Here it comes. Can you see it Grandma?
It's almost here... 
The "big truck" is here!
The driver was so nice, he stopped and asked if I wanted to get into the cab with him. I was shy and said "no". He even offered to get out of the cab if I was afraid of him, but I still declined. I was so overwhelmed by seeing the "big truck" up close.
I've been away for a while, so let's get caught up. I had a very white Christmas and traveled over 1,200 miles! Let me start from the beginning of the trip...
We stayed our first night in Visalia at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Chuck's home. Mom called Debbie as we were leaving Costa Mesa (great planning Mom!), giving Debbie a whopping 5 hours notice. In the morning I woke up to a Larissa's little dog who's just my size!
The highlight was getting to brush the dog's teeth. His toothbrush looks just like mine! Don't worry, I didn't get them mixed up.
In the morning we continued on to Mt. Grandpa and Grandma's house. It was covered in what I called "ice". Here's a rare picture of me with gloves on- they just didn't understand that I do NOT like wearing gloves. How am I supposed to pick up the snow with gloves on?
We borrowed the neighbor's sled. We stayed one night and then decided to head to Truckee a day early before the storm hit. 
We didn't exactly bet the storm- it started raining a little South of Sacramento, but it was better than any of the other days that week. Lucky for us we rented an AWD SUV so we didn't have to get out in the 5 degree weather and put chains on. We stayed Sunday night at Uncle Sy's house. Here's a picture from right outside Sy's place on Donner Lake. 
Sylas let me open my Christmas present from him a little early- it was this great sled!
"Papa" pulled me around outside until everyone but me was freezing and begging to come inside.
The next day we checked into our rental house. Here's a view from the deck.
And here's the house from the top road. Everyday Dad and Papa had to shovel- the cars, the drive ways, and the deck. It snowed every day. Each morning we woke up to 12-16 inches of new snow.
Here's Papa shoveling the stairs up to the cars.
And here's the partially shovelled deck with a view of Donner Lake. 
I loved going outside, despite the cold. Here I am intently watching the snow plow (more on this later- it deserves it's own blog).
But when they did make me come inside, I found fun things to do. Here I am showing grandma how to make chocolate chip cookies.
And they finally let me open the pile of presents that was laying out, tempting me all week! This too will need it's own blog. Stay tuned!
Hayden got an early Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa Ficht since we won't see them on the big day. Just like last year, Hayden stood right on top of his present- and it wasn't a box- it was a bag?!?!
Took a little while but he final figured out there was something good inside.
He waited patiently while dad undid all the packaging- you literally had to use a screw driver to get the truck out of the box! 
Boy did he like his truck!
Last weekend our neighborhood organized a progressive dinner. We started out the evening at Stephan and Victoria's home for appetizers.
Then we "progressed" down the street to Scott and Cindy's house for dinner.
Three main courses- Chicken Marsala, Lasana, and Stuffed Bell-Peppers (theme was Italian). Everything was fantastic- very good cooks on our block!
Then we finished off the night at Suzanne and Eric's house for dessert, coffee, and a gift exchange.
Here's Suzanne finishing up her signature melting chocolate cakes. Yum!
And kudo's to the baby sitters. All the kiddo's were at Dave's house (no longer toddler-proof). I'm sure the girl's work was 90% "Hayden watch". 
And here's the gift exchange that I missed...
Mr. Hayden was a little over-active by the time the kids joined us for dessert. He was like a bowling ball in a china shop. Jason said "we need to give a deposit before bringing Hayden into anyone's home." Luckily he didn't break anything (or nothing we're aware of). Regardless, I took Hayden home early (straight to bed) and Jason stayed for the rest. 
I got these mini Peanut Butter crackers at Trader Joe's and discovered Hayden has a particular why he wants to eat them. 
First he pulls them apart (generally getting peanut butter all over his fingers). 
Then he licks the remaining peanut butter off before eating the cracker part. I have no idea how he learned to do this. But this is how he eats EVERY one- very time consuming. 
And while I'm sharing random news, Dad got a new shop vac/blower.
Hayden was thrilled!
Hayden enjoyed helping me cook the yams for Thanksgiving- if you look closely you can see the sugar granules on this nose.
He was very excited about the food processor. At one point, he lost patience with me, got off the chair, ran to his room, retrieved some play dough and started adding it to the food processor bowl. Luckily we hadn't started adding anything yet so no harm was done. 
That's right Hayden, it just needs ten 1 second pulses.
Then we headed to Grandpa and Grandma Ficht's house to enjoy good company and good food. Cousin Noah, Aunt Al, Uncle Tyler, and Angela were all there to play. Here's Hayden inside Grandma's toy basket after he and Noah had scattered the toys all over the room.
Bill and Sally, The Ficht's long time neighbors and friends, also came over for the big day too. 
Thanksgiving ended with some new challenges. My little turkey learned how to crawl out of his crib. He perfected his climbing skills on Grandma's crib and the pack-n-play we brought to Long Beach. So, with no way to cage Hayden, we ended up driving home at 9:30 pm to finally get some sleep. 
Then for his morning nap- he figured out how to climb out of his own crib. Seconds after laying him down for a nap I heard his bedroom door open, he walked into the hall holding his blanket and simply declaired "All done". 
I wanted to cry- he was right. It's "all done", an end of an era. I can no long put him in his cage, I mean crib, and let him cry himself to sleep. I'm going to miss those days!
He is so proud of his new found freedom. I'm not looking forward to tonight. We'll see what disciple techniques will work best for keeping one strong-willed child in his bed. Wish me luck!
Hayden wasn't exactly excited to see Santa at the mall. As you can see, I ended up having to sit on Santa's lap. We didn't intent to see Santa (have never mentioned him to Hayden), it's just the line was very short so we thought we give it a try.
But he was excited about The Disney Store. They sure know how to market to the little ones.
Hayden ran straight for the stuffed animal display. Did I mention Grandma came to visit this weekend? She had a one day conference in Newport and stayed the weekend with us. 
Hayden loved the attention and company of course. And Grandma is a real sucker for The Disney Store marketing. Here's Hayden walking around the mall with his new Mickey Clubs. "Does anyone know where the putting greens are?"
