The Wilsons

Monday, June 10, 2013

Learning Learning

We just can't even believe how much Barrett is learning every day. It seems like every time we turn around, he's doing a new skill. Yesterday Matt taught him to say "Mommy" instead of "Mama" and I just about cried. It was so sweet.

He finally learned how to say "Gamma" instead of just staring at his grandma. He can repeat his ABCs and numbers 1-10, and he sometimes recites some of them by memory. He can't quite get the whole alphabet by himself, but I hear him in the backseat start with "Q" and work his way down to "Z." And he repeats it over and over like it's on a loop. I could listen to his precious little voice all day.

Some of his biggest milestones have happened at the play class we go to together. When we started, he would cry when another baby tried to play with him. Now he smiles and usually throws a ball at anybody that comes and plays with him. But hey, it's a start. When we started he just wanted to play on his own and would ignore the group songs/activities that the whole group did. Now he follows the teacher around everywhere she goes, and he laughs and giggles and dances during song time. When we started, he was terrified of the parachute. All the other babies would run underneath it and squeal, and Barrett would cling so tightly to me while he cried that he didn't even notice all his friends under the parachute laughing a playing. One day I say under the parachute with him, and every week after that he loves playing underneath it! He runs, laughs, throws his arms up over his head, and basically is just a big clown. It's his favorite part of class. And, as silly as it sounds, I almost cry every single time. Maybe because this is the first fear that I've seen him. And that he's conquered. I'm just a proud mommy.

Pictures of play class fun. Some are a little blurry ... It's hard to catch him being still!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

First Family Vacation: Disney!

Going to Disney World as an adult brings out the kid in you. Going to Disney World with your child actually turns you back into a kid. Even the Mickey Mouse logo on the side of a bus brought true enjoyment for all of us.

I was a little nervous about the plane ride. Not only was it Barrett's very first flight, but he likes to get down and run every 3 minutes. I was so shocked that he did so well! It probably helped that we had food: quiche, banana nut muffins, fresh fruit, and biscuits. We just fed him the entire flight and let him watch movies on my iPad.

Before Take Off

(And Trying to Hide My Nervousness)

Looking at Clouds With Daddy

Once we landed we took a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge:

Barrett sat with Gamma and Poppy and got more and more excited with each character he saw on the tv while we were driving.

Eventually, he the excitement may have been too much because he fell asleep the rest of the way. (Barrett never just falls asleep like that ... he must have been exhuasted!) And Poppy got some good cuddle time :)

After checking into the hotel, and checking out our safari view room, we headed to Downtown Disney for some afternoon shopping and dinner. Barrett loved running around to the different character statues that were in the stores. He looked at each one with such awe and amazement that I thought the novelty was sure to wear off. But he loved every second of it.

Barrett's First Disney World Picture

Sharing Honey with Pooh Bear

Notice The No Climbing Sign ... Oops!

After a few character pictures, it was time to go shopping. And try on hats ... apparently:

What. Is. On. My. Head?!?!

Not Amused

Mom! Did you put a HEADBAND on me?!?!

Dancing Time ... After A Long Day of Travel and Excitement!

The next day was Magic Kingdom Day! We started the day at Chef Mickeys to meet all of the characters. I thought he might be afraid of the huge, oversized characters, but he loved them! He was a little unsure about each of them as they approached us, but he ended up giving each of them hugs, high fives, and kisses. (Especially Minnie ... who apparently is his current favorite. He spent most of the week pointing to anything that could possibly look like Minnie Mouse while yelling "MINnnie! MIIINNNnnnie!")

Looking at Pluto as He Comes to our Room

Mickey Waffles!

"Pew-Pew"

Kissing "BICKKKey"

Posing with "Ish"

(How he gets "Ish" out of "Goofy" ... I"ll never know!)

Waiting for Minnie with Gamma

"MINNNie!" Barrett's First Girlfriend

Kisses for Minnie

Then we took off to the Magic Kingdom ....

So Excited!

Little Unsure About the Parade on Main Street

Watching the Parade

Our First Ride: Winnie the Pooh

More Pooh Bear Honey

Pooh Bear's House

Favorite Lunch at "Be Our Guest"...

Lunch Giggles

...The Beauty and the Beast Castle

Poppy and Barrett

After an eventful day, we had to head back to the hotel for a nap ... and then back to the park for fireworks and some last minute rides and character pictures! (With no crowds!)

Little blurry ... but I love This Picture

Projector Presentation on the Magic Kingdom Behind Us
Mickey Actually Runs Across the Castle

What's Happening?

He LOVED Making Dumbo Go Up and Down

Waiting for It's a Small World ... Round 1

With Goofy and Daddy

High Fives for Donald

Electrical Light Parade!

The next day we visited the Animal Kingdom. None of us had been there before, so we really didn't know what to expect. We had so much fun there! We went to some fun shows, saw animals, and got to visit more characters! It was a nice change of pace from the hustle-and-bustle of the day before.

Watching The Lion King with an Elephant

One Last Picture with Mickey

Poppy loves the Bear Necessities. Not necessarily The Jungle Book ... just the Bear Necessities song. My sister even surprised him at her wedding by adding it to the end of their father/daughter dance. If you knew my dad, you would know why he wanted to take Barrett to visit the Jungle Book characters. (And there was no line ... hmmmm ... wonder why!) The result, however, was some of my favorite pictures of the whole vacation!

Is Poppy Going to GIVE Me to the Bear?

Maybe Mommy Will Save Me!

The Animal Kingdom also had Barrett's favorite activity: Finding Nemo The Musical. He sat for 45 minutes and watched, clapped, pointed to new characters, reached for bubbles, and asking for "Bruce" the shark after he left the stage. To say he was mesmerized would be an understatement.

"MeeeMO! MeeeMO!"

Playing Until Show Time

Family Self Portrait

Still Waiting ... Kisses for Little B

Entertaining Ourselves

Watching Nemo Live on Stage

Catching Bubbles

Before we left, we had a few more characters to visit that we hadn't met yet. One of Barrett's favorite bedtime books is a Winnie The Pooh Book, so we had to!