Mickey'll Make It Better

My last blog was written the day before we were heading to Disney with Payton for the first time, at that moment she was perfectly healthy. Somehow over the course of the night that changed. Drastically. Unbeknowst to me, she woke Jason up a few times in the night, and eventually ended up in our bed and at 4:30 we were all up for the day to learn that she had a pretty good temperature and was sick as a dog. Being the stellar parents that we are, we pumped her full of ibuprofen and strapped her in the car seat. I was apprehensive, suggesting that maybe we put off leaving at least until later in the day, when Payton answered "Mickey'll make it better." With that we headed off.

She was a trooper, never complaining a bit through the drive or the 8 hours that we kept her going through Animal Kingdom. She even had a good time for the most part, and some moments she had a great time. We probably shouldn't have started with the 3D Bug's Life movie, it just about brought the poor kid to tears. She was begging to get out of there as the bugs were spitting at us and the exterminator was coming at us with bug spray, never mind the huge spiders dropping out of the ceiling. From there we jumped on the safari ride which was amazing. It was a very cool morning (OK cold), so all of the animals were out and she got to see more than I think you would typically see. She was a little nervous about meeting the characters, but did give Mickey, Minnie and Daffy hugs after waiting in lines to meet each one. She had a blast at the Bone Yard, which is basically a big playground with enormous slides. But, by the end of the day, she was a sad puppy, falling asleep in her stroller before the big parade. I know that she would have loved it, but I just couldn't wake her up to force it on her. So we headed back to the hotel where she was quite content to take a hot bath and snuggle while the other kids headed to the pool.

Day two was off to The Magic Kingdom with more ibuprofen, and it was SO worth it! As we entered there was a show going on at the castle and she was in awe. I have to admit, watching her watch the Princesses and Mickey and Minnie dance and speak kind of brought a tear to my eye. She was so into it, jaw-dropping-into-it. From there we met up with the Bond's and explored the rest of the park. I thought that it would be a good idea to take her on the teacups, what was I thinking! As we stood in line Lea started talking about spinning the cup as hard as she could. I began wondering if Payton would be able to handle it, I had no idea that she'd love it and I'd be the one that couldn't handle the spinning. It was almost time for the big event, lunch with the princesses. But before we could get to the castle, we had a 45 minute wait to see Tigger and Pooh. I really didn't think that she knew who they were, but she was bound and determined to see them, waiting and waiting and waiting. She was thrilled when we finally made it and gave them lots of hugs. And then the moment arrived for the Royal Table Lunch, unfortunately it was about the same moment that the ibuprofen was wearing off, and it was kind of ugly. Miss Payton was rough, very rough. All she wanted was to be held by Mommy and Daddy. She did get her picture taken with each princess and mustered up a smile, but you could see how miserable she was. The princesses all stood back from her, obviously afraid of the germy kid. She wanted so badly to talk to them, she just didn't seem to know what to say. The best line was when she looked at Snow White in amazement and announced to her that she had makeup on, as if it was going to be a big shock to Snow White to learn that someone had snuck it on her. After a while she perked back up and we continued our day heading on to another risky new experience, the roller coaster. Which she amazed me by loving. As we got off she was begging to do it again. It was getting late and was almost time to go. On our way out we were passing the castle as the show was starting. We couldn't help it, we had to sit down and watch it again. This time was even better than the first because it was dark out and the castle was lit up and truly looked magical. I sat down in front of the stroller and had such a great time just watching her face as she watched the show, a toddlers version of Broadway. Ahh, the magic of Disney!

Anticipation

Tomorrow morning at 6 we're headed to Orlando to take Payton to Disney for the first time at 2 years 8 months old. Yes, everyone says it's too young, we're crazy. Well, everyone who doesn't have a 2 year old or a 3 year old who has gone. All of them say, take her, she'll LOVE IT!! Besides, before she's 3 she's still free, and Momma likes a bargain. Wow, can you really talk about Disney and bargains in the same thought??? Anyway...

Miss Payton is excited. Very excited to say the least. We didn't talk about it until after New Year's really because that just would have been too far out for her to deal with. So about 2-3 weeks ago we started talking up the trip. We told her that Mickey would be there, as well as all of the princesses. As we've talked and talked she's had many questions and thoughts about how this is all going to go down. So we've determined that there will in fact be hot dogs there, and juice. These are high priorities to Payton, especially the juice as it's a special occasion drink. We've gone back and forth trying to explain to her that Mickey and the Princesses will talk, she still doesn't 100% believe us on that one. We've had LONG discussions about how Kitty will be traveling, where he will be allowed to go and where he won't. She's bound and determined that he will be with us at the Parks and that Mommy can carry him in the bag, her solution when Daddy expressed concerns that he could be lost. We'll see who wins that battle. So for the last week she's been running around the house in her most excited whisper voice shouting to us that we're gonna see Mickey and THE PRINCESSES!!! As she whisper/shouts this she grins from ear to ear and jumps up and down with arms waving. I don't think a little girl could be any more happy. In fact last night she professed to me again how proud she is of me, for taking her on this trip. Gotta love the kudos from a kid.

