We are currently getting ready for our trip. Things are interesting in how things are different when you pack with a toddler around.
The first thing you notice is that you can't just pack right before you leave. When there is a little person involved, you need to plan ahead more and if you are talking airline travel-- a lot more. Figuring out how much to take and have everything you need and still travel light is a skill that I am still working on. I was able to get everything into Addie's backpack that doubles as a carrier for her. I was able to get both Warren's and my stuff into another small backpack.
The second thing you notice is that you will research how to travel. I never gave much thought to airline travel, except what you can and cannot take. With traveling with a little person on a long plane trip you start reading up on mom blogs and book about what worked/didn't work for them. Here's a list of the things you think about when traveling with a little person
1.What kind of toys to bring (can't make too much noise, have wheels, take up too much room, too precious to loose, etc)
2. which seats are the best location wise for a child
3. how to deal with possible ear pain
4. how much food to pack, what you can and cannot get in the ways of food and drinks for your toddler on your flight
5. how many diapers to pack (especially if there is a possibility of getting grounded-ever see diapers sold at an airport??)
6. sit on your lap vs dragging a car seat around everywhere for 2 weeks (that was answered for us as one of our carriers will not allow a child under 2 to have her own seat)
7. how to reserve a carry cot (a bassinet for us Americans)
8. Body scan vs having a stranger 'pat down' my almost 2 year old. I would opt for neither if I had the opportunity
9. How to explain that the monkey back pack she adores has to go through the scanner with a minimum of screaming and tears (she shrieks when I take it off)
10. Can I or can't I bring milk? This question varies by the airline carrier and by the day. I don't want to have anything in the sippy cup as I don't want it confiscated, so we will bring a little milk in a sealed bottle and hopefully I can open it and have it tested as opposed to having to have it taken from me
I have been able to answer some of these questions and have done a lot of reading of other people experience. Some questions I will not be able to answer until we go through this experience ourselves and some questions do not have an answer.
We three are embarking on an adventure and I am planning on doing my best to make the trip there as interesting and fun as I can for Addie. She's never been to an airport, so this is a whole new experience for her and I am hopeful that since we are having this experience early in her life, she will be a better traveler in the future because of it.
However, I do wish the airports and airport security did not have to be so infuriating.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
When God Created Mothers
Erma Bombeck, in my opinion, was one of the greatest comic writers on the topic of Motherhood. So I decided that for my blog I would put up one of her stories. I am also drawing a blank when it comes to writing something this week.
Here it is:
"When God Created Mothers"
When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of "overtime" when the angel appeared and said. "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."
And God said, "Have you read the specs on this order?" She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moveable parts...all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up. A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. And six pairs of hands."
The angel shook her head slowly and said. "Six pairs of hands.... no way."
It's not the hands that are causing me problems," God remarked, "it's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."
That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. God nodded.
One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, 'What are you kids doing in there?' when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say. 'I understand and I love you' without so much as uttering a word."
God," said the angel touching his sleeve gently, "Get some rest tomorrow...."
I can't," said God, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick...can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger...and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower."
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.
But tough!" said God excitedly. "You can imagine what this mother can do or endure."
Can it think?"
Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek.
There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told You that You were trying to put too much into this model."
It's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear."
What's it for?"
It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."
You are a genius, " said the angel.
Somberly, God said, "I didn't put it there."
— Erma Bombeck (When God Created Mothers)
Here it is:
"When God Created Mothers"
When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of "overtime" when the angel appeared and said. "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."
And God said, "Have you read the specs on this order?" She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moveable parts...all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up. A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. And six pairs of hands."
The angel shook her head slowly and said. "Six pairs of hands.... no way."
It's not the hands that are causing me problems," God remarked, "it's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."
That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. God nodded.
One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, 'What are you kids doing in there?' when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say. 'I understand and I love you' without so much as uttering a word."
God," said the angel touching his sleeve gently, "Get some rest tomorrow...."
I can't," said God, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick...can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger...and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower."
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.
But tough!" said God excitedly. "You can imagine what this mother can do or endure."
