What could've been a tragic day...

Whenever Makena is at the playground I have thoughts of, "What if a dog ran away from it's owner and attacked her? What if she fell off the top of that play structure? What if she lost her footing and slipped down the stairs? What if, what if, what if..."

I'm not sure why I do it. I think I try to imagine the worst so that I'm not blindsided when it happens. As though picturing her falling in my head will prepare me for how to handle it in real life.

Unfortunately it just doesn't work out that way.

We had a busy day on Monday March 19th. We dropped Pam off at work then went shopping for birthday gifts and clothes for Makena. We went home for a bit and then headed to Pump It Up to play. They had a free session for facebook fans. I figured we'd kill some time there and then head to work.

Makena had a blast, the place was practically empty. We bounced and laughed and had a lot of fun. When we left we stopped in the grocery store across the street for a few things. She wanted a bag of trail mix. I let her pick the kind with the fake M&M's. We were about to head to work but got a call that there had been some puking and made the decision to not potentially expose Makena to any germies.

I had a few hours to kill before picking up Pam at work and didn't want to drive back home, so I called my mom. We were going to meet at the park near her house but then I needed to borrow her fridge to put my groceries in. I drove to her place, and then we walked to Eagle Park.

We played for a while, and my mom helped a kid get his shoe out of a tree. 

Then it was time to pack up and go, I was thinking maybe Makena and I would walk over to the library for a bit while my mom went home. We were picking up the sand toys and Makena wanted to go down the slide one more time. She started climbing up the stairs of the big play structure, the one clearly marked for 5-12 year olds. I was half watching her, half talking with my mom. We were only about 10 feet away. Then as she got up higher I realized there were too many kids up there, and I said it looked dangerous and walked over to stand closer. I stood and watched as she stepped on to the high platform. There were about 6 kids up there, I wasn't sure why they weren't going down the slide. I was glad that Makena scooted out of the way and waited her turn to go down the slide. I was concerned that maybe an older kid would cut in front of her, or that they would go down before waiting for the slide to be clear. Makena and I had eye contact. I'm sure I probably smiled and nodded to her, acknowledging that she was doing the right thing by waiting nicely.

I noticed she was back against one of those openings where kids can climb up and down, so I was about to walk under the play structure to stand directly below her. I was worried she might lose her footing or step too close to the edge. 

And then two little boys, perhaps about 5 years old, started to rough house. There was a little scuffle, some pushing and shoving, when suddenly they knocked into Makena and she went flying out the opening. Even though I saw the whole thing, even though I anticipated her possibly falling, even though I was already in motion moving towards her when it happened, I watched in horror as my baby fell. She fell SO FAST. It was about an 8 foot drop, and she fell in a V shape, butt first. As I ran with my arms stretched out the thought crossed my mind, "What will I do, can I catch her?!" But I didn't. About a foot in front of me she landed with a thud.

Her body did a horrible crumble, I still can't shake the image from my mind. She folded in half then whip-lashed and hit her head back on the sand. It happened within a split second, in the moments before I reached her. I was afraid to move her at first, but she was screaming and tried to sit up, so I figured she was okay to be moved. I scooped her up in my arms and sat there rocking her as she cried a terrified painful cry. Then my mom was right there, comforting me, as I comforted Makena. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay." I remember repeating that over and over. My mom asked if she wanted milk, and Makena said yes, so I carried her to a bench and nursed her. We looked her over and she had a bump and redness at the back/bottom of her head near her neck. I texted Pam and told her there was an emergency, that Makena fell from the top of the playground, that she was okay but I think we should go to the doctor. She replied immediately, which is rare. "Come get me." I called the doctor and told them what happened, and they said to come right in. We had to walk back to my parents apartment, then I had to buckle Makena in her car seat and drive to get Pam. I was worried about the drive. Worried Makena would fall asleep and lose consciousnesses as I drove. She was already tired, we had a long day and she didn't nap. I was a wreck driving, totally distracted and having a hard time concentrating. I kept checking her in the mirror and talking to her to make sure she was awake. I got to Pam and she drove to the doctors office while I sat in the back.

In the waiting room Makena was acting like her normal self. Laughing and playing and walking around. The doctor did a quick check and said she was fine. He didn't say she needed an x-ray or anything. He asked if she threw up more than twice. He looked at her eyes to check for dilation. He watched her run down the hallway. He said there wasn't any swelling or redness anywhere, and that a bruise might show up but maybe not. He said she is young and flexible which is good, she landed on her butt which is good, and she landed in sand, which is good. He told us that as long as she can be roused after sleeping she's fine. I joked that Makena typically wakes at least twice between going to bed and when I join her.

