Carter is officially weaned. The last time I nursed him was Sunday evening. I now get a whole 3 1/2 months off from nursing before the next baby arrives. I really can't believe it took this long to get Carter weaned - he's 16 months old!!! But only this weekend did he start drinking whole milk with no water in it (and drink it willing at all meals).
We had much nicer weather here today than yesterday - we had snow flurries all morning and early afternoon yesterday. Winter just does not want to end! Today got up to around 60F so Carter and I went to the park at West Hills for about an hour this afternoon. The first half hour involved playing with sticks. Carter's favorite was one that was at least twice his height. I eventually convinced him he wanted to play on the playground. He loved all the pea gravel that is used in the play area. He found a buddy about the same age that also liked playing with the rocks and they sat together moving rocks around.
I finally finished painting Carter's new room today. I'll try to remember to take some pictures and post them tomorrow. I still need to decorate the room and find bedding, but I may try to get Carter's toys and clothes moved tomorrow so we can try to have him start sleeping in there this week!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
San Francisco - Day 2 - Exploratorium & Golden Gate Bridge
On Tuesday, Carter woke up around 3:15 am and fussed for a few minutes. He did this several times over the next 45 minutes (since this is when he normally gets up), but eventually he went back to sleep for good. We actually had to wake him up at 6 am since we had to get ready.
We all got ready and had breakfast at the hotel (just cold food at this hotel, but it worked out). It was a very rainy morning and I was not looking forward to driving our rental car, a Dodge Charger (I wouldn't be driving it for much longer, but more on that in a bit). It's a big car with lots of blind spots I'm not familiar with and I don't know downtown San Francisco very well at all. There are lots of one way streets with a good amount of traffic during rush hour (the time I had to drop off and pick up Brian). Normally, I wouldn't be all that worried, but now that I have Carter with me and I'm pregnant again, I like feeling safe while driving.
Anyway, we dropped Brian off a little before 8 am. Since it was supposed to be rainy most of the day, I decided Carter and I would go to the Exploratorium. It's a hands-on science museum located in the Marina district near the Golden Gate Bridge. The museum doesn't open until 10 am so Carter and I had some time to kill. I decided to drive over to the south end parking lot for viewing the Golden Gate Bridge and hope the rain stopped long enough for Carter and I to take a few pictures. Carter fell asleep after we dropped off Brian so we chilled in the parking lot for awhile while he finished sleeping.
It was still raining when Carter woke up, but I decided to drag him out to the viewing area anyway. It was also really windy which made me carrying Carter and an umbrella very entertaining for anyone that was watching. Carter wanted to get down and run around but it wasn't safe for him so we didn't stay long.
Carter and I drove around the Presidio area for a little bit trying to figure out what it was (all I knew was it's part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). We stopped by the visitors' center for a few minutes and we got Carter's passport book for the national parks stamped.
It was finally 10 am so we made our way to the museum. We got in free with our annual membership to the AMSE we bought right before our Florida trip - I was excited to take advantage of this membership again (we saved $15!).
This museum was very cool. It'll be much cooler for Carter when he gets older though. Everything in the museum was hands-on, but unfortunately everything was designed for kids older than Carter. Carter managed to find his own way to play with lots of things.
Carter really liked the tornado machine (he wasn't too into the one at the Orlando Science Center).
Here are a couple of videos of Carter playing with the tornado ...
Carter's favorite exhibit (which somehow I missed taking a picture of) was a spinning circle with long strips of plastic hanging from it. It looked like a spinning circus tent. The strips of plastic weren't connected and Carter liked going in and out of the circle. I have no idea what this exhibit was supposed to teach anyone though.
I let Carter explore and go to whatever exhibit he wanted, but it got really tiring running after him and dragging his stroller around. Plus Carter is often clueless to the other people around him and he'll step right in front of people. So making sure he didn't get run over was also a lot of work. The museum was packed with a bunch of school groups as well.
I needed breaks occasionally so Carter had to get in his stroller. He got really mad every time I did it though. But he'd get over it in a minute or two. We've been going through a bad period of tantrums. Carter has an awful, loud scream that sounds like I'm hurting him. I'm trying to ignore it but it's hard when people are staring at you!
Carter, after accepting that he has to sit in his stroller ...
The Exploratorium is a really cool building - it's essentially one huge room. There is an open mezzanine level with more exhibits and this is where I tried to take some pictures to show off the museum (they didn't turn out very good) ...
The Exploratorium is located on the grounds of the Palace of Fine Arts. It looked beautiful, but the area was all blocked off though so we couldn't walk around when we left the museum.
When we left the museum, Carter fell asleep immediately in the car. I ended up driving around the Presidio area again and made my way up to Inspiration Point where I waited for Carter to wake up from his nap.
There are some good views from up here. That dome in the next two pictures is the same dome that's in the previous picture. The second picture shows Alcatraz.
Since the weather had cleared up, I decided to go back to the Golden Gate Bridge and walk part of it with Carter.
We made it out to the first tower before I decided it was time to head back to pick up Brian.
Downtown SF from the bridge ...
Lots of people offered to take our picture for me!
We got back to the car around 4:15 pm to pick up Brian. However, the car would not start.
The Charger had one of those key fobs. When I put it the ignition in the dash, a red light came on and it beeped. Then nothing would happen when I turned the key. I hadn't left the lights on so I was pretty sure it wasn't the battery (though I was hoping that's all it was). The car was older for a rental car - 40K+ miles so I knew it could be something worse.
