The Ashlan show: May 2012

We’re back from Disney and we had an absolutely awesome time! We left here around 7pm on Sunday night after Dan’s shift and got there around 9:45pm. We thought Ashlan would have fallen asleep in the car since she usually is in bed by 7:30/8pm, but of course not! She was up the entire time and didn’t fall asleep until we got in our room about 10:15ish. She ended up sleeping until 6:30, which is much longer than she normally sleeps in, but she was still really behind on her sleep. Needless to say, the next day was a little iffy, but she still was a trooper. It was super hot, and she was sweaty and overtired, but she wasn’t very cranky surprisingly. We took the shuttle to and from Magic Kingdom to our hotel, but it was a lot for her to stay entertained then. The next two days we drove, and though we had to pay for parking, it was totally worth it with her personality. We didn’t have to wait for a bus and then we didn’t have stops, and then didn’t have to worry about keeping her entertained since we have a DVD player in the car. We didn’t realize how long it would take to get into the park, and it took about an hour from our hotel to the entrance at Magic Kingdom…which was entirely too long for Ashlan. By the time we got there, she was already exhausted and it was already pretty hot. We only went on one ride (It’s a Small World) before she went to sleep, and then she slept for an hour and 20 min in her stroller. We walked around for a bit longer after she woke up, but we were all spent…the sun and heat had taken a toll on all of us. So, we went to the hotel and swam for a few hours, and she was so happy then! Figures, lol!

On Tuesday, we opted for Animal Kingdom. She had an amazing time there and so did we! When we first got there, we looked at the animals and fish in the Oasis, and she LOVED it! She even did a little happy dance and squealed when she saw this huge fish. I’m talking huge, like two feet by two feet. We got a picture of it, and everyone was laughing at her because it was so cute. We went on the Kilimanjaro Safari, which was 20 min long and apparently right before her naptime, as she fell asleep on the ride even with the tour guide being loud into the microphone. Guess she was tired! She slept right on through us transferring her into her stroller (another rarity), and Dan and I had lunch while she slept. When she woke up, she was fresh and alert, though still sweaty, lol. We ended up buying her a fan to put on her stroller because it was so hot. We ended up going to Dinoland, through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, the Maharajah Jungle Trek, and walked so, so much. We also did the 3D movie, “It’s tough to be a bug” but she refused to wear her glasses despite us trying to coax her many times. Hey, she was being quiet otherwise, so we stopped trying after awhile, lol! She got out of her stroller a lot more at Animal Kingdom and was just generally much happier than the day before. It could have been her being overtired on Monday, but she was not loving it like we had hoped she would. (Today was a different story though, lol!) We ended up going back to the hotel and swimming for a few hours again before we retired for the evening. She is in her element in the pool, that’s for sure, and we all had a great time there as well.

So, since we had the morning to kill before heading back home on Wednesday, we decided to go back to Magic Kingdom and give it another try. This time, she loved it! We did so much more than on Monday! We started at It’s a Small World again while we were waiting for our fast passes for another ride. Then we did Mickey’s Philharmagic, which was a 3D show, but she wouldn’t wear her glasses again, lol! Again, she was quiet, so we just went with it. After that, we did Peter Pan’s Flight, the Carrousel, and then we had some lunch. She ate half of my salmon and then fell asleep soon after. (Side note: we ate at Columbia Harbour House and it was excellent and we got so much food! Dan and I both got a huge piece of salmon, broccoli, and couscous, and it was only $10.19 per person. That was such a steal, we thought, especially for being on Disney property!) She took another great nap in her stroller, despite it being SO loud from the bands playing, so then Dan and I got ice cream while we waited for her to wake up. After she did, we were able to get a picture with Donald Duck in Frontierland! We rode the train, Daddy got her a souvenir Mickey and Minnie dolls, and then we called it a day much later than we planned, lol. We were on the road by 3pm, and after stopping once to eat, we were back home around 7pm. Whew, what a whirlwind past few days and we had such a great time! Since Ashlan was so good, we are planning on going to Seaworld next in Orlando, or maybe back to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, which she will love way more now. We took her in September of last year, but she is obsessed with fish now…maybe that’s why she likes to swim, haha.

