Our Cruise- Day One

Many of you have asked to hear about our cruise- so here it goes... more than you ever wanted to know. This will be done in separate installments for each day of our trip.

Day One- May 21, 2007

Our day began early. Alan and I woke at 4:30 a.m. got showered, did some last minute packing, and fed Chancey. Reshen was still snoozing away at 5:30 (unusual), so I had to wake him. I felt so bad rousing his cozy little body from his warm bed, but we had to leave the house at 5:45, so it had to be done. He was a bit groggy, but didn’t complain, and after he was dressed and had his sippy of milk in hand, we loaded up everyone and everything into the car and were on the road (on time!). We drove to the airport and didn’t hit traffic until Federal Way (about 20 miles from the airport). It was the Monday morning commute, so we were expecting *some* amount of traffic. It was pretty slow for awhile, even in the car pool lane, but we still made it to the park-n-ride a little after 7 a.m.. Reshen did pretty great in the car, only crying towards the end of the drive. He really seemed impressed with the “bus” (the airport shuttle) that we took to the airport.

The airport experience was thankfully non-eventful. It is a little stressful juggling all the luggage and getting us all through security, but we didn’t get stuck anywhere or loose anything, so it was good. Reshen did great in his new stroller, and didn’t make too much of a fuss. He seemed to understand that he needed to stay in there while we were waiting in line and pushing him through the airport. We let him run around at the gate to stretch his legs. He liked looking out of the large window at the runway and would exclaim “Plane Bye Bye!” when he saw them taking off. He also liked the airport trucks.

Time went really fast at the gate and before we knew it, we were boarding! It actually caught us off guard and we were scrambling to pack our carry-ons back up and get a tag for the stroller. It wasn’t until we were already on the plane that we realized we hadn’t changed Reshen’s diaper. Oops!! Bad mommy! Luckily he didn’t have a poo, and it was a short flight and also he had his overnights on (super absorbent), so decided to let it go. I changed his diaper right after the flight and it was fine (not *too* full).

He was good on the plane as well. I am *so* happy I had Alan with me this time, though. We didn’t buy a separate seat for Reshen (although next time we will), so it really did take two of us to hold him, juggle the carry-ons, and take things in and out of the bags. He is just so much to handle physically. I had a very hard time when I traveled alone with him last December, and really appreciated Alan’s help this time J

I don’t think he really understood that we were on a plane. He watched in the window at take-off and as soon as we flew into the clouds he got this confused look on his face and said “Go?” Like “where did the ground go?” I explained that we were up in the sky in a plane. I wonder how much he really grasped of that.

We did have a few moments where he began to get “iffy”, but I had packed a bunch of toys he had never seen (from his Grandma and also the Dollar Store). He really liked this travel-sized Magna-Doodle we bought at Walmart. It was perfect. He could write “S’s and “B’s” to his heart’s content and “got” how to erase them with the lever. He also played with stickers, cars, read books, and played with cards. He looked really tired around 10:30 a.m. and was getting crabby, so we broke out the laptop and let him watch some Baby Einstein. He totally zoned out in front of it and before we knew it he was asleep on my lap. He took about a 30 minute nap and woke just as we were landing. I think he had some ear/sinus discomfort on the landing as he suddenly began crying (he wouldn’t drink his juice, so didn’t pop his ears), but then when I pointed out the window he calmed down. He watched the approaching ground with wide eyes. After we landed he looked up at me and said “Again! More!” I said “Was that fun?” He looked back out the window and said “More! Fun!” I wonder what he thought was happening??

We collected our luggage in Los Angeles (everything made it- yay!) and waited for Alan’s family to arrive. They picked us up outside of baggage claim shortly and we all drove to the cruise terminal. Reshen seemed to remember them a bit. He pointed at Alan’s dad while we were driving and said “Ye Ye.” Very cute. He totally zoned out in the van. I think he was becoming a little overwhelmed with all the new experiences and the people. He just stared and stared at everything with those huge, beautiful eyes. He didn’t want any toy I gave him or anything to eat or drink. Just wanted to sit and watch.

The cruise boarding had a lot of “steps” to go through, but it was all pretty painless. It was kind of a whirl-wind. We didn’t really know what we were doing, but we just shuttled from one station to the next. . It probably would have helped if we actually had read our Cruise Handbook (or brought it with us, which we didn’t). Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and loved Reshen (of course). Most people thought he was a girl, but he gets that all the time. He was even wearing blue today.