I tried calling Brian a few times but he wasn't picking up. So I called Dollar's roadside assistance. They told me they couldn't help me because my name wasn't on the contract. Brian would have to call them. I didn't understand how my name didn't get on the contract. We gave the person checking us in at the airport my license and told him we wanted both our names on the contract, but somehow, he didn't add me. (Lesson learned - don't just check the rate on the rental agreement, also check that all drivers' names are on the contract!)
I tried using the fact that I had a baby with me and was pregnant to my advantage to get help but was only given the suggestion of calling AAA. Dollar's excuse was they couldn't help me for security reasons. I'm still baffled by this. If I'm telling you I have your car and you don't think I should have it, wouldn't you want to come out and get it from me?
Anyway, I called AAA and they were sending out a truck to help me figure out what was wrong. I finally got up with Brian as I waited and he also called Dollar's roadside assistance who told him to call them back after AAA diagnosed the problem. Brian tried called Dollar's customer service line as well but they apparently closed at 5 pm central time.
The temperature was starting to drop pretty quick and I only had a few more snacks along to keep both Carter and myself from getting too cranky. Luckily Carter was enjoying crawling all over the car and pushing any button he could find.
AAA's truck showed up around 5:15 pm. The guy quickly determined nothing was wrong with the battery and his best guess was that the ignition was broken and the car needed to be towed somewhere.
I called Brian with that information and he called Dollar's roadside assistance. They told him they'd send a tow truck out pulling a new car for us. They also had the nerve to say they'd have to see though if they had any full size cars available for us.
Brian took a taxi from downtown to the parking lot of the Golden Gate Bridge to hang out with us until we got the new car. Carter continued to be a champ and not fuss much about being cooped up in the car as we waited.
The new car (a brand new Impala) finally showed up around 7 pm. The tow truck driver had a lot of trouble getting the car off the truck - one of the chains somehow got stuck on the axle or something. After lots of banging with a hammer, he finally got it off and we were on our way around 7:15 pm.
It was a frustrating 3 hours for us though.
This was our first full day in San Francisco and Carter wasn't fully adjusted to the time difference yet so it felt really late to him. He fell asleep in the car as soon as we started driving. We stopped by a Chili's on the way to the hotel and got some take out. When we got back to the room, we ate and fed Carter a little dinner. We were able to get him to bed around 8:30 pm.
Because I still wasn't supposed to drive the rental car, Brian tried calling the Dollar office at the airport. There wasn't a manager there and the woman answering the phone kept putting Brian on hold and transferring him around until she hung up on him (twice). We decided to deal with Dollar again in the morning.
We all got ready and had breakfast at the hotel (just cold food at this hotel, but it worked out). It was a very rainy morning and I was not looking forward to driving our rental car, a Dodge Charger (I wouldn't be driving it for much longer, but more on that in a bit). It's a big car with lots of blind spots I'm not familiar with and I don't know downtown San Francisco very well at all. There are lots of one way streets with a good amount of traffic during rush hour (the time I had to drop off and pick up Brian). Normally, I wouldn't be all that worried, but now that I have Carter with me and I'm pregnant again, I like feeling safe while driving.
Anyway, we dropped Brian off a little before 8 am. Since it was supposed to be rainy most of the day, I decided Carter and I would go to the Exploratorium. It's a hands-on science museum located in the Marina district near the Golden Gate Bridge. The museum doesn't open until 10 am so Carter and I had some time to kill. I decided to drive over to the south end parking lot for viewing the Golden Gate Bridge and hope the rain stopped long enough for Carter and I to take a few pictures. Carter fell asleep after we dropped off Brian so we chilled in the parking lot for awhile while he finished sleeping.
It was still raining when Carter woke up, but I decided to drag him out to the viewing area anyway. It was also really windy which made me carrying Carter and an umbrella very entertaining for anyone that was watching. Carter wanted to get down and run around but it wasn't safe for him so we didn't stay long.
Carter and I drove around the Presidio area for a little bit trying to figure out what it was (all I knew was it's part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). We stopped by the visitors' center for a few minutes and we got Carter's passport book for the national parks stamped.
It was finally 10 am so we made our way to the museum. We got in free with our annual membership to the AMSE we bought right before our Florida trip - I was excited to take advantage of this membership again (we saved $15!).
This museum was very cool. It'll be much cooler for Carter when he gets older though. Everything in the museum was hands-on, but unfortunately everything was designed for kids older than Carter. Carter managed to find his own way to play with lots of things.
Carter really liked the tornado machine (he wasn't too into the one at the Orlando Science Center).
Here are a couple of videos of Carter playing with the tornado ...
Carter's favorite exhibit (which somehow I missed taking a picture of) was a spinning circle with long strips of plastic hanging from it. It looked like a spinning circus tent. The strips of plastic weren't connected and Carter liked going in and out of the circle. I have no idea what this exhibit was supposed to teach anyone though.
I let Carter explore and go to whatever exhibit he wanted, but it got really tiring running after him and dragging his stroller around. Plus Carter is often clueless to the other people around him and he'll step right in front of people. So making sure he didn't get run over was also a lot of work. The museum was packed with a bunch of school groups as well.
I needed breaks occasionally so Carter had to get in his stroller. He got really mad every time I did it though. But he'd get over it in a minute or two. We've been going through a bad period of tantrums. Carter has an awful, loud scream that sounds like I'm hurting him. I'm trying to ignore it but it's hard when people are staring at you!
Carter, after accepting that he has to sit in his stroller ...
The Exploratorium is a really cool building - it's essentially one huge room. There is an open mezzanine level with more exhibits and this is where I tried to take some pictures to show off the museum (they didn't turn out very good) ...
