Birthday Party

For the first time, we had Will's party somewhere other than our house and invited kids from school.  We ended up with 9 kids:  3 buddies from school (Liam, Blake and Ryan); 2 neighbors (Dylan and Tyler); and 4 work friends (Ava, Hannah, Colin and Carter).   Will chose the cake from the book at Target.  I think he just wanted the Dusty Crophopper toy that came on top!  We gave bubble sticks as party favors and ordered labels that had the other Disney Planes movie planes on them. 

Did I mention we not only had it outside of the house, but we had it at Chuck E. Cheese?!  Arriving at the party was the first time I had been inside a CEC.  It seemed smaller than I remember Showbiz Pizza Place being when I was a kid.  But, I'm taller now, so they're probably the same.   The party was on a weekday evening, and we were the majority of the guests which was great! 

Each kid got a cup of tokens to ride rides and play games before and after dinner and cake.  I barely saw Will all night, since he was off playing with his friends or Uncle Ryan.  The two-plus hours went so fast that we didn't even use all the tokens and we didn't redeem the tickets for toys that night.  Will just wanted to get home before bed and unwrap his presents!

 

 Will and Uncle Ryan won an extra 1,200 tickets in the Ticket Blaster.  I'm pretty sure 1,185 tickets were collected by Ryan - including a 1,000 point Magic Ticket.   He was finding tickets in his pant legs and sweater throughout the evening.   I'm glad Ryan was a good sport to get into the machine with Will, because he could choose one "friend" and there was a lot of confusion about choosing only one friend.  He wanted all of his buddies to get a chance.

After the blaster we had pizza and cake.  The whole party was well run by our enthusiastic party hostess, Ashley, but there were some tense moments as she moved the cake to get ready for the birthday song and cutting but first there was a "show" on the TV that lasted almost 8 minutes.  That's an eternity when cake is within reach of the kids!

Will added a lot of comic relief when he totally rocked the air guitar with his balloon guitar.  Chuck E. was very impressed.   Then finally it was time to blow out the candles (which took about 5 blows) and then chocolate and/or yellow cake for everyone!

Will told me his birthday cake wish was to have his party at Chuck E. Cheese every year!  I'm certainly not opposed to another party there - especially with the awesome Wednesday night crowds!  We do have to go back sometime to use the rest of our tokens and to cash in his points from birthday night.   It was a relatively affordable and super fun night, and the birthday boy and his friends LOVED it.  He was well loved by his friends, who all got him presents that he loved:  4 sets of Legos, Planes, puzzles and Transformers.  He's been busy working on Legos ALL DAY today. 

Stats for the Baby Book

Since I started writing and printing this blog, I gave up on any plans for a baby book or scrapbooks.  It's been a great stress relief actually!  But when I print my posts each year, it doesn't take any of the sidebar information.   I almost lost it messing around with templates, so I will memorialize the baby book stats here for my records:

• Birth: 7 lbs, 10 oz, 19.5 inches
• 1 Month: 9 lbs, 5 oz, 22.25 inches
• 2 Months: 11 lbs, 8 oz, 23.5 inches
• 4 Months: 14 lbs, 7 oz, 25.5 inches
• 6 Months: 16 lbs, 2 oz, 26.0 inches
• 9 Months: 18 lbs, 6 oz, 28.5 inches
• 12 Months: 20 lbs, 8 oz, 29.25 inches
• 15 Months: 22 lbs, 14 oz, 31.75 inches
• 18 Months: 24 lbs, 4 oz, 31.75 inches
• 21 Months: 25 lbs, 6 oz, not measured
• 24 Months: 26 lbs, 4 oz, 33.5 inches
• 30 Months: 29 lbs, 4 oz, 36.5 inches
• 3 Years: 31 lbs, 36.5 inches
• 4 years: 33 lbs, 39 inches
• 5 years: 38 lbs, 41 inches

Birthday Boy

Word can barely express how much William is loved!  He is such a great little person, and his daddy and I love watching and guiding his growth.  There are so many things we want to do and places we want to go so we can share them with him.  These two pictures are a great show of his personality!  He has a wonderful smile (and laugh) and is a real sweetheart!

The top picture was a relaxing snow day where we enjoyed our homemade cappuccino and hot chocolate while coloring and watching Disney Jr.  Will and I have a great weekend routine that involves sleeping in, making brunch, and lounging around.  Sure, sure, we get out and play or go places, but we sure do enjoy downtime on the weekends after going hard all week!

The bottom picture shows two of Will's loves:  avoiding bedtime and building things!  Almost everything he builds is a vehicle or weapon, and he's always got a very inventive backstory to share about it, or an adventure to go on.  I'm excited for him to learn to read so he can start getting lost in books the same way he gets lost in his stories!    

Gymnastics Session 1

This week was the last day of Will's first session of gymnastics.   He now has two weeks off while the gym moves to a new facility.  The next session will run weekly until school starts in August.   To be honest, I don't think gymnastics is the best value for the sports money for us, but I didn't want to stop after just one session.   We'll see how this summer session goes and then reevaluate whether he continues or not, but he doesn't seem to learn as quickly as swimming or have as much fun as soccer.

