Moments

What a week!  Following my trip to Texas, Jason met all of the his brothers, cousins, uncles, etc. in Nashville for Travis' bachelor party.  They had a wonderful time, from what I hear -- but the stories are somewhat vague.  Knowing these guys though, I'm sure it was fabulous.

Charlie, Otis and I had a quiet, fully lit and fully heated weekend here at home.  It's amazing what a difference electricity makes!  It was nice to be free of any schedules or obligations and to just take it easy.  Charlie even took two naps each day, allowing me to lay on the couch and watch TV -- talk about a lazy indulgence!

In the midst of all of this glorious monotony, we did have two amazing moments that I know I'll remember for years to come.  Each was a little glimpse of the future, and I wish it were possible to capture them like a scene in a snowglobe and pull them out from time to time.

First, during breakfast on Sunday morning, Charlie was drinking his oj from his sippy cup.  He has improved this skill vastly over the past couple of weeks, but from time to time he still holds the cup with the spout on top and the liquid pools beneath it. 

In an attempt to "help", I tried to pry the cup out of Charlie's hands and turn it 180 degrees.  Well, the little booger is stronger than he looks, so after a few seconds I let go...and Charlie pulled the cup back directly into his eye.  He's definitely going to be  tough one, though, because despite the loud plastic vs. bone bonk, he didn't cry -- he just looked at me like, "What the heck are you doing?!".  I had a very clear and ominous preview of how he'll be looking at me from 2022 to 2029 on a regular basis -- I saw a teenager in my Charlie's eyes.  It was both funny and scary at the same time.

Thankfully, a one year old's memory is short, so we were back to blissful morning fun just a few moments later.  After breakfast Charlie was carrying around one of his baby picture books, which holds photos of family.  He was flipping through it and saying "Dada", but the only picture of Jason in this one is pretty small and dark, so I handed him a frame from the end table and pointed out "Dada" in the picture. 

Charlie immediately grinned, grasped the frame and started walking laps around the living room, all the while pointing at Jason's face and giggling "Dada".  It was absolutely precious.  It seemed to me that he really connected the image in the photo with a person for the first time -- either that or he thought that I had somehow shrunk Jason and trapped him in a picture frame...either way, it was great!

One might ask why I didn't capture at least the "Dada" laps on video -- one without a toddler that is.  Just Saturday night Charlie and I were "rocking out" to Blondie, Duran Duran and my favorite, Rick Springfield.  And yes, it does appear that I have passed my horrendous taste in music onto my innocent little boy.  He was waving his hands in the air and laughing as I belted out Jesse's Girl (Jason's and my song, for the record -- sorry, honey!). 

Well, as any adoring mother would do, I grabbed the camera and tried to capture Charlie's first full-fledged boogy, but each time I hit "record" he stopped and laughed.  Then when I hit it again to stop the recording, he started dancing again.  The kid is just as ornery as his Daddy!  So needless to say, I'm going to have to capture the most precious moments in my memory and in words, because Charlie's too quick for me!

Sippy Cup Practice

Ornery Little Booger

BaBa & PaPa in Charleston

Now this post is entirely out of order due to the upheaval of my trip earlier this week.  Prior to all of the wedding excitement, we had a fabulous visit from BaBa and PaPa!

They arrived Thursday evening and stayed until Monday evening, and we all had so much fun!  Charlie was on his best behavior at various meals on the town, as we introduced BaBa and PaPa to some new places and revisited some favorites. 

He did fairly well at his first trip to the South Carolina Aquarium, but apparently Mommy mis-judged the attention span of a one year old for fish.  He really liked them, for about 30 seconds per display.  His favorite parts were the touch tank, the shrimping boat and the benches!

The weekend highlights for Charlie were playtime with BaBa and PaPa and the Outlet Mall -- he got to ride the rides for the first time (and loved them!) and he picked out his own pair of shorts.  He was adamant about some plaid shorts in OshKosh, even returning to the rack a second time.  He'll have to grow into them, though -- the smallest size they had was a 2T!

The weekend was truly 4 days of jam-packed fun, but it definitely went by too fast.  The bright side is that we're headed to KC in less than a month to see everyone again!

Welcome to Charleston, BaBa!

Fun with PaPa

Splash, Splash, Splash!

Ready for Shrimping

First Wish

First Ride

First Crayons

I like Red Best

We did it!

