I am so behind on this blog that it has been keeping me up at night! Crazy I know... With Hanukkah so early this year, my shopping, wrapping, and baking began super early. It seemed that whenever Shane was napping or watching Sesame Street, and I was not editing that I was wrapping. In the end, I had everything wrapped long before Christmas and purchased my last gifts by Dec. 18th. Both Dan and I agreed that it was awesome to not be wrapping on Christmas Eve and that it was a relaxing week (for once) leading up to Christmas. However, something had to give and it was the blog. I am back and ready to fill you in on our little man's big adventures!
We replaced the little train that went around our Christmas tree with a larger Polar Express train purchased the day after Thanksgiving. Needless to say, Shane LOVED it! He was great about not touching it when Dan and I were not around, though there were a few slip ups. :-) Here are some pictures!
His love affair with the reindeer (or Neigh, Neighs as Shane calls them) continued until Dan removed them from the lawn last week. He still looks for them out of the windows. We told him they will be back next year and had to return to the North Pole. Here are some more pictures of Shane and his beloved "horses".
Like I said before, Hanukkah began super early this year - the first night was Dec. 1st. It was so fun to watch Shane LOVE his Choo Choo Menorah. He was so sad when we stopped lighting it because Hanukkah was over. He loved all of his presents and learned that a present means fun! He tried to unwrap every one he saw so we quickly learned to leave no presents unattended this year!
Shane received a "Little People Ferris Wheel" for the first night of Hanukkah and loved it! Other Hanukkah hits included the Little People Hanukkah set, the Little People Christmas Village (how interfaith is that - he got a Christmas Village as a Hanukkah present!), a large stuffed horse, a wooden puzzle, a singing Elmo, and several books. Here are some more pictures of Shane's Hanukkah experience!
The highlight of Hanukkah this year was having my family over for a Hanukkah party. I had it on the same day as my cookie exchange so things were a bit unorganized as the cookie exchange ended 5 minutes before my family started arriving for Hanukkah... Not the best planning on my part, but everything turned out wonderful! My parents, Jorie & Jason, and My Aunt Joan & Cy all celebrated Hanukkah with Shane. It was a blast and Shane was spoiled rotten! Shane loved hanging out with his family and even ate a potato pancake. This is shocking because Shane does not like potatoes of any kind! I have not made any since so I do not know if he really likes them or if it was a Hanukkah miracle! Here are some pictures of dinner!
My Aunt Joan and Cy make the cutest couple! Don't they? We just love Cy and Shane loves having another Uncle!
OK, back to Hanukkah. After dinner we lit the menorah.
Then it was time for PRESENTS! It appears that all of the pictures are of Shane opening his gifts, but we all had wonderful gifts! Shane received a remote control car, an activity center, and a car ramp from Papa Judy and Papa Irwin, an ABC Elmo and an Elmo book and stuffed animal set from Aunt Jorie & Uncle Jason, and a book set and a wooden polar bear and penguin pull toy from Aunt Joan and Uncle Cy!
After dinner it was time for some dessert! Shane is still enjoying the Hanukkah Gelt that Aunt Joan and Cy gave him - he eats some chocolate change daily! There was a lot in there! Shane also enjoyed the dreidels I made out of pretzel sticks, marshmallows, and hershey kisses!
My parents got Shane the Little People Wheelies ramp and it required some assembly. Shane loves to "help" Dan and it always amazes me how patient Dan is with Shane's help. If you know Dan, you know what a miracle that is. I used to measure the difficulty of Dan's projects by the amount of times he swore when completing them & I knew to stay out of the room he was working in. With Shane, he is patient and kind - it is so sweet! Shane was completely involved in the assembly of this toy from removing it from the package, to screwing in the ramps - adorable! Make sure you look for the pictures of Shane with a screwdriver in his hands! I love what an awesome dad Dan is!
Here are some pictures of Shane that I think are adorable - there is no other reason than that for posting them.
Shane and I continued our annual tradition of baking Christmas cookies with "Papa Carolyn"! Yes, Shane is still calling both his grandmas and his grandpas papa. He had a blast making cookies and was in a great mood all day! One of his favorite parts of the day was playing with a singing cowboy Santa that Dan's mom has. He loved it!!! These are some of my favorite pictures of Shane and his Papa!
That evening Shane, Dan & I headed downtown to meet up with my new friend Courtney who was in town for a TAC (the same operation I had when I was pregnant with Shane only she had hers pre-pregnancy) with Dr. Haney. We met at Lou Malnati's and had a great time. Shane was in a great mood until dinner was over and it was time to snap a picture with Courtney! The poor little guy had been baking cookies all day and had no nap. We can't wait for Courtney to have her own TAC miracle!