We left relieved and decided to go to CPK for dinner. Then we let Makena pick out a mini cupcake (she chose chocolate on chocolate) and she happily devoured it.

After her bath she fell asleep like normal, while I nursed her in bed. I went to bed feeling so thankful that what could've been a tragic day was just a lesson. A lesson I'm still trying to figure out, but a lesson indeed.

Things I love about 2 year old Makena:

The way she reaches up to hold my hand as we walk.

How daintily she splashes in the tub.

When she says, "Otay peas mommy." (Okay please Mommy) after I tell her something mundane like, "Your bath is almost ready."

How amazingly sharp her memory is!

When she asks for the "Uh schide?" while nursing (Other side.)

When out of the blue she proclaims, "I yhuve yoo too, mommy!"

When I say something hurts she kisses my boo boo.

The way she runs in circles around the living room when she's just about to go poop.

How she says, "Scuse YOU mommy!" if I bump in to her.

How she uses the back of her hand and brushes her hair out of her eyes.

When she takes me by the hand and walks me over to see something, saying, "Show you!"

That she laughs when she toots and then blows a raspberry and says, "Oh! I toot!" and laughs again.

When she sees a mommy and kid hugging in a book she always hugs me and says "Awww!"

How she tries to hold in her tears after a toy was snatched out of her hand but cries when I comfort her in my arms.

When she gets a hair in her mouth and says, "hair!" with her mouth open and tongue sticking out, waiting for me to get it.

When she hears and recognizes a song that Pam likes she says, "Oh! Ma song!"

That she says, "Sure!" all the time, and nods her head yes.

How she moos randomly when she's trying to change the subject. Lol.

When she gives me those hugs that last extra long, resting her head against my neck.

When she becomes a drama queen and hangs her head sadly and goes to a corner and lays down, covering her face. (Note: this is often brought on by her being over tired and bored.)

How much she loves shoes. She always has to try them on!

Random Thoughts

- I have a hard time sticking with just about anything. I get bored easily. They say it takes 21 days for something to become a habit. I wrote my daily email notes about Makena for months and then when I was updating this blog about our Disneyland trip I totally stopped replying to the emails asking me about my day. And now I feel like if I were to continue it would be strange to pick up after several weeks. I think I'll go back to blogging instead. We'll see.

 - Makena continues to be so incredibly amazing that I just can't believe it sometimes! I try to tell myself that all parents feel this way about their kids. Everyone thinks their kid is the most awesome thing ever. But I mean really, MAKENA IS SO FREAKIN AWESOME! I can't imagine getting so lucky as to have another kid as fantastic as she is. What if we got a kid that was super difficult or hated hugs or something?! Sure, we'd love the kid, but would we always be thinking "Dude, we should've stopped after Makena because no kid could ever compare!!" She's so sweet, and silly, and loving, and thoughtful, and smart, and kind, and funny, and beautiful, and I could go on and on about how good she is through and through and how happy she makes me. I have several moments every single day when I scream, "Omg I love her so much!" inside my head. I was laying next to her in bed the other night and she started talking in her sleep. She was asking for a kiss, and making kiss noises in her sleep! "More kiss, more kiss mommy!" I woke her up and asked, "Do you want a kiss?" and then we kissed and she fell asleep and I melted to bits.

- We are hoping we will be moving soon, an opportunity to rent an adorable cottage opened up and although there are some cons (it's smaller, higher utility costs because they are shared with the main house it sits behind, history of a bug problem, no bathtub, no dishwasher) after careful thought we believe the pros outweigh the cons. It's got a big private back yard, it's 1 mile from Pam's work eliminating her need of our car those days, has a washer and dryer in the basement, and it's just such a quaint special place. We could be really happy there, but we feel we won't be selected. At least I hope if we don't get it that my parents do! We'll see. We've already started imagining living there and I'm trying to stay open and positive but I'm already feeling pretty bummed that my hopes got up. Right now we are just waiting for a call back from the landlord so we can submit our application.

- I joined a new website where you get a box of kids clothes shipped to you every month. Because I was one of the first 100 customers they gave us an awesome referral incentive, and now I get a year of free clothes for Makena! Super exciting. We are always in need of clothes for her, and it's so fun to open the box and see what goodies she got. I've taken to being slightly obsessed with some Gymboree lines of clothes, and they are so darn expensive that it's dumb to buy them at retail prices. Well, it's dumb when we have bills that need to be paid and can't afford to buy gas. ($4.50 a gallon, again?!?!) So now I scour used clothing sites and ebay and piece together outfits. There is also a consignment store near us where I've sold some of Makena's things to earn credits. I sell stuff online too, and keep that money in my paypal account so I can use it to purchase stuff for her online.

