Halloween Carnival

Here is my cute little dragon who everyone thought was a dinosaur. While he was playing basketball, throwing bean bags, bouncing in the bounce house, Mom and Dad were sampling cotton candy, funnel cakes, popcorn, and smoothies.
After the carnival, there was a quick bath and an even quicker pumpkin carving. Grandma whipped out a pretty impressive pumpkin with just a kitchen knife. Ethan was kind of tired to really appreciate the pumpkin, but I'm sure the two trick-or-treaters that came to house appreciated it.

Returning home for Halloween

We had a nice uneventful flight home with the same pitfalls as the flight out -- the carseat. After losing a layer of skin trying to unclip the seatbelt, I think there has to be a better way. Of course having a happy restrained child was worth a layer or two of skin. Even better, the flight was very empty because it seems no one wants to travel to Southern California right now.
When we came home we could smell the smoke outside and in the house. He was so happy to see all his toys again. He started pulling all his toys out of his toy box as if he was doing inventory.

A Day in SJ

Cleaning the pool with Grandpa Driving trucks Chowing down on a sandwich

Hugs and Kisses

...for Uncle David and Snoopy. After a short stint of crying and trying to get away from Uncle David, Gigantor decided he was a good guy and gave him a kiss. Maybe it had to do with the police car Uncle David brought for him.

Forget the playground...

All I want to do is push the stroller....I took G to the park today to burn off some of his energy, but he just wanted to push the stroller. The stroller went into the dirt, into the grass, into the bark, and in circles.

Here he is pushing the stroller on the way to park in his costume. It was early morning and the Grandparents dress him in his costume for warmth.

Playing with Grandma...

Playgroup Reunion

Today we ventured out to the East Bay to visit with Gigantor's old playgroup buddies. We all first met when he was 4 weeks old and met every week until I left nearly a year ago. It was great seeing the kids again, they have all changed so much! I think GTD enjoyed Ryan's toys more than anything - the lawn mower being the clear winner.

Since we are visiting at the end of October, we got to take part in the 2nd annual Halloween costume photo. This year we had a dragon, Elmo, a monkey, and a skunk. I'm hoping someone else got better pictures of the group, but this one really tells the true story - Ryan wanted to go play in the street, Ben wanted out of the costume, Bella was content with Mom, and Gigantor was planning his escape from Mom.

A much better picture from Adrienne the Great

Dragon vs. Elmo (actually Dragon is trying to kiss Elmo)

First Plane Trip

We were packed early and were ready to go. I had a small backpack stuffed to the gills with snacks, small cars and toys, and sealed liquids. Luckily our flight was not full so Gigantor was able to get his own seat so I could strap him down in his carseat.

Gigantor's buddy Connor lent us his GogoBabyz Travelmate which saved the day in getting us through the airport. Unfortunately when we went through security we had to take off shoes and get him out of the carseat. After that I wasn't able to get him in the seat again. I did bribe him when we were about to board and got him strapped in again. It was so easy getting down the jet way and everything was great until we got on the plane...

The carseat didn't fit through the aisle! I couldn't find a flight attendant anywhere, so after I pulled Gigantor out of the carseat, I was stuck. Luckily a nice man offered to carry the carseat to the back of the plane for me. Installing the carseat was a bit of a pain, but once I moved it to the middle seat everything was good.

To my surprise, Gigantor did fabulously on the plane. I didn't even exhaust my supply of toys. He only required one snack trap jammed with crackers (no surprise why he wasn't hungry for dinnner). The DoodlePro was a big hit. At first he was losing interest in his scribbles, but once he figured out how to erase it was all he wanted to do. Then I was instructed to draw things that he could erase. I must say I was impressed with my dog, house, horse, and truck doodles. Sadly I was not allowed to finish some of my masterpieces before they "needed" to be erased. The only issue we had was when I ordered a soda. Gigantor felt he should have a soda too, but Momma guzzled that soda so fast and pulled out a book and Gigantor forgot about it. Return flight...no soda for me, or perhaps I can fool him with a sprite?

Getting off the plane was a chore too. I thought I would have to donate the carseat to Southwest since I couldn't lift the seat belt lever to release it. After sweating buckets and cursing up a storm in my head, it miraculously came undone. Then thank goodness the trip was over...until the return flight.

The Fires

Here is an article from the LA Times about other Poway neighbors fighting the High Valley fire.