Charlie and I survived our first extended period apart  -- and it was trauma-free.  Actually, the anticipation was much worse than the actual separation.  My flights on Tuesday morning were incredibly relaxing with only myself to worry about, no luggage to speak of, and a good book.  Plus, Charlie had a great morning with Daddy and got to see Donna again (she had been out of town all weekend).

Then the actual wedding prep, ceremony and aftermath were fabulous.  I have never seen Angie, my sister, so happy -- and the simple event was just her style.  I am so grateful that I was able to be there to help her get ready and the ceremony, itself, was wonderful.  Other than a tad bit too much champagne at the reception (nothing crazy -- just a bit tipsy -- I never even fell out of my 3 inch heels!), everything was perfect.  As an added bonus, Uncle Sam and Aunt Jan came back to Mom & Dad's house to chat for a couple hours.  It was so much fun.

Meanwhile back in SC, Charlie spent the morning and early afternoon at Donna's -- squeezing in two good naps.  Then he, Jason and Otis played and walked and had a great time.  Wednesday was much the same, but rather than playing and walking, they ran man errands -- Charleston Angler and Lowe's. 

On Wednesday, I was blessed again with perfect flights and then with very little traffic at the 526 merge at 4:30 in the afternoon, so I made good time getting back to Summerville, where I met up with my boys and we had dinner on the patio at Five Guys Burgers. 

The entire experience was great.  I proved that I can handle 45 hours away from Charlie, Charlie had a wonderful time with Daddy, Donna and Otis, I got to celebrate my sister's wedding day with her and I made it home safely to my boys. 

The official wedding pictures aren't in, but here are a few snapshots, along with some picture texts Jason sent to get me through...

Uncle Bill & the Officiant decorating for the reception

Aunt Angie beaming

Aunt Angie trusting me to do her hair

Crusing the 'hood

Hamming it up for Mommy

Am I Ready for This?

It's 4:30 AM and I'm blogging...obviously it's an unusual day.  First and foremost, it's Charlie's Aunt Angie and soon-to-be Uncle Bill's wedding day! 

On the much more self-centered side, it's the first time I'm leaving my baby.  After scrounging up some breakfast I'm headed to the airport for the wedding.  I am thrilled that Charlie was weaned just in time for me to jet off for the celebration.  I should arrive in El Paso at 10 AM this morning in plenty of time for the 2:00 wedding.  Then I get back home early tomorrow evening.

Due to the whirlwind nature of the trip and the length of the flights, Jason and I decided that it would be unfair to Charlie to ask him to make the trip.  And obviously I want to be at my sister's wedding, but this is so hard.  Not counting the little peek into his room before I came downstairs, I'll go 45 hours without seeing Charlie. 

The amazing thing is that despite the fact that I used to travel monthly, if not more often, this is the first time I'll have to go more than 12 hours without a hug.  We have truly been blessed with my new job situation this past year.

Plus, the fact that my first journey is for something wonderful makes it so much easier to go.  Add to that the fact that it's just one night and it should be easy...but it's not.

I know fully well that Charlie will have a wonderful time with Donna during the days and will just adore his one-on-one time with Daddy in the evenings.  I also know that I am going to thoroughly enjoy the long, quiet, solitary flights (a 3 hour stretch to do nothing but read!  each way!), and have an absolutely wonderful time celebrating with Angie and Bill.  But I already miss him...

I suppose it's just yet another milestone to survive, and that in 14 years or so I'll look forward to stuff like this...but it sure seems traumatic at 4:30 AM!

"Mom"

Charlie inherited a lot more than just his good looks from his Daddy.  He also inherited the gift of perfect timing! 

As I whined about last week, I am struggling with the transition from Baby to Toddler -- feeling a bit nostalgic for the infant days.  In response to my case of the Mommy blues, my clever little boy pulled out all the stops on Saturday morning...he finally said "Mom".

And with Charlie it's not Mama or Mommy or really even Mom -- it actually sounds like a cross between Mome (rhymes with home) and Mum (apparently his British ancestry is coming through!).

And each time he says it, he leaves his lips tightly together afterwards and snickers.  The little stinker knew exactly what he was doing over the past couple months when he said Dada, Donna, Dog-dog, Mooo, etc...but not "Mama".  He was just waiting for the perfect moment to ensure that his first utterance of the magical word would be not only noticed, but would gain him the world.  Clever little devil!