- I want to touch on the fact that I still, 2 years later, have those same moments of panic that I've written about before. Horrible things happen every day. Children get kidnapped. Accidents happen. Really terrible evil things happen. I know this, and I've known this for a long time. It's a part of life. We just do our best to carry on and try to stay safe. But it still happens. And now that I'm a mom the thought that something awful could happen to Makena literally hurts my brain. I start to play these ridiculous what if games in my head and it gets crippling so I make myself not dwell too much. Sometimes I wonder if I'm on the verge of a panic attack, I'll be driving on the highway and imagine a car flipping over the divide and landing on us, and I think through these horrid scenarios in detail (the car is upside down and on fire and I'm trying to unbuckle Makena from her seat and she's screaming and I can't do it and people are pulling me away from the car) and I have to make myself stop thinking about it. Pam will take her to the park and I'll think "What if they get hit by a car on the way there? What if Pam has to tell me that Makena didn't make it? How would I react in that moment? How could I ever go on with my life, and why would I want to?!" I took a shower the other day and put Mickey Mouse on for Makena to watch, and as I was shampooing my hair I thought about someone breaking into our apartment and taking her, and how she's so young that she doesn't know how to get help or even say her name clearly. She could grow up in another family and never even know me. Never have a single memory of me. Sometimes I want to tattoo her with "PROPERTY OF KATY" That sounds awful, right? Of course I don't actually want to tattoo her, but it does terrify me that she could be gone and never know how to find her way back. It's not fun at all to have these thoughts. Thankfully they are few and far between. Well I don't know about that, I'd say at least twice a week I'll think this stuff. I'm not sure if there is a normal level to compare this to. But I take comfort in knowing other moms who have admitted thinking similar things. Heck, even Pam tells me stories of thoughts she's had. I'm not sure if that's what people mean when they say you worry all the time when you have a kid. I definitely wasn't prepared for this part of parenting.

- Did I mention that on February 1st she had another febrile seizure? We had a busy day, dropped Pam at work in the morning, ran some errands and came home, she didn't nap and then we went to work at 2. I guess that's a normal M/W/F day for us actually. She played and had a great time, and we left to go pick up Pam at 5pm. She was about to nod off when we pulled in to Pam's work, so she sat in the back with her on our drive home. As we got closer to home Makena was really really trying to fall asleep, and Pam was losing her battle of trying to keep her awake. We got home and I started to get dinner ready and Makena was crying and wanted to be held. I picked her up and she started to fall asleep in my arms as I put a pot of water on to boil. I passed her to Pam and then it dawned on us... the lethargy, the eyes staring, the slow quiet answers to our questions, the flushed cheeks and warm body. We suddenly knew she had a fever before we even got the thermometer out. She was acting the same exact way she was a year ago when she had that awful first febrile seizure. 101.7, immediate fever reducer medicine, a call to the advice nurse, pacing around trying to figure out if we should bring her to the ER, arguing over letting her sleep or not. It was getting close to impossible to keep her eyes open. I was freaking out. I knew she was tired. She generally is on days she doesn't nap. But she doesn't act like that. She gets whiny and sometimes loopy and loud, typical overtired behavior. This was scary. Scary because she wouldn't look at me when I called her name. Scary because her head kept slumping over. Scary in the way where I was afraid if she fell asleep she'd pass out and never wake up again. I called my mom to come over and bribed Makena with talk of Grandmo coming to play. I was hoping she'd perk up as usual and then go to bed after eating dinner. Nope, mom came over and Makena still wanted to sleep. I finally agreed to nurse her on the couch, and she immediately fell asleep. Pam held her and watched her while I researched a few things. (Allergic reaction to probiotics? She had a yogurt smoothie with them for the first time.) While Pam held her she twitched a few times, but she slept and her fever went down a bit. We went to the doctor and she was fine. He wasn't concerned. 2 days later she developed a strange rash on the backs of her knees. By that evening it was on her thighs and arms and on Feb 5th she had a couple blister looking bumps around her mouth, and on her hands, fingers, and toes. We also saw what looked like a cold sore on her gums. We're pretty sure it was Hand Foot and Mouth disease, and a few days later Colin came down with it so although Makena wasn't actually diagnosed, we feel certain that's what it was. At least that explained the fever!! Phew. Having a kid is ROUGH.

- To end on a happy note, we finger painted for the first time a couple days ago! For Christmas she got these awesome all natural paints, made from berries and basil and stuff. They are powder, and you mix in water and voila! Finger paints! Makena was not crazy about it at first. She kept asking for a paintbrush. I showed her how to get messy with it and she finally started to have fun. Although she did want me to wash her fingers after each color. Lol.