Can it think?"
Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek.
There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told You that You were trying to put too much into this model."
It's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear."
What's it for?"
It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."
You are a genius, " said the angel.
Somberly, God said, "I didn't put it there."
— Erma Bombeck (When God Created Mothers)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
All good plans
I have been working on a major reorganization project upstairs. It is definitely needed as the upstairs became a dumping ground for extra stuff. It all started when Warren's office was moved upstairs to make room for the nursery and the stuff was all carried upstairs and dumped in one room. We also had been putting outgrown baby stuff up there and there was a lot of that upstairs too.
I started this project a few months ago. Things were going good and then Addie switched to a toddler bed, which meant we had minimal if any naps happening in our house. That made for two weeks of not being able to work up there. Addie's naps have gotten much more consistent now so we are doing well with that now.
I was getting excited to get back up there and work on things. Then we got a call from a friend who would like to come and visit this weekend. We are excited to host our friend. The problem is I've been using the guest bedroom as a staging area to put stuff from the other rooms in categories. So it's another step back as I had to move all the stuff out of that room and put back in the other rooms temporarily. To top that off, I have a nasty cold/sinus thing that is draining my energy, so it took all the energy I had to just move the stuff out of the room. I was hoping to be able to put the stuff back were it will belong and save a step, but I do not have the time or the energy.
It seems like this is the never ending project. I hope to have it done someday in the year 2011. With everything going on, I will not be able to get back into this area until sometime in the middle of April.
I started this project a few months ago. Things were going good and then Addie switched to a toddler bed, which meant we had minimal if any naps happening in our house. That made for two weeks of not being able to work up there. Addie's naps have gotten much more consistent now so we are doing well with that now.
I was getting excited to get back up there and work on things. Then we got a call from a friend who would like to come and visit this weekend. We are excited to host our friend. The problem is I've been using the guest bedroom as a staging area to put stuff from the other rooms in categories. So it's another step back as I had to move all the stuff out of that room and put back in the other rooms temporarily. To top that off, I have a nasty cold/sinus thing that is draining my energy, so it took all the energy I had to just move the stuff out of the room. I was hoping to be able to put the stuff back were it will belong and save a step, but I do not have the time or the energy.
It seems like this is the never ending project. I hope to have it done someday in the year 2011. With everything going on, I will not be able to get back into this area until sometime in the middle of April.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Anti Nap Days
One of the joys of toddlerhood at our household are anti nap days. What are anti nap days? Those are the days that Addie decides not to nap.
These days occur on days that we leave the home. What happens is that Addie will nap on the way home and then not sleep the rest of the day, so she technically is taking a nap. The drive home is not long enough for a nap and then I have a cranky kid. I've tried everything to keep her up, I've sang songs, tickled feet (when Warren is driving), snacks, fun toys that are only in the car, and varying the time we leave the house. None of these things have worked, if Addie wants to sleep, she will sleep.
It's days like this that make me think long and hard as to if it is worth it to leave the house. There are times I decide I want Addie to nap more than I want to be out in society. Sometimes it feels like this is my punishment for making Princess Addie leave her castle.
I use Addie's naps as an opportunity to clean the house (yes every day there is housecleaning to do, being home all day makes the home messy), laundry, getting the garbage out and burned, collecting recycling to take in, and my house organizing project ( I want my sewing room back and Warren wants his office back)
Anti nap days also means that night time will also be a nightmare. She'll be exhausted and cranky and I'll be exhausted and cranky. Warren seems to know when these days are going to occur and works late, really late, like 9 or 9:30. Usually he gets home right before Addie completely crashes, after I have read multiple stories, sing bits and pieces of EVERY hymn and lullaby I know and I had almost won the battle. Then Addie is all excited to see daddy and does not want to go to bed. So another 10 to 15 minutes and Addie will not be able to stay up and will drop (literally sometimes midstep) asleep. Then Warren wonders why I want to collapse the minute after Addie is tucked in. He wonders why I don't want time to myself at night.
