More zoo

kids and dinosaurs even when surrounded by real animals...

The flamingos were sleeping but were a pretty cool sight. Plus the wee man trying to talk them into waking up.

Zoo

Never need an another alarm clock. 7:15 tap tap tap.... daddy is it time to go to the zoo yet??

So the team went on a trip to the new Elephant enclosure at the National zoo. I advise everyone to go check it out.

The wee man had a blast.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/photo.php?pid=4853716&fbid=435423084429&id=777019429&ref=nf

Minnesota Adventure part 1

So Mr. HT sister BioSmith was getting her Master's, i was probably a good time to go visit. So with the wee man in Tow we set off to the great white north. (Mrs. HT unfortunately could not come with)

So we navigated DCA and MSP without very MUCH hassle. the plane ride itself was fairly uneventful. The wee man his rock star self charmed the lady in the seat next to him before settling in to watch some Dinosaur King

Have to hand it to Minneapolis the transit was pretty easy.

We got to das MN haus quickly.
The wee man hit it right off with gopher 1 and 2.

The whole crew headed to the local park, which was only a block or so away (Bonus!)

a good time was had by all



we then headed off to E's favorite handout/study spot the May Day Cafe. (which I highly recommend. Good eats and low hassle kind of place)


more from the trip later including the trip to the MN zoo...

SMRT...

So is it normal that your 3 year old know more than one 4 syllable word and one 5 syllable word?

Parasaurolophus

without looking it up do you know what it is??

Yeah so they are all dinosaur names but he knows what they are and can point them out.

He has made some progress in the bodily f(x) dept. as bill murray once said "baby steps dr bob"

The drama of bodily f(x)s

So I guess I should be happy that he is close. But knowing that he is close is more frustrating than if he was clueless.

SO we have turned to having him read on the throne and even watching Itunes. Just have to be patient and hope the the switch will come on and we can work towards consistency.

ALthough he has been getting peer pressure at school thanks to the other half of the dynamic duo. Iz who has mastered the throne and tells the wee man that he should too. AWESOME. If i could bribe her to do my dirty work I would... wait a second I just might...


other than that, the conversations are getting more in depth and the "Why" phase is on full throttle. Why Daddy Why Mommy.

I have to wait start to make up stuff like Calvin's dad.

Catching up....

So it has been a while, let me try and catch everyone up.

So the whole Team went south to Visit Kiwi Smiths.

The Wee Man Turned 3
Mrs. HT upgraded her employment.

Spring has sprung and the wee man has started swim class again, with much better results this time around.

I will upload pictures shortly.

Information to Come

We have been busy. Lot of new changes.. Comparatively.

Will upate soon

Thanks

HT

Downtown Wellington

Yesterday was beautiful. It was in the 70's with lots of sun and a light breeze. We decided to go visit Kevin's work and go for lunch at a weird combo pub called The Cutting Sports Bar (Thai Takeaway and Bar Food).

We went to the Wellington Botanical Gardens and walked around and saw some beautiful flowers and trees. The kids had an awesome time at the playground. The wee man got to ride his first zip line and loved it. We walked to the top of the gardens and had an amazing view of Wellington Harbor. Then we rode the cable car to downtown Wellington and walked around a bit.

We went to visit the kids school and then had a quick jaunt to the Oriental Parade. Home to 7 Inverell Way for fabulous Fish n Chips and Cider. A fun time was had for all last night. The wee man loves visiting his cousins and hanging out. We are going to see Avatar tomorrow afternoon and then going to a real restaurant without a kids menu. Yay! :)

We Made It!

The Smiths of Rockville have made it to New Zealand. We lost Sunday completely while in the air, but I am pleased to report that we all made it safe and sound. The wee man was a true rock star and had very little unhappiness. We arrived in Auckland where it was raining and about 65 degrees. We transferred to a domestic flight and arrived to beautiful sunny weather in Wellington. Yesterday we spend recovering from the flight and fighting with all we had to stay awake until at least 8 pm. It was a challenge but we did it. Ciaran literally fell asleep in his dinner. We'll post pictures today. We are planning to chillax in Windy Wellington today :).

By the way - we are 7 hours behind and 1 day ahead. It's currently, Tuesday, January 5th at 7:25 am :)

The Great Family Adventure

Ok, so we may be insane, but in 2 days time we will be traversing the globe.

We will leave our homestead in Rockville, Maryland (located convieniently at Latitude 39° 5' 2" Longitude -77° 9' 9") and first go to Los Angeles (located at Latitude 34° 3' 8" Longitude -118° 14' 37") and then on to Wellington, New Zealand (Latitude -41° 18' 0" Longitude 174° 46' 59").