I can't believe she slept this whole time I wrote this!! I'm sure I just jinxed myself so I'm going to sign off now. ;)

Our AMAZING Disneyland trip!!!!

We knew a few months ago that we wanted to have a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party for Makena, since she adores the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse tv show and loves all things Mickey. We also really wanted to take her to Disneyland, but we weren't sure when or how we'd make that happen with it being so expensive. Then my mom said she was getting a check soon (from her late father's lawsuit or something) and would put $1,000 towards a trip for Makena. I knew I could definitely get us all there for that much! I got on the ball right away and thanks to mom's AAA discount, we booked a 3 night stay at a Disney property hotel and had 3 day park hopper tickets. Our package also came with some fun extras- a phone call from Mickey and Minnie saying they were excited to see us soon, FastPasses, preferred seating at a few shows, lanyards and pins, and the thing we were most looking forward to- passes to get in to Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness! I had originally assumed we'd stay at a good neighbor hotel, and only get 2 day park tickets, but there was a huge promotion due to it being the low season and so we got an amazing deal. I'd never stayed at a Disney hotel, (well, aside from the regular value ones in WDW) and though I REALLY wanted the Disneyland Hotel, the best price was for the Paradise Pier, so that's what we booked!

To prep for this once in a lifetime trip I started showing Makena videos of Disneyland. I wanted her to be familiar with it, and excited to be there. We watched a lot of podcasts and Youtube clips. We looked at photos from when we went to Disneyland when she was only 4 months old. We looked at photos of friends Disney vacations. I was building up the excitement level to near combustion! And it worked!

We hit the road a bit after 8 am. My mom sat in the back with Makena and they played and read books and snacked and sang songs (and watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse of course). We were all wondering how Makena would do without a diaper, that's a long car ride, our ETA was 2:23 pm. Makena didn't mention needing to pee at all, so we pushed on till lunch time, and stopped at noon in Wheeler Ridge. We ate and then Makena used the potty in the parking lot next to our car, even though she insisted she didn't have to go. She and I ran around a bit in the grass while Pam fueled up the car. We got back in the car and I sat in back to nurse her, and just like planned she fell asleep. She woke up when we were just pulling off the freeway, it was perfect! We pulled up to the hotel at 2:20. Pam got us there in record time, considering we stopped for about an hour!!

I opened my door to get out and Makena could see through to the lobby, and said "DOOF!!" when she saw the Goofy statue. I was almost in tears already, I was so excited!

We unloaded and I checked us in, and Makena was given a balloon and a coloring booklet and crayons, plus a special photo signed "Happy Birthday Makena, love Mickey." I asked if there were any upgrades (and explaining how exciting this trip was for us and my mom bought it thanks to an inheritance and we were celebrating my daughter's 2nd birthday and she was newly potty trained and survived a 6.5 hour car trip without any accidents, haha) lo and behold we got upgraded to a park view room! YAY! Our trip was already super amazing and it had only just begun! We were on the 9th floor, all the way at the end. We had a great view of California Adventure, and to the left side we could see the Matterhorn in Disneyland. The room was really cute, Makena loved the beach ball pillow and surf board lamp. And the Mickey lifeguard lamp, which she immediately pointed out was missing his black nose. Lol. 

We quickly freshened up and changed and headed to Disneyland! I love this photo that I took as Makena and Pam entered The Happiest Place On Earth! She was so happy (we all were!) to finally be in "DEEE!!"

As we walked up Main Street we noticed a parade was about to start, so we found a spot and watched Mickey's Soundsational Parade! Makena kept hearing Mickey's voice announcing the parade was starting, and she was looking for him and was SO thrilled to see all her Mickey friends as they went by on the floats!

The plan for that evening was to ride it's a small world because it was closing tomorrow to take down all the holiday decorations. We were so thankful to be there when crowds were so low, rides (yeah, I know, they are technically attractions, but I'm calling them rides) had about 10 minute wait times, some much less! Makena was in awe during the boat ride, she pointed out all sorts of stuff and soaked in everything.

We got off and she was sad, so we quickly got on the train for a round trip journey. She started to get antsy, wanting milk and I knew she was getting tired and hungry. We rode iasw again and she bought a little iasw boat toy for the bath tub. Makena saw Dumbo as we were walking to dinner so since the line was so short (we only had to wait 1 turn!) she and I went on. She had a blast making us fly up and down. We had dinner reservations for Cafe Orleans, and Makena mentioned needing to use the potty so I got our table and Pam and Grandmo tried to get Makena to pee on the tiny travel potty we borrowed. No luck, she apparently screamed and wouldn't sit down at all. We rushed back to the hotel to watch World Of Color from our room, and it was really awesome. We didn't even get to see the animated projections, but just the lights and music and fountains were amazing! Then we went to the roof top to watch the fireworks. Makena was exhausted by then and just wanted to nurse and sleep, so we went right to bed as soon as they were over.