Once we were on the ship we checked out our rooms and were shocked at how *tiny* they were. I mean really really tiny. Alan was worried that would wouldn’t be able to fit the play pen in it, it was so small. After some creative unpacking, though, everything fit (even the play pen). It’s cozy ;-) The coolest thing about our room is that we have an ocean view. Pretty amazing to look out your window and see the open ocean.

We next went to the main dining room and had a late lunch at the buffet. There was a nice selection and the food is good (not excellent, but pretty good). Reshen wasn’t eating still, but was doing OK just watching us and playing with a spoon and his cup.

After lunch I tried to get him to take a nap, but he wouldn’t have it. He at least drank his milk, but after he was finished he just wanted to play. *I* was tired, so was hoping he would lie down with me, but I finally gave up. So instead, we walked around the ship with Alan and his parents. Reshen was very cute, holding May and Ben’s hands. He *really* likes stairs and wanted to walk up and down them all. After touring some of the ship, Alan and I came to the conclusion that it reminded us of the boat version of Reno (which is the “cheap” version of Las Vegas). Reno on the water ;-)

It was now 3:30 and Reshen was so tired he was loosing coordination, so Alan and I took him back to the room and tried for another nap. No go. He was in quite a state. Frantic, crazy, and only wanting one thing- to get *out* of the room. We kept trying, but finally it was time for our safety drill. We all had to put on life jackets and report to our muster station. We found out one thing today… it is *very* difficult to carry a toddler when you are both wearing life vests!! We ended up making him walk, holding our hands. He did look really cute in it J

So we all stood in a grouping of lines, clad in orange life jackets, waiting for the drill to begin. Forever! Shocking part is, Reshen stood, as still and quiet as he could be, holding our hands. Never cried, never tried to walk away. Just stood and stared. I don’t know if it was because he was exhausted or if he just knew that he needed to be good, but it was truly amazing. He’s only 18 months old!

*Finally* the drill began, and all the knowledge I gained from it was how to put on my life vest and that I needed to meet there in case of an emergency. Duh!! I needed to stand there for 15 minutes to figure that out? I thought we were going to learn how to get on the boat or the evacuation procedure or something. We were a little peeved, but at least they let the people with children leave first.

At that time we went back to the room and let the little man play while we dressed for dinner. I was a little worried about sitting through a formal dinner with the no-nap king, but we thought we would at least try. He did some more stair-walking and then we went to the dining room with Alan’s family. He sat on my lap for awhile, until the food came out. He was *very* tired (you could see it in his eyes), but he behaved wonderfully. He didn’t eat much (some bread, *loved* the strawberry bisque, and some cake), but at least he was content to sit and graze and watch the people around him. I did have to sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and “Ram Sam Sam” quite a few times, but he was happy. He lasted there for almost 1.5 hours! We had a good dinner too- I had Antipasti, Lamb Shanks and Chocolate Cake. Really great food. At around 7 we left and picked him up some milk and looked out at the water, as we were now out to sea. We saw dolphins leaping through the water towards the front of the boat. Really cool.

We finally went back to our room and put Reshen to bed. He went down pretty easily and is now sleeping peacefully in his playpen beside us. I hope he sleeps well tonight and I look forward to another full day tomorrow.

Tune in tomorrow for Day 2 of our trip!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there! Of course, I've always enjoyed Mother's Day, but as a daughter appreciating her own wonderful mother. It's so amazing to now experience this special day as a Mother myself. I received two very sweet cards today, one from Reshen, complete with his scribbles and handprints, and one from Alan. We went out to ice cream (my choice) and spent some time playing at the park. It was a nice, relaxed day and I got to spend it with my two favorite guys. Could I ask for anything more? :-)

