Museum of Natural History

On Saturday Brian had to have his car serviced and the mechanic is on the other side of town. So we decided that while we waited for the truck to be ready we would stay in Albuquerque and go to the NM Museaum of Natural History. It sounds like an "adult" thing to take your 2-year-old to, but they have a dinoaur exhibit. No need to say more.

We left the house a little before 9:30 am, arrived at the mechanic's at 10:15 am and were on on our way to the museum when all of a sudden the back seat was quiet. HMMM. That's odd. We look back and see

sound asleep. Now what? I figure we drive to the museum and by the time we get there he'll be awake. Not so much. Snoring blissfully still. Do we go home? Do we wake him up? The answer was a resounding no to both questions. By the time we got home he would most likely be awake or would not stay asleep much longer and we would just have to turn around again and drive 45 minutes to pick up the truck. If we woke him up he would be cranky and the museum would be a bust.

Thankfully, my Starbucks radar was on. There was a Starbucks just down the street so Brian & I decided to enjoy a warm beverage. Luckily there was a parking spot right up front, we cracked the windows and sat at a sidewalk table. We had a nice impromptu date while our son slept peacefully in the car.

Our view

We sat there for a good 45 minutes chatting about our plans to move to Tucson when the phone rang letting us know the truck was ready (thank goodness we didn't go home!).

By the time we got to the mechanic, Jaxon was awake & refreshed after an hour nap. We decided to stick with our plans and go to the museum.

His face when he saw the entrance was priceless! Wish I would have had the camera out. The sight of Triceratops & T-Rex made him giddy!

This is when I regretted not having the Flip Cam. He was over the moon when he saw the T-Rex bones. "Whoa! Wook at dat T-Rex! Wook at his sharp teef! WOW! Wook Mama! T-Rex!" He could be heard through out the entire museum I'm sure!

Triceratops skullThis is where I learned that T-Rex has been found in several different parts of New Mexico! Who knew? Apparently hundereds of dinosaur fossils have been found here.

The funny part was watching adults listen to Jaxon. He knew all of the dinosaurs they had on display. And to see the adults look at him like, "Really?" was funny. I'm sure one day he will run this exhibit. Heck, he probably already can!

Can you tell how excited he is?

Waiting for the eggs to hatch. (there was a sign that said you could touch the dino eggs. Maybe not climb in the nest...)

Posing with Stegosaurus

Half way there! 15 down 15 to go!

Christmas Shopping

One of my favorite parts of Christmas was getting the HUGE Sears or JC Penny's catalog in the mail and just pouring over the toy section. I used to love looking at all of the toys and just dreaming of what I could have. I still am that way. Ami gave me her Premier Jewelry catalog and I have spent hours looking at everything!
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree because my son seems to be the same way! We got a Constructive Playthings catalog and it was on our ottoman when Jaxon snatched it up and found the toy of his dreams!

It is a Dinosaur Park.

This is the description: "Journey back in time with our 3-dimensional, wooden environment inhabited by 12 vinyl dinosaurs. The assembled structure stands at 23" L x 14" W. x 13" H. with inviting nooks and crannies on all sides and levels. A card stock mat completes the scene. "
Sounds perfect for a future palentologist. Once he saw it he says, "I want dis. I get dis for Christmas."

He has taken it to the potty with him, in the car, while eating dinner, and even to bed. I guess I better give Santa a call about this one!

He looks like such a big boy here. sniff sniff

This Kid!

I have never had a toddler before so I don't know if they all come up with crazy things, but Jaxon comes up with crazy ideas! The other day he drug his rocking horse into the living room from the playroom (why wouldn't he? why should toys stay in the playroom?) and was pretending to be a cowboy. Complete with cowboy hat and lasso! So cute.

That's not the crazy part. Later, I was talking to my mom on the phone and of course Jaxon had to talk to her too. Well, he takes the phone and says, "I take you for a ride."Puts the phone on the horse and takes Lola for a ride! Hilarious! Who thinks of that? Are all toddlers so creative?

The next day, he and I are sitting on the couch and he says, "Shhh. T-Rex coming." Yes, he now sees dinosaurs and says they are coming to our house. Anyway, so I play along for a bit. Then he says, "I talk to T-Rex. I tell him about my owie." "You're going to tell T-Rex about your owie?" "Yeah. Call him." "What do you mean call him?" "On da phone. Call T-Rex on da phone and I tell him about my owie." OKAAAAY. What do I do? I can't call Brian because he is on a plane. Of course!

Call Lola and Abu! I call and tell my mom that Jaxon wants to talk to T-Rex. So guess who comes to the phone as T-Rex? Abu to the rescue! He gets on the phone using his best dinosaur voice and I sooo wish I would have had my video camera. Jaxon's face was priceless! For a few seconds he actually thought he was talking to T-Rex! Then he realized it was Abu and started giggling, "ABUUU! Abu!" It was so stinkin' cute! Abu was quite the sport! I think he won Grandfather of the Year that night!

Since I'm writing about cute things Jaxon says... I put him in time out the other morning for throwing a tantrum. Usually when his 2 minutes are up, I go over to him tell him why he went to time out, make him say sorry then give him a hug. Well, that particular morning I was at my wits end with him and really didn't feel like talking to him. So, when the timer went off, I just told him he was done and could go play. He comes over to me gives me a hug and says, "Sowee Mama. You be nice to me now!" Seriously!!! I could not believe it! He almost went back to time out, but I really didn't want another 2 minutes of screaming.

This kid is incorrigible!

Tucson Children's Museum

During our 4 week stay in Tucson, my mom & I took Jaxon to the Tucson Children's Museum. I was really excited because they had a dinosaur exhibit and I knew Jaxon was going to LOVE it. He did love it, but not more than the real, live firetruck. He could not get enough of it! We spent 2 hours going back and forth from the firetruck to the dinosaurs and back to the firetruck. I had to drag him from the firetruck to see the other exhibits and we'd only be in there for a few minutes before he wanted to go back to the firetruck or dinosaur room.

I driving!

Riding the TPD motorcycle

Driving Mama to an emergency

Jaxon driving the firetruck to the dinosaurs!

Here's a video of Jaxon going into the Dinosaur exhibit for the first time.

I love this video, because Jaxon was talking to the dinosaurs! I love his facial expression. Whatever he's saying it seems important!

With Lola in the Dinosaur roomJaxon named the T Rex "Alvin"! Where'd he get that?

Hi Alvin!

Before we left he had to have a snack with the dinosaurs.