Day at Kennywood

First ride of the day



Belly shot of Vin and I waiting in line for the second ride.


"This thing moves!"


And the terror begins.


Waiting in line for the Merry-Go-Round






It's hard to believe we've been in Pittsburgh for two years now and that this was our third Pittsburgh company picnic at Kennywood. The first year I was 12 weeks or so pregnant with Vin, last year Vin was 5 months and pretty miserable the entire time (if you remember the blog post he was exhausted). So this year we were looking forward to actually riding some rides with Vin and having a good time. Unfortunately, things didn't quite turn out as we hoped.

Vin rode three rides before he was DONE with rides. The first ride Jason took him on he moderately enjoyed. Then I took him on a baby type of roller coaster - he enjoyed this ride until the speed picked up and then he kept saying "All done!" "Okay?" "All done!" Okay?" Little did he know that Mommy did not control when the ride was over and he had three minutes of torture ahead of him. Then we hit the Merry-Go-Round in hopes that Vin would perk up since he loved the Merry-Go-Round at Idlewild. Once again he enjoyed it until it started and then he was less than enthused.

After we decided to try to get Vin to nap by giving him milk and then walking him briskly around the park while he relaxed in his stroller. It was a hot day and I quickly became overheated (it doesn't take much these days). So we tried to find a quiet place to sit so Vin could nap and I could rest. It wasn't so easy finding a quiet place in a amusement park (the nerve). So we kept walking and walking and walking. Then the contractions began. They started out mild but within 10 minutes they were strong enough to bring tears to my eyes and the walking came to quick halt. I had contractions for a good hour and they were right on top of each other. I didn't have contractions like that with Vin until I was in labor. They finally stopped and we were able to "enjoy" the rest of our day at Kennywood. We had to stay until 3:00 for the mandatory Bingo with co-workers. We left the park shortly after that was over.

And so here's to next year and to hopes that maybe we will be able to enjoy the company picnic a bit more.

Playing on the Deck

I still don't have other pics of the house to put up but maybe later this weekend. For now here are some pictures of Vin enjoying the deck. I couldn't get a good smile out of him no matter how I tried.

Vin's Twin Sized Bed

We made our big move this past Saturday. Pictures and curtains still need to go up but we are pretty much settled. We had a bunch of friends helping us so the move went quickly and was pleasant. I had been working on moving stuff (small stuff) over all week so I had the kitchen, bathroom, playroom, and Vin's room all set up before our big move on Saturday.


Jason picked up Vin's new mattress Friday afternoon. Vin was very excited about it and kept yelling "Vinnie's Bed, Vinnie's Bed!!!" Friday night we put him down in his new bed and explained he had to stay in his bed and go to sleep (ha, ha). We went downstairs and after a few minutes we heard the pitter patter of little feet running around upstairs and squeals of delight. So we proceeded to go upstairs, put him back in his bed and told him it was time to go to sleep and no more getting out of bed. This happened two more times before we decided to gate off his room. (he already knows how to open the door). Then we heard him crying at the gate and we decided to give him a few minutes to figure things out. 20 minutes later we checked on him and he had climbed in his bed and was fast asleep. Later that night before we went to bed we checked on him and he had rolled halfway off the bed but was still sleeping (pictured above). He slept through the night with no problem. The next night was even easier and now he's sleeping in his bed like a true big boy.

I will post some pictures of the house later today.

Last Night in Crib

Tomorrow night we move into our new place and Vin will move into his big boy bed. Will keep you updated on how he does with the transition as I'm sure it will be an interesting one.

Here are some pictures of his first and last night in his crib.

Belly shot 24 weeks

Falsetto Expert

The end of this video is the best - he really hits those high notes. Unfortunately, it sounds nothing like the song. Maybe he'll play an instrument or from the sound of his tone maybe he'll be a painter. Just teasing. I'm proud as can be of his "Daddy-esk" singing.

Also note how he maliciously attacks the camera cord while saying “Oh, oh”.

Idlewild!

Jason took the day off yesterday and we went to Idlewild (a local amusement park) with Tim, Amy and Isaac. It was a day full of fun and Vin is still recovering this morning. Here are some shots from the day. I think Vin's favorite time was in the waterpark, which we didn't get any pictures of. It's just too hard to lug a camera around in a waterpark.



