Brandon's Puppy

Boy oh boy...

...have I got boy updates for you.

Brandon is in his last week of Pre-K 3. He joins the Pre-K curriculum in the Fall. You know, the one covered by the state? This means he'll be in the "big kids" class (and mommy and daddy save a little bit of money to boot!). He'll not only have lots of new things to learn, but field trips and homework as well. He's so excited! He already knows all his letters, how to write his name, how to connect the dots following numbers, and a bunch of other things. I can't wait to see what else he learns.
On the downside, he's been sick for the last ten days or so. He has a horrible hacking cough, related to his usually dormant asthma, and is on two inhalants. We've been lugging his nebulizer back and forth wherever we go. Not fun. Fortunately, he's gotten significantly better in the last three or four days. His cough is pretty much gone during the day, and tolerable at night.
He's also been requesting a visit to MGM, Universal and Islands of Adventure since we got back from our Disney trip a few week ago. It's so cute to hear him say, "Universal Studios", which sounds more like "Nerfsal Studios". He looks at the park maps we picked up during our last trip every day, and points out the rides he wants to go on, and the ones that he thinks are "too scary". He's going to have to wait till the end of the year, though. It's just way to hot at this time of year for park visiting with an infant.

Speaking of infants, a certain little boy turned 4 months old today. Matt's a little bundle of energy. When he's face up, he's wiggling around playing with his rattles or pacifier, or rocking to the sides trying to turn over. When he's on tummy time, he lifts his head straight up, showing off his little mini-push ups to anyone who will pay attention. He had his well-check visit today, with his latest measurements, weight at 12 pounds, 9 ounces, and length at 24 and a half inches, putting him in the 15th and 30th percentiles. Unfortunately, he had to get three immunization shots today, which I'm sure you know he did not like at all. He was a bit cranky when we got home, and has been asleep for the last two hours. It's not helping that he's been battling a small bout of diarrhea for the last three days. Not enough to worry about dehydration, but enough to hurt his cute little bum. Poor thing. A few more days of this and we'll need to buy stock with diaper ointment company.

Not one of my boys, but a boy update nontheless: I felt the Simo Baby kick on Monday night! Yay me! He's due in a little less than 9 weeks, and we're so eager to meet him...

That's the kiddie update, in a nutshell.
There are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment posted below the fold.

Brandon enjoying his meal at his cousin's Baptism two weeks ago.

Look what I can do!

See? I did it again!

We FINALLY got a good picture of all five boys on my sister's birthday. From left to right, front to back: Maxx-8 months. Mikey-3 years and 9 months. Tyler-almost 15 months. My sister. Matt-3 and a half months. Brandon-4 years and 4 months.

A little rant

To the lady in line at Babies R Us this afternoon:

It is not my fault that you could not decide which of the two lines you wanted to wait in. You and your cart were both aimed towards a different register when I arrived and picked a line, and you do not have the right to inch your way towards me once the line I picked starts moving, You also do not have the right to invade my personal space to try and cut in front of me, with your cart full of crap. Any person with an inch of common courtesy would realize that they need to wait their turn. That person, possessing the aforementioned courtesy that you clearly do not have, would also realize that I will be even more irritated if I have to wait for them to pay for their 372 small items after having them practically run me over with the cart to get ahead in the line. Thankfully, I had my two items in my hand, and I was quickly moving behind the customer ahead of me (my apologies to her if I invaded HER personal space). Had I had a cart, I would have run over your feet. Hard.

That is all.

Feels like a Monday-updated

Is it just me, or did the long weekend zoom by? It sure seems like it. We spent Saturday running errands. Sunday was crazy, I spent half the day cleaning, and the other half sleeping. Apparently, I got sick and didn't feel it until I started sweating it out as I cleaned. Yesterday was all about me and my new best friend the couch, trying to get better and tending to the boys while hubby was at work all day.
There are a few things I want to write about, but I just haven't made it to the computer. Here's a quick list, for my own reference later.

Post pictures from two weekends ago at Cuba Nostalgia
Update on the boys
my sister
WTF? (Turns out this was a hoax, so I'm not talking about it)

I think that's it for now, I'll be back later.

