Happy Mother's Day, 2013.

Happy Mother's Day! We had a lovely day yesterday having a picnic in the park with our family, and then my mom and I continued the celebration today with lunch and pedicures. I'm grateful my mom is such a great part of my life, and I'm grateful for the little dude who made me a mom too.

George's first trip to Epcot.

How did I never post this? Back in December, George went to his second ever Disney theme park, Epcot. This park is my all-time favorite, and I have so many good memories of going there as a kid with my family. Riding on Spaceship Earth, walking around the countries, meeting Figment (my all-time favorite character, which is why there are a bunch of Figments in the nursery). With all this nostalgia fueling me, I was especially excited to have the opportunity to introduce my son to this park.




George was a bit excited too.




Although that excitement might have had a little something to do with all of his friends joining us at Epcot too.


Also, fishies.




And his daddy.




And more fishies. After we left the Living Seas, I put the camera away for a good while and just focused on enjoying my family and friends.




It was such an awesome day, and I am so grateful we were able to go. We hit nearly all of my favorite attractions, including Journey Into The Imagination. Of course, the thing that ended up amusing George the most was water dripping from the monorail track. He stood there for several minutes, waiting for water to hit his head.









Life is good, guys. And my thanks to our friends who made it possible for us to go to Disney and to share our love of the parks with George.

Cruising with the kiddo (and my mom, one of my nieces, and that guy I married).

Several weeks before Christmas, El Hub said to me, "Let's go on a cruise."




The memory of my response has dulled with time, but I am pretty sure I said something like, "Hang on, I have mental whiplash from you suggesting a vacation, give me a minute to think about this."

And we did think about it. We were big cruisers in our pre-baby days. We even went on an amazing European cruise for our honeymoon, and our babymoon was a cruise as well. But now that we have a toddler, how did we want to approach this cruise? Did we want to bring him or leave him with my mom? How long of a cruise did we want to go on? Why do cruises charge full price for toddlers? (That last question is one we never got an answer to. So absurd since toddlers certainly don't eat as much as an adult. The kid doesn't even know what a buffet is yet, much less how to totally take advantage of one.)




Our biggest concern was the kiddo's sleeping. He cannot fall asleep with someone in the room. To him, that is a cue that it is party time. And El Hub and I do not envision a vacation being relaxing if all our kid wants to do is party all the time.

So we started wondering if we could convince any of our dear family to think it would be a good idea to go on a cruise with us. That way, we could get an adjoining room, let George fall asleep in our room, and hang out in the other room while obsessively listening to him chat away on the baby monitor (that last part might have just been me). And two of our family members stepped up to the plate; my mom and my niece Cassandra volunteered to be the brave souls to go with us.




We had no idea how it would go. We didn't know if George would sleep, we didn't know if he would get seasick, we didn't know if he would hate the boat and the food and the activities. But we wanted to get back in touch with our love of cruising. So with a wing and a prayer and a credit card, we booked our vacation.

And it was a blast.

Seriously, one of my favorite vacations ever. If you are thinking about taking your toddler on a cruise, then keep reading, because I have an awful lot to say about this.




Everything went better than we could have hoped. The room logistics we chose with an adjoining room worked wonderfully; one of the four of us would stay behind while George was napping or down for bedtime, and we would switch off who had the freedom to go explore. Our room was technically interior, but since it was the Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas, we chose one that overlooked the "Royal Promenade." George loved people watching from our window, and we loved the lower price tag.




We chose a five day cruise but probably could have happily gone on a seven day; we intentionally picked a cruise with two at-sea days since we were not really focused on exploring the ports with George. This worked out even better when one of our two ports, Labadee, Haiti, was a private Royal Caribbean-controlled area with the beach, food, and even a splash pad in walking distance.




The ship itself was big, but we never once used our stroller on it. George was happy to walk nearly everywhere, and once he wanted to be carried, it was never far from our destination.

We packed light and just brought a duffle bag for George with diapers, one change per day of day clothes and dinner clothes, diapers, and his bedtime ritual stuff. RCCL has a partnership with Fisher Price, so during the day they have a room full of toys that parents can hang out at with their kiddos. They also have a toy-lending program, like a little library of Fisher Price toys. But we never needed to use it because there was so much for George to do and see, and we didn't spend much time in the room.




There was also a nursery for $8 an hour that we did not use until the third day, and I regret waiting that long. George LOVED it. Full of Fisher-Price toys, and the ladies there will feed them food to your specifications if you leave your kiddo there during a meal time. He always left happier than when he arrived.

Before the cruise, we had been wondering if we would be able to do the fancy sit-down dinners or if George would pitch a fit at the leisurely meals. We never tested this as breakfast and instead always went to the Windjammer buffet, but we were pleasantly shocked that George happily made it through dinner every night. That is not a short meal. But they sat us at secluded tables, and we let him play on the floor blocked into the corner until the food arrived.





And finally, employees on cruise ships LOVE KIDS. Holy moley. George was a rock star everywhere he went. I think sometimes it is that the employees miss their families, but then the rest of the time I think that the employees just like the change of pace that kids provide. But oh man, he was loved. And of course, George loved that, and it made him even happier to be on a cruise.



So ta da! We went on a cruise with a toddler and not only survived to tell the tale, but happily so. Now I just need to await the next time El Hub turns to me and says, "Let's go on a cruise." Maybe this time I won't have the mental whiplash.

Happy Halloween!

George's trick or treating began at a visit to my dad. This may be one of my favorite photos, ever. Some of my favorite people, in a beautifully happy moment. I pinky swear we didn't match their clothes on purpose.