Our total travel distance will be 8,760 miles or 14,096 kilometers for you down under and everywhere else in the world! Let's recap, shall we? One plane ride on Friday to Los Angeles - thankfully non stop - is 5 hours and 55 minutes give or take the 15 hours it may take us to get through security at BWI. One overnight stay in Long Beach (yeah BOYEE!) with wonderful Tante Bine. One plane ride on Saturday to Auckland, New Zealand departing around bed time for the wee man (PLEASE GOD LET HIM SLEEP) is 12 hours and 55 minutes. A quick deplaning in Auckland, head through Customs and catch yet another plane to Wellington (a measly hour flight, but driving takes 8 hours!). Total flying time on Friday and Saturday combined... drumroll please... 19 hours and change.

Yes sports fans - you read that right! 19 hours and change with a toddler. Should be a great adventure ;). I may need to be committed upon landing, but dammit I'm going on vacation!

We'll make sure to post our experiences along the way.

Yuletide Greetings

Hello again.

The Team has been busy. We got a Christmas tree from Home Depot. (pre lit with LED lights)


The wee man is quickly learning to use his very vivid imagination. We switched between playing robot

and fixing his "car" like Big Chris from Roary.


We also got our first snow of the season here, at Casa de HumanTeam. To which the wee man just had to go out and play. The snow was rather unimpressive to the grown ups, but he loved it.

And we learned to catch snowflakes on our tongue.

Potty training continue with highs and lows but the Team presses onward.

Good Morning Vietnam!!!!!!!

So I said we would be back a while ago....

Yeah well sorry..

So time to catch up....
The wee man has been on fast forward..

Fall has arrived...



We went picking apples at a local farm.


Good times awesome weather.
We met some real animals

lots of fun. and we somehow managed to pick about 25 lbs of apples...


C. had a Halloween party at his school.

The wee man dressed up as a dinosaur for Halloween. (Roar!!!!!)


Mrs. HT and I went. It was fun and loud.
OMG loud eighteen 2 year olds hyped on sugar. Oi.

And we got to met his special friend and her parents. Lil Ms. I.


Aunt J. stopped by and we pondered being a cowboy.
Even though we only went to 3 houses. after the third house he looked at me and said "I all done daddy. I have Candy!"

I laughed and we sat on the steps and handed out candy to the trick or treaters. Well I handed out candy and the wee man tried to eat all the lollipops that he got in his bag.

Time is running close as the trip to the North and South island draws close

A good news of good news wee man is going potty with some regularity like a big boy. (Yeah!)

And he has taken a shine to a particular sport... Sigh.....

off the radar

I know we have been quiet.

More to come in the next few days

Safe.

Yesterday, the Smith family had a trying day to say the least. Although we weren't directly involved in this, I was on the train behind it. I was running late and thankfully caught the next train at 4:45pm. Shoulda, coulda, woulda....

Here's the deal - Sean and I both work in downtown DC. Ciaran's daycare is in Olney, MD about 14 miles from work and 2 miles from home. It's a great system, because Sean does the drop off in the morning and I pick up in the evening. I'm usually out the door of the office at 4:30 and there by 5:30. We take public transportation and it's usually faster than driving, except for yesterday.

While staring at my watch wondering when the stupid train is going to start moving again, the conductor comes over the loudspeaker and explains what happened right in front of us. I happened to be talking to my mother on the phone and she immediately turned on CNN to see what was going on. I am grateful that I was unable to see anything ahead of us. So I then go into crisis mode - after all the wee man still has to be picked up and I have no idea how long I'm going to be stuck on the train. His school closes at 6:30 sharp. I call Katy to see if she can go get him - she is unfortunatly not home, but she says to call her husband Petey. Petey is BMOC and is the Chief of Police muckety muck for a certain important installation in DC/VA. Petey hops in his car, drives to Chinatown to pick up Sean and they both head to Glenmont to pick up the car. Of course it's rush hour and traffic is quadrupled because of the accidents. Sean makes it to Glenmont and then picks up C at 6:40. The lovely ladies at C's school were wonderfully understanding. I'm thankful everyday that he goes there.

I finally got home at 8:15 pm after being on a train, a bus, another train, and another bus. I am thankful and glad that I was late. To top it off, I came home to hear Ciaran say "IIIII WOVVVE YOUUU, MOMMY" over and over again (translation, I love you mommy".)

That's exactly what I needed!

Big ol Props to Uncle Petey and Aunt Katy for being on Red Alert.

Parent of the Year... NOT ME

So.... Yeah...
Drive home from Oma and Opa's. Left late to avoid the Holiday Traffic smooth sailing on the way home.. Little to no traffic the whole Team pushes on through without stopping.

Pull into the ol home stead. Mrs. Humanteam goes into the house to get the wee man's bed ready.

I get out of the car to get the wee man. Pulled his door handle locked. Open the Mrs. Door push the button and open his door shut the other door..

F.
F. F'ing F.

Just locked my kid in the car. FML.

Ok dont panic. Wait for the Mrs. to come out the house. Give her the bad news.
Ponder whether or not put my 4lb sledgehammer through the window.

