Our travel "adventure"

At about 2 AM Sunday morning, a fellow passenger commented on my positivism when I referred to our travel experience thus-far as an adventure. But, as I told her, I have to choose my words carefully when my three-year-old is listening. And I have to put on a happy face and turn a disaster into an adventure, in order to keep the situation from getting worse!

Here is the timeline of our travel to Boise, to celebrate Thanksgiving with Scott's family, as best I can recall:

Saturday

3:00 PM: Our friend Adam picks us up and drives us to the airport. Thanks Adam!

3:30: We check in and discover our flight is delayed 20 minutes. Turns out we have a plane, but no one to fly it. The crew is in Billings, MT, dealing with a snow storm.

3:30 - 9:50 PM: Our flight status is updated 7 or so times, always displaying a new delay, 30 to 60 minutes more than the prior one. Now the weather in Billings is cooperating, but the equipment (i.e. the plane) isn't. We race on the moving sidewalks, ride the tram a bit, play in the play area, eat some comped food, drink some wine/beer (that helped tremendously), play a few games of Uno, and so on. In other words, we pass the time as best we can.

9:50 PM: We board the plane. The plane leaves the gate.

10:?? PM: We get de-iced. We taxi to the other end of the taxiway. We feel the plane fish-tail. We are informed that due to freezing rain, the runway isn't exactly safe to use.

11:?? PM: After various explanations and apologies about grounds crews, airport policy, blah-blah-blah, we are finally informed the airport has been completely shut down and we aren't going anywhere. At the moment, not even back to the terminal (about 400 yards away), because we will likely be unable to stop.

Sunday:

1:30 AM: after the tarmac at the gate is sanded, we are towed back to the gate. We de-plane to utter chaos as everyone is simultaneously trying to find out what hotel we have been set up with and what flight we've been re-booked on.

2:30 AM: after a futile wait for our luggage at baggage claim (not going to be able to get our bags after all... something to do with ice/equipment), we head to the light rail station to take the train to our hotels. No taxis are willing to drive, no hotel shuttles will come and get us - the freezing rain is THAT bad.

2:49 AM: long story, but our little family misses the light rail train (my fault). All of our fellow long-suffering travelers are gone, off to their warm hotel beds. We are stuck for another hour, which is when the next train will arrive.

4:00 AM: we walk in the freezing drizzle 1.5 blocks to our hotel from the light rail station. Walk isn't really the right word - I should say slide. I've never seen frozen rain like that, and I was born in the midwest.

7:15 AM: Our wake-up call. We immediately call and learn that our 9:05 flight has been delayed until 10 AM. Scott and Zach go back to sleep, Charlie decides it's time to eat. Then the rest of us eat a delicious warm breakfast (thanks Embassy Suites) and head back to the airport.

The rest of the story gets better, other than the fact that our new flight was not direct. But after a brief stop in Salt Lake City (where we loaded up on more comped food), and a slightly delayed flight, we finally got to Boise around 4 PM Sunday. Our luggage arrived sometime after 11 PM. We got it Monday morning (thanks Ian for going to get it!), and finally got to change out of the clothes we'd been wearing for far too long. Whew.

Lessons learned:

1. ALWAYS pack as if you are going to be traveling for 24 hours. Especially if your kid wears diapers.

2. People are good and kind. Thank you to the fellow mom who gave me a diaper. Thank you to the man on the plane who wordlessly became my extra hand when he saw I was struggling to hang on to Charlie and tie my coat around my waist. Thank you to the people who took the time to smile at our kids and tell us how well-behaved and/or cute they were. There are more examples, but in general our fellow passengers were resigned but dignified in their handling of the entire experience.

3. If I have to experience that sort of travel nightmare, I want to do so with my little family. The boys were FANTASTIC. Yes, I'm their mother and therefore biased, but honestly - they handled it so well. No tantrums, very little crying or whining. Charlie clearly thought it was a grand adventure - his big eyes were constantly looking around, taking in all the new sights and sounds. Zach was so very sleep-deprived, he hadn't even napped Saturday because he was so psyched to go see his cousins. But as exhausted as he was, Zach just went with the flow, asking lots of questions as he always does, finding ways to have fun amidst it all. And Scott was his usual self, calmly dealing with each new roadblock thrown our way, finding the humor where he could.

So I'm thankful. Thankful for so much, things big and small. And I know it's early, but Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Seven months

Charlie is seven months old! To celebrate, I thought you might enjoy some recent Charlie moments: first his favorite "fffffft" noise, then laughing at his brother, and ending with him trying (unsuccessfully) to put a puff in his mouth. It's a little early for him to have mastered the pincer grasp required to be able to pick up something so small and put it in his mouth. Is it wrong that I find it hilarious to watch him try???

Silly boys, silly pictures

Gorgeous boys, gorgeous pictures

We finally had some professional shots taken of the boys! Our friends' sister-in-law is just establishing her photography business, and we were happy to head out on a beautiful October afternoon and let her snap away. As I may have mentioned before, Zach has a pretty short store of patience when it comes to having his picture taken, particularly with his brother. So I really wasn't sure what to expect.