Fun in Storybook Forest

Jason taking Vinnie down his first slide of the day

Where did Daddy go?

There he is! Silly Daddy!

I think I had just as much fun as he did.

He didn't like this one so much. Tried to climb back up to Jason.

Amy and I taking the boys down the slide

How in the World are We Supposed to Find our Way?

I've started putting Vin on the potty and we've had a few success's here and there but mostly a lot of messes. So what? I don't care about the messes because I figure the earlier we start the better.

Maybe he won't train for six months or longer. It doesn't matter. There's no pressure. Just a little white potty chair, lots of book reading, and talk of pee pee and the like. So far he digs it. He "goes" on the potty several times a day and last week he communicated twice he had to go and then went on the potty. Today I picked up a few books from the library to get an idea on what the next steps of training should be. I got through the intro of two books and was bombarded by more child led parenting philosophy stuff. Then I looked on the Internet - more of the same.

Those of you who were potty trained under 28 months did you know you have deep psychological wounds from you parents training you before you are ready? Did you know you harbor deep seated embarrassment and negative feelings regarding the potty and all the related functions? Well, you do and in order to avoid passing these horrible wounds on to your children you should wait until they are fully ready to potty train.

I was trained by 18 months and I guess it's a miracle I can "go" today without crying from all the horrible potty training memories. I think it's all hooey. I personally don't care if a parent wants to wait until their child walks up and taps them on the shoulder and says "Excuse me Mom/Dad but I would like to be potty trained now." But please stop telling me I'm an insensitive parent because I place my 17 month on the potty chair.

I attended a seminar a few months ago on Child Led Parenting. In a nutshell the theory is, is that we need to be empathetic when our children throw tantrums or disobey. When they throw a tantrum the procedure is to get down on their level and speak in Toddlerease until they understand that we understand their frustration. Once they realize we are on their side they tantrum will stop and all will be well in toddler world.

The speaker at the seminar actually demonstrated the procedure for us on a toddler size doll. "YOU WANT CANDY!" "YOU WANT CANDY NOW!" "YOU WANT!" "YOU WANT!"
YOU WANT CANDY!" She went on and on hollering at the doll demonstrating her superb empathy and understanding of toddler behavior. She gave example after example of how our timeouts and discipline of tantrums and other poor behavior is squishing our children and ruining them for years to come. And spanking? Well, that's just outright abuse.

I don't know much about parenting with so little experience behind me but something just doesn't seem right about that, though I did try it once and Vin just screamed louder. So yes, we used the horrible "cry-it-out" method to teach Vin how to teach himself to fall asleep, we took away his paci at eight months, his bottle at eleven, we use timeouts and in cases of egregious disobedience we spank. Now we further our torture with potty training. At least Vin will have plenty to talk to his therapist about.

All the No's...

Yes, I know we shouldn't encourage him but he had a case of the "no's" before his nap today so what do we do? Capture it on video, of course.

Going for a walk

Finally made it!


And then he's off again


We found a great trail called the Montour Trail. It extends 40 miles all around Pittsburgh, so I guess it shouldn't have been very hard to find but we are just now discovering it. Here are some pictures from our walk yesterday.

Some pictures Jason took today

Happy 4th Everyone!

I convinced Jason that we should wake Vinnie up at 9:15 p.m. tonight and drag him over to see our local fireworks. It was a 50/50 idea. Could have turned out disastrous but fortunately we all had a great time. It took Vin a few minutes to warm up to the loud booming but once he got past that it was all "Whoas" and "Bravos" (Jason taught him that one - so cute) and "More Please". What a great time we had! Now we're back, Vinnie is fast asleep, Jason is playing a quick game of MLB Baseball, and I decided to do a post.


First here's a look back at Vin watching the fireworks last year....

2007


2007



Now for this year (Note the existence of a 'blankie' in most of the pictures below. It is a bond few could break.)


Pre-show fun...













The Show Begins!

Terrified by the loud booming




Interested but still not sure













Now he's digging it








A tad bit cranky during the walk home