A Day out with Thomas!

We spent last Sunday afternoon at the Grapevine Vintage Railroad for the Thomas the Train event. There was Thomas & Friends themed entertainment, including storytelling, music, arts and crafts, and train tables set up for the kids to play with. We ended the day with Jaidan's very first train ride! The weather was unseasonably cold, but that didn't put a damper on Jaidan's excitement!

Jaidan picked out the tatoo himself - his favorite train is Mike the engine

A blacksmith shows off his wares

Jaidan petting the goats at the petting zoo

I let Manish help out here. Petting zoos gross me out.

A magician performs

An electric train display

These conductors took their job seriously

"Smoke" coming out of the engine

OMG it's Thomas! Kids were shrieking with excitement. It was funny.

Posing with the conductor

His expression cracks me up. He couldn't contain his excitement!

The conductor comes by to take our tickets

Jaidan gets a "Junior Engineer" certificate

And now...from the Funny Farm..

Jaidan has been very entertaining with his sweet and funny mannerisms. Some of the latest -

• He toots at the dinner table and proudly proclaims, "I farted!" (I know, this is cute now, but won't be in a few years!)

• When upset, he tells himself, "It's okay, it's okay" calmy and in rapid succession. He learned that from my mom, who was watching him last weekend. He was upset that Manish and I had gone to dinner (we were all vacationing in Chicago at the time) and he was already in an unfamiliar place. My mom would say, "It's okay, it's okay," over and over!

• He kissed a scratch on my leg and said, "Boo-boo all better!" Then he brings over his toy plastic horse with one of it's legs broken off and says, "Boo-boo?" I said, "Yes, that would be a big boo-boo!"

And finally a sweet thing he did the other day... My dad was about to say his prayers - he does so every evening - and Jaidan was waiting patiently for him at the altar, sitting cross legged and hands clasped in his lap! I definitely need to take a picture of that next time!

Hug it out

On the whole, I would say Jaidan is a very affectionate, sweet child. On occasion, when he does something he is not supposed to, I will give him a stern talking to. And then he will do the sweetest thing - he looks up at me with those brown eyes and asks "Hug?" and gives me a big hug! It's almost like he is saying sorry by giving me a hug! He will do this on his own, without my prompting him! I will say it works - I just can't stay upset for too long!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

We had a great time celebrating Jaidan's friend Jacob's birthday this past weekend. Jacob is a sweetheart with a head full of beautiful blonde curls. He is just adorable! Jacob's is in our playgroup and his mom, Sarah is also in my MOPS group. Happy 2nd birthday Jake!!

Karis and Jaidan snacking (thought this was cute because they look like mini-adults socializing!)

Bouncing in the bounce house - Jaidan got a kick out of popping around while Karis jumped!

Little jumping bean!

Birthday boy Jake!

Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies....

....We all fall down!

A little bit of style...

...goes a long way. Thanks to my fabulous sister-in-law and her discount at Calvin Klein, I now own some pretty snazzy items - including these terrific sunglasses and striped top. My wardrobe needed a boost and thanks to Sapna and Calvin Klein, I am now set for the Spring! Look out world!

Who's yo' mama?

I have arrived as a mother. For my MOPS meeting this past Monday, I brought it a HOMEMADE quiche! And though it wasn't completely set when the meeting started (thank goodness there was an oven on site) when it was finally finished - it was pretty darn good.

Our little leftie enjoying dessert

So it turns out that Jaidan is left handed! Just like his dad and grandpa. Some interesting facts of lefties:

Left-handers adjust more readily to seeing underwater.

Left-handers excel particularly in tennis, baseball, swimming and fencing

Left-handers usually reach puberty 4 to 5 months after right-handers

4 of the 5 original designers of the Macintosh computer were left-handed

1 in 4 Apollo astronauts were left-handed - 250% more than the normal level.

Pretty cool!

Jaidan and his sweetie

Here is a picture of Jaidan and Sofia as we were getting ready to go to the park. They held each others hand on their own!