Disney World Day 3

After our first day without Papa, I thought I'd brave taking Isaac to the Animal Kingdom alone. This is a rather bold endeavor considering I'm pregnant, juggling a large jogging stroller onto a bus, a very active toddler and a rather expensive camera. I managed, but a nap was sorely needed later.



This the one grand frontal view I took of my son without Kent around. It's just after the Safari ride where he gape wide mouth at moving elephants, rhinos and exclaimed excitedly when he saw ostrich eggs - 'dan-dan' (in Cantonese) one of his favorite things to eat!




He loved playing the drums with an African band and was mesmerized by the numerous tigers we saw.



When Kent was done with conference, we went back to get a picture of the Tree of Life ... Can't you just hear the music from Lion King start up!



We ate a large buffet at the Tusker Resturant which had a wonderful assortment of dishes from the area. The spices used for the veggies was great!!! Did you know that they really like their peanut butter sandwiches? They had an entire bar area to make them up just the way you like them ... with bananas, pudding, chocolate ... Crazy. The inside of the restaurant really fit the atmosphere.

The Animal Kingdom always closes earlier than the others, so we headed back to the hotel for some swimming. We got there just as they were starting up a mini parade and Isaac was enlisted to help. As you can see, he was a rather enthusiastic drummer!

Disney World Day 2

Papa had to attend his conference this day so Isaac and I went on an outing to Downtown Disney. They have this great water play area that randomly sprays out water with a funny noise. It had Isaac giggling like crazy. He wasn't brave enough to attempt running through it like the other kids, but happily splashed in the puddles on the sidelines. I didn't have the heart so stop him even though it was pouring rain, after all how often does he get to play in a rain puddle in Phoenix? He did attempt to run through it a few days later, and unfortunately ran right along the path of the water. He came through screaming and laughing. It was fun, but not enough fun to try again even though Mama waited with the camera forever. This was all I could catch of it.

We ate candy, climbed our favorite characters and played Lego till we were all pooped out! For those of you who are Star Wars fans, you ought to check out their $500 Millennium Falcon Lego set, it's the size of 19" TV screen. Crazy!!!



After a nap we went back to Epcot for dinner with the Vikings! It was Norwegian buffet and Mama was killing herself for being pregnant and unable to eat smoked salmon to her heart's content! We hadn't realized that when we made reservations that the dinner was a Character dinner and had all the Princesses present wandering from table to table for pictures. We saw Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White and Ariel. Isaac played the bashful prince to one and all. The thing that was a little frightening to me is how much in character these Princesses are - it's as if they stepped out of the movie. I have to wonder if they get home at night and cuss their heads off to get it out of their system! ;0)

Disney World Day 1

What does one say when one needs to describe another world! ;0) Disney World was fabulous ... and for those who know me well, that is not a typical Flo-vocab word, but it in this instance it fits perfectly! We all had so much fun that I'm not sure where to begin. We stayed at the Pop Century Disney Resort, graced by giant bowling pins, yo-yo and radios. Ours was the fifties building, celebrating that era and all it's music. Some of my favorite jukebox titles include: 'My Car's Jake Up and my Heart is Broke down', 'He Had a Class Ring, but No Class', and 'The Double Helix Twist'. My personal favorite: 'My Love Will Last (Like Space Age Plastic)'.



Our first full day was spent at E.P.C.O.T which someone said means, "Everyone Plays and Comes Out Tired". For the life of me, I can't recall what Walt Disney intended it to say after hear that! The flowers were gorgeous ..



Isaac experienced some of his first rides. One took us on a tour of the latest in agricultural development. What you see in the picture behind me is a tomato tree, they also grew veggies without soil and had larger fruit and vegetables than I had ever seen.




Of course we went on a Clam Shell ride to help find Nemo and then had a lavish lunch at a French Restaurant. The "table of three for the Mon-tea-earth" included French Onion Soup with Gruyere cheese, Lorraine Quiche and Creme Brulee as well as visit from Rene the Rat - our chef! We were stuffed!

A nap was in order for all and once we were rejuvenated, we returned to see a Mayan Temple and visit China.



Our evening was spent at a Moroccan Restaurant where we were entertained by a belly dancer and invited to join in and dance. We shimmied and shook in our own special way and enjoyed a unique meal with meat filled pastries with cinnamon and orange blossom, Couscous with braised beef, almonds, raisins and finally baklava. Hmmmmmm... We caught the tail end of fireworks show, 'Illuminations' as we slowly waddled our way to the exit. Isaac wasn't too sure what to make of the brilliant colored 'boom-booms' that filled the night sky and clung to Papa all the way back to our hotel.




The sleep of the deadwas the end result of it all. It was an EPCOT day for all of us!

It's A ......

Right from the get go we were asked if we wanted to know the sex of the child and ours was an resounding 'yes'. Thus we thought we'd be receiving an immediate answer .... half an hour later ... many, many measurements and finally ... it's a girl!!!! It was a surprise, but a nice one, it's good to know we'll have one of each. She was just as camera shy as Isaac was and kept her hands and arms over her face. We spent much of our dinner considering girl names.

Her heart, kidneys, length of bones, etc all looked normal. This is great news since it lowers the risk of Down Syndrome for her from 1/27 to 1/75. We will still see the perinatologist tomorrow morning. The question remains if we want to risk an amniocentesis. We shall keep you posted.

Snuddle Time Playdoh and TP

We found the solutions to Isaac's sleep problems, extra snuggle (or snuddle) time. Since Kent began spending an extra 10 mins every evening snuggling and talking to Isaac, he stays asleep and in bed all through the night. It's wonderful!

He's also added a morning snuddle session when he gets up first thing and comes into the room to crawl into bed with me. At first it was a little irritating, but now it's become my favorite thing. He tucks his cold little feet up against my legs, wriggles in close and once he's settled he'll doze for 10-15 mins. I watched him this morning, twitching a little in his sleep. He's so beautiful and it amazes me that God has given me the privilege of having him to teach, love and hold. He wakes up slowly, and we usually chat about the day or anything that's on his mind (usually, things like raisins, cereal and fruit - how can you tell he's my son!) It's been a wonderful way to start the day.

I realized looking at him how much he's growing up. He's become rather vocal, using words we didn't know he knew to try and explain what he wants. Most of the time it's in English, but if I ask it of him, he say it in Cantonese for me. While it's been wonderful to actually talk to him there are things I miss. I miss the way he'd put his teeth together and suck in when he wanted cheese, or his varying 'clacks' of the tongue, one for light and one for ice cream depending on the pitch. (Yes, he did sound like that odd African tribe and their tongue clacking language) His garbled baby talk will soon leave him entirely and I will miss the sweet indecipherable sounds.



Other fun things to note: he has a love-hate relationship with playdoh, he loves all the possibilities that can be done, but hates how he can't manipulate it to do exactly what he wants. Here he's loudly announcing he's "DONE!!!!"



He loves building with the TP rolls, but knows that he's not to unwrap them. Of course, being the inquisitive toddler he his, he can't help but wonder why. This is the end result ... I should have known that 5 minutes of silence was dangerous! While he cleaned up he kept rolling himself up in it and laughing at his tissue thin toga. Mama had a hard time keeping a stern face.