S is for San Diego and a whole bunch of other things...

Megapost here we come...there were so many cute pictures from our trip to San Diego I had a hard time deciding which to include, so I just included a ton! Without further ado, here's the recap of our long weekend, brought to you by the letter S.

Suitcases...

As we were packing on Thursday night, Drew decided to use Daddy's empty suitcase as a hiding place. Too funny.

Seven and a half hour drives...

Since we started having to buy a plane ticket for Drew when he turned two, we always consider driving instead of flying. Plus, given the unpredictable nature of Army life, it's always comforting to have the flexibility of your car versus nonrefundable plane tickets. So we piled in the car for about a 7 1/2 hour drive. Amazingly, Drew amused himself without the DVD player in the car. We actually didn't even realize we were without the car adapter for the DVD player until we got to the hotel. He drew with his Doodlepro, read some books, had a nap or two, and pointed out all the sights for us to see. We were very relieved.

Shocking gas prices...

All of the media stories lately about how the price of gas is causing some people to reconsider summer travel came rushing back to me when we pulled into the first gas station off the California interstate and saw the price of $4.37/gallon!!! We were dumbfounded. The prices as we approached San Diego continued to rise, but fortunately at the Naval Base the gas price was a mere $3.89/gallon. Who knew we could be so excited about $3.89/gallon?

Sand Dunes...

Just over the California border we drove by huge sand dunes and I said "Oh my God, I've never seen anything like that." Bill countered with, "I have. It looks just like Iraq." Without the nice interstate of course... Anyhow, it was pretty amazing to see.

Smell of rain...

Once we passed the sand dunes we headed into Cleveland National Forest where the desert gave way to the rainy season. We had rain and fog for the last couple of hours of our trip into the city. Since we have so little rain in Arizona though, Bill said, and I agreed, that sometimes you just miss the smell of rain. Sometimes it's the little things...

Savings galore with military discounts...

Let me just say that San Diego is an extremely military-friendly town. First, we were able to stay at the Navy Lodge right next to the harbor for 3 nights for probably what we would have paid for one night at any other hotel. We were pleasantly surprised by the size of the room as well. Second, we took advantage of the Salute to Heroes program to enjoy free admission for the whole family to Sea World. Third, Bill got in free to the zoo and we got discounted tickets for our boat tour. It was nice to be able to splurge on other things since we were saving so much elsewhere.

Steak & Seafood...

Our first night in town we drove over the Coronado Bay Bridge to have dinner on Coronado Island. The place we were looking for that had sounded good from the Navy Lodge's list of dining options was actually closed, so we headed elsewhere. We almost didn't go in because there was a sign on the door that said "Proper attire required." and we were in jeans, nice jeans, but still jeans. But we saw a few other people head in that were casually dressed as well and figured we'd give it a try because their menu looked so yummy. We were seated right next to the window overlooking the harbor and enjoyed one of the most outstanding meals we've ever had. If you're ever in San Diego, go to Peohe's. It's worth every penny. Our restaurant selections the other two nights were not quite as good. Still lovely by-the-water dining, but only okay food.

Sesame Street...

Sea World recently opened up the Sesame Street Bay of Play and all of Drew's Sesame Street favorites were available for pictures, both at Breakfast with Elmo and later in the Bay of Play area. I hoped Drew wouldn't be scared of all the guys as he still is a bit skittish around Santa Claus. But as you can see from all the pictures, he was thrilled!

Sea turtles (as in lunching with)...

When we finally found somewhere to sit for lunch at Sea World we realized we had some unexpected lunch companions. Right next to and below our lunch table were several sea turtles, some swimming around and others sunning themselves and making sand angels on the beach area.

Shamu...

No trip to Sea World is complete without taking in a Shamu show, so after lunch we headed over to Shamu stadium. We were daring enough to sit in the soak zone, but only daring enough to sit in the last row of the soak zone, so we ended up in the clear. Drew was initially impressed but then his exhaustion took over and I think he actually missed the jump featured below.