As if I weren't already wrapped tightly around his little finger, this made it even worse.  Objectively, I should probably resent the fact that my one year old is already not only trying to play me, but succeeding -- but I have to admit I find it adorable and take a wacky pride in his ability to read me and pull my strings.  I'm doomed!

But back to "Mom".  I had no idea how powerful one little syllable could be.  Had I known, I would have worked much harder on "Mom" over the past few weeks.  I honestly can't put into words how amazing it feels to know that my little Charlie says my name.  Over the weekend I confronted Jason with the fact that he had never told me how amazing it felt when Charlie said "Da-da", to which his response was more or less, "duh!". 

See -- that's exactly what I mean.  These two guys both know me so well and know exactly how to handle me.  I should probably be worried, but for now I'm just loving being loved.

Hi, Mom!

Starfish Hat

To Wean or Not To Wean?

Ok...so that's not really the question.  In order to avoid future psychological trauma, we are of course weaning Charlie, and Jason and I decided that one year was our target.  Basically, that got us cleanly through the first 6 months when breast milk is so valuable and also put us in a position to never have to introduce (aka pay for) formula.

So, here we are.  Due to our recent trip to Texas, we should actually complete the process at about a year and two weeks -- multiple articles suggested avoiding weaning over a vacation.

I guess the real question is who are we really weaning here, me or Charlie?  It sounds crazy, but I think he's actually taking the change better than I am.  We're down to just two feedings a day (morning and night), and he seems entirely unphased, while I am crabby, verging on despondent, about the whole thing.

Now, there are some very practical reasons for me to dread giving up nursing.  I am:

• Losing the opportunity to cuddle Charlie multiple times a day -- with a non-cuddly baby, these 15 minute windows of snuggle time are priceless.
• Losing the excuse to sit down and read an actual magazine or book for 15 minutes twice a day while I pump for his daily bottle at Donna's -- I'm not sure I"ll be able to justify these breaks otherwise.  I'll probably just push through my spreadsheets so I can get more done during the day.
• Losing a free 500 calories a day! -- for anyone who has been on a diet since she was 8 years old then miraculously has seen 45+ pounds melt away over the past year, this is terrifying!
• Losing my status as "sustainer of life" for my son -- and yes, I realize that Charlie has been getting far more calories and nutrition from food than from me for the past 6 months, but it is hard to accept that I am no longer able to provide him something that no one else can.

The bottom line?  I'm throwing a pity party, I suppose.  I partially justify my grief by the fact that we had such a rough start.  A year ago Sunday, at 5 days old, Charlie went on two successive hunger strikes lasting about 12 hours each. 

I was determined to breastfeed, so the realization that my brand new baby either could not or would not nurse threw me into a tailspin.  Layer lack of sleep on post-partum hormonal wackiness on new parent anxiety, and I was laying in bed crying about my failure as a mother.  Thankfully Jason and Debbie, along with my beloved pump, got us through the weekend, and we found a lactation consultant on Monday who straightened everything out. 

Once Charlie was eating, though, we still had to get through the physical traumas of the first few weeks of nursing -- but don't worry, I won't go into detail in case any grandpas or uncles are reading.  Needless to say, though, it was not easy.

But as hokey as it sounds, all of that trauma (and that's not an exaggeration) was completely overshadowed by the bonding and pride that nursing provided.  I reveled in being the one to get up in the middle of the night and the one that was able to quiet Charlie's cries when nothing and no one else could.  And let me remind you that I haven't been on the treadmill since months before Charlie was born!

Maybe it's just the triple whammy of weaning with the first birthday with walking, but I feel like I'm losing my baby.  An equally precious and fun little boy is taking his place, but I miss baby-Charlie.  I guess I want both -- which brings me to a better understanding of why so many siblings are about two years apart. I can't imagine that I'm alone in my nostalgia for milk breath, squeaky cries and newborn onesies as Charlie transforms from a baby to a toddler.  I'm willing to bet that a lot of husbands are pleasantly surprised by their wives' renewed attentions around one year.

And no, Mom and Debbie, there is no news or announcement that this is not-so-subtly hiding.  And to be honest, based on the fact that Charlie was 3 1/2 years behind my so carefully planned schedule, I certainly wouldn't want to get anyone's hopes up.  Nevertheless, I wouldn't change a thing about how things went, so I suppose I need to just relax and see what happens...  On the bright side, I get to go pick him up in 3 hours and 10 minutes...