First of all, we are all okay! The In-laws' house and our house are in some of the hardest hit areas featured all over the news. Luckily both survived.

Last weekend the Santa Ana winds came up and Sunday we saw lots of ash and smoke from the Ramona fires. We weren't in any immediate danger, but the news predicted it would enter our area early the next morning. We stayed up late and packed some essentials just in case. I just packed for my trip a little early.

Monday morning things got crazy. The ILs were heading out the door and saw smoke in the canyon right across the street. We all scrambled to get in the cars and get out. At about that time the police car came through to evacuate the area.

We spent the day in the Walmart parking lot with at least 30 other people in motor homes, trucks, etc. Walmart was open until about 3pm when they decided to close because of the fire. Dave's Dad went back to the house after about an hour to check things out.

The fire department had put out the fire in the canyon and then left. Dave's Dad and some of the neighbors (a few were retired fire fighters) spent the whole day putting out flare ups with a bunch of garden hoses linked together. There was a particularly stubborn tree that kept igniting even after they doused it all day long. The canyon is such a big concern because there is a dry creek that runs through it and continues through the neighborhood right through the back of a bunch of houses.

The canyon, late Monday night:



That night, Dave's Mom spent a few hours spraying down hot spots before Dave came out at about 12am to take over for a few more hours. The neighbors also came out in shifts through the night and by morning everything was looking good. The air on the other hand was absolutely smokey and gross.

We weren't able to find out about the status of our house (still under construction) until Wednesday. We tried to get in the area on Tuesday, but the police had road blocks everywhere. Dave drove by on Wednesday and said the hillside by our house was burned, but as far as he could see all the houses looked fine.

The trip I scheduled a month ago couldn't have come at a better time. Little Gigantor and I get to retreat to some fresh air.

Pumpkin Patch....before the smoke and ash

We went to the pumpkin patch just before the smoke and ash from the Santa Ana fires came in. Talk about timing. It's really unpleasant to be outside. The smell of fire and smoke is everywhere. The sun is pink and the sky is gray. The ash and smoke has even made it out to the coast.

Halloween Party

We went to a Halloween party for our playgroup yesterday. All the kids were dressed in costume. Gigantor was one of three dragons there. Unfortunately I didn't think to get a picture of the dragons together.
Dragons are cute!

Dragons love food
Dragons love cars!

Just some pictures

Here is the trio, but it's impossible to get them all in the same frame. Sadly at this point I think it's easier to take pictures of the dogs....they sit still longer. Gigantor is funny though. When I tell Oskar or Chelsea to sit, he often does wherever he is, but when I ask him to sit he ignores me.

Sweep sweep

Gigantor discovered the broom and swept the floor for quite a while. He even swept the carpet. Now if he could get over his fear of vacuums he'd be a great little helper.

Sleepover

Check out his new jammies! Grandma and Grandpa took Gigantor "camping" this weekend so Mom and Dad could sleep in past 6am!

The Driveway Project

Gigantor spent the week playing in a giant dirt pile, a giant gravel pile, a giant sand pile, and finally walking on a beautiful driveway of pavers installed by Grandpa and Dad.

The Campsite

We were steps from the beach so there were trips to play in the water, trips to play in the sand, and just walks along the beach. It was a great location because it was 30 minutes from home and there was lots to keep the little dude busy. He had his "wheels" there too so he could cruise the campground and the beach in style.

Here is Gigantor's room in the gigantor tent.All bundled up for bed:
Here he is cruising for chicks on the beach with Dad.Here he is with his partner in crime and their arsenal of sand toys.

Tent Camping at the Beach

This weekend we went tent camping with Gigantor for the first time. The camping went surprisingly well because he wore himself out on the beach and playing around camp that he napped decently and went to bed without a fight. Although he wore us out too and we went to bed by 9pm most nights.

Here are some of the beach pictures.

16 Months Old (a few days ago)

WEIGHT : 22lbs 6oz
HEIGHT : 32 3/8"

According to the growth charts he is in the 10th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height. He's by no far Gigantor, but not to worry the nickname still stands. The doctor wasn't concerned about his weight and it's no surprise to me since he spends most of his meal time chucking his food to Oskar. Oskar on the other hand is quite plump and happy.

The Grandparents arrived back into town today. I'm not sure if he was more excited to see them or their motorhome. Every time we go out into the yard he excitedly points to the motorhome and loves to check out the wheels that are bigger than he is. Of course the motorhome can't play trains with him so Grandpa must be pretty cool.