Another week in January

This week was an interesting one. I have been so tired, but I think it's because the little man's sleep is interrupted. Poor kiddo. He might have been teething. I know for sure that he is sick today. He slept horribly last night and is so congested that he can't sleep for more than 20-30 minutes and then he wakes up with a nose full of snot. It isn't helping with his nursing either! Luckily, I think I've been packing some weight on him, so if he loses a few ounces it isn't a big deal. Today we are staying home and snuggling in the hopes that he feels better. I had to miss the gym today though, given that I couldn't have him in day care with other babies. Here is the sick baby, looking cute, but not extremely happy.

Speaking of day care (above) we started looking into preschools. Brian wants me to look at quite a few before we make a decision, but I have a strong feeling that we will end up at the Manhattan beach Nursery School. It's a co-op, so the parents get to go to school with the little ones. If you have a younger baby who is not yet in preschool, you can bring him or her with you. I imagine this will be the case for us and I like the idea of that.

Here is Hunter, still not feeling well on Sunday. He is such a big man in those overalls!

Saturday night we had our first date in 7 weeks! Boy did I miss Brian. As much as I LOOOOOOVE Hunter, I sometimes need to have a warm meal with my husband. It was amazing to leave Hunter with a trusted babysitter and have a nice dinner. Then, we stopped by our friend Morgan's 30th birthday party. Below is a picture of Bridget (Morgan's wife) and me at the party. I was even wearing heels!

Here we are at dinner.

Daddy and the boy before we head out to dinner. He was all ready for bed!

Me and my pumpkin before we go to dinner.

On Friday we went to a mimosa party for mommy and me friends. I brought cupcakes, which were the highlight of the party. Well, you know me and sweets - anytime I can have a dessert I am happy. Hunter evidently wanted his pacifier (which i only give to him when it's time to sleep). He was trying to take Keagan's away from him!

At the party they had this really neat jumper car. Hunter liked it for about 10 seconds. He did not want to be separated from me that day.

On Thursday out friend Janson came over to visit us. I miss my grad school friends, so it was SO nice that he made the effort to come visit. Anyhow, he took some lovely pictures of Hunter eating his sweet potatoes. Surprisingly, he has been eating pretty well lately.

Here's Janson. He loves the little man.

Hunter is crawling! Is this defiant look?

Our giggly boy!

My two boys playing together.

The boys playing! Aren't they cute together?

Me and my puppy. He's wearing my glasses!

Isn't he the cutest bath buddy?

January at the beach

The beach in January is as beautiful and calm as it is in August. There has been quite a heat wave, so it's been around 80-85 and sunny without a cloud in the sky! I spent the week working on my qualifying paper and visiting with friends who I missed while we were on vacation. I also took some pictures of Hunter with Daddy's nice camera. Isn't he such a little model? I like to use the "good camera" to capture Hunter's big hazel eyes. I don't know what color they will stay, but they are blue on the outside, then green and brown in the center. They are truly GORGEOUS eyes.

Here's the Hunter smile. He wasn't in a great mood during picture time, so I was lucky to get this gorgeous smile.

Hunter and I spent one day with Nora and Ryan in the park. Nora is almost walking and Hunter enjoyed looking up to his big friend and learning from her.

On Tuesday Hunter and I went for a walk, had some lunch and then went down by the beautiful beach. The water is flat - no waves at all. Hunter was a little bit weirded out by the sand - I guess it feels different than Caribbean sand. He might have just been ready for a nap - I'm not sure - but he was definitely ready to get off the beach!

He did enjoy playing with another little boy at the Farmer's market. Here he is showing off his overall shorts!

On Friday Vicki and Tessa came over for a playdate. My beautiful niece is 15 months old and walking like a champ! Mom and baby are loving.

What a beautiful girl!

We had our house babyproofed - Hunter can't tell if he is locked in or they are locked out? Either way I'm not sure if he likes it or not. At least this way he can escape all of the licking!

