Christmas 2009

Eddie and I were so excited for Christmas this year so we could share all the fun with Diego. He seemed excited about it too as we did our shopping, baked and decorated cookies and wrapped presents. I realized after I finished my shopping that next year I won't be able to shop for him while he's with me.

Here is our first "Santa" set up. The cute little Radio Flyer bike and helmet were actually from Grandma G.G. but they were a bit hard to wrap, so we threw them in. We had so much fun setting up and putting things together on Christmas eve!

On Christmas morning, we woke up to Diego saying "Merry Christmas Daddy" over the baby monitor. While you might think how adorable it is that he was saying this on Christmas morning, Eddie and I were in heaven because it was morning and he had slept in his own bed the whole night! Merry Christmas to US! He even layed back down for about 30 minutes and I jumped out of bed to warm up my very first batch of homemade Cinnamon Rolls (thanks to a great recipe from Rachel), bake a breakfast casserole and turn on the coffee! When Diego woke up again, Eddie picked him up to bring him downstairs and he was just so adorable. Every morning he says "downstairs please" immediately when we get him, but this morning he was jumping and could see the presents from Santa! He came down and said "oh look" to everything he saw. We dumped out his stocking and played for a bit, and decided we should try to open some of the wrapped presents, but he wanted nothing to do with it! So, we played for an hour or so, then he decided it was time to open more presents.

After spending the morning at home and taking a nice nap, we headed over to Auntie Erica and Uncle Bryan's house for some more Christmas fun! Diego loves to go to "Erica's House" and play with Hank, Via and Jag. Hank had a great time helping Diego open presents and we all had fun just enjoying each other's company and relaxing. We had a great dinner (thanks Erica and Bryan) and a great time!

Cinnamon Bear Cruise

We bought tickets for the Cinnamon Bear Cruise on the Portland Spirit last year, but the weather was super icy and we couldn't make it, so we went this year. I have to say, I'm glad we waited a year. I think Diego really really enjoyed the show and the ride. We enjoyed snacks, a nice boat ride, and visiting the characters on the boat. Diego was not scared of the characters at all! In fact, he walked right up and high fived the Cinnamon Bear. There was some down time where he had to be entertained while in a high chair (it gets exhausting chasing this boy around), but we passed the time with candy and drawing with a pen (which he just loved and constantly asks to do now). Here are Diego and Jag on the Cinnamon Bear's lap. Diego is wiggling himself down so he can run away laughing. This is the second time he was on the Cinnamon Bear's lap. The first time, he was the first in line and sat down on the Bear's lap and immediatelly grabbed his crotch. The whole audience erupted in laughter. Those are the proud moments we will treasure forever.

Visiting Santa

We were invited to visit Santa at our friend Sarah's house last night. Diego and I went to check in out and I was hoping to get a good picture of him with the Silverton Santa. This Santa looks like the real deal. He has REAL white hair and a real white beard. He also has a gorgeous suit and really enjoys talking to kids. Santa took some time to talk about what happens on Christmas Eve and answer many questions from the kids. He sang carols with them and read them The Night Before Christmas too.

We've learned that Diego really isn't a shy child. He was walking around the room to kids he didn't know just sort of chatting or holding his toy cell phone to their ear. They all loved it, even Santa. And when Diego climbed on the chair behind Santa and jumped off, Santa looked at me and asked if he was about 2. I laughed and said yes. He said, "He's not being naughty, he's just being 2. He will still get something nice from Santa for Christmas." I was shocked that Diego was not at all scared of Santa. He even layed on the floor next to him while he spoke to the other kids. Everyone thought that was hilarous! He sat on Santa's lap twice. Once for some pictures and once so Santa could give him a bag of goodies. I had told him earlier in the day that Santa would be giving him some candy, so he said "Santa, Candy!" After he got down with the bag of goodies, he said "Oh Thank You Santa." It was soooo cute! He also really loved Santa's Jingle Bells!

Diego and Auntie Erica

Here he is just Chillin next to Santa playing with the toy cell phone.

Santa is saying "I wish I could still do that!"


Even though he's not looking at the camera, I still think this is a great picture of Diego with Santa! I was just happy there were no tears!

Play Soccer!

As part of our MOMS Club activities, each month we have an "All About" activity. In December, it was all about Soccer. We visited an indoor soccer center here in Salem and had an hour to run around. They did have some coaches there, but the little ones were free to run around as long as they weren't disrupting. Diego had a GREAT time! As you see in the video, he figured out how to kick the ball (he hadn't done this before) and also said "Play Soccer". After our hour at the soccer center, he came home and slept for 3 hours. We will probably sign up for Soccer Tots after he turns 2!

