Following in Zs Footsteps

So, Kenzie was much slower to start speaking than Zach. No big deal, they are, after all, different kids. But in the last couple of weeks we have hit a language EXPLOSION and Kenzie is quickly catching up.

This morning we were reading Elmo Goes to School . . . Kenzie counted from 1 to 10 (minus five which she routinely skips), sang the entire alphabet and correctly pointed out by name a circle, square & triangle!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Zachary is much more timid and hesitant than his wild & crazy baby girl. We went to Disneyland for a couple of hours today to let Karoline, Mateo & Luca in for Teo's birthday . . . and Zachary was afraid to go on a couple of rides that Kenzie threw a fit when she thought she was going to be deprived of. When Mateo offered to take her she just about leaped out of my arms trying to get into line with the Rendons!

We had a very good morning enjoying a VERY empty park! We arrived about 30 minutes after the park opened and still got to park on the ground level outside of the garage. We waited about 15 minutes for the submarine ride . . . but everything else we walked on (including a quick Space Mountain detour for Teo & me).

We also have a very busy, very fun weekend planned. To start with, Magenta is coming to visit for the weekend. That alone will make the weekend great. Tomorrow morning the kids are going to hang out with Luca & Karoline so that Justin, Tanya & I can go see The Princess & The Frog over at Disney. Then we are heading out to Simi Valley to celebrate Cheyanne's birthday. Then Tanya, Justin & I head down to Orange County to watch Amie's annual caroling show (I'm a little nervous for the sitter who will be stuck with our crazy kids). Then Sunday we head back down to Disneyland for Amie's birthday.

Should be great!

Prep & Landing

Prep & Landing is ABC's first television special produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The half-hour holiday special reveals the never-before-told tale of an elite unit of Elves known as Prep & Landing. It will premiere Tuesday December 1st at 8:30pm PST (following Charlie Brown).

Justin's name will not be in the credits . . . but you should watch anyway! It is going to be really cute! One of the first NEW shows to be added to the 25 days of Christmas line up ever!

Behind the Scenes

Our Moms Club planned a tour of the local grocery store for activity day this month. I wasn't sure what to expect . . . but it was really cute. And the kids had a great time!

The kids got to pet live lobsters . . . and we went through the entire back of the store. The kids got to go in the dairy fridge & the freezer & the meat locker. Zachary didn't like the meat locker at all . . . said it was scary. So we had to wait outside for that part. We saw the baler squish all the boxes for recycling and watched a truck pull in to get unloaded. The kids got balloons & cookies & grocery store goody bags!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go . . .

So, Zachary has this little Thomas the Tank Engine computer that he got for his birthday last year. Just recently has he been able to manipulate it enough to play any of the games. Anyway, last night he was walking around with his little computer and he said, "this is my work." I thought it was the cutest thing in the world that he was imitating his daddy.

Then tonight, he was typing on his little computer when Justin asked him to do something. He jumped up and said, "just a minute, I'm working on an event."

Not sure if that is cute or a little bit sad. But that's my sweet, smart boy!

That's A Wrap!

Justin's wrap party for The Princess & The Frog has come & gone. It was a lot of fun, a lot of stress and a lot of work! But it was successful in the end!

Amie, miraculously, was able to be home for the night . . . so she stayed with the kids while we partied the night away. Our camera had a slight mishap on the way out the door . . . so this is our only picture of the evening.

Disney did the Pasadena Civic Center & Auditorium up in style like usual. They had a red carpet set up out front with a live feed of the interviews projected on the screen inside. The speeches ran on & on & on like usual . . . but this time, the longer they ran the less of the movie I got to see. I was able to sit with Justin through the speeches & through the first 30 minutes of the movie (which was great)! Then I had to head over to get my staff situated for the party.

Working with my staff ended up taking most of the night, which I wasn't expecting. I staffed extra people on the party thinking they would be able to handle covering each other for breaks & such. But in reality Justin & I spent the majority of the evening wrangling fortune tellers & magicians. I was able to sneak back to the theater just in time to watch Justin's name roll through the credits and that is always cool. I am so proud of him!