The weather forecast was looking like rain, so we decided to not to to the parks on Monday the 23rd. And we made a great choice, it rained almost the whole day. Instead we had our Character breakfast at Surf's Up with Mickey. I was glad that Makena's first interaction with Mickey would be in a relaxed atmosphere. We got to the restaurant and she saw Pluto walking around and was so excited to go in. We met Mickey right away and took a photo. Makena gave him a hug and we got our food and started eating. It was yummy, but we were too busy being excited to eat much!

Pluto came over and pretended to drink from Makena's straw. Big laughs from Makena, and she's STILL talking about it! Goofy came over and she was a little scared, I think she was thrown off by him wearing a different outfit. He was in his surf gear, but then again so was Mickey. She didn't want to say hello to him though, so we didn't push it! She really liked Pluto and his starfish on his collar. This was my first ever character breakfast, and it was totally worth every single penny. I will always do them from now on!! It was so great how they all took their time to really get to know and interact with us. Again, we were lucky it wasn't crowded, because it felt so unrushed and was such a positive experience! The only negative was that I specifically picked this one because they do a little show where you can get up and dance and participate, but they said they weren't doing it today because of the rain. (Um, but we were indoors?!) They said instead they were sending the characters around twice, so we did get a lot of one-on-one time with each one. It felt like every 5 minutes someone was at our table, much to our delight!

 
Makena and I got up to get more food from the buffet, and we spotted Minnie walking in. Makena was almost squealing with joy. She ran up and gave her a huge hug, almost knocking her over. She also gave her a kiss on her nose, and right afterwards she turned around to me and was beaming! My phone camera sucks indoors though, so most of my photos were blurry or washed out with brightness. Next Disney trip I vow to have a better camera with me!!

My mom ordered her a little birthday cake that came in a pink treasure chest with a hand mirror. Some cast members came over to sing a happy birthday song, and Makena loved the Mickey head shaped sprinkles.

Stitch came by, and he noticed all the commotion and that we were celebrating Makena's birthday. He reached over to the middle of the table then gave her a jelly packet as if it was a birthday gift. It was very cute. We adults were laughing but Makena just seemed a little confused, lol.

Then Minnie came to our table, and Makena showed her her little Minnie doll, and her Minnie shirt. Makena's shoe fell off under the table and Minnie put it back on for her. Makena was in heaven! She told Minnie that Pluto drank from her cup, and then Makena said, "Minnie no drink. Only Pluto drink." Then Makena gave Minnie big hugs and as Minnie left Makena pointed out the Minnie picture on wall and Minnie copied it which Makena thought was hilarious. (Wow that was a lot of M names.)

We said good bye, and then did some shopping in the hotel store. We got 2 ponchos so we could walk around in the rain. We also exchanged some of Makena's birthday Disney gift cards for Disney Dollars, which she thought were so cool. They even had birthday cake and balloons on them. I ran up to the room to grab a phone charger, while Pam, mom, and Makena watched some Mickey cartoons in the kids movie room. Then we explored Downtown Disney and did more shopping! We had a delicious lunch, and Makena peed in the bathroom with me, thankfully. I was so proud of her! When the balloon animal lady came to our table we let Makena pick, and she wanted Pluto.

After lunch Makena and I went back to the room for her nap, and she fell asleep and recharged her battery. Pam bought a belt since she forgot hers at home, and my mom went geocaching. When Makena woke up we headed back out and went to look at the Disneyland Hotel store and pool area. I wish it had been nicer weather, the pool seemed so fun! Then again if it was nice weather we would have been busy in the parks! Makena loved seeing Mickey everywhere. She wanted a photo taken with these bushes.

We spent some time in the bookstore then got a treat at the bakery. I think one of the best parts of this trip was that we really let Makena pick whatever she wanted the majority of the time. You want a $5 cookie because it's dressed like Mickey? Sure! It's not often that we get to so blatantly spoil her, and it was awesome. 

Pam and Makena have a photo by this same Lego Woody from our last visit. Makena loved playing with the sample Lego's they had out, I think Lego's are my favorite toy hands down from my childhood!

We went back to the hotel for dinner and made more squished pennies before going to our room. We love to collect these cheap fun souvenirs wherever we go.

Makena loved hopping on and "popping" the bubbles on the carpets in our hotel, especially the hidden Mickey bubbles!!

My mom went back out to look for more caches while we got Makena settled in for the night. She took a bath while Pam and I ate room service dinner on the floor next to the bathroom so we could keep an eye on her. Then she went to bed and so did we. Needed a good nights rest for the busy day tomorrow!

