Day 2 in Disney

On day 2 we used our Magic Morning pass to get into the park nice and early, Magic Morning allows you to go into the park an hour before the park opens, which was awesome, our first stop was It's a Small World which had a killer line the day before, we walked right on.  After that we hit up Dumbo again and the carrousel before Marc and I made our rounds to get our Fast Passes for the adult rides.  My parents were coming in that day so left Riley with them and we went back to the park at night to ride some rides that Riley couldn't go on.  We also hit up Buzz Lightyear ride, which surprisingly Riley loved, she even knew who Buzz was and she has only watched "Toy Story" once. 

On It's a Small World

Dumbo Round 2!

Even Mommy loves the Dumbo ride

Best picture ever - Fist bump with daddy

Happiest Place on Earth

Getting her groove on in California Adventure

Ladybug Twirly ride

They had a little band playing at California Adventure, of course Riley took the opportunity to dance!

After we got Riley settled that night Marc and I went back to ride Space Mountain, Maderhorn, Autopia and California Soarin'.  So much fun!  The park was lit beautifully, though we were a bit frustrated that pretty much all of California Adventure shuts down for some water show, it was pretty annoying, so we spent most of the evening over in Disneyland.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle all lit up

Magic Kingdom - Day 1

Our first day at Disneyland was Christmas day, I was expecting the worst, packed house but it wasn't too bad.  Of course the park was gorgeous, as it was all decorated for the holidays.  The weather certainly made it feel a lot wintery!

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom!

Main Street Disney

Sleeping Beauty's Castle looking very wintery!

With Mommy at Disneyland

First trip to Disneyland for both of these people!

First ride every at Disneyland - Peter Pan!

The anticipation is too much!

Next ride - Dumbo!

It's Minnie Mouse!

After Riley's nap we headed over to California Adventure - there was a dance show starring Mickey that Riley loved!

Go Mickey, go Mickey!

Disney Bound!

We headed down to LA for a week long stay on Christmas Eve, the drive wasn't too bad, it took us about 7 hours to get down to our hotel with a stop for lunch.  Not too bad for traveling with a toddler (thank goodness she's still in diapers or I am sure it would have taken a lot longer).  Riley even slept for about 2 hours of the drive and then was perfectly happy watching the Muppets over and over again.  We checked into our hotel mid-afternoon and got settled.  Riley immediately got cozy on the bed. 

The bed is now Riley's!

We decided after our last trip that we would try our hand at getting a suite, we found the Hyatt had just remodeled and they now have suites, including kid suites which have bunk beds in a separate room, Riley is too young for that type of room but it would be very cool in the future when she is older.  So far the suite has worked out well, we put Riley to bed in her pack n play in the bedroom and then Marc and I can hang out in the living room until we're ready for bed.  The only problem is, Riley hasn't been sleeping as long as she normally does with late bedtimes and early wake-ups, this morning she was up at 5:30 in the morning and ready to go, asking for Minnie.  Hopefully she will sleep well when we get back and she's in her own bed, I think she might be getting a little big for her pack n play so we might need to come up with another alternative soon!

More to come on our time at the Magic Kingdom!

All Aboard Choo Choo Train

Riley has been obsessed with saying "All aboard choo choo train" lately, it's a song that comes on sometimes after Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse and lately she just wants me to fast forward to the end of Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse to see if her Choo Choo Train song is on.  She hasn't seen it all that much so I'm thinking maybe they play it at school too.  2 days later and about 10 episodes of Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse we still didn't find the song so I decided to check online, you can find everything there right?  :)  Sure enough there on YouTube was her song from "Choo Choo Soul,"  Riley isn't so much interested in the rest of the song, just the beginning.  Marc and I were cracking up, this is the one video he got where I wasn't dying from laughter! :)  Riley has MAD dance moves!

Sentences

Riley began speaking in sentences about a week ago and it is SUPER fun.  Not only is it adorable to hear her little voice but it's so fun to listen to what she's putting together.  Some of her favorites:

"Go away rain" (Which she's been saying A LOT this weekend!)
"[Blank] where are you?" (Blank can be filled by Mommy, Daddy, Soccer, Baby, etc.)
She often follows the above question with "I'm here" or "You there" or "Over there"
"Doggy get down" She's also been known to insert a friend's name in place of Doggy and yes Sassy has been replaced with doggy
"All aboard choo choo train"
"Haka over" (Hanukkah is over)
"Put in bag" (as in her art work from school that she handed me when I picked her up yesterday)
"It up here" (as in my chapstick that she brought downstairs for me and put it on the table.  She wanted me to know where she put it.  So thoughtful!)

Needless to say, Marc and I are LOVING this communication!

Rain Rain Go Away!

OCD?

I'll let you be the judge! This is the handy work of Little Miss Riley!

