Lake Arrowhead & Big Bear Weekend

Your first time at the snow was a blast! We finally got to go up to the mountains with a few friends and brought you along. Although you were the only kid there, I think you were pretty entertained most of the time.

We spent 2 nights in a cabin in Lake Arrowhead. Saturday morning daddy went snowboarding with Oleg and some friends in Big Bear, then you & I and our friend Karen came to meet up with everyone and I went snowboarding for a few hours while you & daddy played in the snow. Then I joined you two before it got too cold to be outside.

You guys built a snowman, which you were very proud of, and slid down the big hill on your butts (we didn't bring the sleds that day). At first you didn't want to wear gloves, but once you started to pick up snow you complained that it was cold and finally agreed to put the gloves on. After a while you tried to eat the snow too. We all had a good day returning back to the cabin totally exhausted.

The next day we decided to just take you up to play in more snow, so we parked on the side of the road on the way up to the ski resorts, and took the sleds down to an open area. At first you really enjoyed being pulled on the sled, but after you sort of fell out going up the hill, you weren't too fond of it. So, we decided to take a break and build another snowman (mickey snowman... I must say it was the cutest snowman I've ever built... although I mostly took pictures and daddy was working on the snowman) and you had so much fun helping us, patting & patting more snow around it. At one point you started to take snow off the first sphere and put onto the second one.

After the snow mickey was finished, we sled a few times, and I crashed into the bush with you... sorry it was totally my fault, I should have moved the sled over more and I didn't. You got a bit scared and started crying, even though no one got hurt, daddy rushed to save us and we all kind of got stuck in the snow. Good times together! We packed up and drove back home. You slept most of the way home which was a good indication of how we tired you out.

Here are a few highlights from our trip.

... and a few new and some old milestones:

• I mentioned before that you've gone on the potty a few times at the daycare. Well you finally did it at home for the first time. Now I just need to be consistent and ask you to go all the time.
• You are able to put shoes on yourself.
• You know to take your shoes and jacket off right away when you come home, and you do it on your own now.
• You ask for your favorite shows, lately it has been Gabba Gabba and Mickey, you must be getting tired of Sesame street.
• When I take a picture and say cheese you say "cheese" and make a really silly face
• You climb on and off our bed on our own. In fact if I don't notice that you snuck out of your room when you go to bed, I find you asleep on our bed by yourself (this happened twice already)
• You have been difficult to put to bed, sometimes it takes over an hour and you don't end up falling asleep until after 9:30
• You love giving us hugs and kisses
• You don't always want to wear the clothes or shoes that we pick for you.
• You now know a few of your Music class songs and ask for them and sing them.
• One of your favorite words is "No", you say it way more often than we want to hear it... I think that might be the case for the next 18 years ;)

Troublemaker

This is a funny story we will look back on. Well not so funny when you have to clean up the mess, but in a few years I am sure we'll remember it.

You and I got home and I was busy in the kitchen getting dinner started, while you decided that you really wanted to draw on the easel board in the living room. You discovered the extra colorful crayons that were hidden under some stuff in the pantry, and brought them to me. I don't usually let you play with crayons or markers on your own because I am afraid that you'll decide to decorate our walls with your art, so I told you to wait until I was finished in the kitchen and that we'll draw in a few minutes. You wined and wined and I told you that's not how you ask for things, so you changed your tune and asked nicely and said please. So we went in the other room to draw. A few minutes later Daddy came home from work and I asked him to take over so that I can go finish up dinner. You drew together for a bit and it seemed like you were done. The crayons were put on the dining table. 5 minutes later he walked in and saw blue crayon all over your hands and the sleeves of your shirt. I should mention that these are not regular crayons, they are the "marker" type that are extra rich in color and go on very smooth on paper, or in this case your hands! Daddy took you to wash up and put the crayons on the table again (big mistake... because they should have been put away!) Well the next time (in another 15 minutes) he walked into the room, you had gotten a hold of the red crayon and drew all over the carpet! We put you in the naughty corner and you stood there looking very guilty and explained that you do not draw on the carpet. Meanwhile we tried a few things to get it out, but no luck! This had to happen 4 days after I got the carpets proffesionally cleaned! Ugh... needless to say we were very frustrated with you and I was mad at myself that I trusted daddy to keep an eye on you w/these crayons easily accesible to you! Since I can't get it out myself and afraid to make it even worse, we have to have the carpet cleaner come back... which is going to cost a ton I am sure!

We might just have to put a rug there, or place your play house on top of it, until we replace the carpets. Rrrr!

Update: The carpet cleaners got the stain out... so $100 later, it's like it never happened. :)