Mrs HT wakes up our next door neighbor the Chief. Who unfortunately does not have his tools in his car. We try "slim Jim" the door, unfortunately in 09 that doesnt really work all that well with out the proper implements.

The wee man finally had enough and started to melt down due to the fact that he could see his milk but not reach it.

So about 20 mins later (Mrs. HT called roadside assistance) the Tow truck shows up. Which makes the wee man happy.

Takes him about 2 minutes to open the car.

Yeah.

Go me...

Silence... what's this?

For two years I have never been away from my little man for longer than a night or two. The only exception was for a big event that I did for work last year in New York and that was 4 days, until yesterday. Yesterday, the wee man went on an adventure. He happily got into Opa (grandpa) and Oma's (grandma) truck and headed to the beautiful mountains of West (by God) Virginia. He will be gone for SEVEN whole nights.

As I sit here in the quiet of my kitchen, I am amazed at how quiet and serene it is. Truthfully, it's quite unnerving. I keep looking and listening for the stomping of little feet and the insistent "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" that usually follows. I woke up this morning not to "Mommy... up", but instead to the sound of my dear husband's light snoring and one of our cats howling for his breakfast. Other parents often told us that you learn to tune out the sounds of a child. I totally agree. But when you are faced with silence, it's weird, very weird!

I miss my little man. He's not a snuggler, so I love it when he lets me snuggle. I sat on the couch yesterday and vegged out all day. In the back of my mind I kept wondering when C was going to wake up from his nap. I then had to keep reminding myself that he wasn't here and I should relax. And I did relax!

I know he's having fun and will really enjoy hanging out with Oma and Opa. He's got a whole week of Camp Grandma/Grandpa ahead of him. It's good for him and it's good for us too. Thank you Oma and Opa!

And yes, I will sleep in, go to the movies, go to a concert, go to happy hour and generally socialize like I normally don't get to on week nights :).

The path to Victory!!!! .... sorta

Well ya know you're a parent when others bodily functions become paramount.

the wee man pooped on potty. He is not consistent. But damn it happened once. We have started down the path.

Here's hoping that it is a short and smooth path.

Parenting 101

So many of my friends without children or newly pregnant often ask how to prepare for having children. My honest answer is - you can't, just take it as it comes. I don't think you can truly be prepared for having a kid until you actually have one and experience the ups and downs. So as I was reading from one of my favorite kid/parent blogs, I came across this and I laughed out loud. It's training exercises for preparing for kids.

Here’s a few suggested training exercises:

1)Wake up at 3:26 am for 5 nights in a row to break down, clean and reassemble an M-16. Your baby will demand that level of alertness and precision at your deepest sleep moments. You don’t want to get sloppy changing a diaper.

2)The next 5 times your friends call you to go out, politely refuse. And spend the rest of the evening watching Bob the Builder.

3)Drop random foodstuffs and clean them up, while dressed in your best clothes.

4)Only dine in restaurants that have kid’s menus. Learn to love mac n cheese, or start being OK with discarding a $6 entree after only $0.22 worth of it has been consumed.

5)Scatter hard plastic toy parts across your floor, remove your shoes, turn out the lights and walk on them.

6)Sniff random things. Your ability to discern, and stomach to withstand, urinary/fecal matter, spoiled food and hazardous chemical substances will be pivotal later in life.

2 years into this parenting thing and I am still amazed by the things I have experienced as a parent. It's definitely worth it, but boy it's still sometimes a shock to the system. :)

The Big 0-2!

Wait what snow???

yeah I liked the picture this was a while ago. psych..


So the wee man had his Second birthday with much less fan fare than the first.

We had a zoo themed party with hats and beach ball and stuffed animals for the other wee folk that showed up.

So better late than never are pictures and commentary from the party.


Elephant hat went over very well.

Friends and family over (wait that's not my good side)


Oma and Opa brought a cupcake cake shaped like an elephant. It was a huge hit with both grown ups and wee folk.

And well there were enough to go around.

Uncle C helping the wee man out with all his new phat Lewt.
Its loud its shiny... do you have to ask where it came from???

Will try and figure out the video thing and post some...

He's gonna be big....

So the team went to Dr. JOOOOOOOOOOON, as the wee man calls her.

For the big two year check up. Was in a pretty good mood, we got seen relatively quickly. All is good.

So we take the clothes off and weigh in. Ring up at 33lbs. Not to shabby, and we stretch out to get measured. 38" tall. WOW. again not shabby. Tech goes away. Nurse N. Comes in asks a bunch of questions most of which are no yes type of question. Looks in the ears eyes etc. Again doing fine. She looks at the chart. Off the chart for height high 90s for weight and head size ( that one is no shock given the gene pool from which he comes..) she does some quick calculating.
6'4" give or take 2 inches she says.

Goodness gracious. Buddha help me if hes 6'6". He will be the tallest one in the family probably although Kiwi's clan might get there as well

We also had the 2nd Birthday party.

Good time was had by all more or less

more on that in the next post which hopefully will be today or tomorrow.....