Happy Birthday Little Deet

There it is. Two years old.

When you were born Little Pie, I could have never imagined in a million years making it past three months, much less get to two years. Two years? It was impossible. It would never come.

But yet, January 31, 2010 arrived, so did the arrival of Luke becoming two. Growing up, my mother always spent the morning telling me my "birthday story." Every mother has them: the anecdotes about the birth of your child that are sweet and funny and make you tear up when you remember them. I never imagined having my own stories, I was always the gracious recipient.

So I will happily pass on the tradition - asking everyone such questions like: "Do you remember what we talked about 2 years ago at this time?" and "Do you remember what had just happened 2 years ago at this time?"

And I will now regal anyone who actually reads this with my own personal "birthday stories" as they are truly my favorite part of any birthday celebration.

* Last Meal:
I was scheduled to go in to be induced at 8:30 am, so I wasn't to eat anything that morning. Because the hospital was all filled up, I was told to come in at noon, and eat something light. On the way to the hospital, I was starving, so I dug in my purse and found an old bag of honey roasted peanuts from our flight a month before. I happily ate them. Little did I know, that was my last meal for a good long time.

* Godzilla:
I have never seen anyone's eyes bug out as much as I did when I saw Todd's face after I told the anesthesiologist how much I weighed. YIKES.

* Newbie:
I put on makeup before going to the hospital. I must have been insane. I must have been pregnant for the first time. Instead of being smart and taking adorable (yet enormous) pictures before labor, I took a million awful, make-up streaked pictures after the labor.

* Addictions:
I was so glad that Luke was born at 7:16 am. Why such a great time? Because it was just before breakfast was served and I love love love breakfast. I would often eat double breakfasts when I was pregnant.

* I'm Good, Thanks:
My mother asking if I wanted to see the placenta. No, I'm good, thanks. So she took a picture, and left it in a stack of other sweet, post-labor, horror-film make up pictures. Here - let me show all my friends the charming pictures of: Luke, me and Luke, Luke, me and Todd and my placenta. I'm good, thanks.

*Little Accordion:
From the very beginning, after Luke stopped screaming like a banshee, he began to . . . whistle. Or wheeze? He just sounded like an accordion. Wheezing, whistling and all. I miss those sounds, when I think about them. Mostly he just screams. Or laughs a big belly laugh. If I'm going to replace the accordion with something, a big belly laugh is an acceptable alternative.

Today was Luke's 2nd birthday party as well. Without a doubt, it was a complete "Cars" extravaganza. Those pictures will be coming along shortly. I know there are pictures that I missed that others will have with them - so I'll wait a bit.

Happy birthday, Boy of a Million Nicknames. Happy birthday little deet, little toot, my pie, my little love.

Almost Two.

Luke is almost two. I am already tired of him being two.

And that has been our life.

'Tis the Season

Long before children, long before marriage, in the quiet, simple world of dating, we would take our yearly pilgrimage down to LA to go to Disneyland at Christmas. True, we went to DL many times during the year (how easy traveling was then!) but Christmas time was special. Some people go and get their Christmas tree the first weekend of December, but we always went to So Cal. It was the best time of year: the Thanksgiving crowds were gone, the decorations were up, but the Christmas crowds weren't there yet. It was perfect. But then came pregnancy and Luke-pie, and our trips were set aside. I had decided that Luke wasn't going to go to DL till he "was old enough to enjoy it." (I'm sure many of you quietly snickered when I said that. Thanks for not being obvious.) So this year, Grandma Linda took us to Disneyland for our Christmas present. I was so excited!!

Sleeping Beauty's Castle all decked out!

Luke getting ready for the tram. "TRAAAAAAAAAAIN!"

Please note: the Tuesday after Christmas = not a good time to DL. Yikes. We had waited in 5 lines before we could actually be free to enjoy DL. (For the record, the waits were: the parking lot, the tram, the bag check, the ticket booth and stroller rental) What's nice was that Luke is so into trains, the tram was a great first ride.
Dumbo is rad.


After finally getting INTO DL, we headed to Small World, as a good intro ride. By the time all was said and done and we were in the park, there was no chance at all the quality "first-time-at-DL" rides, ie: Dumbo, Peter Pan, etc. so Small World it was. Simple boat ride ("BOOOOOOOATTTTT!) and fun kids singing. I love Small World (strange?) and I especially love it at Christmas. (shocking.)
Small World decked out.

Luke actually did surprisingly well in the lines, considering the wait times for everything was ridiculous.

In front of Small World with a slightly put-out little boy. Sit on Daddy's shoulders or stand next to Mom and Dad. What kind of choices are those?? Lame.


The magicalness and wonderment of Small World. (Don't deny it, you have it too.)

He did great during the ride, many a "whoa!" and "wow!" throughout, but then, right at the end . . . the boat stopped. That's right. It stopped. What did I do to you Small World? I loved you like no other! And you STOPPED. You stopped the boy who craves speed and will make him sit in a boat that wouldn't move?? Daddy saved the day: let Luke stand between his legs and let him jump. That's right: we're those parents. But the alternative would not make any passenger on the Happiest Cruise to Set Sail a happy passenger.

SMALL WORLD RULES.
And in the end, it might have been Luke's favorite part of the ride. He makes his own fun.

