
18. Ice Cream and Pinkberry but I think it is just an excuse to eat the 5 or so gummy bears on top;
19. Going to mom-mom's house and I think he pretty much knows the way and would walk there if allowed;
20. WINNIE - we have 3 - a big one, a classic one and a traditional little Pooh (his true lovey...how sweet)!