Some Catching Up

We're closing in on about a month before baby Fisher makes his debut, and I realized that we didn't blog about two big events that happened at the end of last year. So now I've decided to take a moment and catch up.

A Disney Thanksgiving
This year for Thanksgiving, my parents brought us to DisneyWorld for Trace's first trip to see Mickey Mouse. My mom had been telling him that she was going to bring him ever since he was born.

The trip was great. Trace flew on an airplane for the second time and even though I was nervous about it, he was awesome on the plane. Taking off, being in the air and landing ... none of it phased him. He did enjoy being in the big blue airplane.

Trace really liked Disney World. The first character that he met was Pinocchio and he wasn't sure what to think, but soon got the hang of the pictures and autographs. Throughout the week, he got to meet characters like Mickey, Pluto (his new favorite and the stuffed animal that he picked out), Donald, Goofey, Lilo, Stitch, Alice, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Pooh, Tigger, Little Einsteins, Buzz Lightyear, and many others. He favorites to meet were probably Alice, who he was smitten with and ended up wearing lipstick on his cheek after she kissed him, and Handy Manny, who he told that he watched him on TV that morning. He was a little scared of Mad Hatter, as the guy really played up his character and meanly joked with us the entire time.

We saw lots of shows while we were there like Muppets in 3-D, Finding Nemo, Little Mermaid and A Bug's Life. Trace's favorite rides were the "Tigger Bounce" (Winnie the Pooh ride), Tea Cups and Cinderella's Carousel. I think most of all though, he loved dessert. My mom had us on the meal plan, where you can get a dessert with every meal. Seemed like Trace ended up with my dessert a few times.

It was a really fun trip and a great last family vacation before our family expands. We thank my parents again for bringing us. More pictures from the trip can be seen here: Part 1 & Part 2.

A Grand Isle Christmas
The other big event that we didn't really blog about was Christmas on Grand Isle. While we had a good time visiting family and hauling all of Trace's stuff to and from Grand Isle, Ashley and I came to the realization that next year, we'll likely be staying home for Christmas. It'll just be too hard with a 3-year old and a baby next December.

Santa was great to Trace again this year (as were his grandparents). He got everything he could have wanted and then some. Here's a shot of Trace checking out his art easel from Santa on Christmas morning:


Trace also got a camera, DVD player, tricycle, trampoline, toys, movies, etc. But of course, he also liked to check out other people's gifts too. One of his favorites, and perhaps his favorite present anyone got, was dad's tin of popcorn. He just loved that you could eat all the popcorn that you could possibly want and then go back for more later.

Trace was the center of attention once again for Christmas, but we'll see how it goes next year when he's sharing the spotlight with his brother. I think he'll do great, as he's already talking about sharing things with Fisher. He's mentioned sharing things like Phoebe and toys (though he says he'll play with Fisher's toys, not much talk about Fisher playing with his toys). He was hesitant about sharing mom and dad with Fisher but then said he would.

We had a checkup appointment yesterday and brought Trace along. He got to hear baby Fisher's heart rate and said it was loud. This weekend, we're bringing him to a class at the hospital to get him more acclimated to the idea of having a baby brother. He's also started reading the book, "I'm a Big Brother," and talks about Fisher while reading it.

He's starting to get with the idea that his brother's coming soon, and the other day he said that Fisher needs to put on his PJs so he can come out of mommy's belly. I know its hard enough for Ashley and I to be patient, but for a 2-year old who's been hearing about his brother for months now, he's ready to finally meet him.