Helmet!

Diego is always talking about Daddy's helmet, and see's him in it every day when he leaves for work. So he recently decided he needed a helmet while riding his motorcycle in the house, and here is what he came up with!

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a really nice and relaxing Thanksgiving this year. Eddie decided he would really like to deep fry the turkey, and it turned out to be MUCH easier and much safer than we both had expected. Here is Eddie waiting around outside for the oil in the fryer to heat up. And once the oil heated....40 minutes later we had a perfectly browned, perfectly cooked, moist, delicious 14 pound turkey! Yes, it only took 40 minutes to cook!Here is the table. Not really Martha Stewart, but perfect just for us. We originally planned to have just the three of us, but the Kofoids ended up joining us for dinner. I really enjoyed making all the "traditional" side dishes and we all enjoyed eating them!

Christmas Tree 2009

This year we decided to get a HUGE Christmas tree because the new house has a PERFECT Christmas tree spot with bay windows and all. I really enjoy decorating the tree, but what I forgot to think about was the almost 2 year old who now is In. To. Everything. He was in LOVE with the tree, the ornaments and the lights. By the time Christmas actually rolled around the tree was only 1/2 decorated (from the middle up) and he was constantly turning the lights on and off and yanking on the needles. Not mention all the toys he thought needed to "get in" the tree, and sometimes he wanted to climb in himself. I loved that he was so interested in the tree, but I was always paranoid he would pull it over on to himself or something! We also couldn't put any presents under the tree, which made Christmas morning that much more of a surprise for him! The day after Christmas I drug this monster out of the house all by myself. I was just ready. It wasn't too bad, except all the water that spilled on my nice soft carpet. Oh well, it only took 2 days to dry. Lesson learned.

We woke up this morning hearing Diego say "Merry Christmas Daddy" over the baby monitor.

Manners and Affection

Over just the last week or so, my sweet boy has become much sweeter. He actually started giving kisses and hugs and laying his head on my shoulder when I pick him up. In fact, every time he layes his head down on my shoulder I say "Aw, my sweet boy" and now he picks up stuffed animals and puts their head on his shoulder and says "aw". I even saw him putting his head in the bath water sideways and saying "aw" tonight.





This boy is a talker. He will say just about everything you want him to, and some things you don't want him to. But, for some reason I could NOT get him to say please. Not for the life of me, not for anything! This past Sunday (November 15th) we had The Kofoid's over for dinner and Rachel was going to give Diego a bite of ice cream and she said, "Say Please" and he DID! For RACHEL! We all erupted in so much applause and praise that he giggled and kept saying it. He of course says it almost everytime I want him to now! He's said thank you off and on for a while, but now I pair it with the please and he says that just about everytime too! Of course now he thinks if he says please he will get anything he wants!

First "School" Picture

We had the opportunity to have Diego's pictures taken through his Toddler Time preschool and I'm so glad we decided to do it! The pictures turned out fantastic! The class picture is actually really funny, Diego is in true form trying to squirm away from me!

Pumpkin Patch x 2

Diego and I took two trips to the Pumpkin Patch this year and fully enjoyed all that comes with it, MUD! Our first trip was to Bauman Farms with a group of older kids from Preschool. It was a great trip, but lets just say Diego didn't like to be "guided", he likes to do his own thing! We took a hayride and picked a pumpkin, a gourd and a piece of Indian Corn. We watched Mr Bauman make some fresh apple cide and then tasted it right then and we also ate a warm donut! Yum!

Our second trip was to EZ Orchards with our Playgroup from the MOMs club. This was a little more Diego's style. He could run around and go where he wanted. He looked at some piggy's in the petting zoo. Played around with some tractors in the mud. And, his favorite part of the whole trip, rode in a big green wagon to the pumpkin patch. We didn't get a pumpkin because we didn't need another one, and Diego was much more interested in riding in the wagon than picking one anyway! When he did get out of the wagon, he was immediately drawn to the rotting pumpkins, lovely!

Halloween 2009

Better late than never!

