Face Time

Vince and Hannah haven't seen each other in nearly 2 weeks (this is a long time for them) so we arranged a "face time" chat for them tonight on the iPhones. Isn't technology amazing! I wasn't smart enough to get her on camera till the end but you can hear her adorable giggle in the beginning....and see Vince "geek out". Cutest. Thing. Ever!

All aboard

Like most little boys, Vince loves trains! He has loved Thomas for some time now and last night we watched The Polar Express (then read the book) and he was fascinated by that train too. I remembered that our park has a few stationary trains that you can visit. I was hoping that you could go inside but no such luck. Here's a few of Vince checking out the choo-choos.







Once we were done with the trains, we headed over to the playground for a few minutes.







We had a good time but it was pretty chilly so we really didn't stay very long then we came home and decorated our tree! I love this time of year :)

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

We started to decorate today. We didn't get too far on the big tree yet but we got Vince's tree up in his room. He enjoyed decorating it himself. Oh and please forgive the outfit, this is what happens when a 2 year old picks out his clothes.
But once he was done, he promptly said, "go again"....after a few rounds, I think he's happy with the final product.
Anybody remember Vince's obsession with Santa last year? Maybe this will ring a bell....
We have this Vince-sized Santa that he took everywhere......
Maybe I should say dragged everywhere......poor Santa
Yep, Santa even had to go with us in the car....
Santa even got candy canes.....
Well as much as I dreaded packing Santa away last year, I was so excited to unpack him this year and I knew Vince would be thrilled......you can tell from the picture, right? Ok, so he may not look that excited but I promise he was. He even hung a "baby snowman" ornament from the snowman's nose and a "baby Santa" ornament from Santa's nose....that kid cracks me up.
We also did a fun craft today. We made our own Christmas crayons! I saw this on another blog and it looked fun. We just unwrapped a bunch of crayons, broke them (Vince's favorite part), and put them in this cheap-o silicone mold from Target's dollar section.
Then we melted them in the oven for 10-15 minutes and let them cool for about 30 minutes (probably should've let them cool longer.....several of them broke).
Ta da! Christmas crayons! Except for Vince thinking they were cookies coming out of the oven and attempting to eat them, it was a success! I even got a "mommy, you're awesome" out of this one! I highly recommend it! Hopefully tomorrow will be successful too!

Turkey Day

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. Its always nice to get (most) of the family together in one place. Vince woke up Thursday and told me we were going to Grandma's house to eat turkey and that Grandma, Grandpa, Noni, Papi, Mommy, Daddy, Kendal, and Alli would be there. He was exactly right! His Uncle Jim and Aunt Debbie also came as an added bonus! It was great to see everyone. I didn't take very many pictures (ok, I hardly took any) but here's a few:

This is the bridge at Grandma's house that he LOVES. We collected countless rocks to throw into the creek (shhhh....don't tell Grandpa!)

I'm not quite sure what these boys are doing here but they sure look like they're having fun, don't they?
We really enjoyed seeing everyone and can't wait till Christmas to do it all over again! I'll take more pics next time!

If all else fails.....

Vince can work at Wal-Mart! His teachers left a note today that they named him the "official greeter" of the classroom. They said that anytime anyone comes into the room Vince screams their name in total excitement. For example, today was "Miss Chivon!!! Miss Chivon!!! Everyone, Miss Chivon is here! Hi Miss Chivon!" He does have a way of making you feel good when he sees you!

O' Christmas Tree

Vince seems to be pretty excited about Christmas and Santa and presents, of course, so we've already started on the Christmas arts and crafts! Here are a few that we did today:
This one was our favorite b/c he loves to paint:

Paci-Free Zone

That's right, as of yesterday we've had 2 naps and 2 bedtimes withOUT a paci and withOUT a single peep from him! So far so good! So to all the grandparents reading.....please HIDE them :)

YeeHaw

Watch out, there's a new sheriff in town.......

Get a room.....

Yesterday, Vince had a special visitor.....his Hannah:They played outside and had so much fun! They played baseball, basketball, and soccer.
Believe it or not, he made this shot!
But they had the most fun chasing each other around the backyard.....
and giving each other GREAT BIG HUGS.....
Over.....
and over.......
and over...........
They absolutely positively adore each other.
And she already bosses him around (so its like they're already married).....
and he loves every minute of it....

I love these kids!

2.5 year stats

Vince had his 2 1/2 year check-up today. They said its mostly a developmental appointment just to make sure kids are meeting milestones, which he is! She said she heard us talking from the hall and knew half of her questions were already answered. He was ultra-cooperative, thank goodness :) He did have to get a his 2nd flumist and a pneumonia shot, which surprised me....luckily I didn't promise anything ahead of time!!!

Here are his stats at 2 1/2 years:

weight 31.5lbs (no wonder my back aches all the time) - 50th percentile

height 36 1/8 inches (I better stop calling him "shorty") - 50th percentile

head circumference 19 3/4 inches (he comes by it naturally) - 75th percentile

We also had a visit to the eye dr today....it was really my annual check-up but my optometrist was SO nice and SO fun that he let Vince do a test too. Vince picked out the teeny tiny airplane, house, birthday cake, and bird to give him perfect 20/20 vision! He got my brown eyes but I sure hope he gets his daddy's eyesight!

The Big Fat Spider

Here he is singing Itsy Bitsy Spider and his preferred version, Big Fat Spider. Its kind of hard to understand somewhere in the middle but our conversation at the end makes it worth it.

Dancing Fool

This kid just doesn't stop. EVER! Even after not napping today, he had the energy to do this (and I cropped the video!!!). If I had this much energy, I'd be.......Holly! (you have to work with me to get that)

Chuck E Cheese

Vince's grandparents treated us to a visit to Chuck E Cheese's today. I thought it was gonna be a crazy town but it was GREAT! Let me tell ya, Tuesday at 10am is THE time to go! There were probably 5 kids there....maybe!

Vince was pretty scared of everything at first but he still loved being there and seeing all the games and rides.
He really liked the air hockey table....but I was a little (read A LOT) afraid that he was gonna accidentally hit Grandpa with the puck but he did good and played nice!


He also really liked Ski-Ball, even though we thought he was gonna break the thing.

And we had to play basketball over and over and over and over....you get it.
Ping-Pong:
Whack-a-shark:
Barney ride:
Then the highlight of the day.....Chuck E Cheese came out to sing and dance!
Vince was the only kid who danced with him and he LOVED it! He was pretty bummed when Chuck E Cheese left....he followed him all the way to the back, waving the whole way! Here's video of him and his new BFF. (This is just for you, KIM!!)