Birthday Boy!!

I've decided that "birthday-itis", which I am defining as an over-abundance of enthusiasm in relationship to one's birthday, is genetic.  Charlie woke up Tuesday morning at 5:52 AM smiling and laughing.  How do I know this?  Because I had been lying awake in my bed since 5:32 waiting for him to wake up so we could start the day! (Apparently birthday-itis is also transferable to one's children's birthdays).

Seriously, though, Tuesday was FABULOUS!  Other than the early start, the morning was pretty standard.  Jason and I laughed and played with him, then after Jason went to work and we had breakfast, I took Charlie to Donna's aroun 8:45.  Later while "participating" in a conference call, I prepared the meatballs for Charlie's birthday dinner.  (If anyone EVER hears me complain about my job, please slap some sense into me!)

The fun really began at 11:30, though.  I picked up the birthday boy, and we drove down to North Charleston to meet Daddy for lunch at where else, but IHOP.  Charlie celebrated his birthday with a blueberry pancake lunch, and to our suprise and delight, a bunch of Daddy's work friends and their families joined us for an impromptu party.

Next, Charlie and I stopped by the outlet mall to pick up a shirt for his 1 year pictures this weekend.  Well, I had forgotten that he was wearing his adorable "Birthday Boy" t-shirt until we walked into OshKosh.  Just imagine how much fun it is to have everyone wishing your one-year-old son a happy birthday -- with him grinning and hamming it up all the while -- especially when you  have to go to OshKosh, Carter's, Gymboree, Children's Place, Strasbourg, Baby Gap then back to Children's Place to decide on a shirt. (I got a fabulous deal, though!)

Charlie and I spent the beautiful 75 degree afternoon taking Otis for a walk.  Then, to our delight, Daddy got home early, just as we were getting back to the house.  We all enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs in the dining room to celebrate Charlie's birthday dinner, then opened a couple gifts to kill time until 6:30.  That's when the real party started!

Kate, Sophia and Avery (moms in tow), Garrett, Bob and Donna all came over to celebrate and enjoy cake and icecream (though Jason and I forgot to get the icecream out...so now we have to eat it all ourselves!).  They all brought Charlie fun presents -- and he actually kind of paid attention while opening them.  Kate was the only one of the attendees to put up with the party hat, but Lakely wore hers at home, even though an ear infection kept her away.

Following presents, Charlie did us proud by sampling the frosting on his cake, then picking up the entire piece and just chowing down.  Unfortunately, he then had to leave his own party a little early in order to go take a bath.  Afterwards, we just played a bit with his new magna doodle until bedtime.

March 9, 2010 was an absolutely perfect day from start to finish.  I will freely admit that I am a little bit birthday-crazy, but I think justifiably so.  To me birthdays are annual reminders of how amazingly blessed we are to have people in our lives -- how our lives changed so much for the better 1, 33 or 99 years before when the honoree was born.  That being the case, I think we all should get a bit more excited about birthdays and really celebrate the birthday boy/girl, not just buy a present and attend a party.

I cannot even imagine my life if things had gone differently on January 22, 1977 or March 9, 2009 -- thankfully, I don't have to!

Now, before I get into the slew of party pics from Tuesday, here are the nuts and bolts of Charlie at 1 year:

As of 3/10/10:

• Weight - 22 lbs (40th percentile)
• Length - 30 inches (60th percentile!)

                What!?!?  You'd never think he was tall and skinny by looking at him!

• Head - 47 cm (60th percentile)
• Teeth - 2 bottom, 4 top
• Hair - Light brown/dark blonde; starting to resemble a mullet
• Birthmarks - Stork bites are no longer visible.  The potato shaped birthmark on his left shin is more distinct.  In addition to the freckle high above his right eye, he also has one on each cheeck.
• Naps - Good nap in the morning.  Afternoon nap still a battle...quite possibly a losing battle...
• Bedtime - 7:00 to 7:30
• Waketime - 6:30 to 7:00
• Favorite Foods - Blueberries, Pancakes and Meatballs (he likes pretty much anything other than spinach or microwave babyfood pasta)
• Favorite Song - Toes by the Zach Brown Band
• Favorite Dance - Still lies on his stomach and wiggles all over, but also "be-bops" by bouncing his upper body up and down while sitting
• Favorite Toys - Bike, puzzle book, remote control and a growing attachment to Eeyore
• Favorite Game - "Coffee Break", tag, swinging, dancing
• Recent milestones -

                - Walking!
                - Climbing down off things
                - Up/Down stairs
                - Patty Cake
                - Signs "eat" in addition to "more"
                - Says "dog-dog"
                - Putting things inside other things
                - Drinking out of a sippy cup

• Imminent milestones -

                - Maybe finally say "Ma-ma"????

