Birthday Wishes & Free Ice Cream

How can it be that two years have gone by?! Our baby is a becoming a little man. What an amazing miracle to watch grow before me every day! To show off his two-year-oldness he tried to diaper his monkey and sit him on the potty this morning. Oh what an interesting year it will be.

We are looking forward to celebrating his birthday this weekend with some family and friends. We actually have quite a crowd coming, which includes LOTS of little kids. Yikes. I'm hoping we will have enough fun, food, space and toys to keep everyone happy. Better get more beer for the adults. . .

McDonalds wanted to celebrate Nathan's actual birthday though. We went to get some lunch on the way back from the dr's (nice, huh?) and at the window the woman offered us an ice cream sundae. For Free! I don't know if it was an extra, an all day freebie everyone is entitled to or just a lucky birthday surprise, but the three of us enjoyed the sweet afternoon treat. (We need it on a hot spring day like today. Sorry NY'ers with your 3" of snow. We've got shorts and T's on! And my peonies are growing!)

This afternoon we expect a box from Amazon containing some surprise gifts for the birthday boy. I think he's really going to like what's in store for him!

Vegas in Review

It's been a few weeks now but I promised a Vegas review. So let's go back...

When you go away part of the experience (for me at least) is the weather wherever you are going. The weather in Vegas was pretty much the same there as it was here. That's not bad, it just wasn't different. And it's usually hot there. It was not. I missed out on pool time since we didn't have the sweltering heat that is the norm.

So when we arrived Monday afternoon it didn't feel like we were anywhere different without the sun beating down on us. But when we arrived at The Flamingo and walked in the doors, the scents and sounds wrapped themselves around us and then, finally, it felt we had arrived. I don't know what it is that makes the smell so distinctive (other than the smoke everywhere - ick) but something about it brings back the fond memories of past visits and we were very happy to be there!

The first thing we did after checking in was take a walk down the strip. There were many new buildings to see, namely City Center. We walked past it all to go to a particular favorite restaurant at the Monte Carlo. The end of that long walk did not result in lunch at our fav spot though. The place changed and we had to settle for a random cafe and free margaritas (we waited forever for our meal. We were starving and unhappy. Tequila has a way of making all things better.) I did win $9 here on slots! Later that evening, our friends Dena and Kent arrived and the party began. We went to the "kick off" party for the convention we were there for (Bar Owners Something or Other). We went to a big ball room where passed or devours and free drinks were flowing. That's how the rest of the trip went for the most part. Lots 'o booze!

We enjoyed our favorite haunts on the strip and managed to stay up until 2am or so. I have no idea how this happens but it's really amazing how we were up this late (5am Eastern Time!) with no problem. But sleeping in was not a success for any of us being on East Coast time still and having kids that basically ruin any ability to sleep late ever again. Booo. But we had much to look forward to. We met for breakfast then headed over to the convention center.

As I said, there was a lot of drink. The whole place was vendors with liquor samples, bar ware, glowing items for your bar, and even a beer garden for Leo, who was in heaven. Being the master brewer at home he picked the brains of the other brewers there and had a great time trying everything out. We all managed to swipe some cool glowy things for the kids - ice cubes with blinking lights, light up straws (or light sabers as we knew they would become) and flashing necklaces. We walked, sampled, walked and sampled. The following day was much of the same. We saw a guy who Dena thought was some rocker from the 80's but he turned out to be a different, less famous rocker, than we thought. No matter, we got pictures with him as well as the painted girls who were quite literally only wearing paint. Hey, it's Vegas. What do you expect?!

The cooooolest part happened by complete chance. Walking around at the start of the first day, Leo ran into an old friend from college, Artie. Artie is a co-publisher of a big magazine and his industry brings him to these events all the time. And he has great connections. Which means we suddenly did too. Artie invited us to his suite at the new building of Planet Hollywood, which was sponsored by Bacardi. We didn't even really know what the heck that meant, but it sounded like fun. So later that night, all dressed up and ready for the Vegas evening, we made it over to the 50th floor penthouse. Woooohoooo! This place was pretty cool. A full kitchen, projector TV, amazing bathroom, bedroom, etc. And the VIEW! He had a 270 view of the strip from way up there. It was awesome! We enjoyed cocktails and company for a while before venturing out again. Thanks Artie!

At that point we split up. We ended up playing slots for a while and just enjoying the night, stopping on the way to watch the Bellagio fountains of course. That's my favorite.