Movie Meme Answers

The answers for the movie meme from last week are as follows:

1. Dirty Dancing
2. Sweet home Alabama
3. When Harry Met Sally
4. Forrest Gump
5. The Godfather
6. The Lost City
7. The Princess Bride
8. You Got Mail
9. Shakespeare in Love
10. Finding Nemo

Congratulations, Claudia, you are the winner with the most right answers. Then again, you were the only contestant! =P

To My Titi

Happy birthday, my Titi! I hope I am better soon so we can eat your cake and play outside. I love you, and my broder does too!! I see you soon!

Tag, Part 2

From wRitErsbLock:

Pick out ten favorite movies, then look them up at IMDb. In the overview at the top of each movie’s page, there are “Plot Keywords,” usually five of them. (Plus more, if you click the link.) Take the first five, and post them. Then the rest of us get to play movie buff and see if we can guess them.

These are some of my favorites movies, the first ones that popped in my head. Some of you know what they are, so try not to cheat. Guess 'em based on the key words, m'kay? I'll post my answers next week.

Here goes:
#1
Gentle, Love, Sensuality, Nostalgic, Coming of Age

#2
Culture Shock, Rags to Riches, Reunited, Hometown, Old Flame

#3
$ex, Lasting Friendship, Double Date, Writer, Christmas

#4
Legless Person, Child Abuse, Mentally Impaired, Kennedy Assassination, Assassination of President

#5
Greed, Dysfunctional Family, Gore, Blood, Part of Trilogy

#6
Jail, Fidel Castro, Dancing, Directed by Star, Nightclub

#7
Magic, Self worth, Sword, Poison, Suicide Attempt

#8
Gentle, Assumed Identity, Restaurant Scene, Friend, Flashback Sequence

#9
Assumed Identity, No Opening Credits, Star Crossed Lovers, Queen of England, Theater

#10
No Opening Credits, Literacy, Friend, Father Son Reunion, Death Of Wife

I'm supposed to tag 10 people, but some were tagged with the other meme, and others have already done it. If you don't fit either of those two descriptions, consider yourself tagged!

Tag, Part 1

Claudia reminded me in my earlier post that she tagged me last week, which I completely forgot, mostly because I was just a tad busy doing a little thing called graduating. So here it is:

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.

1) Eve
2) Sarah
3) Elizasmom
4) Claudia's Spaceship
5) Brandon's Puppy (Is it bad blog etiquette to link to myself?!)

Next select five people to tag:

1) CalTechGirl
2) wRitersbLock (payback!!)
3) SarahK (in case you want to take a break from the house stuff)
4) JustMe
5) Lilli (two tags including Claudia's. That means you *have* to do it! LOL)

What were you doing 10 years ago?
May 18, 1997: I was working with my same employer, but with my previous department. I had also just begun dating Eric, in February.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
May 18, 2006: I was at the Cuba Nostalgia pre-party with my uncle and Tia Maggie. That was a lot of fun. I got to meet "The 3 Guys" and check out the booths before they were open to the public.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Ice Cream
2) Chocolate Chip Cookies
3) 3 Musketeers
4) Pastelito de guayaba y queso
5) French Fries

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
In no particular order
1) Stairway to Heaven-Led Zeppelin
2) The Piano Man. Most Billy Joel songs, for that matter.
3) Con los años que me quedan-Gloria Estefan
4) Can't Help Falling in Love with You- Elvis. I'd better know it, it was our wedding song!
5) Crazy Little Thing Called Love-Queen

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
Pay off our debts
Travel
Buy bigger house
Get new cars
Lifetime passes to all theme parks

Five bad habits:
1) Scratching at pimples and scabs.
2) Twirling my hair around my finger
3) Making faces when i'm concentrating, writing, typing, scrapping...pretty much all the time that I'm not talking.
4) Mild road rage
5) surfing the internet too much at work (sshhh!!!!)

Five things you like doing:
1) Scrapbooking
2) Shopping
3) Surfing the net
4) Sleeping
5) Taking pictures

Five things you would never wear again:
1) scrunchy socks
2) plastic gummy bracelets
3) anything neon
4) anything polyester, unless is for Halloween.
5) wedding dress (well...here's hopin'!)