Hunter is crawling away from Tessa. She wanted to play but he was more interested in Mommy. Isn't that always the case?

Another picture from the park with Nora.

Tessa LOVED Hunter's Christmas girft from his Grandparents. Tessa pushed him around and then she wanted a turn, but Hunter can't push it yet so Mom did it for her.

While Tessa enjoyed the car, Hunter enjoyed her shoe. He sure does have a shoe fetish! I'm not quite sure what to do about it, but I hope he outgrows it!

In Mommy n Me today Keagan needed a break from all of the activity. Isn't he just gorgeous!?

Hunter is giving kisses to his younger buddy Sully. He also kissed a little girl today, and I'm hoping her mom will send us a picture!

The Burke family came over on Monday (MLK day) for a pool party. The boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves, but they were both ready for a nap by the time we were done!

Hunter and I were about to get in the jacuzzi.

Hunter is practicing his walking skills. His newest ability is to stand on his own for about 15 seconds straight! I'm amazed at how quickly he develops!

I think Hunter is afraid of his cousin's driving ability...shortly after this picture was taken he was given severe whiplash!! (not really, but she did run him directly into a piece of furniture!)

So today is the middle of the week. I haven't been very good about taking pictures this week. I will be next week! I went back to 2 classes this week - My Gym and Mommy N Me. I'm also trying to do some work on my qualifying paper. Life sure is busy these days! We are happy to be home.

Christmas, New Year's and beyond...

It was a beautiful holiday season this year. We celebrated Christmas in the morning and then hopped on a red eye that evening. Here are Brian and Hunter having Christmas dinner at Chili's in the airport. Hunter was a little angel on the red-eye and slept the whole way. He made one or two tiny little peeps, but no one even noticed. We felt so lucky when we touched down in Miami. After waiting for our plane in Miami we went to the gate to find that we had missed it! Brian, in his tired state, had accidentally mumbled the boarding time as an hour later than it was supposed to be. We ended up waiting for another 2 hours in the Miami airport to take another flight to Tampa. We arrived mid-afternoon and went to my grandparent's house. It may not surprise you that they were excited to see us. What may surprise you is that they were standing in the driveway, cameras flashing, waiting for our arrival. What a welcome! Unfortunately, Hunter had just fallen asleep so he wasn't his normal self when they first met him. He was pleased to have all of the attention. Here, Papa and Aunt Nesie shower him with love and adoration.
Aunt Nesie and Aunt Donna entertain him with new Christmas presents! He sure does LOVE that ball.

Aunt Donna and Gramma help him open his presents. He's most interested in the sound of the paper, but was very appreciative for all of his gifts.

Gramma is teaching Hunter some Christmas carols.

This is my gorgeous cousin Jonathan. I am so proud of him, he is a sophomore at Villanova. Anyhow, he loved little Hunter.The little man always feels happy and safe in Daddy's great big paws.

Jonathan and the baby again!

This is my super smart cousin, Becky. She will be attending U Penn in the fall!!
This is the ultimate in making Jonathan smile. Isn't he SO cute when he smiles?

Do you know how PROUD my mom would be?! Not everyone is this talented!

Jonathan looking thrilled as we play yet another gam e with Gramma and Aunt Donna.

Becky, Aunt Nesie, Aunt Donna and Gramma. How cute are the women in my family?

Mommy and baby. Isn't he a looker?!

Great-gramma holding her great-grandson. I agree, both of them are pretty great!

The Kaplan kids and me. Aren't I a shrimp?!

With one very important addition. Isn't he handsome?

Kenny and Kevin in the background - Jonny holding the Pumpkin.

Great-Papa and his great-grandson - look at those smiles!

The family - a party of 14. Look who is at the head of the table...does that mean he had to pay?!

The Originals (except for Jeff) and all relevant significant others.

Look at that smile!! How CUTE is our little man?

The best present I could imagine under the Christmas tree...