Scenic Route...

After Sea World (and no nap) on Saturday morning and early afternoon, we thought Drew would fall asleep the second he sat down in his car seat. Rather than have him fall asleep in the car and then try to get him to sleep again in the hotel, we thought we'd take a drive up to Del Mar and make our way back to the city along the coast. It was really lovely, although nowhere near warm enough to be in the ocean like some crazy people were. If Drew hadn't been sleeping I think we would have loved to spend some time walking around La Jolla. Ah...next time.

Shopping...

Let me just say that the Navy Exchange store was nicer than any Army PX I have ever seen. It was comparable if not nicer than a Macy's. As we rode the escalator to the second floor (yes, I said second floor), I nearly cried as I saw the wide selection of EVERYTHING you could ever need.

San Diego Zoo...

On Sunday we went to the zoo. We were a little overwhelmed by the size of the zoo and didn't ever seem to be in the right location at the right time to catch the sea lion or other shows. But we had fun nonetheless. Drew's favorite part was the children's zoo where he was able to pet and feed goats and pigs. The second picture below is Drew pretending to lick Daddy's paws like the leopard we were watching was. He started by licking his own but I couldn't get the camera out fast enough to capture that.

Skylines, Ships & Sailboats...

We took a one-hour boat tour around the bay, which was very pretty and interesting. We definitely made the right call on doing the one hour instead of two hour tour, because after the initial excitement of all the boats and towers wore off Drew was a little put off by the wind and started to get bored, so he snuggled up with Daddy for the last half of the trip or so.

A few other Smiles...

Daddy & Drew outside Peohe's on Coronado Island


Mommy & Drew outside Peohe's

Drew thrilled after coming down the slide in the net climbing area of the Sesame Bay of Play

Daddy & Drew on Miniature Railroad in Balboa Park outside zoo

Drew enjoying the playground outside our hotel

Mommy & Drew in Seaport Village

Drew thinks that Daddy rolling down the window is hilarious

All in all, it was a great weekend away and we really hope to get back to San Diego again.

Fun times with Grandma & Grandpa

My parents are currently on a 2 month cross country trip to New York and eventually back to Las Vegas. We were their first stop on the trip back east and enjoyed a brief but fun visit.

Here are some shots of story time, a quick visit to the old mining town of Bisbee, game time, and cuddles.

As an aside, this game of Candyland with Grandma was the first time Drew seemed to understand that you move your gingerbread man to the NEXT spot of the color card you pick up, not just any spot that matches your color

Poor Drew, even though we explained to him Tuesday night and Wednesday morning that Grandma and Grandpa had to go bye bye (it seemed to ease the blow a little bit that they were going to see Uncle Johnny & Aunt Katie), as we watched them drive away he still looked at me and said "Where'd Namma & Grandpa go?" Fortunately we had San Diego to look forward to and Drew seemed somewhat distracted from Grandma & Grandpa's departure by the impending breakfast with Elmo.

Fortunately we have more family visiting soon, as Pop Pop, Grandma Mary, Aunt Jalene, Uncle Ryan, and Aunt Elizabeth are arriving next week.

Our House...Part 2

Well it only took 2 1/2 weeks and an impending visit from my parents to get those perpetually disorganized and messy rooms cleaned up and picture-ready, so here are the rest of the pictures of our house.


Kitchen (including the refridgerator covered in Drew's creations and magnets):
Germany friends, take note of the Kreuzberg jugs on top of our cupboards...ah, we miss German beer.


Dining Room (also doubling as Bill's home office, hence the computer on the dining room table):



Master Suite (Bed & Bath, including an important key to happy marriages...his & her sinks):

The suite also includes a large walk-in closet, but I've resigned myself to the fact that this closet is now and probably will forever (or at least for the next couple years) be a disorganized mess, so no photos...


My office (including Drew's coloring desk):
Hope you've enjoyed your tour. We'd love to give it to you in person if you're ever in the area.