This morning she helped me pack her suitcase. And in true female character she piled every pair of shoes she has in the suitcase as well as ribbons and necklaces. I sure hope she forgives me when we get there tomorrow and instead finds only 3 pairs of shoes and 5 outfits. I may be a mom, but I'm still a girl too, of course she's overpacked! It's about 3 pm as I'm writing this and I think that MAYBE packing at 10 this morning was a bad idea, because every since we finished she's been dragging the suitcase around telling me that it's time to go.

Payton's Top 10 Recent Lines

1. You are a boy and a man.
2. DARCEEEEEE
3. Marmar's a woman, mommy's a woman.
4. Daddy calls you Darcee, I call you Mommy?
5. One, Two, Four, Five, Four, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, TEN
6. Here's the deal...
7. Pink - This is an answer to ANY question. Name, age, what's wanted from Santa...
8. Finish it up
9. What color is that?
10. I wanna go inside (outside really)!

Grandpa's Playhouse

I can't even start to describe how much fun it was to have Grandma & Grandpa Orr, Colin, Robynn and Addy here for Christmas, but let me give it a shot. First of all Payton spent the week leading up to everyone's arrival begging for ADD-EE to get here, she would practically break out in tears when I'd tell her it would be another day or hour or minute. It was a rough week, the anticipation of Santa and the family is really trying on a girl at 2 1/2. Parker had no clue what a great week was in store for her, but she has spent quite a bit of time since they left wondering why we abuse her so allowing her to occasionally not be held.

The week started out with Payton riding in the car for 4 1/2 hours with G & G explaining to them that Grandpa is a boy and a man, over and over and over. 30 minutes into the drive they called me in my car asking where the off button was. I just laughed, and hung up so that they could continue the chat with her. See, I had a plan. I knew that riding in the car with the babies could be difficult, surely some crying would happen, but that they would eventually sleep. Payton on the other hand was likely to stay awake and at full volume the entire way. And she did.

At last, we arrived at "Grandpa's Playhouse" as the rental house in the Key's became know. And the party began! The girls were kind of a love triangle, but the love seemed to go all 3 directions. Parker was entertained by anything Payton and Addy did. Addy and Payton loved to put on a show for Parker. Payton was finally the big girl, and loved her role as ring leader/boss. Addy thought the baby was very interesting and that Payton was pretty bossy but also very exciting. There was a lot of screaming, laughing, singing and giggling. Very few naps were had and lots of emotions were expressed (loudly), and we loved most every minute of the trip! It was feeling very un-Christmas like as we sweat outside during the day, but Payton did spot Santa taking a break on the streets of Key West three days before Christmas. I really can't imagine how he had the time, but I suppose he has "people" to take care of the chaos before the big trip so he was just out enjoying an afternoon stroll.

Eventually we had to come back to reality and started the 6 hour trip home (yes it took MUCH longer to get home). This seems to be the part of the trip that Payton remembers. When I ask her to tell people what we did in the Key's she always tells them we went to the park. Well, the park was actually just one of MANY stops on the way home, but was where we decided to have lunch. Kids are funny that way.

So, by the time we got home we had started to remind Payton that Santa would soon be arriving. Christmas Eve she went to bed after helping me set out Oreo's and milk for Santa without putting up a fight. We really talked it up with her and thought she'd be racing downstairs early in the morning. Jackie and Mom and Dad arrived early to be here for all of the fun of the girls all seeing Santa's goodies. But the silly kid must have forgotten by morning, because instead of running for the stairs, she crawled in our bed and asked for cartoons. I suppose it was a good thing allowing everyone to get themselves together a bit, but being a Santa junkie myself I had a really hard time relating. Caillou vs Santa, Santa ALWAYS wins in my book! Finally we had to remind her and headed for the stairs. She was excited to check out the pile, but after surveying the situation, decided that she needed to go potty before diving in. Once again, I question her dedication to this whole Santa thing. Have I already failed as a parent?? SO, AFTER a potty break, the fun began. She opened and opened, as Santa was very generous. I have to take a break here to mention that Addy and Parker were also present at this Christmas, but they were not quite old enough to really grasp the whole event. Addy TOTALLY loved her sun glasses, and is quite the groovy chic in them. Parker got a way cool dinosaur with super cool balls that still seems to be a big hit in our house, but she was more concerned about getting her breakfast in than opening gifts. From here I'll let the photos tell the story.