Terrible picture of a terrible mom. I had decided that I needed to take my child on at least traditional Fantasyland ride and apparently, I thought that the best option (out of the non-Peter Pan options) would be Snow White's Scary Adventure. *sigh* I don't remember it being scary. You know, from an adult's point of view. Hey Self, you're not a toddler. Thanks. Luke did surprisingly well as we were all just as chipper as we could be during the ride. ("A witch! Hooray!") Just big eyes from Luke-pie. Not so sure about it, but no tears, either. But some reflection time on this before taking him to the "hot place" on Mr. Toad's Crazy Wild Driving Extravaganza might be a good idea.

So we hoped that Luke would be tall enough to go on Autopia, due to his increasing addiction to all things with a motor that go "vrooom!" He was tall enough (when did that happen??) and he rode with Daddy. And Daddy let him drive! Apparently, he laughed hysterically the whole time.
I snagged one picture at the end.


Luke was about done with the whole idea of standing in line by this point, but we had to take him on the carousel. He loved it and I was able to ride with him.

Luke got his first pair of "ears" and I cried. Shocking.

What a good lookin' kid. I didn't even intend to color-coordinate him with the ears, but coincidentally it worked out pretty well. (I usually dress him in the "what are the most clean items in the room?" style.)

And then it was time for family pictures. Luke was not into the ears, nor was he interested in sitting anymore.


By that time, it was lunch and we decided to go out to the Country Bear eating zone, simply because there are a lot of tables and its far out from the main areas, so we figured we'd have a better shot at a faster lunch and a table to eat it at. And I wanted to give Luke some solid time in the stroller, just in case he might fall asleep in the stroller.

He is by no means a "stroller sleeper" (EVER) but in the overwhelming experience of DL, he passed right on out. We were able to eat a quiet lunch and then venture into Toontown. Luke isn't quite there yet, but he loved it and will be ready in the next couple of years.

After that, Grandma took Luke home to play and relax while Todd and I were able to spend the rest of the day/night at DL. Luke was so happy - he really had a great time. Until we had to leave.

Then, it all started to *ahem* fall apart. But Grandma brought the magical Great Grandma cookies and life was good again.

We stayed until the wee hours of the morn and fully enjoyed our "date night at DL." We stayed up way past my bedtime. * I was clearly delirious enough to want to take a picture of the clock."

Assorted Videos

Oh how we love to slide! Thanks to Uncle Dan and Auntie Ellen for passing on their little backyard slide to us - Luke loves it!

But here is a little video of him sliding at the park by Grandma's house in San Diego.

Also in SD, we let Luke bring his soccer ball to the park which Todd did his daily run. The field was in the middle of the running area, which meant that Luke attempted to "catch" Daddy as he ran around. It was adorable!

Christmas Part IV: Back to the Bickels

or . . .
home again, home again, jiggety jig!


When we returned home, Grammie Linda had made everything so beautiful in the moving chaos and we were ready for Christmas dinner! We took the Great Grandparents over to the see the house which was wonderful.

Auntie Nancy, Uncle Joe and cousin Matt came for dinner and the official Christmas gift exchange which, as always, was a lot of fun. This year, Todd and I both ended up with Snuggies (picture to follow!) and Luke ended up with a personalized suitcase (perfect for going to Grammie's house!), his train table of glory and majesty and a plethora of Cars merchandise. How appropriate. So now Lightning and Mater are his new best friends.


Luke was not so interested in dinner, though Todd and Linda prepared an amazing prime rib for us all. Luke was overstimulated and pooped, though he ate a few green beans and Great Grandma's cookies. It was Christmas! He had to have Christmas cookies!! He ate a lot the next morning.

And then, we were done. We were able to enjoy a quiet night at home, and well deserved. Please note: that was 4 Christmas events in one day. Yikes!

Christmas Part III: The Rosbrugh Clans

After having breakfast with Grammie Bickel, we headed off to a brief interlude at Grandpa and Grandma Rosbrugh's house (Gramma and Papa) to spend a little quiet time before venturing over to the second Rosbrugh clan to dive into the chaos of 3 cousins 5 and under. Luke's cousins eagerly handed over the gifts they had lovingly picked out for him: his very own space shuttle.

Daddy had a good time zooming around the shuttle, too.

Luke was also given a cool set of legos which he loved!

He really really really wanted me to open them. No more pictures until the Legos come out! (They didn't. Currently they are being used to hold open the door to the garage until a more suitable system can be rigged.)

From Gramma and Papa, Luke discovered more trains (hooray trains!) and was already getting overwhelmed and tuckered out. Naptime? On Christmas?? Ridiculous! More family and gifts, of course.

Time to go back home for the Wire/Castillo Christmas! And for dinner. Yum!

Christmas Part II: Still at home

Luke was perfectly happy with his first gift and would have gladly played all day with his drums. Then Grandma gave him "Boomer" the firetruck and he would have gladly played all day with Boomer. Then Mommy made him open clothes - ewwww. And back to Boomer. Mommy kept forcing him to be spoiled by everyone which was awful and apparently torturous. My apologies.

Luke received a train set from Santa to go with his train table from Grandma and Auntie Nancy. (It is a monster that Todd just assembled - more pictures to come!)

After gift opening was the Bickel family tradition of cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Please note: I have adopted this tradition with open arms. Baked doughy goodness covered in glaze-y joy? You only wish you could be a Bickel. But I digress.

Yes, Luke looks pained. Mostly I think it is due to being forced to "say cheese" a hundred times before 7 am.