Things We're Excited About...

Seems we have plenty of things to look forward to in the not-too-distant future, so I thought we'd share some of the things we're excited about.

• Grandma & Grandpa Calnon visiting for a few days before they head back East
• David Cook in American Idol Season Finale (Ok, so this is mostly me. Alright, entirely me. Bill thinks I'm insane. But seriously, is anyone else watching this guy? He's phenomenal!)
• Long Weekend in San Diego, including Breakfast with Elmo (Drew's favorite) at Sea World
• Boys' weekend in Las Vegas--this is pretty much just Bill, although I am happy for him. But he's meeting Peter (one of his best friends from Episcopal & Penn State) for a short trip.
• Premier of Sex and the City Movie (Again, pretty much just me, but I guarantee I will be at the first matinee showing available.)
• Pop Pop, Grandma Mary, Aunt Jalene, Uncle Ryan, and Aunt Elizabeth visiting for week and a half, including weekend trip to Phoenix
• Long weekend in San Francisco, during which Bill will be running San Fran Marathon and we should be seeing friends from Fort Gordon and some of Bill's Episcopal crew.

M is for Mommy

My wonderful husband and son made me feel very special on this Mother's Day. It started on Friday afternoon when I picked Drew up from daycare. Drew had made the following card (well, colored at least) for me and was so proud of himself "I made card for Mommy" he kept saying. So I said "Drew, you made card for Mommy? That's so nice." When we got home he promptly put the card up on the refridgerator, where all of his latest school creations are proudly displayed with his beloved magnets. He's fond of saying about each of his projects "I did that myself." Anyhow, for the last 3 days whenever he goes anywhere near the fridge he proudly says "I made card for Mommy. That's so nice." It's also a very appropriate card as we frequently refer to Drew as our little monkey.The festivities continued this morning when Bill ran out early to get flowers (see below) and donuts. And not that they're really picture-worthy, but the donuts didn't stick around long enough to be photographed anyway.After church we went for brunch and then spent the afternoon chilling before Bill made very yummy crab legs for dinner. And, as I post this, Bill is mopping the floor because I told him that was the one thing I really wanted for Mother's Day. I'm a lucky woman...

On another note, wasn't I just blogging about Drew being unable to remember song lyrics? Well the following story illustrates just how quickly things can change in the life of a toddler. After his nap today, Drew wanted to do his alphabet flash cards, so we laid in his bed and worked on the alphabet. He's long been able to identify all the pictures (even the ones that aren't part of everyday vocabulary: igloo, quail, umpire), so now we use them to try work on letter recognition. So far he's pretty reliable with E, H, M, R, and X. He always says "M is for Mommy." Anyhow, we got to S and the picture is of the sun, so Drew correctly said "sun" and I flipped the card over, showed him the S and said S is for Sun. Then he flipped the card back over to the sun and sang "Sunny Day..." with the exact right notes of the Sesame Street theme song. So I chimed in and sang "Sweepin' the clouds away." Then Drew piped up with "On my way" I concluded the song "to where the air is sweet. Can you tell me how to get How to get to Sesame Street." We sang it a few more times and he seemed to be picking up on "clouds away" and "Sesame Street" too. So then we moved on to more flash cards and came to C (obviously we weren't going in order). The picture is a cake and Drew started to sing "Happy Birthday to You." It was just the cutest thing. Music teacher Aunt Katie was particularly impressed when he repeated the performance on the phone.

One more picture just because it's funny and cute. After flashcards and some puzzles, Drew decided to play with his trucks. So he pushed them into Mommy's office and did this:

Yes, that's Drew sitting in one of his Tonka trucks and resting his feet in the other. Silly kid!

Finally, I just want to wish my blogger girls all a Happy Mother's Day! I'm so glad I get to be a part of your daily lives through this--it's wonderful to see your kids grow up. And Happy Mother's Day to any other family & friends that might be reading this.