I am learning to roll with the punches on these days. I think it's important for our sanity (Addie's and mine) to get out once in a while. We go to toddler story time one time a week and Addie loves it. We go on play dates sometimes and I go to bible study once a week. Splash class is once a week, but Addie is so tired that she will nap past the car ride.
These days occur on days that we leave the home. What happens is that Addie will nap on the way home and then not sleep the rest of the day, so she technically is taking a nap. The drive home is not long enough for a nap and then I have a cranky kid. I've tried everything to keep her up, I've sang songs, tickled feet (when Warren is driving), snacks, fun toys that are only in the car, and varying the time we leave the house. None of these things have worked, if Addie wants to sleep, she will sleep.
It's days like this that make me think long and hard as to if it is worth it to leave the house. There are times I decide I want Addie to nap more than I want to be out in society. Sometimes it feels like this is my punishment for making Princess Addie leave her castle.
I use Addie's naps as an opportunity to clean the house (yes every day there is housecleaning to do, being home all day makes the home messy), laundry, getting the garbage out and burned, collecting recycling to take in, and my house organizing project ( I want my sewing room back and Warren wants his office back)
Anti nap days also means that night time will also be a nightmare. She'll be exhausted and cranky and I'll be exhausted and cranky. Warren seems to know when these days are going to occur and works late, really late, like 9 or 9:30. Usually he gets home right before Addie completely crashes, after I have read multiple stories, sing bits and pieces of EVERY hymn and lullaby I know and I had almost won the battle. Then Addie is all excited to see daddy and does not want to go to bed. So another 10 to 15 minutes and Addie will not be able to stay up and will drop (literally sometimes midstep) asleep. Then Warren wonders why I want to collapse the minute after Addie is tucked in. He wonders why I don't want time to myself at night.
I am learning to roll with the punches on these days. I think it's important for our sanity (Addie's and mine) to get out once in a while. We go to toddler story time one time a week and Addie loves it. We go on play dates sometimes and I go to bible study once a week. Splash class is once a week, but Addie is so tired that she will nap past the car ride.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
child of an engineer
Almost every day I am reminded that the engineering genes are in my daughter's gene pool. She does things sometimes that makes you think, yep, she's part engineer.
The most recent example is Addie learning to talk. She tends to say a word only when it's perfect and you don't hear the cute attempts to say a word. For example, on Sunday Addie said "morning" and did not say mo, mor, morn, and then: morning in a progression. She also says a word once and then you don't hear it again. Warren and I have "caught" her saying a word when her back is turned to us. She also will not say anything on command, nothing will clam her up more than when you ask her to say something.
Addie "weaning" off her bottle is another example. I did not have to wean her off her bottle, she just decided one day that she will only use a sippy cup and refused to use a bottle again. It was a one time thing and she never tried the bottle again.
Addie learning to walk was yet another example. I remember talking to a friend about her not walking yet and she told me not to worry, she'll want to move her toys around the room and will not be able to do that while crawling. A few days after hearing that, I observed that Addie would throw her toy ahead of her, crawl to it, and then repeat the process. She did learn to walk later, of course. She did figure out how to climb up to the back of the couch first.
Addie will quietly sit and look at something and then will "fix" her problem. She does not attempt to build something or climb into something without staring at it for a while (and sometimes more than once), before trying something new. She still has to experience trial and error, like everyone else. However, she needs to take time to observe something before she tries it.
A have a few mommy friends that also have children of engineers and the force is strong with some of them.
Any one have any great engineering children stories?
The most recent example is Addie learning to talk. She tends to say a word only when it's perfect and you don't hear the cute attempts to say a word. For example, on Sunday Addie said "morning" and did not say mo, mor, morn, and then: morning in a progression. She also says a word once and then you don't hear it again. Warren and I have "caught" her saying a word when her back is turned to us. She also will not say anything on command, nothing will clam her up more than when you ask her to say something.
Addie "weaning" off her bottle is another example. I did not have to wean her off her bottle, she just decided one day that she will only use a sippy cup and refused to use a bottle again. It was a one time thing and she never tried the bottle again.