Halloween this year was lots of fun! Diego was a Chicken, an absolutely adorable one I might add. The costume was my nephew Jagger's and I'm so glad my Sister saves all his costumes! Diego didn't even mind wearing the costume.I dressed up for the first time in years and was SuperGirl and Rachel was "Pumpkin Spice". The best part about dressing up is seeing the smiles on the faces of the kids who came to our door. They are always so surprised to see adults dressed up and it was fun!
Here is Eddie wearing Scott's rockstar wig...a little scary I think!


Here is Scott looking like a true rocker, tattoo sleeves and all!

My Mom came over to visit for a little while and then Erica and Jagger came over to play for a bit. Jagger was captain hook, and I can't seem to get his picture to load onto the blog (maybe because this one has been a draft for over a month!). The Kofoid's came over and had dinner and we did a little trick or treating. Sawyer was a cute little Hannah Montana and Reed was a motocross rider! Sawyer did the trick or treating and the boys ran around! Diego wanted to go in everyone's house and Reed just wanted to say hi and giggle!

I'm surprised at how much trick or treaters at the door enjoyed that we were all dressed up. I think it made it a little more fun for them too!

Swimming Lessons: Second Time Around

Today was Diego's first swimming lesson of the year! This year Reed and Rachel are taking the lessons with us and we are going twice a week instead of once. I have to say, the boys had a fabulous time and really enjoyed splashing each other!

Diego is a year older, a lot heavier and a lot more interactive than the last time we took swimming lessons. What does this mean? A GREAT workout for Mom! Diego is much better about going under water, loves the songs and will put his mouth in and blow bubbles!

Trip to California

Diego and I and my Dad took a trip to California so Diego could meet my Dad's side of the family for the first time. It was a short trip but we had a great time. Diego really enjoyed meeting everyone and I think they all enjoyed him too, even if he was exhausted the whole time we were there.

This is Diego with Shannon and Nolan, my cousin Erin and her husband Jim's two children. They played together very well. After a slight melt down over Nolan's hotwheels car, Diego had fun. Nolan was such a sweet boy and shared his car with Diego, even though I knew it was special to him. Shannon is a sweet sweet little girl and so cute!

This is Diego at "Baby Beach" in Dana Point. I've always enjoyed visiting Dana Point, but especially enjoyed seeing Diego experience a warm sandy beach for the first time. I wasn't really planning in him enjoying it as much as he did, cause he ran right into the water fully dressed! I didn't bring a towel or a change of clothes with me, but oh well! We had a blast. Diego sat in the water, threw wet sand, dug in the sand and just really enjoyed himself. It was so nice to be on the beach in October and it was 80+ degrees and have the ocean warm like bath water!

Here is what Diego did for most of the flight there and back. It was awesome. He's an excellent traveler, besides being tired and getting a molar while we were there, the little guy was an absolute trooper!

This is Diego with his GiGi (Great Grandma) and his Great Aunt Laurie. This picture is the background on my computer and he asks for GiGi whenever we turn it on and can point to Aunt Laurie too. Diego really loved GiGi and I think she felt the same. :) Everymorning GiGi has a piece of coffee cake and graciously shared most of it with Diego. She let him just help himself, because she said he was too cute to say no to!

I didn't get any pictures of Diego with Great Aunt Lori (he has 2) and Great Uncle Peter but he sure enjoyed spending time with them too! They have two new Dachsound puppies and Diego had a blast with them. They also took us on a ride on their boat and Uncle Peter let Diego turn the "wheel" during the ride. That's when he became Diego's new best friend! I even got Diego to say "Pete" on the airplane ride to California, but he would never repeat it the whole trip. He says it now on command, of course.

I really wish they all lived closer and we could spend more time together!

First Day of Toddler Time

Today was Diego's 1st day of Toddler Time. Toddler Time is a program through Creative Discoveries Preschool for kids ages 18 months to 3 years and is sort of a pre-preschool. The class is once per week and Diego and I go together. I of course had to take the traditional first day of school on the front porch picture, and it turned out pretty cute even though he was trying to get away!
Diego had sort of a rough start with a lot of tears when we got there and a lot of "home" requests, but after a few minutes he calmed down and really enjoyed himself. The first hour was playtime and there were all sorts of fun things for the kids to do. There is a big bin of dried beans for them to play in sort of like a sandbox, a wooden castle, puzzles, play dough, paint and fun puzzles. After playtime, we clean up and have circle time on the carpet. The teacher plays songs and brings out props for the kids to play with such as shakers and pom poms and they all sort of dance around, its really fun. Then its snack time and playtime outside. We had a great time and I look forward to continuing the class with Diego!

