Toddler travel - the North Carolina edition

Done. Done with my last flight before Mason's arrival. And likely my last flight ever again with a toddler. If family, or anyone, wishes to see the children prior to their turning five they are welcome to come and visit. I, however, will not willingly board a plane and agree to enclose myself in a small cabin with an almost two year old for any extended period of time. Ever. It wasn't the worst it could have been, but then it certainly wasn't the best. Skyler did do an admirable job in the airports, and for about 3/4 of the overall flight time. But the last 1/4 that was filled with crying, flailing, and screaming was really enough to outweigh all the sweet, quiet play time that might have preceded said events. Dealing with a thrashing, tantrum throwing toddler will pinned between my mother and a complete (and unsympathetic) stranger... shudder.

That said, everything about the trip that occurred outside of the plane and the airport was lovely. Skyler absolutely thrived in all the fresh air and sunshine. My grandmother lives directly off of a golf course in the midst of a forest of pine trees. Lots of green and open spaces and dirt to dig and play in. It was really quite ideal, and a huge improvement over the conditions (hotel room) we had when visiting family in New Mexico.

It was really just a lot of fun to watch Skyler experience the outdoors at this age. Since it has still been too cold back home for him to enjoy any extended periods of time outside this was really the first time, as a toddler, that he has had full reign of an outdoor environment. He loved it. He played with his cars and tractors in the dirt, ran wild around the local park, tried to climb the tree in my grandma's backyard. He even experienced something I remember enjoying about visiting my grandparents when I was younger: the golf cart. Big perk of having a grandparent that lives off of a golf course, they drive these things everywhere. It took a bit of convincing each time to get him out of this thing, but he was awfully cute in his devotion to it. Unfortunately for him, owning such a thing where we live is both unlikely and impractical.

I was worried about how he would react to my grandma, not only because she was stranger but one in a wheel chair. Missing a leg. These are things that aren't very easy to explain to a toddler. He was pretty wary of her for the first day or so, but frankly I think he was more concerned about not knowing her in general than of her being on wheels. I think he actually liked her wheelchair, he is a big fan of all things mobile. I can't say if he even processed the fact that she was missing a limb, but atleast he didn't make a show of noticing it or act scared around her. Ignorance is bliss in a toddler I guess.

Physically I was a wreck after this trip, as I was with the first one. There is just no getting comfortable when pregnant and travelling. I was immensely relieved to be returned back to my own bed, and pillow, and the waiting help of my husband. My family is on notice, this pregnant lady doesn't fly anymore.

DOB

So we might/probably/I think we do have a date of birth for our little Mason man. Assuming that things don't go wildly off target, and that scheduling doesn't switch on us, Mason Alexander should be arriving into this world on Friday June 19th. That's 11 weeks away! *Gulp*

I went and had a doctor's appointment this morning and all is well. Mason's heart is beating away in the 130's and he was nice and squirmy for the doctor. Could be because I had to do glucose test part deux, lovely thing about having GD in a prior pregnancy - you get to take the tolerance test twice! Blech. Hopefully I continue to be diabetes free, we will find out in the next few days. Then the doctor brought up the idea of scheduling, which I had been meaning to do myself. Since my original due date was the 26th(ish) we are going ahead with things exactly a week prior to that. Shouldn't be an issue as the little bean has been measuring ahead by a week anyways. Just crazy to think that I can mark it on the calendar now, and really feel the heat of the countdown. Perhaps it's time to actually get serious about putting together the nursery?

In less pleasant news, I will be off on a plane again tomorrow. This time for an even longer duration (with a layover!) to go and visit my ailing grandmother in North Carolina. With my mother and Skyler in tow. While 28 weeks pregnant. Can you feel the impending doom? I can. This in the end will be a good thing, it will give my grandma a chance to finally meet Skyler and (sort of) Mason. Also considering that travelling of this sort really won't be in the cards for us for about another year... who knows what can happen in a year. My grandma has been healthy for all her eighty some years, up until lately. I would hate to think that I left things too late all because of some temporary discomfort. Unfortunately that discomfort starts tomorrow at 8:30 am and won't stop until sometime around midnight next Monday. *Sigh*. Anybody familiar with the use of benadryl on toddlers for extended periods of flight?