Five favorite toys:
1) my digital camera
2) the kids
3) Rubik's Cube
4) my phone-I still haven't discovered all it's features
5) my cable box, I can play Tetris on it!!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

This is my first week back at work. It didn't take me too long to get back into the swing of things. Fortunately, my desk was not buried under stacks of papers. A new person was hired in my absence and there was some mild restructuring done, and one of my coworkers handled most of my duties while I was gone. I don't mind coming to work so much (though I'd definitely rather be home), but it's the commute I despise. In fact, this is definitely not a shock. Traffic in this city is horrible, at all hours of the day. I had to change my work schedule in order to pick up Brandon from school on time. But besides re-adapting to waking up early, and traffic, it's been alright.

This weekend is Cuba Nostalgia, and I'm so very excited! Aside from the fun to be had with my fellow bloggers from Babalu, I will be meeting Carrie at her Los Pollitos Dicen booth (which coincidentially is located directly across from the Babalu booth), and Marta and Amy from My Big Fat Cuban Family will be visiting us for a while on Saturday evening. I can't wait! Unfortunately my time at the convention is limited this year. The last two years I was there practically the entire time, but with two kids, and a newborn at that, I just can't do it this year. I'll be there all day Saturday helping my uncle, and enjoying the sights and sounds of my beautiful culture. There will be plenty of pictures following, I assure you.

Also starting this weekend is the Celia Cruz Exhibit at the Bass Museum in Miami Beach. I have been looking forward to this since the Smithsonian announced late last year that the exhibit would be touring. Definitely expect a review once I go, which should be in a couple of weeks, possibly Memorial Day weekend.

A certain little boy decided he was going to roll over yesterday. I missed it by approximately 2 minutes. When I went to pick him up at the sitter's house, she told me he had just woken up when she went to open the door. When we walked over to where he was, he was face up! (He takes naps face down, a tummy-sleeper just like his mommy) She said this was the third time throughout the day. He's also doing those mini push-ups, and holds his head up quite high. I'll try to get a picture of it this evening.

Writersblock tagged me with a movie meme, which I'll do tonight. Stay tuned, it's quite interesting!

Last but not least, there are not enough words to thank my uncle for the beautiful post he wrote last week. I'm so very lucky to have the family that I do. If it weren't for them, I would not have reached this point. Their unwaivering support is what got me through those 13 years (on and off, mostly on) of higher education. In attendance were my mom, my dad, my stepmom, my grandparents, my Godmother and my uncle, my sister, my uncle Val and tia Maggie, my mother-in-law, and of course my hubby and the boys. I am so happy they were able to see me cross that stage and get that piece of paper.

Pictures below the fold, courtesy of Val's friend Tommy, The Official ManCamp Drunken Photographer.

Happy Mother's Day!

A newborn's conversation with God
.
A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow,
but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have
to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And
you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand
when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words
you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will
teach you to understand."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how
to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking her life."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could
be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please
tell me my angel's name."

God said, "You will simply call her, "Mom."

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, Godmothers, mothers-to-be, and mothers-in-law out there, and all the other women who take on the role. We are a blessed bunch, trusted with the special angels God sends us. Have an absolutely wonderful day!

My inspiration

Amanda Silvia

My wife, tu Tia Maggie, likes to say that you're a female version of me, an idea I carry with much pride, yet I know the truth of the matter is that you are so much more. Sure, I see glimpses of me in you - when you wear your heart on your sleeve; when you display a little sass; when we're both in a room full of people and know, if we happen to look into each other's eyes, that we're both thinking the exact same thing. I did, after all, do more than just teach you how to swim. I like to think I played a small hand in raising you. Our differences, though, are more than apparent.

Whereas I can truly say my childhood was ideal, yours, at times, was anything but. Whereas I can say that I lived the better part of my youth free of adversity, you, at times, lived through many. Whereas I can say that my life can be measured in unreached goals, you, on the other hand, can measure yours in achievements and accomplishments.

Today marks the day of one of those accomplishments. One more goal -where your drive and determination far exceeded mine - that you'll have reached, conquered, that I did not. Today, after years of hard work, after years of sacrifice, years of pushing yourself sometimes to the limit, Amanda, my Goddaughter, you will walk down the aisles of the Convocation Center at the University of Miami, robed and tassled, and take those few steps up to a stage where you will be handed the fruit of your labor, a diploma well earned. Today my Goddaughter graduates from the University of Miami.