We got our morning wake up call from Mickey and rushed out the door to wait in line for our extra Magic Morning hour, meaning we (along with plenty of other people, though it was way less people than the general public!) got to enter the park at 9am instead of 10am when they officially opened. It was the most gorgeous day! We passed Jamba Juice on our way to the entrance plaza and grabbed some breakfast, then waited in a short line for the gates to open. It's always exciting to go through the turnstiles into Disneyland, but I find it completely thrilling to be there when they first open. The crowd gets to count down and then you hear the little magical chime sounds as the first guests enter. It reminds me of that same feeling I get in a Broadway theater as the lights dim, the orchestra starts to play and the curtain goes up. Exhilarating! Oh, the fun that awaits!!

We headed straight to Fanstasyland and went on Peter Pan's Flight, then Dumbo and the carousel, followed by the Alice in Wonderland ride. It was fun to go on rides I've always seen but never ridden, I really thought the Alice ride was cute!

Makena and her Grandmo on Dumbo! This wasn't part of my touring plan, (yep, I'm that kind of person who likes to plan out which things to ride and when!) but there was hardly a line and Makena asked to go on with her, so off they went! When else do you get to wait 5 minutes for Dumbo?!?! My mom, who is not a ride person, was such a trooper! I'm sure she felt safer knowing she had her nose plug in her pocket, just in case the elephants crashed into that foot of water. I'm not even kidding right now, she honestly keeps a nose plug on her. lol!

Then we waited in our first real line, about 20 minutes for the Finding Nemo submarines.

This is one of my favorite unique to Disneyland attractions. When they revamped the subs and put the Nemo parts in, they really outdid themselves in true Disney fashion! Luckily I know about the scarier scenes, so I distracted Makena a couple times and she never noticed. Can't say the same for my mom unfortunately, and she jumped and banged her knee pretty bad. :(

I hope whoever had the idea for the seagulls got a raise. They are so cute and funny, randomly shouting out "mine!"

Next was the teacups, they had been closed temporarily earlier, so we made our way back to them and Makena was in heaven. Neither my mom nor Pam are into spin rides, even though I didn't spin the teacup at all. In fact I spent the whole time trying to make sure we didn't spin, because I was worried Makena would hate that. Little did I know!! She was happy we got the pink teacup. I think she originally wanted a different color but we were the last ones in.

We went on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, and had a literal blast! In defense of my score, I think I was too busy trying to see how Makena was doing to concentrate too much... ;) Though I can't understand how Pam got such a high score while sitting next to her, lol.

Then we walked across the park to Critter Country, a land I tend to never visit past Splash Mountain! But we were in search for the Winnie the Pooh ride, and it was so fun and Makena loved it so much that I'm positively kicking myself for not riding it more than once. There was absolutely NO line. We should have gone right back on once the ride was over!!!! Why didn't we?! Well, we spotted Tigger and Pooh and got in line for photos, that's why. :) Makena didn't want to see Tigger, only Pooh, but the line went to Tigger first. As we passed she wanted to say hi.

She wanted me to put her down and hug Pooh. So Pooh bear knelt down and Makena stood there and gave him the longest hug ever. The people in line were too busy oohing and ahhing over how cute she was that they didn't mind how much time she was taking. This hug went on so long it was hilarious, Makena was frozen, she didn't want to let go!

And then we were starving and Makena (okay fine, I won't blame her... I) was about to have a hunger meltdown so we went to eat. On the way to the Pizza Port we grabbed a hot corn on the cob. My mom ran back to the hotel to get her sunglasses. Pam, Makena and I ate our yummy meal and I charged my phone. The battery was running down like crazy from all the photos I was snapping. As we got our food Makena spotted these souvenir cups and wanted one. Normally I'd say no, who needs an $8 plastic cup for goodness sake? Especially when she was only going to have water in it, not the soda refills it came with! But it was her birthday trip and we had extra money from gifts so we let her have it. And now I love it, because it has the teacups on it which were her favorite!

While we were eating Makena said she needed to pee, so I took the little potty to an unused corner and tried to have her go but she refused, so we rushed like crazy to the nearest bathroom which was a pain to get to through the crowds. Biggest crowds I saw our whole trip. I guess everyone just likes to hang out between the Pizza Port and the bathroom by Space Mountain! Lol. I was worried she was going to pee in my arms! We got into a stall and again she flipped out crying and saying "no pee! no pee!" but I knew she had to go, she hadn't since the morning at the hotel. Oh well. I was frustrated and knew she'd pee when she had to, no point in trying to force her! We just left the restaurant and hoped for the best. 