The Exploratorium is located on the grounds of the Palace of Fine Arts. It looked beautiful, but the area was all blocked off though so we couldn't walk around when we left the museum.
When we left the museum, Carter fell asleep immediately in the car. I ended up driving around the Presidio area again and made my way up to Inspiration Point where I waited for Carter to wake up from his nap.
There are some good views from up here. That dome in the next two pictures is the same dome that's in the previous picture. The second picture shows Alcatraz.
Since the weather had cleared up, I decided to go back to the Golden Gate Bridge and walk part of it with Carter.
We made it out to the first tower before I decided it was time to head back to pick up Brian.
Downtown SF from the bridge ...
Lots of people offered to take our picture for me!
We got back to the car around 4:15 pm to pick up Brian. However, the car would not start.
The Charger had one of those key fobs. When I put it the ignition in the dash, a red light came on and it beeped. Then nothing would happen when I turned the key. I hadn't left the lights on so I was pretty sure it wasn't the battery (though I was hoping that's all it was). The car was older for a rental car - 40K+ miles so I knew it could be something worse.
I tried calling Brian a few times but he wasn't picking up. So I called Dollar's roadside assistance. They told me they couldn't help me because my name wasn't on the contract. Brian would have to call them. I didn't understand how my name didn't get on the contract. We gave the person checking us in at the airport my license and told him we wanted both our names on the contract, but somehow, he didn't add me. (Lesson learned - don't just check the rate on the rental agreement, also check that all drivers' names are on the contract!)
I tried using the fact that I had a baby with me and was pregnant to my advantage to get help but was only given the suggestion of calling AAA. Dollar's excuse was they couldn't help me for security reasons. I'm still baffled by this. If I'm telling you I have your car and you don't think I should have it, wouldn't you want to come out and get it from me?
Anyway, I called AAA and they were sending out a truck to help me figure out what was wrong. I finally got up with Brian as I waited and he also called Dollar's roadside assistance who told him to call them back after AAA diagnosed the problem. Brian tried called Dollar's customer service line as well but they apparently closed at 5 pm central time.
The temperature was starting to drop pretty quick and I only had a few more snacks along to keep both Carter and myself from getting too cranky. Luckily Carter was enjoying crawling all over the car and pushing any button he could find.
AAA's truck showed up around 5:15 pm. The guy quickly determined nothing was wrong with the battery and his best guess was that the ignition was broken and the car needed to be towed somewhere.
I called Brian with that information and he called Dollar's roadside assistance. They told him they'd send a tow truck out pulling a new car for us. They also had the nerve to say they'd have to see though if they had any full size cars available for us.
Brian took a taxi from downtown to the parking lot of the Golden Gate Bridge to hang out with us until we got the new car. Carter continued to be a champ and not fuss much about being cooped up in the car as we waited.
The new car (a brand new Impala) finally showed up around 7 pm. The tow truck driver had a lot of trouble getting the car off the truck - one of the chains somehow got stuck on the axle or something. After lots of banging with a hammer, he finally got it off and we were on our way around 7:15 pm.
It was a frustrating 3 hours for us though.
This was our first full day in San Francisco and Carter wasn't fully adjusted to the time difference yet so it felt really late to him. He fell asleep in the car as soon as we started driving. We stopped by a Chili's on the way to the hotel and got some take out. When we got back to the room, we ate and fed Carter a little dinner. We were able to get him to bed around 8:30 pm.
Because I still wasn't supposed to drive the rental car, Brian tried calling the Dollar office at the airport. There wasn't a manager there and the woman answering the phone kept putting Brian on hold and transferring him around until she hung up on him (twice). We decided to deal with Dollar again in the morning.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Another Great Day
I'm loving this spring weather! The trees are getting buds and tiny leaves are beginning to come out on some trees. This winter was so long and cold that it's hard to stay inside on sunny, warm days like today. I think we got up to 72!
We got one of the front beds done today. We trimmed all the bushes, pulled up all the old pinestraw and bagged it, and put down new cypress mulch. It looks so much better.
Before:
After:
Brian also sprayed the weeds in all the beds and fertilized the lawn.
This wouldn't have seemed like a lot in the past, but when you have a one year old running around while trying to get all these tasks done, it is a lot. One of us was usually having to keep on eye on Carter, making sure he didn't fall down the front steps or down a big hill or run into the street, while the other continued working. Carter does love being outside where there are so many new things to play with and explore!
I'm still working on my San Francisco posts but I'm too worn out from working on the yard all day to finish the next post tonight. Hopefully it'll be up tomorrow!
We got one of the front beds done today. We trimmed all the bushes, pulled up all the old pinestraw and bagged it, and put down new cypress mulch. It looks so much better.
Before:
After:
Brian also sprayed the weeds in all the beds and fertilized the lawn.
This wouldn't have seemed like a lot in the past, but when you have a one year old running around while trying to get all these tasks done, it is a lot. One of us was usually having to keep on eye on Carter, making sure he didn't fall down the front steps or down a big hill or run into the street, while the other continued working. Carter does love being outside where there are so many new things to play with and explore!
I'm still working on my San Francisco posts but I'm too worn out from working on the yard all day to finish the next post tonight. Hopefully it'll be up tomorrow!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Beautiful Day
It was gorgeous here today - near 70 and not a cloud in the sky. Brian got home from his business trip around 1 pm. We all went to lunch together at Chick-fil-A and then headed over to Anchor Park before Carter's nap to play for a little bit. It was crowded, but Carter never got run over (there are lots of bigger kids that aren't aware of Carter's little hands as he's climbing on the playground) and had lots of fun. He especially liked screaming at the geese and collecting sticks.