I guess what I *could* ask for is for Reshen to start sleeping later in the morning. The little guy has been such an early bird lately. He woke up *before* 5:30 a.m. both mornings this weekend, and this has been the trend for the past few weeks now. We've tried putting him to bed later, but that doesn't make any difference- he'll still wake up early and then be extra crabby because he didn't get enough sleep. We've tried making him stay in his crib, but he never goes back to sleep. We do keep him in there for awhile, but he usually just plays for awhile and then begins crying and calling for us. Occasionally I can rock him back to sleep, but more often than not he is awake for the morning. On top of that, I think he has dropped the morning nap for the most part. During the week, I am able to keep him awake and happy until we come home from work at 1 p.m.. Although, on the weekends he sometimes will take a 30 minute morning nap. I suppose because we are not as exciting as Luke and Lucy and he doesn't fight it as much here ;-)

Reshen now loves to dig with his little shovel and then push around the dirt piles with a broom. It keeps him busy for a long time. He also figured out how to turn on the hose and had a good, messy time the other evening. He was so proud of himself, I couldn't make him turn it off until he made a nice muddy puddle to play in. It was close to bathtime anyway :-)



He's been getting very frustrated lately when something doesn't happen just like he thinks it should. The other night, for example, he was trying to fit himself into a small box. He was just too big for it, but he didn't know this. He tried to fit in every-which-way, but it wasn't working and he began crying and saying "in, in, in." I couldn't do anything to please him and he didn't understand that he couldn't fit in it. I tried redirecting him, but he didn't want that either. He just kept getting increasing frustrated and crying harder. Poor kid. But I guess you can't shield them from everything. Frustration is a part of life, and I guess we are supposed to learn from it. I know it's harder for little ones who also can't communicate exactly what they want/need. He was coloring yesterday and kept crying and getting mad about something, but I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I do think some of his irritability has to do with tiredness and teething, as he is not always like this. But I also think he has such a clear idea now of what he wants that he expects things to happen just so, and when they don't he sometimes gets upset about it.

I swear our kid is going to have an affinity for music someday. Not only does he sing all the time, but now he imitates instruments. He was playing with his Leapfrog Music Table and would imitate the trumpet, violin, etc. when he played those sounds. Really neat! I have a video of him singing that I need to put up on You Tube. I'll let you all know when it is there.

He can say pretty much anything now. He doesn't speak in sentences or anything, but repeats pretty much every noun and verb we say. He also uses *a lot* of them. He touched my hair today after I got out of the shower and then shook his hand and said "wet!" I hadn't realized I even taught him that one, but he must have picked it up. He loves to run outside and exclaim "running!" and when we're out at the store he always tells us he wants to "walk." He listens closely to what Alan and I say to eachother. We stopped at the store to pick up some diaper doublers and as Alan got out of the car, I told Reshen that daddy was going into the store to buy something for him. Reshen said "bi-per" (diaper). I"m like "yeah!" We didn't tell him anything, I just mentioned it to Alan as he was getting out of the car. It's so neat how he listens and learns when we're not watching :-) He has said a couple of things we're not proud of though, so will have to be more careful of the occasional swearing around him. We don't curse like sailors, but when I drop something, get hurt, etc., I sometimes utter some phrases the little man should not be saying. Alan too. We need to be more careful.

Reshen still loves his panda bear. He asks for it out of nowhere sometimes and we have to go looking for it. It is so cute when they are reunited. He gets all giddy and hugs it and says "ahhh" in a cute, sweet little voice. I guess he finally has a lovey!

Reshen *really* loves trucks. He is mesmerized by big machinery. I was carrying him to the car the other day and he saw some construction trucks working across the parking lot. He began shouting "Truck! Truck!" I held him for awhile, letting him watch them, but eventually I grew tired of it, as were my arms, so I told him to tell the trucks bye-bye and that we had to get in the car. He said "no!" More Trucks!" and then braced his hands against the door so that I couldn't get him in! I tried to get him in anyways and he started crying and calling for the trucks in a pathetic little voice. I felt bad, so explained that I would drive over to the trucks and let him watch them some more, but that we had to *drive* over there and that he needed to get in his car seat. To my surprise he actually stopped crying and said "kay." So I buckled him in, all the while telling him that we would drive to the trucks. He looked worried, but kept saying "truck" "kay." So we drove over there, I let him watch them a little while longer from his car seat, then we told the trucks "bye-bye" and drove home. He is *such* the little boy. :-)

Never a Dull Moment

Our little daredevil, energizer bunny of a toddler never ceases to amaze me... he really does have a new trick every day, if not every hour. This week he has been focusing on what he can make his tiny, but quite capable, body do. He stands on his trike, tries to do somersaults, spins in circles until he's dizzy, climbs on anything and everything, "sits" on chairs (if you can call standing up and looking backwards "sitting," and "jumps" (his feet haven't left the floor yet, but his knees and arms sure do a lot of work). We spend a lot of time at the park and outdoors trying to satisfy his desire for physical challenges.