It may not seem like an uncommon accomplishment, finishing college. After all, thousands and thousands of kids graduate college every year and in their lives that is no small achievement. But you, my Goddaughter Amanda, had no crutches to lean on for your studies. You took no financial aid, there was no endowment for study from your family, you didnt get to live the typical student's life free of all responsibilities save for academics. No, my Goddaughter Amanda, you did it on your own terms, with your own responsibilities and your own priorities. You made the sacrifices. You did all the work. You had the courage and conviction. And you, you made no excuses. Despite the sacrifices, despite the hard work, despite the setbacks and strides, you, your spirit and your smile never wavered.

Today, as you walk down that aisle at the University, you do so as a woman of many successes. That piece of paper you'll receive today is but the cherry atop the sundae that is your beautiful life. A sundae scooped of a very proud and supportive family, a successful career, a welcoming home, a loving husband and sprinkled on top with two beautiful children. That, Amanda, is no small accomplishment.

You may not remember your great grandparents, my grandparents, that well. Your memory of them may be limited to brief glimpses and old photographs, perhaps a story written or a story told. But as I sit here and type these words through tears, your great grandparents, my grandparents, "Los Primos", are alive in me. And their pride in you is unwavering and magnificent. Their happiness unrelenting and breathtaking. Their love never ending and perfect.

Were they here with us today - Oh, to have them here with us today! - their joy, their pride, would gleam from their eyes and beam from their smiles. Today, Amanda, this day of yours, would most certainly be the day of days for Brandon and Matthew's great great grandparents. (I can imagine them swelled with pride and doting over those two beautiful boys just like they doted over their little pelucita peliroja.)

So, too, would be the sentiments of your Tia Abuelas that have passed. Tu Tia Amanda, whose name you carry and whose eyes whisper at the top of this blog. Y tu Tia Mary, who loved you, like she loved me, as her own. There is much of them in you. You have Tia Amanda's heart and you carry Tia Mary's cariño.

Today, Amanda, remember your Tias and Abuelos and where they came from. The steps you take today, those steps up to that stage, these last few steps after all the sacrifices, are but a continuation of the path they began for you with their own sacrifices. Yours is a journey of dreams and today, today you make another one come true.

Congratulations on your graduation, Graduate Goddaughter Amanda!

Your future journey holds many stops at that sparsely populated and rarely visited little town called Dream Come True.

As South as South gets!

Stolen of writersblock,

Things Floridians Understand:

“Down South” means Key West

“Panhandling” means going to Pensacola.

You think no-one over 70 should be allowed to drive.

Flip-flops are everyday wear.

Shoes are for business meetings and church.

No, wait, flip flops are good for church too, unless it’s Easter or Christmas.

Sweet tea can be served at any meal.

An alligator once walked through your neighborhood.

You smirk when a game show’s “Grand Prize” is a trip or cruise to Florida.

You measure distance in minutes.

You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.

You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.

All the local festivals are named after a fruit.

A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.

You think everyone from a bigger city has a northern accent.

You know the four seasons really are: almost summer, summer, not summer but really hot, and Christmas.

It’s not soda, cola, or pop…its coke, regardless of brand or flavor, “What kinda coke you want?”

Anything under 95 is just warm.

Anything under 70 is chilly.

You’ve hosted a hurricane party.

You go to a theme park for an afternoon, and know when to get on the best rides.

You pass on the right and honk at the elderly.

You understand the futility of exterminating cockroaches.

You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Withlacoochee, Okahumpka and Loxahatchee.

You understand why it’s better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.

Bumper stickers on the pickup in front of you include:
various fish, NRA, and a confederate flag.

You were 8 before you realized they made houses without pools.

You were 12 when you first met someone who couldn’t swim.

You get angry when people say “Florida isn’t really part of the SOUTH”

You’ve worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas.

You know what the “stingray shuffle” is, and why it’s important!

Socks are only for bowling

Orange juice from concentrate makes you vomit

Tap water makes you vomit.

You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five minutes

A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.

Your winter coat is made of denim

You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites

You’re younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65

You’ve driven through Yeehaw Junction.

You could swim before you could read

You have to drive north to get to The South

You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.

Every other house had blue roofs in 2004-2005

You’ve gotten out of school early on Halloween to trick or treat before it got dark

You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn’t worth waking up for.

You dread lovebug season.

You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list : They aren’t Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances…but Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.

You know what a snowbird is and you hate them.

You know why flamingos are pink.

You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.