After Carter's nap, we headed over to Lowe's for some supplies for sprucing up the yard tomorrow. It's supposed to be just as beautiful tomorrow (Sunday is supposed to be rainy so we're going to try to paint then). We have a long list of things to get done tomorrow, but our biggest project is putting down new mulch in the front beds. We have been using pinestraw but we're going to switch to cypress chips. Hopefully it'll look better for longer than the pinestraw has lately. We just can't find quality pinestraw sold around here - half of each bale ends up being a combination of decomposed pinestraw, dirt, leaves, and other miscellaneous junk.
When we got home, we let Carter explore the backyard. This was the first time he's done this since he could walk. He had so much fun. He again liked collecting all the sticks he could find. Our yard is a hill so Carter needed a hand on the downhill to help him from falling. Hopefully he'll be more stable on his feet in a few months and will be able to run all over on his own.
After Carter's nap, we headed over to Lowe's for some supplies for sprucing up the yard tomorrow. It's supposed to be just as beautiful tomorrow (Sunday is supposed to be rainy so we're going to try to paint then). We have a long list of things to get done tomorrow, but our biggest project is putting down new mulch in the front beds. We have been using pinestraw but we're going to switch to cypress chips. Hopefully it'll look better for longer than the pinestraw has lately. We just can't find quality pinestraw sold around here - half of each bale ends up being a combination of decomposed pinestraw, dirt, leaves, and other miscellaneous junk.
When we got home, we let Carter explore the backyard. This was the first time he's done this since he could walk. He had so much fun. He again liked collecting all the sticks he could find. Our yard is a hill so Carter needed a hand on the downhill to help him from falling. Hopefully he'll be more stable on his feet in a few months and will be able to run all over on his own.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
San Francisco - Day 1 - Travel
On Monday (March 1st) we flew to San Francisco via Minneapolis. We flew on Delta because I had enough frequent flyer miles to get a free flight. I also had enough United miles for a free flight but the only flight available for the return trip that I could use my miles for was the red eye and there was no way we wanted to attempt that with Carter.
Our flight left Knoxville at 7:45 am and got into Minneapolis at 9:22 am (with the one hour time difference that made our flight about 2 1/2 hours). There were open seats on this flight so we were able to get our seats changed at the gate so that we could take Carter's carseat on the plane and have a seat for him. It is usually impossible to make Carter sit on our laps for any length of time - he will usually get squirmy very quickly and then start fussing a lot. This is why I was so nervous about flying with him. I figured if we were able to put him in his carseat for the flights, it wouldn't be that much different than when he's traveling in the car with us.
The plane had 2 seats on either side of the aisle so Carter had a window seat, I sat next to him, and Brian sat across the aisle from me. The gate agent was super nice when I asked her if this could be arranged and didn't hesitate on making it work for us. (This would not be the case on our return trip. I understand that not everyone might want to do this for us since we didn't buy Carter a ticket, but if there are extra seats, I hoped that for the sake of other passengers on the plane, the airline employees would want to do what they could to keep infants and young toddlers happy and quiet on flights.)
Carter did great on this first flight. He slept for the first 45 minutes of the flight. He fell asleep as the plane was literally taking off down the runway. He'd been up since around 5 am so he was ready for a nap. It wasn't too difficult to keep Carter entertained once he woke up. Feeding him snacks was the best way to pass time.
We had a 2 hour layover in Minneapolis which gave us plenty of time to get 2nd breakfast (I am pregnant and we had a really long flight ahead of us!). Our flight left Minneapolis at 11:35 am and got in to San Francisco at 1:50 pm (with the 2 hour time difference that made this leg a long 4 1/4 hours!).
Our luck ran out with the second flight. It was 100% full. The gate agent did tell us that she'd come find us on the plane if there ended up being an extra seat on the plane. I'm not really sure if she would have done this or not, but we didn't notice any open seats.
This plane had 3 seats on each side of the aisle and we had a window and middle seat. I boarded the plane early to make sure we had room for all our carry-ons. Brian and Carter joined me at the end of the boarding line to limit the amount of time Carter had to spend on the plane. Since Carter was still loving Brian and just tolerating me, he sat on Brian's lap by the window 99% of the flight.
Carter was A LOT of work to keep entertained, but he did great. He took another 45 minute nap (he actually fell asleep on Brian's lap as I was reading him a book). We fed Carter as many snacks as he would eat. I read books over and over again and pulled out a bunch of the toys I'd bought the day before. Carter was mostly quiet - he let some of his happy screams. But we managed to distract him before he threw any tantrums or melted down. He was by far the quietest of the three young children on the flight. We had several comments from people around us on how good of a baby he was.
Carter did fine with the changes in pressure when we were ascending and descending. He had his paci whenever he wanted it and we tried to feed him and give him his sippy cup as well. On the descent into San Francisco, Carter stuck his finger in one of his ears and gave us a funny look. He got over it pretty quickly, but it was kind of funny seeing him trying to figure out what was going on.
When we got into San Francisco, we got our rental car and checked into our hotel around 3 pm We stayed at the Larkspur near the airport so that we had an excuse to have a rental car Brian could expense and could eat at more casual restaurants with Carter (it was actually cheaper to stay here and have a rental car than stay downtown without a car).
We decided to try to keep Carter up as long as we could and get him adjusted to the three hour time difference by getting him very off his schedule. We hoped he would then sleep his normal amount of nighttime hours rather than getting up at the time that felt normal (which would have been around 3 am PST).
