East Coast Adventures - Final

For the final look at our East Coast adventures, I take you to upstate New York where Daddy and Drew spent a whirlwind 36 hours.

Since I had to work Monday - Wednesday, the two of them went to stay with Dave's parents and to see Dave's Brother - Uncle Chris.

I hear Drew's favorite part of the visit up there - this swing. Grandpa Tim borrowed the swing from some neighbors, and rigged it to the underside of the deck. The way Daddy tells it, Drew threw a massive fit when it was time to get out of the swing and take a bath. That mean ol' Daddy...

Drew happily explored the backyard as well - for those of us from California land and an open backyard isn't something we're used to. So he was busy picking flowers with Aunt Brianna.

As I mentioned before, the weather was quite humid and warm. Something Drew hasn't dealt much with in his 22-months. So the neighbors were kind enough to let everyone cool off in their pool. Here Drew and Grandpa are having a good time drying off.

Then on Wednesday it was time to drive back to Boston to join me - since our flight was leaving on Thursday morning. One final kiss goodbye for Aunt Brianna.


It was quite sweet how much Drew took to his Aunt. On Wednesday night he was calling out for her in his sleep (Drew has talked in his sleep for months). He really loved hanging out with her.

Thursday morning we joined my friend and her daughter at the airport where we grabbed breakfast and let the kids hang out in this little playground inside the terminal. It was really sweet the two of them, they wouldn't really play together, but if they lost sight of the other, you'd hear them calling for the other. (If you ask me they're destined to go to Harvard together and get married...).

So while it was a work trip for me, I think Dave and Drew managed to have a good time vacationing and hanging out with family. Hopefully it won't be so long between visits (Drew was 9 months old the first and only time he saw Grandma and Grandpa).

Boston Buddies - Part 3

It's a trip of first for Drew. First time to Boston. First Fenway game. First time meeting his Aunt Brianna.

Drew wasn't warming up to her at first. As he likes to say "I being shy". But he's up for anyone that wants to play with him. So after the game at Fenway, we came back to our room, and Aunt Brianna was playing "get you" with Drew. The two of them were having a blast!

It was a great thing for two reasons.
1.) Drew was finally interacting with his Aunt Brianna.
2.) She was wearing Drew out for bed!

Both are equally exciting for us. The two of them got some serious bonding time.

We head home tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have some updates from Dave about the trip to Upstate NY by Friday or so.

The Green Monster - Part 2

What's a trip to Boston, without a stop to see the Green Monster at Fenway? That's right we managed to get tickets to see the Red Sox play the Baltimore Orioles. We had AWESOME seats that Dave scored, by calling Fenway directly for the tickets.

We were barely beyond the 1st base line, staring right at the Green Monster. The day was brutally warm and humid, so poor Drew had rosy cheeks the whole time, and we spent more time in front of the misting fan, in the breeze-way rather than in our seats watching the game.

But it was a great experience, and I think Daddy managed to enjoy himself - which is what it was all about.

We were joined by Grandma & Grandpa, and Aunt Brianna and her boyfriend were in the bleachers. In the end, Baltimore beat the Red Sox, but since we had a few Orioles fans, our gang was happy.

Here are a few more snapshots from the big game at Fenway.

Daddy, Grandma, Drew & Grandpa before the game

Family shot
Poor kid was so hot!

After the game, shot at the field

Aunt Brianna joins Grandma, Daddy & Drew

Boston Bound - Part 1

Greetings from Boston! I had to come here for work, and we decided to make it a mini family vacation while we were at it, extending my trip a few days on the front end. Reason number one, so Drew could see Dave's family - Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Brianna.

The flight out here was a bit rough, since it was sold out, and it took off at 6am from San Francisco. That means we had to leave our house around 3am! Drew was awake from 3am until about 6:45am. He then napped for only about 45 minutes after we were in the air. Silly mama had to go and dig out some cereal for Daddy, and the movement woke him up.

The last 30 minutes of the flight he decided to snooze for a bit again. Talk about timing - oh, well at least he wasn't screaming or anything at the end.

We then waited outside for Grandma & Grandpa to pick us up and take us to the hotel. What captured Drew's attention while we waited... shuttle buses!


After we hitched a ride with Grandma & Grandpa, and checked into the hotel, we went out for our dinnertime walk. Destination? Why the place where everybody knows your name!