You were 12 before you ever saw snow or you still haven’t.

Repost if you’re a Floridian!

A few loose ends

Here are a couple of pictures from our dinner with writersblock and sherlock last week.

I have four days, counting what remains of today, of maternity leave left. The first few weeks seemed to have taken forever, and now it seems that this week is flying by. The only good thing about that is that I FINALLY graduate on Friday. I have a million things to do around the house, but the only thing I want to do is play with the baby, watch him smile and giggle at me, and even just watch him sleep. I'm going to miss all this time with him. It was no picnic when I went back to work after Brandon was born, but I don't think it was as hard on me. At least I don't remember it being this hard. I guess since I knew we were going to have more than one child, it was okay. But this time, since this could be it, it hurts. A lot. And I look at Brandon now, at 4 years old, and I wonder where all the time went. How did he grow up so fast? And it sucks to know that in a blink, I will be thinking the same thing about Matt.

Busy weekend coming up: graduation on Friday evening, my nephew Maxx's baptism on Saturday, and Mother's Day on Sunday. All I want for Mother's Day is to win the lotto, and consequently not go back to work. But I'll settle for something nice from here (good imitations work too) or here (I like me some inexpensive, good quality shoes). I'll have to treat myself though, hubby is working on Sunday, and he always claims he doesn't know what I like. Goody, an excuse for me to go shopping!

I have to go now, I have to go to pick up my cap and gown. =)

Silly Humor

For my friend CTG, because she hasn't posted it yet, and she always does:

May the Fourth be with you!

(Thanks, Claudia, for the reminder!)