After checking into the hotel and getting them to deliver a crib (actually, a small Pack 'n Play) to the room, we went to Panera for a late lunch / early dinner. When we finished eating, Carter fell asleep immediately in the car. We decided to let him have a nap and drove downtown to the Moscone Center so that Brian could register for his conference.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a grocery store to get food for Carter for the week. We got to the hotel around 6:30 pm and managed to keep Carter up to 8 pm. We were all exhausted from the long day of travel. We had a suite again so Carter got the living room area. This time the bathroom wasn't connected to the bedroom (and I have to pee too many times at night already - pregnancy is so much fun!), but luckily we were able to set the fan on the heating unit to run continuously so it muffled out any noise we made at night. There was also someone with a puppy across the hall that barked and barked and barked so the fan helped with that as well.
It was a long and somewhat stressful day, but we made it to San Francisco and were so proud that Carter did so well!
Our flight left Knoxville at 7:45 am and got into Minneapolis at 9:22 am (with the one hour time difference that made our flight about 2 1/2 hours). There were open seats on this flight so we were able to get our seats changed at the gate so that we could take Carter's carseat on the plane and have a seat for him. It is usually impossible to make Carter sit on our laps for any length of time - he will usually get squirmy very quickly and then start fussing a lot. This is why I was so nervous about flying with him. I figured if we were able to put him in his carseat for the flights, it wouldn't be that much different than when he's traveling in the car with us.
The plane had 2 seats on either side of the aisle so Carter had a window seat, I sat next to him, and Brian sat across the aisle from me. The gate agent was super nice when I asked her if this could be arranged and didn't hesitate on making it work for us. (This would not be the case on our return trip. I understand that not everyone might want to do this for us since we didn't buy Carter a ticket, but if there are extra seats, I hoped that for the sake of other passengers on the plane, the airline employees would want to do what they could to keep infants and young toddlers happy and quiet on flights.)
Carter did great on this first flight. He slept for the first 45 minutes of the flight. He fell asleep as the plane was literally taking off down the runway. He'd been up since around 5 am so he was ready for a nap. It wasn't too difficult to keep Carter entertained once he woke up. Feeding him snacks was the best way to pass time.
We had a 2 hour layover in Minneapolis which gave us plenty of time to get 2nd breakfast (I am pregnant and we had a really long flight ahead of us!). Our flight left Minneapolis at 11:35 am and got in to San Francisco at 1:50 pm (with the 2 hour time difference that made this leg a long 4 1/4 hours!).
Our luck ran out with the second flight. It was 100% full. The gate agent did tell us that she'd come find us on the plane if there ended up being an extra seat on the plane. I'm not really sure if she would have done this or not, but we didn't notice any open seats.
This plane had 3 seats on each side of the aisle and we had a window and middle seat. I boarded the plane early to make sure we had room for all our carry-ons. Brian and Carter joined me at the end of the boarding line to limit the amount of time Carter had to spend on the plane. Since Carter was still loving Brian and just tolerating me, he sat on Brian's lap by the window 99% of the flight.
Carter was A LOT of work to keep entertained, but he did great. He took another 45 minute nap (he actually fell asleep on Brian's lap as I was reading him a book). We fed Carter as many snacks as he would eat. I read books over and over again and pulled out a bunch of the toys I'd bought the day before. Carter was mostly quiet - he let some of his happy screams. But we managed to distract him before he threw any tantrums or melted down. He was by far the quietest of the three young children on the flight. We had several comments from people around us on how good of a baby he was.
Carter did fine with the changes in pressure when we were ascending and descending. He had his paci whenever he wanted it and we tried to feed him and give him his sippy cup as well. On the descent into San Francisco, Carter stuck his finger in one of his ears and gave us a funny look. He got over it pretty quickly, but it was kind of funny seeing him trying to figure out what was going on.
When we got into San Francisco, we got our rental car and checked into our hotel around 3 pm We stayed at the Larkspur near the airport so that we had an excuse to have a rental car Brian could expense and could eat at more casual restaurants with Carter (it was actually cheaper to stay here and have a rental car than stay downtown without a car).
We decided to try to keep Carter up as long as we could and get him adjusted to the three hour time difference by getting him very off his schedule. We hoped he would then sleep his normal amount of nighttime hours rather than getting up at the time that felt normal (which would have been around 3 am PST).
After checking into the hotel and getting them to deliver a crib (actually, a small Pack 'n Play) to the room, we went to Panera for a late lunch / early dinner. When we finished eating, Carter fell asleep immediately in the car. We decided to let him have a nap and drove downtown to the Moscone Center so that Brian could register for his conference.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a grocery store to get food for Carter for the week. We got to the hotel around 6:30 pm and managed to keep Carter up to 8 pm. We were all exhausted from the long day of travel. We had a suite again so Carter got the living room area. This time the bathroom wasn't connected to the bedroom (and I have to pee too many times at night already - pregnancy is so much fun!), but luckily we were able to set the fan on the heating unit to run continuously so it muffled out any noise we made at night. There was also someone with a puppy across the hall that barked and barked and barked so the fan helped with that as well.
It was a long and somewhat stressful day, but we made it to San Francisco and were so proud that Carter did so well!
Day Between Trips
The Sunday between our two trips was a hectic day for us. We had a lot to get done. And our trip to San Francisco was the first time we were going to fly with Carter and we were a little stressed about how that was going to go.