OK, more random pictures... Here is a great one of Shane and Dan and one of Shane driving his new remote control car - another gift from Papa Judy & Papa Irwin.
When you think of Christmas, you think of Santa, right? Well there is a Santa figurine in the Christmas village we got for Shane and I was showing him Santa and he immediately said "danta!" From that moment on he started pointing out Santa/danta all around our house - Santa on wrapping paper, a Santa pillow, a santa candy bowl etc. I was so excited for him to finally meet the big guy! Well, we were a our library class on Dec. 15th and they announced that Santa would be there that night. Something in my head told me that I was not supposed to go to that Santa event, but I had no idea why I was not supposed to go, so we went. The library had crafts and games and cookies so there was plenty to do as we waited the hour for our Santa time. When it was finally our turn, Shane stood in the doorway, jumping up and down, yelling "Danta, Danta, Danta!!!" We were so excited for our turn and then it was time to get close to Santa. Shane's excitement quickly turned to despair...
He was so upset from his Santa visit that I was worried he would become some sort of Santa scrooge. Dan and I were laughing about that on the way home from the library when I suddenly remembered why I was not planning on going to meet Santa at the library - it was because I had already signed us up to meet Santa the next night at the Plainfield Park District holiday event. What to do? Do we torture Shane 2 days in a row or forget about the money spent and stay home from the second event? We chose to torture Shane two days in a row counting on the fact that kids are resilient! So we dressed Shane up and headed to one of the Plainfield schools for the event. Shane loved everything about the night except meeting Santa. He was slightly less upset than the night before - probably because his favorite park district teacher was there trying to get him to smile! They gave us a professional picture, but here is one from our camera.
Once we were done with Santa, Shane played in the snow, made an ornament, ate cookies with his buddy Alex, and chased some new friends around! It was a good night!
The next day was Dan's last day at school before winter break. He wanted his students to meet Shane so we headed to Eberhart for the afternoon. Shane was so excited to see Dan that he started running down the hall yelling "Da Da, Da Da!" He did not even notice the sea of 8th graders in line for the bathroom and drinks until he almost ran into them! However, once they started all saying "AWWWWW" He panicked, froze, and cried - there were a lot of kids in the hall. The first picture shows a still stunned Shane. he did relax and have a great time once he got used to Dan's students and stopped yelling "GO GO!"
The first weekend of Dan's break (Well the Sunday and Monday night) were spent in the Wisconsin Dells at our favorite waterpark/resort - Chula Vista. They offer a 2 night waterpark and food - yes, all inclusive - package for $200.00! It is a steal! Shane had a blast. Here he is in our room after check in.
The first night we were there they offered story time in the lobby so we checked it out!
the next day had us at the waterpark as soon as we had breakfast. Our little water baby was so happy to be in his element! The water park is huge (80,000 square feet) but we stayed in the toddler pool which did not get over 2 feet deep and had 2 great water slides! Shane loves splashing in the water and LOVED the water slides. I tried going down one with him, but hated all of the water in my face! Dan did not mind so him and Shane went down over and over again! Here are some pictures!
After the waterpark we had some lunch and joined in the cookie decorating with one of the hotel chefs. It was a great time!
After the cookie decorating we headed to the room and Shane attempted to nap, but didn't. The resort was showing the movie Santa Paws so we decided to see if Shane would like it. He actually sat through the entire film - I think it may have been because he was so tired, but we didn't care - it was great! Yes, it was a cheesy kids Christmas movie, but it had been so long since we saw any movie - we all enjoyed it. Other than saying "woof woof" and "Danta" a few times - Shane was quiet throughout the movie! After the movie we headed back to the waterpark and then to dinner!
Here we all are at dinner that night!
The next day brought more waterpark fun!
Once we were home, we headed to meet my parents for dinner at a local restaurant by their house. My cousin Andrea and her sons Alex and Eric joined us for dessert. It was so fun to see everyone! Andrea ordered Shane a cool magazine subscription and gave him a great wooden toy that he LOVES! Dan also loves playing with it! I am not sure who plays with it more! Alex is a senior at Grinnell and Eric goes to Niles North. The restaurant, Kappy's, has a balloon artist come in once a week and he was there that night. He made Shane a cool monkey balloon! We gave my parents and dan's parents a digital camera for Hanukkah and Christmas. I showed my parents how to use the camera and they are doing great with taking pictures so we used their camera at Kappy's. I spent hours showing them how to email pictures and my dad seemed to have mastered the skill. Seemed is the operative word. You see I am working on this blog so I called him and asked him to email me the pictures from that night. An hour later I have several copies of some pictures and none of others and my dad somehow managed to make his computer screen saver Shane's belly! I have not laughed this hard in a long time! He can't see the thumbnail images and when he enlarges them, he can't attach them. Anyway, thanks for your efforts, Dad! Here are some of the pictures! Now I am going to call him and tell him I accidentally deleted all of the pictures and ask him to resend them as a joke!