She was an amazing sleeper though these few days! She went down without a problem around 7:30 every night and woke up so happy at around 6ish every day. There was not even a peep from her going down! Now granted, we got a suite so we didn’t have to be in the same room as her…so we were worried how she would sleep by herself, but she did awesome. We were pleasantly surprised at how easy that was, because she certainly has been a difficult baby when sleeping in places other than her own bed, lol. All in all, we had such a great time and will definitely be planning another adventure soon!

All ready for Magic Kingdom!

On the shuttle to Magic Kingdom.

At entrance...she was beginning to have a meltdown until we gave her milk, lol.

On "It's a Small World".

In Frontierland after her nap.

She was obviously still sleepy...she was resting her chin on my head, lol!

Back at the hotel pool. She only lasted about a min in the kiddie pool.

Dinner poolside. :) Ashlan was on a yogurt kick that day.

This is what happens when we get ready in the mornings and the stroller is in the room...she climbed into it.

At Animal Kingdom. She apparently wanted to get closer to the animals.

The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom.

Ashlan climbed up to see the fish.

These are the huge fish I was talking about.

Couldn't have taken a better picture! You can see her face in the reflection of the fish! She was so happy!

If there wasn't a huge drop in between us and the gorilla, I'd be worried that he wanted to get us, lol!

She really enjoyed playing on this dinosaur.

Check out her smile. :)

In Dinoland.

Back at the hotel pool.

Her Minnie doll is a new favorite.

2nd day at Magic Kingdom.

Looking at Cinderella's castle.

Walking with my girl. <3

Ready to go into the 3D movie, Mickey's Philharmagic.

Riding the Carrousel.

Looking at the ferry in Frontierland.

With Donald Duck! Ashlan was not sure of him.

She did not want to be beside him, lol, so this was a better pic.

And a tired, exhausted, sweaty, and greasy Ashlan on the monorail back to our car. What a fabulous time we all had!

I thought I better do another blog entry before we go to Disney and have too many pictures from that, haha! That trip is coming up soon and we are so excited! Doesn’t exactly make up for not being able to go to London, but I think she’ll enjoy this more.

So these last two weeks have been super busy with the gym, playdates, and Caesar. For those of you who don’t know, Caesar is our little epileptic Chihuahua who has a heart murmur and a compromised liver. He is one major defect, lol, but we can’t help but to love him! Anyway, he’s been having a few seizures lately, so we’ve had to make a trip to the vet’s office and pharmacy for him and a bunch of phone calls. We upped his meds, and thankfully he’s doing better it seems, but he is such a problem child! Good thing we love him, lol!

Ashlan has been such a little fish lately! She’s been in the water at least 7-8 times this season already. The first two times were pretty short as far as submersion goes, but she was walking along our “seat” in the pool. She learned after only one time how far it goes, lol! Then after that, she was careful and turned around to go the other way, or did it on purpose and sank into the water more. After the first time or two of taking her in, I used my hands to do the motion of kicking with her legs, and she got it after a time or two of me helping her. After that, we couldn’t get her out of the pool. She was swimming to the deep end and back and “backing” into the pool (which consists of her backing up with her little butt in the air until she gets to the end of the cement, and then just plops in. We also have a video of that and just posted it yesterday.). So we are pretty proud of her…not bad for a 17 month old. I hope she always stays this fond of the pool, because I am having so much fun with her! This week it rained all week (like seriously, all week), but last week we spent almost every day in the pool. It was so much fun! We also have a little play house out there for her (it’s actually called Kangaroo Climber), but she loves to play on that too. She’ll go back and forth between that and the pool constantly.

She has been eating more and more with a spoon by herself. Of course, it is usually Greek yogurt, which is really thick, or cottage cheese, but she still does it. She gets it all over her face though, lol! But at least she is trying more and can actually do it this time. The other day I probably fed her 10% of the yogurt and she did the other 90%.

Ashlan is definitely talking a lot more. She says “all done” or “I done” after finishing eating. Her new phrase is now, “Oh no!” She still says “I stuck” a lot, but after hearing me say oh no, she has definitely picked that up. Sometimes she’ll be in her crib and just rolling around waking up and we’ll hear through the monitor, “Oh no! I stuck!” She’ll still be sleeping, but it is so funny!

Here is her impromptu swim...we were all outside and she was playing on her Kangaroo climber. All of a sudden, she went right over and sat down on the first step of the pool. So, we just put her floatie device on her and let her have at it.