Great Wolf Lodge

We went to visit The Great Wolf Lodge with Erica, Bryan and Jagger and had a BLAST! We stayed one night and I wish we would have stayed for two! Diego absolutely loved the water, but spent most of his time in the same place you see here in the picture....the boy is completely obsessed with steering wheels and gets so excited to see them. Eddie and I didn't mind just following him around the platform and watching him enjoy himself. I got him down the little kids slide once but not again!
We were all shocked how much Diego loved all the water splashing around him! Diego and Jag had a great time together too. Jag is always so sweet to Diego, he even really wanted to share his grilled pb&j dinner with him! I loved that my magical wrist band bought us everything we wanted while we were there too, but then we got the bill. We cannot wait to go back and play at Great Wolf Lodge many more times!

19 Months

At 19 months, Diego is learning to feed himself with a spoon and fork! He is doing pretty well too, you can't tell by this picture because he made a huge mess with applesauce, but he enjoys himself and does a great job! He uses the utensil about every other bite, and his hand the other bites. Its pretty funny to watch. If I remind him to use the spoon he does for every bite and is so proud when the bite makes it to his mouth. I love to watch all of his new accomplishments each day. Whether its feeding himself, saying a new word, catching or throwing a ball...its all fun to experience right along with him.

Lately Diego has begun hugging Daddy and I's legs when he see's us. He's a big snuggler, especially at bedtime but I love the random hugs we get throughout the day now. I'm working on giving kisses, but he doesn't seem to interested in that yet. :) He does let me give him kisses anytime I want though!

Race for the Cure

Today was Diego's second ride in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in Portland. We had an early start to the day, on the road by 6 am! I had to wake both Diego and Olivia (who was staying with me), and I learned its much easier to wake an 18 month old than an almost 13 year old. Diego woke up super happy and Olivia wasn't as excited. We met Erica, Bryan, Hank, Jagger and Miranda at the Wilsonville Starbucks and with Latte's in hand made our way to Riverfront Park in Portland for the walk. We spent our first hour picking up race numbers, t-shirts and all the freebies....man are there a lot of freebies at this race! We picked up lots of snacks and lots of race paraphernalia. Last year, Diego fell asleep before the race started and slept until we were just about done. This year, he was awake until we were almost done! He did a lot of snacking along the route (thank goodness for all the freebie snacks available). The boy at 2 1/2 bananas! He loves them! This year it was Jagger who slept the whole route and woke at the end! We didn't even break a sweat during the 5k because there are so many participants in the walk, you can't really walk fast, especially with a stroller. After the race we stopped at Red Robin for lunch and then headed home. Another fun walk, looking forward to next year!

Little Clippers

After 4 tear filled haircuts, I decided to take Diego to the children's haircut specialists at Little Clippers in Lake Oswego. My friend Misty recommended them to me a while back and I just couldn't see driving 40 minutes to get my child a hair cut, but the first 4 cuts just didn't go as happily as I'd hoped, so I finally decided to give it a shot! This place is a playland! They have big toys, slides, video games, movies and all the haircut seats are vehicles (motorcycles, cars, jeeps, etc). Its a playland. We walk in and Diego is in heaven! We chose the red mustang for his seat, which I knew he would love because he loves "wheews" (steering wheels). Here is how happy he was when he got in the car.He's too smart for his 'ol Mom. He knew exactly what was going on. He was unhappy, there were lots of tears and even a few snot bubbles, but he did calm down a few times to turn the wheel and watch the video he chose (Thomas the Train). So, I think we'll continue with Little Clippers until he gets used to the haircuts. I wasn't super impressed with the stylist we had, so we may choose a different one next time, but all in all I was impressed. He got a fabulous haircut and even made it through a few snips with the electric clippers!

Here is the finished cut, isn't it cute? I loved this place and loved that after the haircut was done, he did get to play for a while with the toys and he LOVED that. Hopefully one day soon my sweet boy won't be scared to get his haircut.

Poop in the tub.

After almost 19 months, Diego pooped in the tub tonight. I don't think I need to see anything else about it except that it was gross and then I had to clean the bathtub and I didn't want to. I hope it never happens again.