On December 23rd we headed to Navy Pier for Winter Wonderfest! We used to take our nephews Danny & Joey there when they were younger and we were eager to take Shane. He loved seeing all of the trees.
It was a great day overall, and Shane had a magnificent time; However, he did not understand timed rides. He wanted to stay in the jumper as long as he wanted - not 3 minutes. Every time his time was up, we could not get him out and Dan had to climb in (I should have taken a picture of that) to retrieve him. After being pulled from the bounce house, Shane would cry hysterically and we would get back in line and do it all again. It got a bit frustrating, but it is important for him to learn to take turns. It was soemwhat funny to watch him go from so happy to so sad in a moment. Here are some pictures of him in some of the jumpers.
There were also giant candy cane tubes for the kids to crawl through. Shane loved them, but preferred to scoot through on his but! It was too funny! He caused quite the bottleneck of children!
He also loved the "snowball fight" pit!
Here are some hanging out and walking around shots.
One of Shane's favorite parts of the day was the train ride. We both took turns taking him on the train!
After the train, it was time to ride the horses! Shane was so excited to check out the "neigh, neighs" that he was really mad when the ride ended. We rode the Merry Go Round several times!
Shane ended his time at Winter Wonderfest in the obstacle course that he did with Dan - That had a blast!
On our way out - after 5 hours of fun!
Christmas Eve was relaxing - we went to church, had Chinese food, and watched "A Christmas Story." It was great! Christmas morning was a blast! Shane was so excited to see what Santa left him under the tree!
He is especially fond of his big bear!
Then it was time to open all of his wrapped presents! As you can see, Shane was a very good boy this year and Santa brought him some pretty cool stuff! He loves his Elmo phone which says his name, his tunnel, his Tonka fire truck, his Megablocks, his Elmo slippers, the turtle he bounces on, and his puzzles & books! Lots of stuff!
Then it was time to play with his new toys!!!
While Shane was playing, Dan and I opened presents. Here are a few pictures. Santa was super good to me! I got the matching pearl bracelet to match my necklace and earrings as well as a purse, new clothes, and some ornaments. Dan did not fare nearly as well. Santa brought him the new Springsteen box set, some clothing - including an Elmo shirt, and new pillows for our bed.
After lots of playing with his toys, it was time to head to Papa Carolyn & Papa Bob's for Christmas with the family!
Our beautiful Great Niece Julia is getting so big! She is 3 months old! Here she is with her mom, Colleen, Papa, and Dan's brother John!
After eating some yummy appetizers it was time to open presents! Shane was spoiled again! He got a kitchen from Colleen, Bill, Liam & Julia, a basketball hoop and a ton of clothes from Aunt Geri, Uncle John, Joey, & Danny, a dinosaur from Jack, a Thomas train set & an Elmo DVD from Papa Carolyn and Papa Bob, an xylophone from Uncle Jerry & Aunt Gerry, and a rabbit that plays hide and seek with him from Aunt Margaret, Cathy, & John! Can you say SPOILED!
One of the funniest parts of the day came from the dinosaur that Jack gave Shane. It is Rex from Toy Story and he is adorable! It was a great gift since Shane played with Jack's old dinosaurs on Thanksgiving. Anyway, when you squeeze Rex's belly he makes a roaring noise. The noise terrified Shane and he was really scared of Rex. In order to help him get over his fear, Danny, Joey, & Jack kept placing him next to or under Shane's stuffed horse. It was pretty funny! Shane would run to his horse and then back away as soon as he saw Rex. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this. I am happy to report that Shane loves Rex now - as long as we do not squeeze his belly!
Shane was also spoiled with gifts from many friends and family including a wonderful personalized Elmo picture from Aunt Lynn, a barking puppy from Jami, and a 'See & Say' from Lisa & Larry! Thanks to everyone!!!
Last week brought a wonderful treat - a night out for Dan and I!!!! Our new and dear friends Rachel & Mark babysat Shane and we went to a movie! They were so sweet to do that! Here are some pictures from their evening!
My friend Anna gave Shane a great desk for Christmas and Dan and Shane put it together!
OK, here is a picture of Shane cooking in his kitchen. His stove reminds me of an episode or hoarders! He loves to stack everything in the stove. It is too funny!
OK, on New Year's Eve we had our neighbors over, but I did not take any pictures! :-( Here are some from earlier in the day of Shane and his bear! Check out the kiss!
We all want to wish you a happy and healthy 2011! We love you!!!