It took us all day to get everything together. Brian had to catch up on some work since he'd been gone for a week and was going to be gone for another week. Carter was a handful just being home and around all his own stuff again. I did lots and lots of laundry (4 loads, I think) throughout the day so we could pack clothes in the evening. We had to give Charlotte a bath since she was stinky from the kennel and take her over to a friend's house who was nice enough to keep her for the week but lives 45 minutes away. I went to the Dollar Store and Target to get Carter an assortment of new toys as entertainment for the plane. I bought a ton of stuff (and he went through most of it).
It seemed like there were a ton of other things to get done too, but I'm not remembering them anymore. It was also difficult making sure we didn't overpack. We planned on checking one bag since this was a business trip for Brian and he could expense the one bag. We wanted to bring everything else on the plane with us (which included Carter's stroller, carseat, diaper bag, one carry-on suitcase, a bookbag for all of Carter's toys and my carry-on stuff, and Brian's laptop). We did a really good job packing minimally but still having everything we needed.
It took us all day to get everything together. Brian had to catch up on some work since he'd been gone for a week and was going to be gone for another week. Carter was a handful just being home and around all his own stuff again. I did lots and lots of laundry (4 loads, I think) throughout the day so we could pack clothes in the evening. We had to give Charlotte a bath since she was stinky from the kennel and take her over to a friend's house who was nice enough to keep her for the week but lives 45 minutes away. I went to the Dollar Store and Target to get Carter an assortment of new toys as entertainment for the plane. I bought a ton of stuff (and he went through most of it).
It seemed like there were a ton of other things to get done too, but I'm not remembering them anymore. It was also difficult making sure we didn't overpack. We planned on checking one bag since this was a business trip for Brian and he could expense the one bag. We wanted to bring everything else on the plane with us (which included Carter's stroller, carseat, diaper bag, one carry-on suitcase, a bookbag for all of Carter's toys and my carry-on stuff, and Brian's laptop). We did a really good job packing minimally but still having everything we needed.
Feeling Much Better
I am feeling so much better today. I'm not 100% yet, but I was generally able to do the things I normally do during the day. The worst thing now is terrible heart burn. I was already starting to have some from this pregnancy, but it's been awful today. Brian suggested that it may be from all the throwing up making me more sensitive now that I'm eating again and I think he's right.
Carter and I ran a few errands and this afternoon I took him and Charlotte for a short walk. It was beautiful here today - in the 60s and the sun came out for awhile this afternoon.
I put Carter in his wagon he got for Christmas from my mom for the first time. I like it but a stroller is so much easier on the hills (both up and down). Carter got a little bored half way through the walk and kept leaning way over the side. I was a little nervous, but the seat belt seems tight enough to hold him in.
Mom, you look like you need some water ...
Carter loves to dance. And he currently is really into spinning. He'll start a song on one of his toys and spin and spin and spin until he falls down. I laughed at him the first time he did this and now he'll randomly spin around just a few times and fall as if he's dizzy just to get attention. So silly.
Carter understands the words "no" and "don't". When I say them, he does one of three things.
Carter and I ran a few errands and this afternoon I took him and Charlotte for a short walk. It was beautiful here today - in the 60s and the sun came out for awhile this afternoon.
I put Carter in his wagon he got for Christmas from my mom for the first time. I like it but a stroller is so much easier on the hills (both up and down). Carter got a little bored half way through the walk and kept leaning way over the side. I was a little nervous, but the seat belt seems tight enough to hold him in.
Mom, you look like you need some water ...
Carter loves to dance. And he currently is really into spinning. He'll start a song on one of his toys and spin and spin and spin until he falls down. I laughed at him the first time he did this and now he'll randomly spin around just a few times and fall as if he's dizzy just to get attention. So silly.
Carter understands the words "no" and "don't". When I say them, he does one of three things.
- Totally ignore me.
- Shake his head no. Which is usually followed by a smile, Carter shaking his head yes, and then going back to doing what I told him not to do.
- Screaming at the top of his lungs. Carter does not like being told what to do sometimes. He can be very independent and stubborn, like most one year olds.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Spring Cleaning or Nesting?
I never really went through a nesting phase when I was pregnant with Carter. But we also moved into our current house when I was pregnant with him so there was constant cleaning, remodeling, organizing, painting, and decorating going on for 6 months.
However, I am either going through a nesting phase or just have a major need to do a spring cleaning on the house because I feel like our house is so dirty (though it's really not bad) and want to purge all the stuff we don't use.
I got through the family room and our master bathroom (with some help from Brian on that one since I didn't want to use some of the powerful cleaners) before getting sick. I have never cleaned so well before in my life. Every little corner and shelf is getting some love. And I have been throwing away tons of stuff I haven't used in awhile. It feels so good to purge! Hopefully I'll feel well enough tomorrow to start back to cleaning.
I ordered a steam mop from Amazon and got it today. I can't wait to try it out. Our hardwood floors always look so dirty to me with little leaked drops from sippy cups and dog drool and other miscellaneous stains and hopefully this will be an easy way to keep them clean!
We still have a lot to do to get the boys' rooms finished. We have all of Carter's new furniture (we put his dresser together this past weekend) but still have to paint the stripes in his new room before we move him. Hopefully we can get that started this weekend. I also need to find him new bedding and decoration for that room, but I can use what is in his current room until I find what I want. Then it'll be time to tackle the nursery!
I'll try to get posting about our San Francisco trip tomorrow - I have lots of pictures to share! But here are a few pictures from a few days ago.
I left Carter alone in his room for a few minutes, and when I came back in, he was pulling books off his shelf, opening them, and babbling to himself like he was reading them ...
Carter really likes the toys I got for him at the consignment sales. He played with them all weekend and week so far ...