The original Cheers location on Beacon Hill. How cool was this place? Drew loved it until he hit his wall and only wanted to leave. Oh, and shortly before we left, and Grandpa, Drew and I were checking out the gift shop, and he spotted a ball souvenir, only he wanted nothing to do with the baseball. Rather he picked a golf ball! Yes, Drew has a Cheers golf ball souvenir. Daddy was disappointed until I told him how much cheaper it was.

As I mentioned, Drew hit his wall and wanted nothing, but a few zzz's.


Grandpa happily pushed him home again, while our little guy dozed.

Tune in tomorrow for a look at our trip to Fenway to see the Red Sox lose (we had a few Orioles fans in our group....).

Mr. Troublemaker

My little monster was just that this morning... he's definitely entered the terrible two's a few months early.

Today while trying to get him dressed, he slapped me across the face - for no reason - which resulted into his finger in my eye. I slapped him back (on the hand) so he knew what it was like to be slapped. Then he got in trouble.

Less than five minutes later, we were in the bathroom to brush his hair. Little monster head butted me right in my left temple - and if you've ever seen Drew's head it's big and HARD! So he got in trouble again, and started screaming and crying so hard you'd think he was the one that got hurt.

He could get out of trouble by telling Mama he was sorry. That's when Mr. Troublemaker turned into Mr. Stubborn, and he kept telling me no. Daddy came into the bathroom to see what all the commotion was about, and to make Drew apologize to me. He listened to Daddy of course (why is it that when I say something -no results, Daddy says something and there's instant results), so the apology came, and the tears stopped. Ironically Dave had no idea why Drew was even in trouble, when he came to run interference.

Needless to say we warned Ms. Stephanie that Drew was in a mood today....

A Wiggly Good Time

It was the much anticipated Wiggles Concert - Drew's early birthday present from Mommy and Daddy! We drove to San Jose's HP Pavilion to join hundreds of toddlers and preschoolers for "The Wiggles Go Bananas" concert. Or as Drew likes to call the Wiggles "Johnny" (as in Johnny & the Sprites which used to come on the Disney Channel before the Wiggles).

We arrived about 6pm and picked up our few mandatory expensive souvenirs before finding our seats (which were not what I'd call "Best Available" which is what we paid for, but let's keep a positive spin on this blog). The show started about 10 minutes late - which means around 6:40pm, and Drew was starting to get antsy.

As soon as the arena darkened, and the songs started coming on - out popped Jeff (Purple Wiggle). Drew was so excited, his eyes got big and all! He was on sensory overload we think for the first part of the concert, but he really got into parts of it! He loved seeing the Big Red Car come on stage, seeing Murry and Sam (Red & Yellow Wiggle) come through the audience. Mommy loved watching Anthony (Blue Wiggle or the cute one ) shake his thing and do some stunts.

Drew had an absolute blast! How do we know you ask? When we were leaving this morning for Ms. Stephanie's, he was asking to go see the Wiggles again. Poor kid had to settle for the CD that was in my car.

Here are a few snapshots - sorry some of them aren't the greatest of quality... my camera doesn't do well with dark or distance shots....

"Choo Choo Chugga Chugga Big Red Car"

Drew getting caught up in the action

All the Wiggles!

Again, too caught up in the show to say cheese.

The best shot we have of the Wiggles coming near us in the audience

Saying Good-bye at the end of the concert

One final shot before we left - notice the final meltdown...

All Wound Up

While many kids are afraid of the vacuum, Drew is not. In fact he's more likely to run up to it, to get a close inspection of the revolving brush thingy on the underside.

Over the weekend, I was trying to tidy up a bit while we were waiting for Daddy to wake up, and we went through our vacuuming routine - I vacuum, and Drew runs as fast as he can right in front of it.

After we finished, I went on to tidy up the kitchen. Drew went on his merry way to what I thought was playing with his toys. But when it was extra quiet in the other room, I thought I'd take a peek. Turns out Drew was busy playing with the vacuum cord.

He was happily winding it up and around his body, like he was wearing a necklace. He was quite startled when I snuck up on him, and saw what he was up to. I think I embarrassed him too since the game wasn't any fun anymore and he ditched the cord for one of his real toys.