21 months (& 10 days!!!) & CA Vacation, Part 2

I apologize for the lack of posts. I've been so tired this week, getting readjusted to the routine. Fortunately, Adam has readjusted quite well and is back to sleeping well (Thank G-d)! He's not too happy about being back "at work" (Montessori) and woke up on Monday (his first day back) saying -- I kid you not -- "No Annie" when I picked him up. He *loves* Annie (his teacher), too. Fortunately, Annie reported that he's been very happy this week... dancing, playing, etc. However, when I picked him up on both Mon. & today he BOLTED, I kid you not, to the door when he saw me. NOTE: he did not run to ME, he ran to THE DOOR and said "come on, come on, come on". He was also overtired and quite hungry when I picked him up both days which has led to lovely meltdown-free evenings (ha ha).

Anyway, I realize that I never got to write his 21-month-old post! I do plan to stop updating his monthly progress when he hits, oh, 21-years-old. Just Kidding... once he hits the big 2 (gasp!), I'm sure I'll stop. Anyhoo, Adam turned 21 months when we were in CA on 12/28. Interestingly enough, he has really started saying loads of phrases since then which has been so fun. Here are a few of my new favorite phrases:

-- "Where Grandma (or Uncle Steven or Dada) is?"

-- "Bye Mama. Bye Mama. Sleep" (when he's ready to go to sleep, he lets me know!!!)

-- "I love you soooo much" (tonight was the first time he said it when I kissed him good night. About time the kid said it back... I've only been waiting 21+ months to hear those three words!) ;)

-- "Where did it go?"... "Where can it be?"... "There it is!"

-- "Home!" or "Grandma's House!" (he now recognizes both neighborhoods)

-- "Oops. Sorry" (he says this at the funniest times... like when he trips on a toy. It's hilarious.)

He has also begun to do some associations. For example, when I asked him what we do at Hanukkah, he answered "light candles". Also, when we cooked an egg together (aka - me trying to cook an egg while holding him b/c he loves to watch me cook), he told me to "get butter". It's amazing. Truly amazing.

All right, enough bragging on my kid. I have to say, it helps remembering these sweet moments on days like this when Adam threw, oh, 20 temper tantrums in one evening!

In other news... our California vacation seems like it was months ago when, in reality, we got back less than a week ago! Here are some photos from our trip:
Taken from the backyard of the house we were staying at in Rancho Mirage. Very relaxing to wake up to this view

Playing in the huge backyard with Uncle Steven. It was so nice that he could run around since all we have at home is a deck for him to run on!

Adam's house. Thank you, Grandma, for renting it for the week! Adam loved having his "own space".

We took the Palm Springs Aerial Tram with Uncle Steven & Aunt Elizabeth. It was amazing. Adam loved the "big elevator"... it was quite the experience

Playing with sticks on a Palm Springs hike. Such a boy!!!

So, Adam REFUSED to sleep in the (admittedly small & kinda gross) crib that we rented. Grandma had the great idea of putting the mattress on the floor. That worked really well. Adam still only slept 2-3 hours at a time, and we ended up holding him half the night, but it was better than him screaming all night. Every night he cried "Go home" which was so sad. He was really happy during the day but was definitely homesick at night. Thank goodness he settled back in a normal sleeping pattern after one crying fit when we returned home.

That's it for now. If you've read this whole post, I'm impressed! More CA photos later this week! Hope you're having a good one! :)

Plane Ride & Hanukkah Party -- CA vacation, part 1

So much to write about our California adventure! I think I will blog in parts... part one being the plane ride and Hanukkah Party that we attended in Marina Del Rey. I was very nervous about the loooong plane ride, but overall, Adam did great. Thank G-d for Grandma who was so patient and entertaining! Here is a photo of them enjoying the flight:


Once we arrived to LAX, we headed to Marina Del Ray for a Hanukkah Party given by Uncle Jeff's parents, Allan and Rosemary. It was so wonderful seeing them and we had a really nice time. Their condo sits right on the beach... it's gorgeous! Adam was so happy to run around after being stuck in a plane. Cousin Jake was also in town visiting from Chicago so we got to spend a few hours with him. We headed out to Palm Springs around 4 pm and we arrived around 7:30 pm (10:30 pm D.C. time)... more on Palm Springs tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some photos from the Hanukkah Party:



Adam watching Cousin Jake in awe (while sitting on the air hockey table -- oops!)

Adam and Dada... look at that view!

Adam was so happy to see Aunt Elizabeth (and Uncle Steven) who met us at the party!

Happy, Happy New Year!!!

We are back from sunny California... had a great time in Rancho Mirage (near Palm Springs, CA) with the family. Will write (and show lots of pictures) more tomorrow... really exhausted now due to jet lag.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Happy New Year to all!

See you next year!