Then we went home to hit up the neighbors and wow them with our son's cuteness. But first, I handed the camera over to my mom to get a few photos.




We call this a George sandwich. We usually do it because George sees up kiss, gets upset, and then insists we pick him up and give him affection. He's bossy, but he has cuteness working in his favor (for now).




Our little Mickey Mouse.




One of our neighbors gave George a car instead of candy. In the past few weeks while out on walks, George has been given: bubbles, balls, a toy truck, non-Halloween candy, and now a toy truck. It's good to be a charming toddler, apparently.

We walked all the way around the block, which is just about a marathon for a toddler. Or for a tired parent who carries a clingy toddler who refuses to walk because all the trick or treaters are weirding him out. But we got to see lots of neighbors and fun costumes, so we called it worth it.




Plus, candy. When we got home, we heard a candy wrapper rustling and then saw that George had a lollipop in his mouth. And that would be how we learned that George can take the wrapper off a lollipop.

Happy Halloween!

First haircut.

Technically this was his second haircut. His first haircut occurred several days earlier, after El Hub nagged me yet again about George's crazy curls. I took a little pair of scissors to the kiddo's mullet curls and El Hub was still not satisfied. Meanie.






Man, those curls. But El Hub seldom asks for anything, and he had been asking for this for months. And a dear friend offered to help us go to the Magic Kingdom Barbershop to take advantage of the first haircut experience they offer.



Check out the barbershop quartet of pumpkins up there. Hey yo to Halloween.




It's Disney, so they naturally see a lot of kids. Which means the hair stylists are well versed in the ways of soothing nervous toddlers. AKA bribing them with toys.




Not even paying attention to his temporary mohawk.




George felt his dada could be improved with a few Mickey Mouse stickers. Good call, buddy.




This momma right here handed the camera over so there could be some photographic proof that I was indeed there that day.




The only time George became concerned was during the buzzing of the trimmer. But the lure of the Lightning McQueen toy was too much for him to do anything about his concern.




Ta da! And he got a Mickey hat for his first haircut experience. And we got a lock of his hair to take home and skeeve him out with it when he's in high school.






He's growing up. Eating pretzels. Getting big boy haircuts. Sitting on stools by himself. Saying Mickey Mouse and shouting about cars. It's amazing, and I love it. I love this kid.



And he's pretty amusing, too. Om nom nom, kid.

Life in a state of flux.

It's a shame that when life gets crazy and it would soothe the soul to write, that it is the very nature of that time that makes it impossible to sit down and write. Things have been busy here, to put it mildly. Until things are more settled so I can properly write about them, here are some random photos to bring you up to speed:






The super busy-ness began few months ago, when my dad was in the hospital and then transferred to a short-term rehab facility. I did my best to make the latter a bit more like home with those 3M stickers for hanging pictures. Those stickers even get used in our own home because I have terrible commitment issues when it comes to frame arrangements.




Friends have been a saving grace during this time. All those cliches about finding out who people really are during tough times are true. I feel wildly fortunate to have great friends.




George got new shoes. You may not think this is important, but George sure does. They have Mickey Mouse on them, so he shrieks "MIIIEEE!" every time we put them on. And if we DON'T put those on him and dare to put another pair on his feet, he freaks out and cries. The kid is a serious Mickey fan (woohoo!).



A few months ago, I signed George up for the gym daycare. Best $10 a month ever. With El Hub constantly working insane hours, going to the gym is the best way for George to get to play with other kids without me hovering, for me to get my workout on, and for El Hub not to receive texts from me that go WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME THIS IS ABSURD (confession: he still receives those texts from me sometimes, but on average I've increased my tolerance from 8pm to 10pm). I took this photo during one of the evenings when we got stuck leaving the gym when it was pouring rain out, and George was adorably fascinated by it.




Before and After
We kinda sorta finished our bathroom update. Kind of. I should do a proper post about this one because I am so elated about it. Goodbye, faux green marble formica. Ways in which I dramatize my joy over this: 1) I avoid ever using our guest bathroom anymore because it's just not as pretty, and 2) I taught George to say "Ooooooooh" when we go in the bathroom.




George had his 18-month appointment. He's still a little guy, but he's a healthy guy, and that's what I care about. Also I bribed him with a new $2 wooden airplane toy from Target, and he can now make "whoosh!" flying sounds as he zips it through the air.




George apparently thinks he's grown more than he has though, as he's taken to putting on our shoes. Nice try, kiddo.




Did I mention that George loves Mickey? He put the hat on voluntarily and then kept it on for a hot walk. That might even be more extreme than my own love of the mouse.




My mom sold their house last week and is moving out in a few days. She'll be moving in with us until she can find a place to buy. Speaking of where she'd like to buy, she wants to live in our neighborhood. El Hub is okay with this, pointing out that my mom has been a mother-in-law to my brothers' wives for over 20 years now, so she's pretty good at it at this point. I'm okay with this because my mom is awesome (I take after her, of course). I'm so okay with this that I printed, folded, stuffed, and labeled 80 letters to my neighbors with small houses, asking them to pretty please sell their house to my mom.



Skipping back to the topic of Dad, he ended up going from short-term to long-term care which involved moving to a new facility. And then another new facility a week after that. (I'm telling you, I could write a book.) George likes the television at Dad's new nursing home, Dad likes George, and I like watching them hang out together, so there's a lot of happiness at visits.




And finally, George has learned to shout "CHEESE!" when he holds a camera up to his face. Maybe if he likes photography, I'll actually be in some of these photos I post someday.