I got home from my business trip around Noon yesterday so I picked Riley up around 3:30 to spend a little extra time with her since I had been gone. She was so ecstatic to see me that she was EXTREMELY agreeable so I went with it and offered an early bath which meant early into her pjs and early into her slippers, and since she was just so happy that I was home she went with it even though it meant no outside. I took her little jumper out and told her she could ride her bicycle in the house so she was happy. I looked down a few minutes later and asked her where her slippers went and where Mr. Potato Head's feet were and she pointed to the stairs. We always leave our shoes on the stairs since we no longer wear shoes in the house, so Riley took her slippers (and Mr. Potato Head's feet) and lined them up ever so nicely next to Marc's slippers. (She also lines up her shoes very nicely in her closet each night.) Because even the almost-two year old knows that you don't wear shoes in the jumper, not even YaYa or Mr. Potato Head!

20th...

Riley hit her 20th trip wine tasting this weekend. My dad was in town and our favorite winery was having a release party so we headed over to Mitchell Katz Winery which is always kid friendly. Riley made friends with two little boys and I began talking to their mom and we exchanged numbers so hopefully another trip to Mitchell Katz with new friends is in our future! YaYa came with us too, she seems to be going a lot of places with us lately, I better try to find another one because her arm is starting to tear! Riley was the hit of the tasting event, after being the only person dancing to the live music, all of the older women LOVED her, one lady gave her a bracelett that she was wearing and her daughter tried to get Riley to try on her Gucci sunglasses (which Riley has no business touching!). It was a great time with good wine, great weather, and Riley's first serenade!

Peppy

My dad came up for a visit this weekend and Riley had an absolute blast with her Peppy (although when Riley says it, it comes out Poppy). Peppy went to gymnastics with us and Riley was completely showing off for him, she even sat the whole time in circle time. She woke up Sunday morning and before she even said good morning to me she went straight for her Peppy. Riley has started speaking in sentences (very exciting!) and her new favorite is "[blank] where are you?" I'm off on a business trip this week and Monday morning after yelling "Mommy where are you?" and when her searches failed, who did Riley look for next, her Peppy! Poor girl, she's probably super confused by the fact that we both went missing. Riley was all too eager to climb up on the couch for some photo ops with Peppy instead of sitting in her chair for her 23 month picture! Here are some pictures of Riley and Peppy, can you see the love? :)

Refurbished

One of Riley's Hanukkah presents from my parents was a cradle for her baby. My mom refurbished the cradle that I had for my baby doll when I was a little girl and had some adorable bedding made. Riley (and "YaYa") are too very lucky little girls!

23 Months!

Our girl is getting big!

Bicycle

I worked at home on Thursday because I wasn't feeling well and since I had an hour web cast in the morning I decided to put together Riley's new storage bin for her toys (yes, she got too many Hanukkah presents) and also her new tricycle. Riley calls it a bicycle but that's just semantics. Poor girl is still a little short for it but it doesn't stop her...

Riley likes to make fun of me by saying "outside, no. outside, no." Apparently, I say "no" a lot to her requests to go outside, but to my defense, it's been either dark or raining when she asks, so this video is proof to Marc that I do say yes!

Warmth and Beauty

This is why I love Hanukkah so much, I love the warmth and beauty that comes from a fully lit Menorah on the last night!

8 Crazy Nights!

Whelp, I had every intention of blogging about Hanukkah as it passed by but somehow life got in the way, so here we go a summary of 8 crazy nights! Riley loved Hanukkah, I'm not really surprised, because Riley loves everything in life in general. Hanukkah was a ton of fun this year. We tried to get Riley to say "Hanukkah" but it became more of "Hakakaka," which became our holiday favorite.

Here are half of Riley's presents! She made out like a bandit! Riley took to Hanukkah very quickly, at dinner she would pick up her plate and say "All done. Hakakaka?"

So here goes, Hanukkah in review:

One the first night of Hanukkah, Riley got - Mr. Potato Head. This was probably one of the bigger hits of Hanukkah, who knew that the $7 toy from the 70s would be such a hit!?!

And from Nanna and Peppy - a new purse!

And from Uncle Edwin and Aunt Jill:

On the second night:

On the third night:

On the fourth night we made Hanukkah dinner:

































On the fifth night - clothes!














On the sixth night - clothes for YaYa!













On the seventh night - more clothes!













On the last night - a tricycle!


On the seventh night I was holding Riley as I lit the candles and said the blessings, as I recited the ancient prayers she put her head on my shoulder. I had a moment then, a realization, that this is what life is about. Here we were, standing in our home in Dublin, my daughter in my arms, my husband by my side, doing what our people have been doing for thousands of years, and one day I hope that Riley is standing in her kitchen with her son or daughter in her arms, lighting the candles and saying the very same blessings and that she can feel that same warmth coming from the Menorah, our traditions, and the pure feeling of content that comes from feeling your child pressing up against you. So more so than ever, Hanukkah continues to be my favorite holiday!