Adventures in Bike Riding: Flintstone Style

So Drew went through a brief period of not being terribly interested in his tricycle. After watching Elmo ride his tricycle on Sesame Street, however, he started randomly saying throughout the day "I pedal my feet." This is funny both for the randomness of the comments as well as the fact that when he rides his bike he hasn't yet actually pedaled his feet. So before we went to daycare on Wednesday Drew pointed at his tricycle and said "Ride bike Mommy." I promised we would do it right after school...so we did. I was hopeful that having seen Elmo push the pedals Drew would pick up on how to actually "ride" his bike. No such luck. As you can see in the video, Drew prefers the Fred Flintstone method of travel.



When I told him to push the pedals down he used his hands to push them down. When I tried to explain to put his feet on the pedals and move his knees up and down he pushed up and down on his knees. It was fairly entertaining.

It doesn't seem to be affecting his enjoyment level on the bike, so I guess we'll just let him figure it out eventually. He especially enjoys coasting down the slight incline from our driveway into the road. As I post this Drew and Daddy are outside trying the pedaling again and I think Dad is having more success than I did.

The latest edition of "Cute Drew stuff"

Just the latest collection of things that Drew says or does that make us smile...

***********************************************************************

When we ask Drew if he has to go potty lately his response is "I just went potty." Now occasionally, this is true. He may have gone within the last 15-20 minutes. But every now and then he tries it in the morning:

Mommy: Good Morning Drew. Did you have good sleep?
Drew: Yeah.
Mommy: Drew, do you need to go potty?
Drew: I just went potty Mommy.
Mommy: Drew, that was last night. It's been a long time since you went potty.
Drew: I JUST WENT POTTY MOMMY!
Mommy: Ok Drew, you just went potty. Let's try again just to humor Mommy (shaking head in laughter and disbelief).

**********************************************************************

When we were on the phone with my mother last week Grandma asked Drew how old he is. Drew quickly responded with "I two and a half." That was the first time he had said that...he had been just responding with "I two." I don't know if he heard me tell someone he was 2 1/2 or if he picked it up at daycare, but he now correctly and proudly states that he's 2 1/2, not 2. Oh, and in case you were curious about his inability to remember that Mommy is 30 not 40, he still maintains "Mommy's 40," though he correctly notes that "Daddy's 28." I think Bill is brainwashing him.

**********************************************************************

We've been working with Drew on our names and his full name. Occasionally if I call to Bill in another room Drew will run wherever Bill is and starting yelling his name too...not Daddy, but Bill. So Bill started referring to himself as Daddy Bill every now and then. Then he trained Drew to start saying Mommy Jenn. So now he knows our first names but thankfully still usually refers to us as Mommy & Daddy.

Working on his full name has been a bit of a challenge. Poor kid...it really is a mouth full. For a while now he's been saying "Kauskas" when we ask him his last name, and lately he seems to be attempting to add in the "Cher" or something that sounds like "Cher" before it. We never really asked him what his middle name is, but occasionally refer to him as Andrew Patrick, especially if he's being naughty. So all of a sudden when I started asking him his name he started saying Andrew Patrick.

I was a little concerned that he might be confused about understanding that his name is Andrew when he's used being called Drew most of the time, but apparently it's not an issue.

**********************************************************************

Getting in the car one day this week Drew wanted to help buckle his car seat (not unusual). He has become quite adept at buckling the top part together, but has more trouble with the bottom. Yesterday he INSISTED he could do the bottom part too, so I let him go for it. And without too much effort, he managed to get the bottom part put together. He looked up at me and said "I use my muscles." WHAT??? Where did he pick that up?

**********************************************************************

Drew has recently started counting quickly. It used to be a very deliberate process. Now it's like he's seeing how fast he can get to 14 (currently his maximum counting number). So he still starts out slow "1...2..." Then it's "4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14." You'll notice there's a few numbers missing. He consistently leaves out 3 and 10 once he starts counting fast. So I usually respond with "Great counting Drew, but you missed a couple things." So the other day he's counting and starts "1...2...3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10." He got them all, but then he giggled a little bit and said, even though it wasn't true, "I miss couple things."

