Disneyland Day 2

We had our character breakfast today at Goofy's Kitchen. Andrei had a blast, but as you might expect with so much going on he didn't really eat very much. That was fine since we gave him some Cheerios later to make sure he at least had enough energy for the day. A nice thing about his age is that they don't charge you for the breakfast buffet. With everything else being expensive here at Disneyland that is indeed a nice "gimmie".

The funny thing about the characters stopping by for a visit is that Andrei was literally in love with Goofy and Pluto but didn't want anything to do with the "live people" characters (the princesses, etc.). Both Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother stopped by our table and sat down with Andrei for a few words and snapshots. But he was like "Who are you broads? The name on the restaurant is Goofy's Kitchen, so bring him on!"

Goofy as you can tell in these shots was clearly who he wanted to see. We think he just views the characters that merely dress up (like the princesses) as just regular people and doesn't get the fact that they are characters. Whereas the people dressed up head to toe in a suit (like Goofy or Minnie Mouse) are real characters (to him at least).




Oh, and the way we got him "prepared" for the characters was to have him watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel. Not my favorite in terms child programming, but it has all the characters and he instantly recognized the whole gang walking around Disneyland. It's not a big deal but it was just sort of nice that he didn't run away screaming at the site of a 6 foot tall Pluto. In fact, when we saw Minnie Mouse today he reached over and gave her a kiss on the nose.

We did more rides and he got to run around Mickey's ToonTown which is ideal for the toddler crowd. The rides were more of the little kid variety today (since we hit Pirates and the Haunted Mansion yesterday). It's just fascinating to watch him throughout a ride like Pinnochio. It's actually one of the array of books that Stef can choose from for her bedtime stories. So he basically knows the tale. But just seeing his face as he looks at the animatronic Jimminy Cricket or Pinnochio as if they are one of the seven wonders of the world is just priceless.



He gets a bit over-stimulated if he hits too many rides in a row and we're trying to manage that, not to mention trying to avoid too many pure sugar treats (thankfully he views Cheerios as mana from heaven so we carry a ziploc bag full of them during every outing). But a sucker every now and then is a nice treat. I just wish he'd get better at giving me a real smile when I say "smile" and as I posted before the "say cheese" also provides mixed results come picture taking time. Most of the shots I have on this trip are with a face that looks like he's back in Siberia or something. So shots like this are as good as gold.



But we are (happily) surprised at how much fun he is having and how good he's doing. Oh sure, there are a few tantrums about having to go back into the stroller every now and then. But we keep telling him "if you want to go on more rides we have to drive in the cart to get there." Which is what we call going in the stroller. Of course Andrei has been home only 5 months so there is a huge learning curve we are going through as parents. And there's nothing like a tantrum to have you say "Well, we're not going to try that approach again!" But we're getting there. He's having a ball and we're having a ball with him.