Tips for toddler travel?

So we have a flight to catch this weekend, and another one in a few more weeks, and it will be the first time we have flown with Skyler past the age of one. It will also be the longest flight we have taken him on thus far, the others being quick one hour jaunts and this one being a four hour marathon by comparison. I have a little backpack full of new goodies, munchies for the monkey, and plan on bringing a travel dvd player all in the hopes that our toddler will not be a terror. People can't give a pregnant lady too dirty of a look, right? Does anyone have some advice regarding how best to survive travel with an almost two year old, some sage bits of wisdom I might be missing in my preparations?

So is it sad that three days away from the internets can make me feel like I have dropped off the side of the earth? I am thinking it's probably a bad sign. However, I am glad to be back and see that I have missed some wonderful news in my absence. Ann(ie) decided to jump on the baby number two bandwagon, she wasn't kidding about that blog water ;). Go over and wish her well on this exciting news!

The reason for my absence, and lack of blogging, these past few days was a beach trip. One would think that going to the beach in late October wouldn't make sense, but then that would show just how un-Northwest you are. The beaches around here are always cold, so really a late year beach trip doesn't vary a whole lot from one done earlier in the spring or summer. You still wouldn't want to get in the water. We went out with the extended family to Lincoln City this past weekend to rest and recuperate- and to give the kiddo his first beach experience. He loved it! All of that open expanse, and the wa-wa, oh the wa-wa. That's water, for the un-initiated. He ran like the wild man he is, up and down the beach. Then up to the water, and away from the water when it came crashing back in. We also took him to the Oregon Coast aquarium, another thing he loves. MR loves feesh, he really enjoyed looking in all the tanks though he wasn't quite brave enough to try touching any of them yet. We had a great time, mostly just from watching our little mister experience all these new sensations and wonder at the little (and big) things this world has to offer. The blonde people in the following photos are BL's older siblings, fyi.

*The early preggs tiredness has caught me up, can you tell?

The trip, now with pictures

See that sad little face up there? That is the reason why this trip has sucked so much. My poor little bug just can't seem to kick this fever. It's here, it's gone. It's up, it's down. He hasn't seemed to experience any other symptoms, except extreme crankiness, so I am still thinking it is teething related.
We're flying home tomorrow morning (early flight, hooray!) and I cannot wait to get to the house and collapse into my own dirty, unmade bed. Then it's back up and two more weeks of packing, preparing, and then finally moving.

I will be fair, this trip back home wasn't totally terrible. It was good to see family, as always, and for MR to reconnect with all of his relatives/babysitters-to-be. He was showered with early birthday gifts, which included enough clothes from his Nana to ensure a new outfit for every day of Spring. If you think I am kidding then you should check your local Carter's outlet, it's probably short in stock because she raided it. Her Carter's sprees are a thing of legend in our family.

He also got some fun new toys that included this little Eebee play mat, which is adorable and so much fun to watch MR play with. It can be used flat as a play mat, but it was more fun to build little structures for him to crawl in and out of. Okay, so yes, in reflection this trip was definitely not a total loss. MR is not the only cranky member of our family at present, I just need to remember that it's just a few more weeks. Then no more trips home, no more sleeping on the in-laws couch, just being home.

So...very...tired

Yet I am still sitting in front of the computer typing. You'd think I would know when to call it quits, right? We're still back visiting at home staying at the in-laws and the trip thus far has been pretty trying. The flight went really well, MR was a sweet, smiling man and fell asleep for the last leg of the flight. We got in and got to the house no problem. Then we noticed he was feeling a little warm, which led to us realizing he had a mild fever, which has left us with a very unhappy and pretty irritable little guy for the last twenty-four hours or so. And when baby isn't happy, well you all know how it goes. This is the first time MR has really had a temperature so it is generally just alarming and worrisome for me. We are fairly confident it is just related to his cutting two more teeth on his bottom row, but still I just feel so bad for the little guy. His temp hasn't gone above 100.6, so nothing too concerning. He's just been so manic, one second he is happy the next he is clinging and screeching. He had his worst sleep night ever last night, I think he was up every couple of hours (if not less) and at times he was just inconsolable. So today was met with two very exhausted parents and one cranky kiddo. If I knew it would help I would pack us up and head back to our neck of the woods right now, but the flight would only add to our issues. So we are here for the next day and a half and hoping for the best. The one consolation is that I have gotten some pretty cute pictures here and there between the crazy-baby spells. Oh, and the TON of clothes MR's nana got him for his birthday. I'll take my wins where I can get them.