The three girly cousins

My two favorite aunts. It used to be really hard for me to wqatch them together - because someone was missing - but now I just bask in the insanity of it all. These two aunts mean the world to mean and I am so, so lucky to have them. Especially with my mom gone, I know that I have two back-up moms right there who love me the way my own mom would if she were here

Aunt Nesie and the Pumpkin.

The guys...so typical. The women are playing with the baby and the men are watching football.

The little family

We had a phenomenal time in Tampa with my family. They were great fun and they loved seeing the baby. Hunter won't remember this, but I think it was very important for him to meet the rest of his family.

This was Hunter's third flight - Tampa to Miami. Hunter liked looking out the window.

This was the first day on the Zuiderdam, by Hollan America. We were enjoying the pool.

Here's the family on the back of the ship before leaving Miami.

Baby Lo Jack. Hunter was supposed to wear this in case we got separated and we had to get on a life boat. Ridiculous. It cut his little leg, so I took it ocff.

The first day of the cruise we went to Half Moon Cay, Holland America's private island. This was my favorite port. We are on a tender on our way over to the island.

Half Moon Cay - beautiful water!

The family on the beach.

Hunter's first hammock experience - and boy did he like it!

Daddy and baby on the Cay

Hunter really liked sitting in and playing with the sand...which was fine until he decided to eat it...

After a long day on the boat, Daddy and Hunter snuggled in for some cuddle time.

Little gangster baby in mommy's hat.

The next day we were at sea, so we enjoyed our time in the pool. Hunter loved this little shelf that went all the way around the edge of the pool - it gave him time to get used to the water before getting in all the way.

LAater, Hunter and I snuggled and fell asleep. I think it was the time change, or maybe the change in surroundings, but Hunter refused to sleep anywhere but with us. He would get as close to me as he possibly could and then fall asleep. So cute.

Dinner at the Pinnacle, the steakhouse, was a lot of fun. Hunter is enjoying a steak (ok, no he's not - but I was!).

The family after dinner at the Pinnacle

The next day we went in the pool because Aruba wasn't very exciting. Hunter wanted to go in, but the water was pretty chilly.

The determined face.

MOM! Don't go anywhere!! He loves to climb all over me.

On New Year's Eve Father and son got all dressed up in their finest. Hunter wore his first 3 piece suit. Daddy looked pretty gorgeous too :-)

Mommy got a new dress for the occassion.

The 3 of us on our first New Year's Eve together.

Look at that face! I could just bite him!

Daddy celebrating with his Happy New Year hat

The next day we were in Aruba. Everything was closed because it was New Year's Day. It was beautiful but very hot and humid. We went back to the ship and got in the pool.

It was in this outfit, on this day, that Hunter began to crawl. We were on the deck of the pool and he was playing with a ball that one of my relatives gave to him. It rolled away, and he went after it. Never underestimate how much little guys love balls!

That night we had dinner in the dining room. Every night before we went to the dining room, Hunter took a nap so he would be in a good mood. Therefore, Mommy and Daddy sat outside on the balcony so the baby could sleep in peace.

This is Curacao with the Crystal Serenity behind it. Curacao, like Aruba, is a Dutch Territory. Therefore it has a bit of Caribbean flavor, but is very clean and neat.

This old fort was turned into a shopping mall. Weird, no?

We tried to take a picture of the 3 of us every night. Some of them were REALLY bad, but we also got some good ones. This was after the Pinnacle again. Why did I go to a steak restaurant and order the fish? I will never know.

At the Pinnacle.

I was concerned about his little skin, so I kept him slathered in sunscreen. If there was a chance the sun could get to him (like the sunroof was open), I had him in a hat and sunshirt too. Doesn't he look like a little dress-up doll?

The second formal night, we got all dressed up and no one was taking professional pictures when we wanted to go! SO, we took advantage of the backdrops and took some pictures ourselves.

Hunter really enjoyed this. Or we were being goofy. One of the two.

