Denver Childrens' Museum

On the beginning of our long trip home, we stopped at the Childrens' Museum of Denver. SS wasn't really thrilled about the idea because she just wanted to stay on the road and keep driving, and Teo was being beasty because it was close to his naptime. I think I was the only one excited about it. I think it's a cool idea to visit the children's museum in any major city we go to (that has one). Teo is only young once, and they provide amazing opportunities for play and exploration. You will notice in the photos that he is scowling and refuses to look at the camera (being beasty!).


He cheered up a bit after he played basketball in the sports room with his mama. He liked hiding in this locker. I think SS cheered up a bit then too. :)


On the way out he even wanted to climb into the fire truck and wear the firefighter clothes. He wasn't going anywhere near that when we first got there (no shoes on though!!).


He passed out as soon as his head hit the carseat, which was the plan. However, when we hit Cheyenne, Wyoming (a little over an hour later), we drove straight into a storm where we encountered rain and then skittle-sized hail which was so loud it woke him up. Oh well. Best intentions...

Colorado Part 2

We had a chance to have dinner with my sis Carmel (who doesn't live in Colorado Springs) one evening. Teo was so good seeing different people and interacting with them. He had his toddler "Twos" moments, but overall he was pleasant. He remembered everyone's names and would call people by their names.


We also went to a park and had a picnic with my friend Nicole and her three girls.

Nicole and her husband were nice enough to babysit Teo while I had my mini high school reunion with some friends I've always stayed in contact with, and some friends I have re-connected with on Facebook.


For the 4th of July, we went to a potluck dinner at my sister's friend's house and then it was time for the fireworks. Teo was being super beasty through the dinner because he was feeling the excitement about the fireworks and he didn't understand why we weren't just going to see them. I don't think he remembered them from last year, so he just wanted to go see what the heck they were. When we got to Palmer Lake (where we were watching them), it was packed and a bit rainy (weird for Colorado) so we decided to watch them from the car. My niece Noelle and her daughter Emma (Teo's BFF) decided to do that too. My sister Catch went ahead to a house on the lake to watch them. Anyway, we entertained the toddlers while waiting in the car.

I love that Teo's skin gets dark in the summer and I don't have to worry about him getting burned. I hate my white, freckled skin.

I know - he looks more like SS than me.

Then the fireworks started and Teo started freaking out. I don't think he expected them to be so loud and bright, and they were LITERALLY right above our car. He started crying and wanted to be held by me. I snuggled with him and he was actually trembling in my arms. Emma was cracking me up because she kept putting her arm on him and saying "It's okay Teo, it's just fireworks." (she's only a year older than him).

Here we are watching them. Teo eventually calmed down and stopped trembling and towards the end he was even commenting on the different colors and saying "Star" for the star shaped ones. I think it helped that Emma was so unfazed by them.


This is the double rainbow I caught with my iPhone on the way up to Palmer Lake. It was so strange that it was raining on the 4th of July in Colorado.


Things Teo started doing more of on the Colorado trip:

• You might have noticed that Teo's shoes were off in most of the photos. He will not keep his shoes on now that he knows how to take them off. I wonder if he was an island boy in a former life. Or, maybe he's like me. My feet get hot in the summer and I much prefer bare feet.
• He gets songs stuck in his head all the time now. He can sing to the best of his ability some songs from Barney, the Little Einstein theme, and just random songs he hears from my iPod. We were listening to the Queen song "I want to ride my bicycle." After it was over, I heard his little voice from the backseat "BI-cycle, BI-cycle, BI-cycle." He gets that bread song from Barney stuck in his head and he will repeat over and over "Yum, yum bagel. Yum, yum pita pocket, yum yum pumpernickel, pumpernickel bread. Hey!" He constantly sings to himself, and it's how he self-soothes himself off to sleep too.
  

One of his happier moments in the car, modeling my new sunglasses.

• 
• On the road. The normally desert looking landscape was green due to all the rain they were getting in Colorado and Wyoming.

• 

Colorado Part 1

My cousin made a comment on the last post, "You DROVE to Colorado?" Yeah, I know. Twenty-two hours in a car with a two-year-old. I have to say, he was a champ, though. Now, we did plan it so that he was sleeping for a lot of the drive (which wasn't fun for us - okay, Paulette did most of the driving because she wanted to push through the night) but still. Also, modern technology + a toddler who likes his movies = success on a road trip.

Here he is watching Lady and the Tramp. Crazy kid didn't like the headphones so he watched the movies with no sound.