However, Missy did a great job keeping it casual, snapping pictures of Zach in his natural moments - playing pretend baseball with Scott, running and jumping in leaves, getting up close and laughing in Charlie's face. Other than a small mishap with a large dog who wanted to take a chomp out of the caramel apple in Zach's hand (did I mention these photos were taken at a Mpls dog park???), it went great, as you can see in the results:

^Hands-down, my favorite picture. I LOVE it.

If you live in the Mpls area and are interested in working with Missy, here's her info:

• Melissa Rose Photography
• 612-787-6859
• melissarosephotography@gmail.com.
• View more of her work at: www.flickr.com/photos/melissarosephotographyphotos/

Charlie's turn

(TMI warning... this post discusses bowel movements. Read at your own risk.)

Charlie went in for his six-month well-baby visit a bit late. His statistics at that visit on 10/27: height 25.5 inches (10-25 percentile), weight 14 lbs 8 oz (5-10%), and head 17.25 in (50-75%).

Although he's never been particularly large, he had "fallen off his weight curve," so the doctor encouraged me to increase his solid feedings to two times per day. This has presented an interesting challenge, since once Charlie was regularly eating solids once per day, he started going 5+ days without pooping. Sometimes he seemed uncomfortable with that situation, sometimes not so much. The doctor reminded me that a baby isn't technically constipated until the poop is hard, which Charlie's wasn't (I did warn you...).

So about a week after we went to solids 2x/day, Charlie finally pooped and I had to declare him officially constipated. Sigh. And that was after several helpings of prunes. I'm still trying to find the right balance and timing, and am keeping lots of prunes and pears in the mix.

Charlie loves to eat, and has gotten much more efficient at it. So far the only food he seemed to express any disinterest in was avocado, to my surprise. And it could be my imagination, but it seems like he prefers veggies to fruits. He is also quite determined to grab the spoon, which slows down the process, but I'm guessing this boy will be feeding himself pretty early.

I also think Charlie's own distraction level has contributed to the slowed-down weight gain. The world is way too interesting to sit and just nurse! He has finally decided formula is acceptable occasionally, and is now very happy to see the bottle - he reaches for it with both hands and opens his mouth. Like feeding himself, I don't think we'll have a problem getting him to hold his own bottle or sippy cup when the time comes.

Let's see, what else. Charlie is a master sitter, although I still stick a pillow or something behind him for insurance. When he does fall it's usually the slow-motion kind where he's reaching for something, and he often catches himself. He has not rolled from back to front yet, and I'm curious if he ever will. He does not like to be on his belly; when we put him there he instantly rolls over to his back. He still loves to lay on his back singing to the ceiling, kicking his heels hard enough that the floor seems to shake and occasionally the dog barks. His "songs" have changed a bit; as much as he continues to find great enjoyment in blowing raspberries, he is now working on an "mmmmm" sound. Getting close to saying mama! :)

Several weeks ago now we pulled out the exersaucer. It was originally my nephew and niece's, and then Zach got to use it, and now Charlie is having a blast in it. At first he would just sit there and try to chew on the various toys, but now he's turning himself around, bouncing up and down, and I'm starting to hear more of the noises and songs that are a reward for pushing or pulling on a certain toy.


Charlie continues to be an enigma when it comes to sleep. Perhaps he doesn't want to be compared to his brother, who had been sleeping 12 hours at a stretch for quite a while by this age. But the hardest part (for me, of course; he is doing just fine) is that this boy refuses to be predictable in any way - at night or at nap time. One night he'll sleep for 9 hours, the next night 5. Some days he takes a 30 minute nap, other days 2.5 hours. The combination of a cold with serious congestion, the constipation, and now daylight savings time certainly hasn't made things better the last month or so. But it's not like there was a lot of improvement before all of that happened! So we'll just keep trying, and hope that sooner or later this boy will choose to make life a little easier for his mom.

In general, Charlie remains the content little guy he's been since birth. I wish I had a dime for every time someone said "is he always this content?" or "does he ever cry?" Nothing makes him happier than to sit and watch the world go by, although I'm not sure how much longer that will last, since he's definitely showing interest in getting more involved!

A Zach report

We had Zach's parent/teacher conference yesterday. Considering it's just preschool, it was probably a little silly how much I was looking forward to it. But since Zach spends the majority of almost every single day with me, it's fascinating for me to think about what he does, what he's like, when I'm not around.

Zach's teacher, Mrs. H, had a little checklist of behaviors and skills, and each one was rated with things like "always, most of the time, sometimes, never." Zach's first report card! He had lots of As, something a parent always wants to see. :)

Much of our conversation wasn't a big surprise - he's good with his letters and numbers (he can count higher than any other preschooler in all the classes!), is doing better writing his name, interacts well with adults, follows directions, etc. I was not exactly shocked to hear that he tends to rush through art projects so he can move on to something he likes better. But it makes me laugh, since the first thing out of his mouth when I pick him up is "mom - come and look at what I made!" He's so excited to show me the results... yet doesn't like the process. Hmm. Perhaps we have a boy who just likes hearing praise!