The party was fantastic! Disney did the ballroom up like all of the different areas of New Orleans depicted in the movie. There was a section dedicated to Dr. Facilier's Voo Doo Lounge, Mama Odie's Tree House, the French Quarter, the Bayou, etc. And all of the decorations in each area were straight out of the movie. At one point we were standing in line for food & I was looking at some balloons up in a tree. My first thought was, "that's unfortunate that they got tangled & popped . . . this is such a nice event." Then I realized that it was straight out of a scene (that I did actually see) where the frogs are flying on some helium balloons that get stuck in a tree & pop.

The food was really cool too. Disney is the only company I know that can follow a theme through down to the last detail. There was a soup station set up with gumbo & lobster bisque. The main buffet served jerk chicken & blackened catfish . . . and the dessert station had mini beignets, bread pudding & creole cheesecake.

To start the evening there was a big jazz band with singers & dancers . . . then a DJ took over to play the rest of the night. There will be a new Princess & the Frog parade at Disneyland that was brought in to perform on the stage . . . and the decor all around was fabulous! The only thing missing (that is always missing) is sufficient seating for guests.

Overall, we had an amazing time! This was a major coup for Walker Event Entertainment . . . and a big night for Justin! We didn't get home till 2am or into bed until 3am . . . so Kenzie waking us up at 5am was not so pleasant. But I guess that is the price you pay for a fun night out!

Open Sesame!

Today was my turn to sleep in . . . which means Justin is suppose to keep the kids until I get up. But this morning, Kenzie made a quick break and ran through the office to wake me up. She knocked on my bedroom door (cause she can't quite reach the doorknob yet) saying "abre, abre." She learned that from her Dora book . . . it means "open" in Spanish.

36 hours & counting

Tomorrow night is the wrap party for Disney's The Princess & The Frog. This is Justin's big celebration of his movie being released AND Walker Event Entertainment has booked all of the fortune tellers & strolling magicians on the event so it is a work night for me! In reality, just about everything that needs to be done for the event is done . . . so I am just going to worry about it from now until then. I've had big events before . . . but none I've cared about quite so much.

Justin is disappointed that I'm missing out on being at the event solely as his guest. I'm not going to be able to watch the entire movie with him because I will have to get my staff situated for the event portion before the credits roll. So that is making it a bit tough. Booking Disney is a big coup for me . . . but it's a bummer that it is interfering with his big night.

Just cross your fingers that it goes well. As long as everyone is happy then we can mostly just relax and enjoy the evening (since I won't personally be doing any magic or reading fortunes)!

Chatty Kenzie

So, with 2 kids and a business I am much worse about constant blogging than I was a year or two ago. But life continues to chug on around us (even though I am not ready for it).

Kenzie has been a slow starter in the speaking world compared to her older brother, but in the last week or two we have hit "full speed ahead" with language development. She has solidly graduated from simple words (mama, dada, hi kitty) to trying to say absolutely everything. She is harder to understand than her brother was . . . we're getting much more of the baby talk mumbling this time around. But she is progressing rapidly . . . so I think she will still be a great talker well before the average baby.

In addition to words, she has started using phrases on a regular basis. And she can combine thoughts in different & appropriate scenarios. So she says things like "one more bite please" (which really means more of any food she wants, not just another bite) and "where did Zachary / Faith / Hope / Daddy go?"

In addition to words & phrases (and my favorite part of all) Kenzie has started singing. She sings songs in their entirety. She can sing the wheels on the bus from start to finish . . . with all of the verses. And she sings the alphabet song - minus the middle. She sings "A B C D E F G," then she hums for a bit, then she sings "now I know my A B Cs, next time won't you sing with me." If you push the button on her LeapFrog Alphabet pal, she can sing even more of it along with her little buddy. She doesn't sing along yet with "if you're happy & you know it" but it is my favorite song to watch her sign along with . . . so darn cute!!!

She says everyone's name but her own. At the pumpkin patch, out of the blue & clear as a bell, she said "Hi Cheyanne". And she says Luca, Zach, Hope, Faith, etc. . . . but if you ask her to say Kenzie she just stares at you.

Mostly she just babbles constantly these days. Zachary was a clear speaker early on . . . but he did not have the constant rambling that she has. She talks nonstop. That, amazingly would not drive me as crazy as the constant, "I want mama. Mama. Mama. I want mama. I want mama. I want mama." We are still fully ensconced in the strong (and that's putting it mildly) mommy phase and I am more than ready for it to pass.