So, we finally made it (Thank you, Paulette!), and we stayed with my sister Catch and her family first. The drum set at Catch's house was a big hit with Teo. He kept asking people to play with him. He especially loved my nephew Conor who would pretend to wince in pain when Teo hit the cymbals. Teo just laughed and laughed at that!

My niece Molly and Teo

My great-niece Emma with Teo (they eventually became BFF's throughout the duration of this trip)

We hung out with my sis Liz and her husband Don before they left on their vacation. We took Teo to this kid place that wasn't very toddler friendly. So, Liz taught Teo how to play Skeeball the toddler way. Just walk up and throw the balls over the net! He had fun!


Liz and I played some Air Hockey and Teo had to get in on the action.

We also went to a park by Liz and Don's house to let Teo run around. Here are the newlyweds:

Next we spent some time with my best friend Kathy, her husband Tony and their adorable baby TJ.

This is Teo watching the Denver Pride Parade from TJ's stroller

We also did some serious pool time. My niece Noelle has a gorgeous resort-like pool at her apt. complex and my sister Catch belongs to a community pool, so we made the most of it when the weather was nice.

Here's my pregnant niece Noelle (8 months) and my pregnant sis Liz (13 weeks)

My sis Catch with Teo and Emma (poking her head through :)

Teo ate corn on the cob for the first time at Aunty Liz and Uncle Don's house.

Teo and Emma had fun playing in the castle at Poor Richard's

These are three of my beautiful nieces (Mary, Noelle and Kaelyn)

We went to the Uncle Wilbur Fountain one day. The two toddlers were having none of it. They sat on the bench and watched. Sigh.

Here are the tweens, also sitting on the bench and having none of it. They're too old now. This is my niece Molly and my nephew Quinn.

Ahh...at least Catch got in touch with her inner child and went in.

Paulette's Visit and the Zoo

I've been in Colorado visiting family and friends for the last two weeks. My friend Paulette flew out and helped me drive to Colorado since SS had to work up until the end of June. We did some sightseeing while she was here, and took a trip to the zoo. Jen visited for a few days too.



At the zoo, Teo liked the monitor a lot. He spent a lot of time there.


He had a one-track mind when it came to the elephants, though. He was asking for them the entire time we were at the zoo. When we finally got to them, he was mesmerized. He sat there silent for about 15 minutes!

My Beautiful Boy and His Growing Vocabulary

The things that come out of Teo's mouth these days never cease to amaze and amuse me. I keep thinking I need to record them so I wrote down a few this morning before I went to school to clean out my classroom.

This morning, he added "So" to his vocabulary.

Me: Good morning, Teo
Teo: So, where is Mama (SS)?
Me: She's still sleeping
Teo: So, I went poo-poo (in his overnight pull-up)

He is also saying "Actually."

Me: Do you see the llama? (when looking in a book)
Teo: That's a goat, actually.

Another word that is popping up lately is "Maybe."

Me: Do you know where your sandals are?
Teo: Um, I don't know. Downstairs, maybe?

Watching a Little Einstein video

I love this coy smile he does sometimes. Here I was asking him to look at me and say "Monkey." (It produces a cuter smile than "Cheese")

I also enjoy when we're driving down the road, and he points out all the different vehicles. He knows so many!! He points out and names :

• Gas Tankers
  
• Diggers
  
• Fire Engines
  
• Police Cars
• Car Transporters
• Garbage Trucks
• Tractors
• Road Rollers
• Snow Plows (ok, we don't see any of those around here, but he can point one out in a book and he has a matchbox snow plow that he can identify)
• Trucks
• School Busses
• City Busses
  

It really is amazing to me that he can distinguish between the different vehicles and name them.

Political Rant

Pride 2009

The Gay Pride parade was today. For the last two years, Teo and I marched in the parade with our parent group (PLOP). This year, the kids from the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at the high school where I work wanted to march. We found out we could march with the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) float, which ended up being a lot of fun for the students. They made some new friends with kids from other GSA's in the area.

Unfortunately, we were at the very end of the parade, so we did a lot of waiting around beforehand. Teo did very well for about an hour and a half, but then he started to get antsy. Luckily SS sensed this, so she came to where we were and picked him up. So, he didn't end up marching with us. He watched the parade with the Uncles, SS and the Rays. Here I am trying to keep him entertained with a powdered doughnut. I made his "Future GSA Member" t-shirt.

The Daddies and Papas group were marching behind us. Cute...