I was mostly interested to hear how he was doing socially with the other kids, one of the main reasons we enrolled him in preschool in the first place. When I drop him off and pick him up, I don't notice him interacting with his classmates, and when I try to ask, he doesn't really say much about playing with other kids. He's very good about introducing me to everyone, but other than that, I didn't get much sense that he was actually talking to or playing with the many girls and few boys in the class.

So I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that Zach is one of the more social ones in the class. Mrs. H was very impressed that he knew all the kids' names, and that he actually uses them when he's talking to them. He apparently has some favorites; we discovered that he always asks Amalie if he can sit by her during circle time (and they often hold hands). We heard stories about him and Anna giggling together as they pretended they were whales as they ate their goldfish crackers. And other than getting upset when someone disrupts the cars and trucks he's lined up for a race, he is even doing well with sharing. Whoo hoo!

We were also quite happy to hear that Zach is willing to try the snacks that he isn't familiar with. Now if only we could get him to be so adventurous at home...!

I'll close with a few recent Zach mini-stories:

Zach: God gave us the sun. And places.
Me: Planets?
Z: No, places, like Burger King.

Z: Mom, I want to write a word, can you tell me how to spell it?
Me: Sure, what word?
Z: Exhilarating.

While playing kickball with his dad, running from 1st to second, Zach was saying "I'm going to get extra fantasy points for this!" (Zach has been quite interested in Scott's various "fantasy" teams - he helps dad pick which players should start each week, etc. It's getting a bit frightening the names he remembers.)

After I explained to him that I was going to a landscaping class, and what that was: [in a very concerned voice] But please leave the driveway, ok? Don't put any plants or flowers there or I won't be able to play kickball.

Z: Mom, when are we going to go to Egypt?
Me: Egypt? Why do you want to go to Egypt?
Z: Because they have a lot of food there.
Me: Why do you think that?
Z: I don't think that, I KNOW that.

Halloween Adventures

Ah, to be a kid again. I think Zach asked us 14 times if it was time to go trick-or-treating on Sunday. And while I know he was excited to get the candy, I suspect part of his excitement was that he got to RING DOORBELLS!!! Zach discovered doorbells a few months ago, when he learned he could cross the street and press the magic button to see if the kids could come out to play. Not a day goes by that he doesn't ask if he can go ring their doorbell. Literally.

But anyway, back to Halloween. My parents were here in the days leading up All Hallow's Eve, so Zach's level of excitement and fun was already at a maximum. As another side note, it turned out to be extremely helpful to have my parents here, since it meant we had only had to deal with having one driveable car for 3 or 4 days, and then got to go car shopping without having to make elaborate arrangements for the boys. I had never really considered how a parent with small kids test-drives... can you imagine if we'd shown up with a preschooler, a baby, and two car seats - ready to install them into a shiny brand new car so we could take it out for a spin??

Yes, the Civic died. It was a nice peaceful death in the garage, which in my opinion that car deserved, after 13 years of dedicated service. The black '97 sedan was my first brand-new car, and while the newness and shine had certainly worn off, it served us well for a long time. So RIP old friend! Soon you will go to a new deserving home, where some mechanic students will fix you right up again. In your place is a platinum gray Volkswagen Jetta, with all sorts of bells and whistles we like but don't really need. :)

I'm supposed to be talking about Halloween. Ok - first, Zach had a party at preschool, so he put on his Lightning McQueen Pit Crew (or is it a driver??) costume, grabbed a bag of treats for his classmates and had some fun. The kids were doing the limbo when we picked him up! On Friday we took him to a party sponsored by the early childhood arm of our school district, which has become a fun annual tradition. He loves the games, and loves the junk he gets as prizes even more!

^Posing with his buddy Vincent; doing the "boo walk" (think Halloween version of a cake walk) with Sylvia

^Bowling... look how his mouth is wide open. I noticed this trend in many of the pictures I took; this is apparently how he concentrates. And check out Zach in the second picture - he actually made that shot! Look at that form!! :)

^The Willards, minus one (thanks Grandma and Grandpa for watching Charlie so we could have focus on Zach, and not worry about racing home for C's early bedtime!)

And, of course, on the actual day of Halloween, Zach did eventually go trick-or-treating. He and Scott were out for just under an hour, while Charlie and I handed out candy to the 80+ kids who rang our doorbell. But that was enough time - he got plenty of loot!

^Neither boy was a big fan head-gear part of their costumes. While Charlie's 6-month bat costume fit him perfectly everywhere else, the hood was pretty tight, and he protested mightily when we put it on. Zach suffered through his hood for these pictures, as is obvious by his expression.

And a big thanks to Zach's friend Jack for lending us the LMQ costume!! I had decided last year that I would let Zach be whatever he wanted to be this year. All year long I kept hearing ghost, but once he saw a pit crew costume at a store, that was the end of that. Our boy is consistent - he likes what he likes!