Addie learning to walk was yet another example. I remember talking to a friend about her not walking yet and she told me not to worry, she'll want to move her toys around the room and will not be able to do that while crawling. A few days after hearing that, I observed that Addie would throw her toy ahead of her, crawl to it, and then repeat the process. She did learn to walk later, of course. She did figure out how to climb up to the back of the couch first.
Addie will quietly sit and look at something and then will "fix" her problem. She does not attempt to build something or climb into something without staring at it for a while (and sometimes more than once), before trying something new. She still has to experience trial and error, like everyone else. However, she needs to take time to observe something before she tries it.
A have a few mommy friends that also have children of engineers and the force is strong with some of them.
Any one have any great engineering children stories?
Giving this a try
I decided to give this blog thing a try. I had one years ago and did not keep up with it. This was pre-baby. My life seems to be categorized that way, pre-baby and post-baby. This is the life of a mommy (and daddy).
Anyways, I decided to try this again for two reasons: 1. My family always want cute Addie stories aad 2. I have too many status updates on Face Book and also want to give more information in regards to my status. I don't expect this blog to be the most exciting or witty thing you'll read in a day, but I plan on writing at least once a week and it will be on any topic that I find interesting.
Today is a catch up day at our house. On Tuesdays we car pool with daddy and leave the house at 6:30 am and come home at 7:30 pm, so it is a long day for us.
Addie is currently playing and is on her second outfit of the day. The first outfit survived breakfast, but not the morning snack. Addie is starting to talk more with a new word almost every other day. Yesterday the word was "apple", Monday it was "there" , "orange", and "dog" and Sunday it was "morning". Today it is "hurry".
The transition to the toddler bed is just that "transition". At this point, Addie will wake up soon after we wake up (she used to sleep in and we had quiet mornings) and she will not go to sleep until Warren and I are getting ready for bed. So, our "baby free time" is pretty much nil. Nap time is hit and miss. It is slowly getting better and the routine is getting settled down.
I am planning on continuing my work on organizing the upstairs. I am amazed at how much junk we can accumulate in 5, almost 6 years at our current home. I have not even gotten into Warren's study and anyone who knows Warren or has seen his cubicle at work knows that will be a HUGE project. I also got a label maker and am slowly becoming addicted.
I am also working on the freezer as I realized just how much is in there. My shopping list is pretty small as we have a lot of frozen homemade meals and leftovers that need to be eaten. I also have a lot of frozen fruit, so any dessert ideas for it will be greatly appreciated.
Well that's about it. I live an exciting life.
Anyways, I decided to try this again for two reasons: 1. My family always want cute Addie stories aad 2. I have too many status updates on Face Book and also want to give more information in regards to my status. I don't expect this blog to be the most exciting or witty thing you'll read in a day, but I plan on writing at least once a week and it will be on any topic that I find interesting.
Today is a catch up day at our house. On Tuesdays we car pool with daddy and leave the house at 6:30 am and come home at 7:30 pm, so it is a long day for us.
Addie is currently playing and is on her second outfit of the day. The first outfit survived breakfast, but not the morning snack. Addie is starting to talk more with a new word almost every other day. Yesterday the word was "apple", Monday it was "there" , "orange", and "dog" and Sunday it was "morning". Today it is "hurry".
The transition to the toddler bed is just that "transition". At this point, Addie will wake up soon after we wake up (she used to sleep in and we had quiet mornings) and she will not go to sleep until Warren and I are getting ready for bed. So, our "baby free time" is pretty much nil. Nap time is hit and miss. It is slowly getting better and the routine is getting settled down.
I am planning on continuing my work on organizing the upstairs. I am amazed at how much junk we can accumulate in 5, almost 6 years at our current home. I have not even gotten into Warren's study and anyone who knows Warren or has seen his cubicle at work knows that will be a HUGE project. I also got a label maker and am slowly becoming addicted.
I am also working on the freezer as I realized just how much is in there. My shopping list is pretty small as we have a lot of frozen homemade meals and leftovers that need to be eaten. I also have a lot of frozen fruit, so any dessert ideas for it will be greatly appreciated.
Well that's about it. I live an exciting life.
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