**********************************************************************

So the night before last Drew woke up around 12:30 am crying his little head off. All I heard over the monitor was "I need sit on couch. I need my milk. I need sit on couch Mommy." Apparently he thought it was morning time, because each morning he cuddles up on the couch with George & Nemo and enjoys his cup of milk. Obviously we were not headed for the couch at 12:30 am, so I laid down with him for a little while. He continued to cry and scream for the couch for quite some time. I tried everything to calm him down...books, tickling, hugs. Finally I decided to sing and that calmed him down.

Singing has long been an easy way to calm him down. I still remember when we were in the states for the first time after he was born (he was about 4 months) and we were driving between a couple family member's houses. Poor kid had been in the car for too long and was ready to be out of his car seat. My mom started singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and some other Christmas carols and he stopped crying and just started to smile and giggle.

So anyhow, last night when I put Drew to bed he must have remembered my singing to him the night before because instead of reading books he wanted me to sing to him. So I asked what he wanted to hear Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or the ABCs. He said ABCs. So I go through the ABCs and when I'm through he tells me "Good job Mommy. Sing Twinkle Star." I comply and for my efforts, I hear again "Good job Mommy. Sing more." So I started singing Tomorrow (from Annie), a song my favorite babysitter when I was growing up sang to me. After I finished Drew started clapping and said "That's a nice song Mommy." He followed up my version of Amazing Grace with the same compliment. What a sweet kid...

Game Time

For Christmas this past year Drew got a couple of board games: the classic Candyland and Sesame Street Chutes & Ladders. We didn't anticipate they would interest him right away, but thought after a few months maybe they would. When Drew started showing an increased interest in numbers we thought we'd give Chutes & Ladders a try. When we open up the board now he says "Look all ladders. See big ladder Mommy." He enjoys spinning the spinner and pointing out the numbers on the spinner, but has a hard time restricting himself to just one spin at a time. He still doesn't quite grasp the idea of moving up the board, but is picking up on the turn-taking.

Candyland we were a little more hesitant with, because of the possibility of Drew being colorblind. It is genetic through your maternal grandfather and my dad is colorblind. Anyway, after enough experiences with books about colors and crayons to confirm that Drew did not in fact inherit my dad's colorblindness, we decided to give CandyLand a try. Drew enjoyed pointing out all the colors on the board and absolutely loves picking up the cards to see what color he gets. Again, he finds it very restricting that he only is allowed to pick up one card at a time. For a little while he would say "Play cards," which meant he wanted to open Candyland just to go through the colors on the cards like flashcards. Now he is more interested in turn-taking and moving along the path of the board. Mommy & Daddy still usually have to move the game pieces though, because while Drew will find a space with his card color on it it's pretty much guaranteed that it's not going to be the next space of that color. He often selects the matching color spaces closest to King Kandy...the cheater!

So now both games typically come out of the cupboard together and we "play game" for as long as Drew will pay attention. Then in typical toddler fashion he seems to enjoy picking up and putting the games away just as much as playing them. (When do they stop enjoying helping? Please say not soon...) Anyhow, at school and at home when it is time for picking up we sing the "Clean Up" song:

Clean up, Clean up.
Everybody everywhere.
Clean up, Clean up.
Everybody do your share.

Drew, despite his fantastic memory, has not translated that into being able to remember song lyrics. Mommy sings the Elmo's World song every day when we watch Sesame Street, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat and Happy Birthday during swim lessons, and the ABC's in the car. And while Drew loves to hear me sing now (he used to say "Stop it. No sing Mommy."), he hasn't joined in on the fun.