Not only is he working on gross motor skills, but his fine motor skills as well. He will sit for 20 minutes at a time playing with stickers. He points to the one he wants, wants patiently for mommy or daddy to peel it off for him, then he transfers it carefully from his own fingers to the paper. He is extremely dexterous! He also scribbles with crayons (even the thin ones), turns pages of books, and plays with cards (taking them in and out of their box). Those little fingers are always working.

He is talking *so* much these days and is refining some of his "older" words that weren't so understandable before. He is very good at telling us what he does and doesn't want. He also remembers events that happen during the day, and sometimes even several days ago and will mention them if his memory is jogged. We went to the doctor last week (to see if he had an ear infection, which he did *not* have. yay!), and when I told him we were going he said, "Ish!" (fish) "Achtor!" (doctor). "Yeah!" and ran to the door. He remember that the doctor's office has fish tanks and wanted to go. Later that night I was brushing his teeth and he touched his mouth and said "Mowff" (mouth) "Achtor." I was confused at first until I remembered that the doctor had looked in his mouth to see if he was teething. Then he went on to tell me that the doctor looked in his ears as well. I'm really surprised at his language development. He was kind of quiet as a baby, didn't really babble that much until maybe 9 or 10 months... but he was *so* observant. I think he must have been absorbing and processing and now is putting it to use.

Reshen has formed a strong attachment to one of his stuffed animals- a panda bear. Totally out of the blue! I have been trying to get him to become attached to a baby blanket and teddy bear since he was 6 months old, but he still doesn't really care about them. Then Friday he picked up his panda bear and didn't want to put it down- even for a bath! He has slept with it two nights in a row now and carries it downstairs with him in the morning. I have no idea why he has chosen this particular stuffed animal. Although he is also forming funny attachments to other objects too. He has been carrying around a piece of his blocks set all day (it has a butterfly on it and he keeps calling it "dye" (meaning "fly" I think). Toddlers are so funny like that- becoming obsessed with certain things for short periods of time. I wonder if his panda will become a permanent "lovey" or if it will pass as well.





We have had a rough couple of nights. After a really sleeping streak for a couple of months, he has woken up around 10 the past couple of nights just screaming and will not go back to sleep. Friday night he was up and down for about an hour. I thought that was bad until last night... 3 hours!!! No kidding. From 10 pm- 1 a.m. we were all awake. We tried everything- rocking, Tyelnol, milk, diaper change, pj change, sleeping in our bed, letting him cry a bit, turning on his night light, etc.. He didn't really act like he was in pain or sick, just that he couldn't sleep an didn't want to separated from us. He kept telling me "Mama. Rock." in a whiny tone. He just wanted me to hold and rock him. I was OK doing this for awhile, but not 3 hours! If he was with us, he was OK, but the second I laid him in his crib he would scream and thrash about. I'm wondering if he woke from a bad dream and was maybe in some kind of weird sleep state- like between sleep and awake and couldn't get back to sleep.. Like I said, he's not sick, no ear infection, he's fine and happy today. Teething maybe? He finally fell asleep after some more rocking around 1 a.m.. And then he tried to get up at 5:30 this morning!! I was able to rock him back to sleep then too and he slept until 7:15. *sigh* needless to say, we are all tired today. I really hope this doesn't happen again tonight.

He has become very adventurous with his food this past week. He will try almost anything now, he even ate a small piece of raw green pepper today! Meals have become a bit easier, as he will usually eat whatever Alan and I eat (as long as it is not too spicy or difficult to chew). Today he had a meatball sandwich (cut up, of course) and a veggie casserole containing eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. He still prefers dairy products and carbs over anything, but it is nice that he is eating a better variety of veggies and meats these days. He loves going to Costco because of all the food samples they have. He points at them and says "Um!" (yum) even before he knows exactly what food it is. Perhaps he's becoming a foodie just like his daddy and mommy :-)