Wednesday night, after day two of the convention, we ventured out once more to see the Cosmopolitan. This new casino/ hotel is quite amazing and my new favorite place ever. It was quite gorgeous with it's leather padded walls, crystal beads, and other intricate designs on every inch of the place. The club there was  just as jaw dropping. But being the end of our trip, and knowing a very early morning was ahead of us, we didn't stay long.

The trip did go fast. But it was a good one. Having a little boy at home waiting for you changes things. I really wanted to get home and hug him! Also, living the Vegas lifestyle, even for a few days, is tiring! Not to mention horrendous for your health. So I was ready to call it quits and get back to the real world. Had there been some pool time though I may have been convinced to stay a day longer . . .  ; )

Bedtime Woes

The last few days were a struggle in our house for several reasons. One: Stupid Day Light Savings. Why?! We don't need to adjust ourselves for the benefit of light anymore - we use electricity not candles these days. Anyway, it was a long night on Sunday. Nathan went to sleep around 11p - very late for everyone even if it still felt like 10p. He has slept in the past few days (9a - which matches his usual 8a routine) but this doesn't really help when I'm still up late trying to get him to bed. The goal is to get him back to a much more normal bedtime soon so the adults have time sans child in the evenings. (Only to have it screwed up again in 6 months!)

Reason Two: The Bed. I moved the toddler bed into Nathan's room on Sunday. Although he was happy to climb in and out of the crib, the more I thought about it the more worried I got about the potential dangers. So in came the new bed where it will be temporarily until the new room is done (soon!). The first nap time resulted in crying, resisting and eventually sleeping on the floor next to the bed. That night we put him in the bed but we found him in the crib the next morning! Yesterdays nap was short but the night seemed to go better. And today, day 3, he ended up settling IN the bed and staying there for his nap which has lasted more than an hour so far. I would say it's a success. So far. I can't go throwing a party yet - we still have to get back to regular sleepy time around here. But in just a few days Nathan seemed to get it. Oh how I hope potty  training clicks in just as well!

Crib Crawler

I've got much to share about our trip to Las Vegas. In short - it was great! But let me tell you about some changes we've encountered since coming home. When we left, Nathan was still sleeping soundly in his crib at night and we didn't worry too much about him getting out. Although he could if he wanted to, he never attempted when we weren't there. Upon our return though, we learned we have a true 2 year old who would much rather be out of his crib than in it. While we were gone, Nathan stayed with Gigi and Grandpa and he did get out of his pack and play several times. But he had done it before since it's much easier to escape. This time though, I'm told he would get out and either make a game out of it ("Haha, look what I can do!") or just sleep somewhere else. My mom told me he was on the floor one night, next to the pack and play, and on the guest bed, all sprawled out in the middle, another night. She caught him snuggling up in the middle of all the big pillows on the bed making himself comfy like a big boy. I wish we had video of that!

And so we knew we would have some different issues when we were all back at home in our own beds again. We managed to sleep in the morning after we all got back and we were soooooo thankful for the catch up of some shut eye. But we had no idea the reason it was so quiet in Nathan's bedroom for so long was because he was busy entertaining himself. Leo opened the door to find him sitting on his bike, very proud of himself for getting out of his crib and playing in his room all morning! He repeated his shennaningans for nap time too. I caught him in the act - he climbs up on the changer next to the bed and climbs down the other side on top of the diaper trash and down. During the nap time adventure we found him sleeping ON TOP of the changer. As if he could only make it so far after climbing in and out so many times before he finally had to rest. This kid is hilarious.

Tonight we are off to a wedding and Amy and Dan will be here with him for a while. We'll see how he is with other people - will he go to bed just fine? Will he be silly and make a game of it? Will he be sitting on the couch watching TV with them when we get back well after his bedtime?! I just know I have to get a move on with his new bedroom. I planned to paint and make it up nice for his transition into the "big boy bed". I can't believe my little baby boy is almost TWO!

OMG I Love LV

So, we're in Las Vegas right now. It's been a few years and there's so much new stuff to see. Also, being parents and not usually visiting anywhere other than local parks and malls, it's exciting to be out and about. As adults. Without a kid. Leo ran into a college friend here at the convention we are attending (more on that later) and he turns out to have mad connections. We're talking Penthouse Suite at Planet Hollywood with a bar 'sponsored' by Bacardi. What? We enjoyed an amazing view of the strip for a a few hours while sipping free cocktails. We truly felt like rockstars. Until our new friend had to go and make an appearance at a club here. They were hopping into a limo while we walked back up the strip in the cold. Well, we enjoyed a glimpse into 'the life'. Leo got a free bottle of some expensive scotch to take home, the guys got free t-shirts from 'school girls' on the strip and now we're deciding what to do at midnight in Vegas. Oh my how I love Las Vegas!