As we were leaving Disneyland to meet my mom in the entrance plaza so we could go to California Adventure, we spotted Mickey walking by. We got a quick photo, first ones in line! Makena wasn't looking but she did happily show him her Minnie doll! Then we saw Donald and Makena loved him so much!

At California Adventure they were doing a major remodel so that was kinda a bummer, being redirected around what will soon be a very awesome area. They are hard at work for sure, and even though there was construction and lots of boarded up places, it still held it's Disney charm! I can't wait to go back and see what they've done, not to mention the new Cars Land!! We headed to Toy Story Midway Mania, but passed by the empty line of the new Little Mermaid ride, so we went on. It was so cute and fun, and Makena loved it! She sings, "un sea, un sea!" instead of "under the sea."

On our way to TSMM we passed some PhotoPass photographers.

 Then we saw Mickey in his captain/sailor outfit and took a few more photos.

Before we got in line for TSMM, we let Makena pick out an ice cream treat. She chose the Mickey ice cream sandwich. She wouldn't move it far from her mouth. The line moved quickly and she was sad to stop eating it. I put it in a baggie for later.

After the ride, happily eating the rest of the ice cream, lol.

I found a quiet empty outdoor eating area that had an outlet, so I nursed Makena and sat and charged my phone while she napped. I transferred her to her stroller after 30 minutes and she didn't wake up. My mom and I rode Soarin', then Pam and I rode Monsters Inc. We exited and saw Makena had woken, and she and Grandmo were busy making more pennies. She happily ate a Mickey soft pretzel and we explored the Animation building. The Toy Story spinning Zoetrope was awesome.

Eating a Mickey pretzel for a snack while we killed time waiting for the Playhouse Disney show!

This was another highlight, and I wish we had gone twice!! A fun interactive show with puppets and dancing and surprises that fell from the ceiling.

After Playhouse Disney we hurried over to the pier side again but we missed the toy story character Meet & Greet. So Makena went on the Fish Carousel, and my mom taught her how to jump over lines in the sidewalk as we walked to Bugs land.

My mom showed Makena how to jump over the cracks in the sidewalk, and Makena was so cute hopping as we walked.

We went to the A Bug's Life area, where I'd never been before. It is meant to make guests feel small as bugs, with huge juice boxes and stuff all around. It has a bunch of little rides, a cute Heimlich caterpillar "train" that pretends to eat through different foods, and there are different scents wafting through the air as you go by. Makena really wanted to ride on the little bumper cars but she was too short by just a smidgen. She kept saying, "me too yilll, get biiiig!" So we went on these ladybugs instead.

I saw them spinning like the tea cups, so we sat down expecting the same ride. But these spin all on their own, the wheel in the middle doesn't move. We were flinging all over the place and I panicked but Makena was laughing hysterically. Thankfully she was loving it! Then as we exited I saw the sign that says you have to sit in the very middle to stop spinning. We rode it again and spun very fast, laughing the whole time! We also went on the flying box ride and sat in a Chinese take out container, lol. Pam hadn't been feeling too well so she sat out a lot of the rides. And my mom doesn't like too many rides and I think taking her on Soarin' was a tad traumatic! She kept gasping and jumping, it was funny but I felt terrible and worried that she was miserable!

After that we hopped into Disneyland again. We wanted to watch the parade at night time and see The Magic, The Memories, and You! at it's a small world. As we walked on to Main Street we spotted Minnie Mouse and waited in a short line to say hi. Makena ran up when it was her turn and gave a huge hug, then showed Minnie her little Minnie doll. The Minnie seemed quite smitten with Makena, she spent a long time loving on her! She liked her outfit and kept hugging her. :)

While we waited for the parade Makena and I went on the tea cups twice.  She was having so much fun, and so was I! What a magical memory indeed!

She loved the parade (again).

And then we watched The Magic, the Memories, and You. It was unbelievably cool. The facade of it's a small world is projected with a bunch of fascinating animations, and music plays and it shows tons of photos that were taken of guests that day. We didn't spot any of us, but that's okay. Just watching it was really really awesome. And there were fireworks at the end! The park closed and we headed back to the hotel.

 I stopped to get some pretzels in Downtown Disney for our dinner and Pam took Makena upstairs and gave her a bath so she could play with her new it's a small world boat tub toy.

We woke up early and packed up the car and checked out of the hotel. :( I'd love to go back during a warmer month and spend some time at the pool. Then we rushed to grab breakfast, I got eggs and pancakes for Makena and she ate them as we waited for Disneyland to open.

The gates opened 30 minutes early, so we got wait at the front of the rope drop. It was my first time ever seeing that happen! Makena traded a pin with a cast member, she wanted the Minnie marching band one and gave him the free Cars one we got with our AAA package.