Well, this will be the last post of the year since we are headed to Palm Springs tomorrow (Rancho Mirage -- Mission Hills to be exact). I will only have limited computer access there so this will be, most likely, the last post until we return on New Year's Day. We are renting a condo with my mom (Grandma) and little brother and his girlfriend (Uncle Joey and future Aunt Hillary). My older brother and his wife (Uncle Steven & Aunt Elizabeth) will be staying at Elizabeth's parents' house which is just 2 mintutes away. It will be our first "real" family vacation since my dad passed away in October 2006. Our last family vacation was, ironically enough, in Palm Desert in February 2006. It was when my dad was first put on oxygen full-time and it was obvious how sick he was then. So I'm feeling a little bittersweet about the vacation. I'm sure we'll have a great time... I'm still so sad about losing my dad. That sadness is always there... buried... but there. Anyway... I'm sure I'll be too busy chasing Little Love to think too many thoughts at all!

Speaking of which... I'm kinda dreading the plane ride tomorrow. This will be LL's 3rd trip (2 trips to Alabama and 1 to Chicago) and all the plane rides were fairly decent, except for one. They were also SHORT. This plane ride is 6-7 hours. I bought a portable DVD player and lots of Barney and Sesame Street DVDs from Craigs List & Amazon. I also have a new IPOD Nano (my Hanukkah present to myself!) and will download lots of LL's favorite songs (more Barney!) on them. I also bought new toys & books. Can you tell I'm a little concerned about the plane ride?!? I'm also worried about LL sleeping there.... he does not sleep well in new places... well, one thing at a time, right?!? I am SO EXCITED about Adam having lots of time with my brothers... they are so great with him. SO... hopefully it will be a very fun week! My antibiotics have also kicked in (thankfully!) so I'm beginning to feel a little better.... thanks, once again, for all the caring phone calls & e-mails!

Meanwhile, Adam has been loving Hanukkah over here as evidenced in the photos below. He loves watching us light the candles and says Hanukkah over & over. He also was excited to get a new baby doggy (a beige one!) as a present. I think his favorite part, however, has been eating Grandma's chicken soup! The kid has good taste!

Lighting the Menorah at Grandma's House

Loving Grandma's Chicken Soup (who doesn't?!?)

Hmm... a new present

A New Doggy!!! Yay!!!

We hope that everyone is enjoying the holiday season. We are wishing all our blog readers a Happy Hanukkah &/or a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Look for a new post then! XOXO

Oh, Hanukkah...

Tonight was the first night of Hanukkah. We had a low key celebration since Steven and I are recovering from the flu. We were supposed to go to a Hanukkah Party but had to miss out due to my cough and Steven's headache. Fortunately, we were both feeling a little better tonight (thanks to Mucinex!). We lit the candles with Adam which he loved. He also was very excited to receive "Elmo LIVE!" as his Hanukkah present. He shouted "Elmo!" when he saw him in the box. When Elmo said "Elmo loves you" and blew kisses, Adam hugged and kissed Elmo back. Too cute!!! Adam has also loved his "Where's Baby's Dreidel?" book and giggles hysterically right before the dreidel is found. He also likes the "I have a little dreidel" song. Holidays are so fun with a little one! :o)

Elmo LIVE! and Adam's beloved "Baby Doggy"

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We are hoping for a *healthy* week as we are leaving for California on Thursday!

P.S. I finally posted a few pics from Thanksgiving on the Thanksgiving post... http://adventuresinadamland.blogspot.com/2008/11/so-very-very-thankful.html
There's the link if you're interested (copy & paste link). Unfortunately, even though Adam and Claire looked adorable, the pictures I took weren't! :o( Oh well.... it was a really fun T'giving!

99% Better... yahoo!!! :o)

I am so happy (and relieved!) to report that Adam was back to his happy little self today! Finally! It's been one long week and we're just sooo thankful that Little Love is feeling better!

After LL's nap, he was beginning to go a little stir crazy so we headed to the At Play Cafe -- one of our favorite places. Here are some pics from our afternoon:





Tomorrow's the last day of work for 2 weeks! Yay! Oh, I was also happy to find out that I received an A+ in my graduate class. All that (last minute) work paid off! I'm just glad the class is OVER... I enjoyed it but it will be nice to have my Wed. afternoons/evenings with LL again!

After a rough morning, doing better

After Adam promptly threw up his entire breakfast & bottle and fell back asleep on the couch, he had a relatively decent day. I kept him at home (for the above reasons) and my mom (beloved GRANDMA!!!) came over to be with LL. She said he was affectionate and sweet for most of the day but a little bit more aggressive than usual. I'm hoping it's b/c he's still not feeling 100% and not for any other reason! Oh, his rash is almost all gone, too. Yay! I'm really hoping to get back into a more normal routine tomorrow. It's been exactly 1 week (well, at 1 AM) since I discovered that he was sick. I think 1 week of illness is enough, don't you?!?

Oh, many thanks to all of you who have left comments, wrote e-mails, made calls, asked me how Adam was doing, etc. I am very appreciative!!!