Disney Days

(WARNING: Very long post!!)
We're back from our mini-vacation to Disney World. We are beyond exhausted, but had an incredible time (except for one incident yesterday, more on that later).
Our first destination point was Epcot. We arrived around 1 PM, a couple of hours later than expected. This was our first time traveling with an infant, so we underestimated our stop time. Usually we can be in and out of a service plaza in half an hour, 45 minutes at most. Not this time. Between eating, potty-ing (can you tell I'm the mother of a preschooler?!) and Matt's feeding and diaper changing, we were at the service plaza for about an hour and a half. I knew that we had to be flexible with the baby, but my hubby apparently did not realize this and was irritated by our lengthy travel time. I, of course, did the smart thing and ignored him.
We arrived at Epcot and immediately rode Spaceship Earth, Matt's first ever theme park ride (everybody say, "Awwwwwww!!"), followed by "The Seas with Nemo and Friends". We adults then took turns watching the kids in order to ride Mission:Space and Test Track, followed by lunch. The entire park was beautifully decorated with blooming flowers and intricate topiaries for the Flower and Garden Festival. Here are a few of my favorites. Around 3 we began our tour around the world. Our international adventures included meeting Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in the United Kingdom and saying hello to Aladdin in Morocco. Even Matthew had some wordly fun getting in touch with his French roots and trying a Napoleon pastry. Before leaving the park, we all (except for Matty) went for another international tour on Soarin'.
Next stop: Animal Kingdom! Hubby and his brother rushed to Everest to get fast passes, and as we waited for our designated time, we went over to Camp Minnie-Mickey to say hi to some characters. I love this picture of Brandon entertaining Matty while we waited to meet Mickey, and a little while later, Goofy was up to some silliness as well.
After our turns on Everest, and some fun in Dino-land, hubby, Brandon and I went on the Kali River Rapids. Here's a quiz for you--10 people share a raft, one of these is a 4 year old boy. What is the probability that the boy will get drenched? If you guessed, extremely likely, you are right. Brandon and I were the only two people to get completely soaked on the ride! I loved it, but he did not. his words immediately following: "That was not fun at all". Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of him afterwards, I was too busy trying to dry off in the women's bathroom while my mother-in-law fed Matt and Eric consoled Brandon. Poor kid was traumatized between this ride and his experience on Dinosaur a bit earlier.
It was time to relax a bit and try to dry off with the sun, so we headed to Africa and the Kilimanjaro Safari. We had a very successful safari adventure with glimpses of Nile crocodiles basking in the sun, a young giraffe grazing, a rhino and her baby, an ostrich hanging out on the side of the road, and a gorilla trying unsuccessfully to take a nap. The park was just about closing by the time we finished our safari, so off we went to meet up with writersblock and sherlock for dinner. I would post pictures of our little bloggers' meet, but *someone* (ahem, ahem. cough, cough.) was supposed to send me pictures she took as I didn't take any with my camera, and has yet to do so. I guess you'll just have to go here for the visuals. ;-)
Our itinerary originally consisted of Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and MGM, but a certain little boy kept ranting and raving about his favorites rides, so our plans changed and we headed to "the castle". We asked Brandon what he wanted to see first, Pirates or Buzz, and he chose Buzz, so we headed towards Tomorrowland. Our first stop was the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, followed by Buzz's Space Ranger Spin, and then a visit with the Space Ranger himself. After a couple of turns on Space Mountain, Brandon, hubby, hubby's brother and I went to the Indy Speedway, where Brandon (with a little help from mommy) sped around like racing champ.
We then headed to Pinocchio's Village Haus for lunch, followed by Libert Square, then Frontierland, where Brandon had the most fun. He rode both Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain for the first time, and he loved them both! He's declared them his favorites. A quick tour on the Jungle Cruise, and a visit to those popular Pirates, and we were done for the day, walking out of the park as the Wishes fireworks spectacular was happening. We were at the parking lot in less than 20 minutes. I don't think we've ever gotten back to the car so fast!
It was time to head home on Wednesday, but not before strolling around Downtown Disney. This was an eventful day, with some highs and a couple of lows. First, the good news. As we were packing up our things in the hotel, Matthew discovered one of his hands! He stared at his little fist, then lifted his arm all the way up to this head, staring at his hand the whole time, until he bumped himself on the head. He lowered his arm, and put his fist in his mouth. It was soooo cute!! He also realized he can use the tray on his stroller as a foot rest, and was doing this for most of the day. Aren't those some yummy toes?! Now, for the bad: Brandon bumped his head on one of the World of Disney store fixtures, and a little while later got lost. First, the bump: we were walking from one end of the store to the other, holding hands. He got distracted for a second, and walked clear into the fixture, right into one of those decorative scrolly things. We went and got him some ice at the ice cream shop, and managed to decrease the swelling. There is now a little bruise directly below his right eye. As for the getting lost part, I almost don't want to think about it and write about it, it was so scary. My heart stopped for the eternity (actually about five minutes) that we couldn't find him. For those of you familiar with Downtown Disney, this occured inside the "Once Upon a Toy" store, towards the most Eastern side (inside the princess room, near the JoJo's circus stuffed animal train) of the store. I was on my way to pay for a purchase while my mother-in-law was holding the baby and my hubby was near her, with Brandon at their feet sitting on the floor browsing through a book, and Matt's stroller next to him. During my transaction, my mother-in-law and Eric had wandered over towards the register, and when I was done, I walked back to get Matt's stroller. No Brandon. I called his name, thinking he had simply walked over to the other side of this part of the store to find another book. No Brandon. I ran towards the register, looking around and even stepped outside. No Brandon. I ran to the front of the store, near the Mr. Potato Head dolls and the board games. No Brandon. I ran back to the other side, checked the bathrooms and around the other fixtures throughout the middle of the store. No Brandon. While I was running around the store and describing him to a cast member, Eric had gone outside to the marketplace side, and found him walking westbound ever so nonchalantly, near the little concert area in front of the main entrance to the World of Disney store. He hollered his name, and Brandon turned around and said, "daddy" as if nothing had happened. As we say in Spanish, le leyó la cartilla, and brought him back into the store. I have never hugged my son so tight in my life!! I asked him why he walked away and out of the store, and he said, "because I didn't find you". Besides the obvious scare, two things irk me: the doors in and out of the store and quite heavy, so an adult had to have opened the doors in order for him to have gotten out (unless he was sneaky and simply followed someone). I know we are at fault for losing sight of him for all of two minutes, but no one noticed a four year old boy walking out of a store by himself? Not the parents there with their children? Not the store employees? Also, earlier in the day we were at the rainforest cafe, and he got really scared during one of those simulated rainstorms where it thunders and the lights flash. Eric and I both told him, "you were scared of the restaurant and the pretend thunder, but you weren't scared to get lost, walking around by yourself?" He was quiet for most of the trip home, and I was relieved that nothing happened to him.
Overall it was a great trip, but I think I'm going to have to regress and put that walking harness back on my big boy till he's, oh I don't know, 30!!