When the rope dropped we hurried to Toontown, and we were one of first families in! It was completely empty! We saw Pluto and Goofy right away, they were dancing and being silly. Makena gave hugs and then we saw Minnie.

We waited behind only one person then Makena ran to her and gave a hug. Right away Minnie pointed to Makena and nodded her head, and after we said bye the cast member escort approached us and said Minnie selected us to be the Honorary Family of Toontown! We were shocked and thrilled! She told us that when the show started we could sit in the reserved table in front.

We went to explore a bit before the show, we took a look at Goofy's house, it was fun to see all the interactive things to play with in each of the houses.

Then it was time for the show! Makena and I had watched clips of this online, but to see all her favorite friends singing and dancing was SO exciting!

We watched for a bit and then they called us up on stage. I was nervous that Makena was going to get overwhelmed and cry, but she did fine! They gave us sashes to wear and my mom introduced us and Mickey gave Makena a special certificate.

The cast member who had told us we were selected used my phone to take a video for us. Makena loves to watch it!

We ran into the cast member escort again and she said that Minnie told her backstage that she had remembered hugging Makena last night and knew she wanted to pick us as the Honorary Family. :) Then we went to Minnie's house, Mickey's house, then Chip & Dale's tree house. Minnie's was the most fun, Makena especially liked the dishwasher in her kitchen! We went in the shop to get Makena Mickey ears with her name on the hat, but she wasn't into it so we decided not to spend the money on them. She was happy with more pressed coins!

We had lunch at the Pizza Port again, and then took photos with the castle and statue.

Then we went on the Jungle Cruise, and I ate a Dole whip float. I wish we had gone back to the Winnie the Pooh ride, but we felt a tad rushed since we wanted to go into California Adventure and meet the Toy Story characters, then hit the road and head home. So we left Disneyland and took a photo by the Mickey flowers in front.

In CA we rode The Little Mermaid ride again since there was absolutely no line at all (as I type this Makena is watching the "lil mer may" movie, it's become a favorite since this ride!)

We went to Toy Story Midway Mania, but the ride was closing down temporarily so we killed some time on the fish carousel, and Makena stayed there with my mom while Pam and I went on the California Screamin' roller coaster.

After that the line for the TSMM was long, we waited a little more than 50 minutes. Makena was getting antsy, I'm so glad we had such short lines our whole trip!! We saw Jessie walk by and Makena was waving and we told her we'd go meet her after the ride. Makena said "and hug too!" she was just SO cute the whole trip. She was so excited and as well behaved as always. I love her so much, and I'm so incredibly thankful that my mom made this trip possible!! Anyone who thinks taking a toddler to Disney is a waste clearly doesn't have a toddler as awesome as ours. ;)

 Makena had a total blast on the ride this time, she wore her 3D glasses and loved it!!

Then we met with the Toy Story friends, Buzz, Jessie, then Woody. They took turns coming out for 20 minutes each, and the cast members loved Makena so much that instead of making us get in line after each one they let us stand aside so we could be first when the next one was ready. :) Makena was being silly and making funny faces with Woody, and then he copied her.

  We went to Bugs land, saw Minnie again...

...shared another pretzel, watched the Muppet's 3D show, and went to Turtle Talk with Crush. Makena wasn't impressed, she asked for milk so we got up and sat in some seats in the back while she nursed. Then she heard a little girl say it was her birthday, and she said, "Ken bir!" (Makena's birthday) and ran to the front. The show was mostly over then, so we left and went on the Monsters Inc ride. She liked to point out Boo each time she saw her. Then we took a photo with Jake (from the Never Land Pirates show) just to show her buddies Ian and Colin at home.

It was getting late, and we had to hit the road. Time to leave the parks. Booooo!! By the time we pulled on to the freeway it was 6pm. Rush hour in LA, awful timing!! I was driving, and as we were in traffic Makena said she had to pee. So we told her that since she had a diaper on (I thought she'd sleep on the drive so we put one on her) it was okay for her to pee, but she freaked out and wouldn't go, but was crying to pee. It was heartbreaking. She kept saying "Pee!! No pee seat!" :( After a month of reminding her not to pee in her car seat I suppose it was way too confusing (and cruel!) to make her pee. So I pulled off the highway, and we tried to have her sit on her potty but she was screaming and crying. She was tired and cranky and nothing was going to calm her down. I sat in back and nursed and she fell asleep. Pam was too tired to drive and she hates driving at night. I had planned to drive us home, but I couldn't since I had to sit with Makena. My mom offered to drive and I told her we could switch later. We got home after 1am. What a crazy long day!!

What an amazing trip! It's taken me many attempts to work on writing this all out. Instead of checking for errors I'm just going to hit publish and call it a day!