Like son, like father. Poor baby was teething and we didn't even realize it until the tooth had made a hole in his gums. Now he has his first tooth coming in and you can feel it a little bit more each day.

The three of us

The next morning we arrived in the Panama Canal. At 6 am we went downstairs to be on the bow of the ship. They served Panama rolls and hot chocolate while we waited for our turn to go through the locks. Gatun locks opened in 1913 after the United States built the canal. There are only 2 locks and they can move the boats either into or out of the canal - one is not dedicated to going in or out - it's by demand. It took 9 years to complete the building of the locks and the first boat to enter was a tug called "Gatun".

This is the city of Colon. It's kind of like San pedro, CA in that it is a HUGE port, used to ship all kinds of containers around the world.

Sunrise over Colon.

Brian and Hunter waiting to go through the locks.

The locks in the distance. At this time 2 boats were going into Gatun Lake. Gatun Lake is in the middle of the canal. It is approximately 50 miles wide and is the third largest man-made lake in the world. Gatun Lake is 100% freshwater and is fed by over 260 inches of rain per year that occurs in Panama!

Getting closer to the locks. On the left is the Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas. On the right is a cargo ship.

The Jewel of the Seas has entered the second lock. There is a total elevation change of 85 feet. There are three locks: 27 feet, 27 feet and 31 feet. You can enter one lock after the boat before you has left. It takes approximately 8-10 hours on average, to get through the locks. We only went halfway through - into Gatun then turned around and came back to the Caribbean Sea.

Each ship is assisted by trains. We had 8 trains pulling us into the locks and one tug pushing us from behind.

The second and third locks. We went on an excursion that day because we were dying of boredom. The pool was cold, the weather was hot and humid and we knew we needed something to do. So we went to see the locks from ground level (the above 2 pictures are from the ground, not from the ship). Then we went on an "eco-tour" around the lake. We saw Howler monkeys, two-toed sloths, tons of birds but no crocodiles. Our ship was delayed in returning to port (we met the ship because it had to come back through the canal, whereas we were on an excursion so we did not go back through the locks). Here are some of the natives.

The next day we were in Costa Rica and again decided to go on an excursion. We went to a sloth sanctuary. It was interesting but a little bit boring.

Me and a sloth named Buttercup. They're actually quite soft. The two-toed sloth and the three toed sloth are actually not closely related and could not produce offspring. In fact, they are from the same Order, but not even the same Family. They are closely related to the Anteater and Armadillo.

Then we went on a canoe ride where we saw tons of lizards, monkeys, wild sloths and birds. I don't know what I was thinking, getting in a rickety old canoe with 7 other people (besides me and Brian). I was super uncomfortable and worried we were going to tip into the water. Then Huner decided he was too hot in the baby carrier and he needed out. So I asked Brian to handle him.

When we got back to the room Hunter was in a much better room and was able to crawl all over the place.

Costa Rica was beautiful, by the way. This is a small islna,d currently called "Little Grape Island" and is allegedly the site where Christopher Columbus first landed when he made his trip to "India".

So, I know I shouldn't be feeding him what I'm feeding him (i wont' tell you what it is), but he liked it SO much. I just gave him 2 little tastes....if only he would eat his food like this! I loved the look on his face.

The little family

Then we had 2 days at sea. We hung out by the pool and around the ship. We relaxed and enjoyed the end of our trip together.

The little man was smart casual in his jeans and vest.

And chewed on his favorite teething toy - Mom.

Now we're home. Hunter seems happy to be home. He just got these adorable little boots from his Uncle Jeff and Aunt Holly. Anyhow, he loves all of his toys. His Gramma got him the Radio Flyer sports coupe and Daddy finished putting it together today. He is adjusting to the time change and the teeth. I think he's having a tough time right now, but he's such a good boy that I know he will come through it like a little champion. Anyhow, we're happy to be home but we always enjoy our vacations together.