However, I am either going through a nesting phase or just have a major need to do a spring cleaning on the house because I feel like our house is so dirty (though it's really not bad) and want to purge all the stuff we don't use.
I got through the family room and our master bathroom (with some help from Brian on that one since I didn't want to use some of the powerful cleaners) before getting sick. I have never cleaned so well before in my life. Every little corner and shelf is getting some love. And I have been throwing away tons of stuff I haven't used in awhile. It feels so good to purge! Hopefully I'll feel well enough tomorrow to start back to cleaning.
I ordered a steam mop from Amazon and got it today. I can't wait to try it out. Our hardwood floors always look so dirty to me with little leaked drops from sippy cups and dog drool and other miscellaneous stains and hopefully this will be an easy way to keep them clean!
We still have a lot to do to get the boys' rooms finished. We have all of Carter's new furniture (we put his dresser together this past weekend) but still have to paint the stripes in his new room before we move him. Hopefully we can get that started this weekend. I also need to find him new bedding and decoration for that room, but I can use what is in his current room until I find what I want. Then it'll be time to tackle the nursery!
I'll try to get posting about our San Francisco trip tomorrow - I have lots of pictures to share! But here are a few pictures from a few days ago.
I left Carter alone in his room for a few minutes, and when I came back in, he was pulling books off his shelf, opening them, and babbling to himself like he was reading them ...
Carter really likes the toys I got for him at the consignment sales. He played with them all weekend and week so far ...
Stomach Virus
I have been so sick. I started feeling a little nauseous late Monday afternoon. I didn't think much of it - thought I was just over tired. I woke up around 11:30 pm after having slept for about 15 minutes and had to run to the bathroom, barely making it to the sink before throwing up. And I couldn't stop. I threw up about every 30 minutes until 4 am. And if I wasn't throwing up, I was in the bathroom. I finally slept for about an hour but was up at 5 am throwing up again. It was awful.
To make it all worse, Brian was out of town.
So Carter was up at 6:30 am and I had to take care of him on my own. If I stood up for more than 30 seconds, I threw up. That makes simple things like changing a diaper a lot of fun. Thank goodness Carter seemed to sense that I couldn't do much and he was an angel. Watching lots of cartoons and getting to have a paci didn't hurt either.
I finally got my body under control around 9 am (I think that's because there wasn't anything left in me). I called my OB's office then and they wanted me to come in to make sure I wasn't dehydrated. Somehow I dragged myself there with Carter in tow. It was miserable waiting to see someone. It took about and hour and a half, but I finally got a Zofran shot to help with the nausea and advice as to when to go to the ER to get an IV if I still couldn't keep anything down since I wasn't too dehydrated yet.
I left with a prescription for Zofran tablets. I got that filled and stopped by Tropical Smoothie to get a smoothie (I had been able to keep about half a bottle of water down finally and figured I needed a little energy to be able to take care of Carter). Luckily that stayed down!
Carter fell asleep on the way home and I was able to move him to his crib. I took a nap too for about an hour which gave me a tiny bit of energy.
Carter did really well yesterday afternoon. I laid on the family room floor while he either watched cartoons or played on his own. This was the best he's ever played on his own - he usually wants constant attention. It was a really long afternoon waiting until Carter's bedtime, but I made it. I was able to eat a few crackers for dinner.
I got to sleep around 8:30 pm and Carter slept in to 7 am so I got lots of sleep (though I still need more). I'm feeling okay today. I checked my weight this morning and I was down 3-4 pounds. I'm still really nauseous and low on energy since I'm not eating much but at least I'm not throwing up anymore! I'm trying to take it easy and not do much. Hopefully I'll be better soon and Carter doesn't get this!
To make it all worse, Brian was out of town.
So Carter was up at 6:30 am and I had to take care of him on my own. If I stood up for more than 30 seconds, I threw up. That makes simple things like changing a diaper a lot of fun. Thank goodness Carter seemed to sense that I couldn't do much and he was an angel. Watching lots of cartoons and getting to have a paci didn't hurt either.
I finally got my body under control around 9 am (I think that's because there wasn't anything left in me). I called my OB's office then and they wanted me to come in to make sure I wasn't dehydrated. Somehow I dragged myself there with Carter in tow. It was miserable waiting to see someone. It took about and hour and a half, but I finally got a Zofran shot to help with the nausea and advice as to when to go to the ER to get an IV if I still couldn't keep anything down since I wasn't too dehydrated yet.
I left with a prescription for Zofran tablets. I got that filled and stopped by Tropical Smoothie to get a smoothie (I had been able to keep about half a bottle of water down finally and figured I needed a little energy to be able to take care of Carter). Luckily that stayed down!
Carter fell asleep on the way home and I was able to move him to his crib. I took a nap too for about an hour which gave me a tiny bit of energy.
Carter did really well yesterday afternoon. I laid on the family room floor while he either watched cartoons or played on his own. This was the best he's ever played on his own - he usually wants constant attention. It was a really long afternoon waiting until Carter's bedtime, but I made it. I was able to eat a few crackers for dinner.
I got to sleep around 8:30 pm and Carter slept in to 7 am so I got lots of sleep (though I still need more). I'm feeling okay today. I checked my weight this morning and I was down 3-4 pounds. I'm still really nauseous and low on energy since I'm not eating much but at least I'm not throwing up anymore! I'm trying to take it easy and not do much. Hopefully I'll be better soon and Carter doesn't get this!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Florida - Day 8 - Travel
We drove home on Saturday (Feb 27th). Carter was up at 5:45 am which helped us get out early. We were on the road at 7:45 am. Overall we only paid for 2 nights of our 7 nights in Florida. Even though Brian sometimes traveled a lot at his last job, it was nice that he was able to collect so many hotel points.