18 Month Stats

Today Diego had his 18 month well child checkup, and I'll be honest, it wasn't fun. Since the 9 month check up he has had a hard time at the Doctor's office. He cries as soon as he see's the nurse, who is a sweet sweet young woman, but he remembers that she gives the shots. He cries while he is weighed. He cries while the Doctor examines him. He did calm down for a few minutes this time while the doctor chatted with me, but all in all my poor little guy was upset and scared the majority of the time. And when he's upset, he's upset and usually its hard to calm him down unless we go home. :)

At 18 months old, Diego is 36" (3 feet) Tall, which is the 99% for boys his age, which means he is taller than most other boys his age! He weighs 27 lbs and 8.5 oz, which is the 70%. His head measures at 50 1/4 cm, which is the 96% and as the doctor so tactfully put it "he's got a nice big head"!

"Yee Ah"

Eddie was gone to Bend for two weeks for some training for work and my niece Olivia came to stay with Diego and I during the second week. We had so much fun with her! Diego calls her "Yee Ah" and loves having her around. We played around the house, took Via school clothes shopping, went to the fair and made pumpkin bread. Diego had such a fun playmate while Via was here. They liked being silly together. I loved having her around too, it was kind of like having a built in babysitter. She was really super helpful and I had a great time spending time with her. We had to take her home on Thursday and Diego and I were both sad to see her go. Diego still asks for her and calls her name everynight at bedtime looking for her so he can say goodnight. Come back and see us soon "Yee Ah" we love you!

Kah-Nee-Ta

A few weeks ago Diego and I headed to Kah-Nee-Ta to spend the night with my sister Erica and her family in their HUGE trailer! Eddie bought us a GPS a while back and I've had nothing but success using it, so when we decided to go to Kah-Nee-Ta I just figured I could type in the address and it would take me there safely. Now, yes, I've heard lots of horror stories on GPS devices sending people on gravel roads/back roads, etc but I was just certain Eddie and I had put the settings correctly and we would be fine. A few hours before we left my nephew Hank called and wanted to ride with us, and I'm SO glad he did! I picked him up in Silverton and we headed off. I trusted the GPS at every turn, but then it told us to turn off of Highway 26 and the road turned to gravel. I began to sweat just a little. I'm thinking to myself, ok, we'll get there eventually. There were lots of other cars on the gravel road, so I figured we had to be going the right way. Then, Hank (my nephew) started to make jokes and I started to freak out a lot more. We ended up on the gravel road for 11 miles and it took us at least 45 minutes. I was sure glad Hank was there with us and I had someone to talk to besides Diego (who was asleep in the back). We got off the gravel road and back on to a main highway and I breathed a sigh of relief, a BIG one! It wanted me to turn onto another one, but I kept on the highway and it recalculated itself and we stayed on main roads the rest of the way. Lesson learned: Never drive on a National Forestry Road (NF-anything is bad), and make sure your GPS is set to avoid all unpaved roads. The trip home was much smoother. :)

We had a great time at Kah-Nee-Ta just relaxing, swimming, playing outside, watching movies, etc. I didn't take many pictures and I guess it was because I was chasing Diego around the whole time. My sister got some cute pictures and posted them on her blog. Diego is a champion traveler. He LOVES the car. He never makes a peep unless we stop, then he wants to "gdout". He had a bit of a hard time in the trailer cause its such a small space, but did great. We had our own little room to sleep in in the back of the trailer and it worked out great since he wakes up early. He was pretty quiet and we played for about 45 minutes before everyone else got up. I want to get a trailer someday, its just like a home away from home. We ate all our meals in there and everything! After Diego went to bed, Erica, Hank, Jagger and I all played Old Maid. Jag "won" both times. :) Then Erica, Bryan, Hank and I all crammed on to the masterbedroom bed and watched "I love you, Man." Which was hilarious. I really wish I would've got a picture of the 4 of us laying there watching the movie on the 8" tv screen. LOL! Fun times!

This picture is of Diego in the floatation swim suit Jagger gave us (it was his when he was Diego's size). It was pretty funny to see him in it, and he didn't seem to mind at all until he wanted to sit down or bend over. He's such a good sport.

Trip to Bend

Diego and I met Eddie in Bend over the last weekend in August while he was there for some training. We had a really fun and relaxing time. We visited several parks in the area, had some great food, and took naps together every day!

This first family self-portrait is a true capture of how much Diego wanted to go home on the last day. Our little guy is so much like both Eddie and I, a homebody. We had a wonderful and relaxing time, but he was really ready to go home. No matter where we are (even at home), if Diego is ready to go he says "home" "mail". He loves to be home and loves to go get the mail. Better family self-portrait.

Diego really enjoying the swings or "fing" like he calls it.

Finally, a new picture of Diego and I.