Going going, back back

Home. Again. For good reason though, it's BL's dad's birthday and they all could use a lift in spirits as things in cancerland have been hovering on the low end again. He is still cancer-free, no worries there, but he has had some recurring pockets of infection that just won't seem to stay away. Strangely the worst thing about the cancer has not been those rebel cells themselves, but the side affects from the treatments. Every time he goes through a round of chemo it rips his body up a little bit more, and following any sort of procedure it seems he ends up spending an extra week in the hospital. Blech. Anyways, I did not intend for this to turn into a cancer-rant post. We fly out tomorrow morning-ish and will be returning on Monday morning. Just a quick trip to sing Happy Birthday and share the MR love. They haven't seen him since he started crawling, so they are in for some fun. And by fun I mean MR is going to totally raid all the nic-nacs that his Nana has peppered throughout their entire house. Should be interesting.

Oh, and btw, I did survive our visit from the mother. It wasn't that bad and she was a HUGE help in taking care of the MR whilst we got some serious packing done. We still have lots left, but another dent was made.

On the road again...

Tomorrow, tomorrow

I'm really looking forward to our trip home tomorrow. This week has been a trial and half for the three of us with BL's work drama and we all could really use a break. I'm just looking forward to some downtime, uninterrupted showers (thanks Grandma), and catching up with some good friends. And though we have had some much improved weather in these parts, the temperature is sure to be at least ten degrees higher there. It might be premature and presumptuous but I bought MR some sunscreen just in case. Ah, I can hope. Also trips home always include a new hoard of cute clothes waiting at Nana's house for the MR, and I am a sucker for Carter's. Is it sad that I get so excited over new clothes for my boy?...don't answer that. So have a good weekend all, and cross your fingers for us that MR continues his good flight behavior.

Over the shoulder baby holder

So I think I want to buy a sling. I've been thinking this because with our upcoming travel, not just this weekend but other weekends sure to come, it would be nice to have something aside from my own two arms to carry him with. We have run the gamut of items for use when traveling with a bebe, a light-weight travel stroller and a front carrying Snugli, so short of packing him in our carry on (frowned upon) I am thinking the next logical option would be a sling. I want to get something simple and easy to use, and nothing with too much material. I really just need something that will be comfortable to carry him on my hip with and not leave me all bundled up as well. So for those of you out there, I hope there are a few, do you have any suggestions for a (reasonably priced) comfortable sling? There are so many options out there that it would be nice to have some feedback from people who have used and loved a particular brand. Keep in mind MR is an *ahem* big boy at 23 pounds, so I need something that works for bigger/older babies. Opinions welcome.

Home again, home again

Over the course of the last (almost) year we have made a lot of trips back to our hometown. Ever since learning of BL's dad's diagnosis we have been doing our best to be the next best thing to actually living in the same city. We are fortunate that we can make such frequent trips, with the help of the inlaws, and it has allowed us to see both of our families a lot more than we probably would have in this first year of MR's life. It also reminds us, oh so poignantly, how much we wish we were already back there permanently. We've been trying to get back there since early fall of last year, when we really were beginning to understand the scope of having a family member with cancer. Getting there just takes a bit of effort, it's an ongoing process.

We get to make another one of our regular roundtrips this upcoming weekend. I'm looking forward to it because we will actually be spending almost four days there instead of our quick weekend two. I can't even begin to explain how not pleasant that kind of turnaround is for MR. Fortunately as he has gotten older and more accustomed to these trips the repercussions have become less severe, but it's still not easy. He has to deal with the flight itself, sleeping in a new environment, being bounced around to see all the faces that want to see him, and his schedule is always bound to be knocked a little off. Thank the sweet gods that he has always been a good traveler *knocks on wood*, lord knows he has been on an airplane enough times now.

So yay for going home and seeing all the faces we miss, but I am sure I will return with bittersweet feelings and the wish that we didn't really have to come back.