Carter did okay on the drive back. The highlight was the 2 hour nap he took in the afternoon! We brought along an old portable DVD player that we got for free a long time ago when we had bought a new TV. We were all so tired and Brian and I were having trouble coming up with new ways to entertain Carter that we let him watch 2 movies (Finding Nemo and Shrek) on the way home. He paid attention through most of the movies though I don't think he really understood what was going on. He's so funny because anything that you'd think might scare him just made him laugh.
We got home around 6 pm - the drive was just over 10 hours again. Sarah and her family were nice enough to pick up Charlotte for us from the kennel and drop her off at our house before we got there. Our kennel is only open until lunch on Saturday and is closed on Sunday.
The drive home didn't seem quite as short on the way back as it did on the way down, but it also wasn't too bad. We were flying out for San Francisco on Monday so I spent the evening getting caught up on bills and unpacking some. No time to relax!
There are a few things I forgot to talk about in my previous Florida trip posts that I wanted to catch up on here.
One thing that was a little weird the first day but that we got used to quickly was that you can't take your stroller with you into anything at Sea World and Disney. There is stroller parking outside of all the rides, shows, and animal exhibits. We brought our Maclaren stroller with us and luckily never saw one with the same colors that we could have grabbed by mistake. The first day we were a little hesitant about leaving our stroller (we took everything out of it every time), but by the time we went to Magic Kingdom, we left the diaper bag and jackets (if we had them) with the stroller and just took my small bag I was using as a purse with us. The only "damage" we had to our stroller was birds pooping on the sunshade a couple of times (luckily it wiped off easily with a wipe and didn't stain).
Carter had his cold the entire trip and finally started getting better the day after we got home. Luckily it was only his nose running and no coughing or fever, so it wasn't too annoying. We had to wipe his nose a lot every day (which Carter hates), but he wasn't too bothered by the cold otherwise. I still felt bad that he had it the entire vacation.
Several people seemed surprised that we were taking a 15 month old to Disney World - they thought he was too young to get anything out of it. However, I thought this was a great age. Carter may not specifically remember a lot of it, but he had so much fun each day and learned so much. I honestly can't say I remember a lot from the couple of times I went to Disney growing up and I was a lot older than Carter.
I was thinking the other day about the last big trip that Brian and I took before we got pregnant with Carter - we went to Peru and hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. This was probably the coolest trip we'd ever taken (sailing around Belize for a week is a close second). However, I really, really loved this trip to Florida. I had so much fun with Carter and Brian. We laughed so much and enjoyed seeing Carter have so much fun. I think this trip may now be my favorite of all time. I really wouldn't of thought that before the trip because I knew it was going to be a lot of work with taking care of Carter instead of just relaxing. I'm so glad we went!
Carter did okay on the drive back. The highlight was the 2 hour nap he took in the afternoon! We brought along an old portable DVD player that we got for free a long time ago when we had bought a new TV. We were all so tired and Brian and I were having trouble coming up with new ways to entertain Carter that we let him watch 2 movies (Finding Nemo and Shrek) on the way home. He paid attention through most of the movies though I don't think he really understood what was going on. He's so funny because anything that you'd think might scare him just made him laugh.
We got home around 6 pm - the drive was just over 10 hours again. Sarah and her family were nice enough to pick up Charlotte for us from the kennel and drop her off at our house before we got there. Our kennel is only open until lunch on Saturday and is closed on Sunday.
The drive home didn't seem quite as short on the way back as it did on the way down, but it also wasn't too bad. We were flying out for San Francisco on Monday so I spent the evening getting caught up on bills and unpacking some. No time to relax!
There are a few things I forgot to talk about in my previous Florida trip posts that I wanted to catch up on here.
One thing that was a little weird the first day but that we got used to quickly was that you can't take your stroller with you into anything at Sea World and Disney. There is stroller parking outside of all the rides, shows, and animal exhibits. We brought our Maclaren stroller with us and luckily never saw one with the same colors that we could have grabbed by mistake. The first day we were a little hesitant about leaving our stroller (we took everything out of it every time), but by the time we went to Magic Kingdom, we left the diaper bag and jackets (if we had them) with the stroller and just took my small bag I was using as a purse with us. The only "damage" we had to our stroller was birds pooping on the sunshade a couple of times (luckily it wiped off easily with a wipe and didn't stain).
Carter had his cold the entire trip and finally started getting better the day after we got home. Luckily it was only his nose running and no coughing or fever, so it wasn't too annoying. We had to wipe his nose a lot every day (which Carter hates), but he wasn't too bothered by the cold otherwise. I still felt bad that he had it the entire vacation.
Several people seemed surprised that we were taking a 15 month old to Disney World - they thought he was too young to get anything out of it. However, I thought this was a great age. Carter may not specifically remember a lot of it, but he had so much fun each day and learned so much. I honestly can't say I remember a lot from the couple of times I went to Disney growing up and I was a lot older than Carter.
I was thinking the other day about the last big trip that Brian and I took before we got pregnant with Carter - we went to Peru and hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. This was probably the coolest trip we'd ever taken (sailing around Belize for a week is a close second). However, I really, really loved this trip to Florida. I had so much fun with Carter and Brian. We laughed so much and enjoyed seeing Carter have so much fun. I think this trip may now be my favorite of all time. I really wouldn't of thought that before the trip because I knew it was going to be a lot of work with taking care of Carter instead of just relaxing. I'm so glad we went!
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