My biggest complaints are that there is not enough focus on tumbling for this age group and that there is too much standing around. Will's boys only class is already trying all the men's gymnastic events like pommel horse, rings and vault.  I want him to learn how to do cartwheels!  I also want him to be moving during most of the class.  Since they're working on the equipment, one boy works with the coach and the other 3 or 4 are usually causing a ruckus off to the side. 

His score card:

FLOOR

• Cartwheel over block
• Forward roll down wedge
• Backward roll down wedge

POMMEL HORSE

• Jump to front support (needs improvement)
• Half circle concept on mushroom

RINGS

• 5 swings at 45 degrees
• Tuck hung
• Inverted hang with assistance

VAULT

• Stretch jump onto mat
• Stick landing from block

PARALLEL BARS

• 5 swings using block
• Tuck support hold (needs improvement)

HORIZONTAL BAR

• Jump to support 3 times on a low bar
• Swing with re-grasp (needs improvement)
• Hold chin over bar 3 seconds (needs improvement)

Blackhawks Hockey

I went to my first hockey game this weekend as part of a client outing in the company suite.  This was the first game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference finals between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings.  We didn't know until late Friday night who would have home ice (depending on the winner of the Kings-Ducks series), so it was up in the air whether our tickets would be for Sunday afternoon or next Friday night.   Since the Kings won, the Hawks get to host the first two games as the higher seed. 

The game was thrilling, and we were sitting on the edge of our seats for all three periods.  This is a far cry from the Bulls games when we go and we mostly stand inside the suite eating and chatting!  The biggest surprise to me was how often they clean the ice.  As someone who has never been on an ice rink, I didn't think about how much ice chips up while they play.  The "ice crew" of scantily clad ladies scooped up ice shards with shovels and put it into their wagon.  There were also fully dressed men who helped scrape it to the edges, but the ladies were the ones who shoveled it up.  The zambonis came out during each intermission.

After the game, the Hawks lined up to congratulate each other.  None of the shaking hands with the opponent like you see in amateur sports.   The Kings just sort of disappeared back into the tunnel, I guess. 

The final score was 3-1 for a Blackhawks victory.  There was also a fourth goal that was taken away.  Each of the four Blackhawks scores (or almost scores) sent the United Center crowd into a frenzy.  The celebration was amazing!  I didn't even notice when the Kings had scored - that one didn't get as much attention! The other neat part was the final 3 minutes or so when the score was 3-1 so the Kings goalie left the net unattended to play offense hoping that 6 on 5 would result in a Kings score, since that was their only chance to attempt to tie or win.  Luckily the Hawks were able to play effective defense and prevent any more scores. 

Liam's Birthday Party

This weekend went so fast!  Will had his regular gymnastics on Saturday morning and then Liam's birthday party in the afternoon.   It was at Odyssey Fun World where we had a play date this winter.  it was the first time he had invited any school friends besides Will.  These five boys play together at school all the time.  Liam and Will move up to a new class in June and then will head off to kindergarten.  The three other boys have another year of pre-kindergarten since they have fall birthdays.

 Blake, Ryan, Jacob, William and Liam

Blake, William and Ryan enjoyed playing air hockey.  Will liked to act as the go between making sure the puck didn't get stuck in the middle.  Ryan looks like he just got scored on and is bending down to fish the puck out of the return slot.   Jason stayed home to install the new microwave and a few more cabinets, so I got to chat with the other parents and hold Liam's baby sister while the bigger kids played.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, Will's teachers put together a cook book with "Recipes from the Heart."  The inside cover had Will's handprints and his name.  The first page (of my book) was the recipe that I sent in.   I didn't catch on that the recipe request was for a Mother's Day project, so I'm glad I sent one in!  This recipe is the perfect representation of the two of us in the kitchen.  We love to make pancakes and berry sauce, and if you zoom in on the picture you can see my commentary about Will helping and how to eat the leftovers! 

 

 

Radiator Springs Racers Photopass

Also known as, the progression of Will's fear of this ride.  The first few were a little shaky, but he loved it by the end.  We rode six times during the week, but I only see five photos. 

Character Meals Photopass

We had dinner at Goofy's Kitchen on our arrival day and breakfast at Mickey's Surf's Up Breakfast on our non-park day.  Both were a lot of fun with and a great opportunimty to collect signatures in the autograph book.  Now that I have the Photopass CD, I can print the pictures to match up next to the signatures.

 

Disney California Adventure Photopass

Cars Land was AWESOME!  In addition to the photos of us, our CD included bonus stock photos.  I have included a few here to get the real scope of the detail.  It was the reason we went to Disneyland, since it's unique to California.  We're really glad we got to see it all and that we learned the ropes of how to deal with the crowds there!  I also really liked Paradise Pier, which a lot of bloggers don't because they say it isn't "Disney" enough.  I thought it was a nice change of pace and had some fun rides (plus the always popular Toy Story Midway Mania) and good food and beer!

Disneyland Park Photopass

That's right; matching shirts!  What better way to spend your first day in Disneyland?!

In our quest to check off EVERY attraction - even the ones in Toontown - we waited in line with a sleepy boy on a hot Friday afternoon to see Sorcerer Mickey in his dressing room.  We told him how excited we were to see him that night in Fantasmic; he enthusiastically agreed it would be an awesome show!  So funny how an adult and a character that doesn't talk can have an entire conversation!  Our next stop after this was for Will to sleep on my lap while I watched the Mr. Lincoln show.