Anyhow, due to the apparently forgettable lyrics of the Clean Up Song, while Drew is picking up his games we hear over and over...Clean up Clean up Clean up Clean up. I would have taken video of his little ditty and other game time antics but it's highly frowned upon to get up in the middle of game time.

Would love to hear from you other toddler mommies of what games hold your kiddies' attention best.

Party in the Pool

So Drew is loving this new round of swim lessons. Once we start driving down the street toward the pool, he starts talking in his very excited voice "Going pool Mommy?" "I go in warm pool Mommy." "I put bathing suit on." Then when we pull in the parking lot he claps and says "It's so exciting!" (except it sounds a little more like "it so citing!"

Things started a little rough in the first class when his teacher announced we would be starting in the big pool, not the warming pool. Drew did not take this news well, but settled down once we headed over to his beloved warming pool. There is only one other child in Drew's class, so there's a lot of one-on-one time and Drew is a big fan of his teacher (after forgiving her for the big pool incident).

He has already achieved a few new swimming milestones including blowing bubbles (finally), closing his mouth or blowing bubbles out when he goes under water (which he loves), and opening his eyes to look for things in the water (a new skill this week). He still is not a fan of floating and kicks and screams wildly any time I even attempt to get him on his back. He jumps very willingly into the water (he has no fear!) and usually says "Again!" as soon as he surfaces. He also recently realized, by accident, that if he stands on his tiptoes he can stand up in the warming pool. He discovered this by bounding down the stairs ahead of Mommy into the pool and realizing he was in over his head...or was he? He proudly exclaimed "I tall Mommy!"

One silly story from Thursday's lesson. The teachers typically do a lot of singing and games, so yesterday we were doing the hokey pokey. We had already put our left and right arms in and out, and we were trying to decide on the next body part. I suggested the nose and before the teacher and I even started singing, Drew stuck his face in the water.

Sorry no pics to accompany but lessons are before Daddy gets done work, so I can't be with Drew in the water and take pictures.

Our House...Part 1

Well Julie gave me the idea of posting pictures of our house, since most of you reading this won't be likely to get to Arizona to see it in person. Just remember that unless you give us serious advance notice, the house will never be as clean and organized as it appears in these pictures. And it is unlikely to stay that way for more than a couple of hours thanks to the tornado known as Drew. Speak of the devil, he makes some guest appearances in a few of the pictures. Also, sorry for the coloration on some of the pics. I accidentally turned off the flash for some of them.



Anyhow, this is Part 1 because there's a couple rooms in our house that are sort of perpetually messy and disorganized so they aren't included here. I figured if I posted Part 1 though, that might be the extra motivation I need to get those rooms cleaned up so I could post Part 2.



The outside in back of our house.


We were able to bring a little color to our outside world back here with the patio set. Also, the back area is big. The picture of Drew and Grandma is to the left of where the play set (in the previous picture) is now, so there's a lot of room to run.










Drew's room.



He started in a big boy twin-sized bed last May, but when we decided to upgrade the full bed in our guest room to a queen, we donated the twin bed and moved the full bed into Drew's room. It gives him more room for all "the guys" (his stuffed animals) and makes it more comfortable for us to read stories in bed.



When we first put the wallies up for his room he kept pointing them out to us. Ball. Ball. Big ball. Little ball. Bat. He's kind of over the excitement of it all now, but occasionally he still points out what ball is what sport and he has, with his newfound counting skills, taken to counting them every now and then.















Drew's bathroom.

Also known as our guest bathroom...with rubber duckies everywhere.





The guest room.



If you visit, open the closet in this room at your own risk. It is so stuffed to capacity it isn't even funny.








Our living room.

So that leaves on the perpetually disorganized list the kitchen (which you can sort of see in one of the living room pics), the dining room, my office, our bedroom, our bathroom and our walk-in closet (I guess that's more than a couple...). Also not picture are our laundry room and garage, because really, they're not very exciting even when they're organized. But maybe I'll take a few shots anyway. Hope you enjoyed your tour so far...