• Hero - Daddy
• Personality - (no changes from 9 months!)

                - Even Goofier - He loves to laugh and be surprised and wiggle and giggle.
                - Active - Unfortunately, Charlie is not much of a cuddler. He is sweet and loving, but would much rather climb all over you than hug you.
                - Curious - He loves to check out new things and is always craning his neck or crawling/walking off to check out something new

Birthday Call from Grandma

Birthday Surprise from BaBa

Birthday Pancakes

Birthday Meatballs

The Party's at My House!

Am I supposed to play with fire?

Not so bad...

The Cake!

It's done...it's definitely not perfect, but it's done.  Charlie's first birthday will be commemorated this evening with a homemade (well, the cake was a mix, but the icing was homemade) and home-decorated sock monkey cake!

I got this wild idea about 2 months ago when we bought Charlie a Monkeez sock monkey bank on our trip to the mountains.  It's a new twist on the old sock monkeys -- they're all sorts of bright, fun colors.  When we got home I went on the website and they have sock monkey everything! 

So, Aunt Erin and Aunt Ashley have bought him the growth chart, the picture frame, the  white board and the magnet set for his birthday (thank you!), Grandma got him Max, the Happy Birthday Sock Monkey, and he may even get a table and chairs!  It's going to be the "theme" of the playroom.  (Yes, Jason is far more tolerant than I deserve).

Well, with all of this I decided to do a Sock Monkey birthday party, too.  I found a bear/giraffe/cat cake pan and decided that with some minor surgery it could look like a monkey, so I stocked up on frosting tips and bags and the good food color (that stuff is powerful!).  I had it all planned out and yesterday was the day.

I baked the cake in the morning,  mixed up the frostings and surgically removed and re-attached the ears in the afternoon and then commenced decorating as soon as Charlie went to bed.

Jason had a meeting after work, and being as impatient as ever, I went ahead and started without him.  A little context is probable required here.  In my life, I have decorated two cakes -- a birthday cake for my mom when I was 9 which was likely the ugliest cake ever, and an anniversary cake for Jason's and my 4th or 5th anniversary (I can't honestly remember).  Both of which were simple, layer cakes.  I am definitely more of a cook than a baker - baking and decorating just require more patience and precision than I typically have.

But -- this is my Charlie's first birthday!  I desperately wanted to create something fun and unique just for him -- and as the picture below will show, this cake is nothing if not unique.  Plus, I am a Food Network Challenge addict -- and if they can build those towering, teetering, sculpted masterpieces in six hours, surely I can pull off a single layer monkey in a whole day...right?

So, back to the decorating.  Everything started out great.  I got the blue frosting into the bag and both of my practice stars were perfect -- I was using the piping/starring technique, because I find frosting nearly impossible to spread (hence the fact that only half of our cupcakes are going to see the light of day this evening). 

I was chugging right along when I noticed that my stars were beginning to melt.  I had refrigerated the frosting, but as Jason pointed out when he got home, my hands were warming it up as I went.  One can assume that had I read the complete Wilton instructions that came with my tips, I would have seen this, but it's too late now.

So, I stuck the monkey in the fridge and the icing in the freezer and ate a frozen pizza while I waited.  Then we pulled it out and started again, but ran into the same issue after a bit of time -- plus the stars on the sides of the cake were just oozing together, so I decided to just spread the sides of the cake (much faster, anyway).  The green and red frostings both worked like a charm -- probably because I used less of them, but the blue and yellow are pretty runny -- it kind of looks like our sock monkey started to melt. 

Towards the end I had to have Jason take over the green ring around the base.  I truly got to the point where I could barely squeeze the bag -- who knew decorating cakes was such a physical activity!

The end result is a little bit lopsided and to be honest, he looks kind of mean.  Nevertheless, it IS a sock monkey!  And if it tastes half as good as the approximately 2 cups of buttercream icing I licked off my fingers yesterday, it will be delicious.

I have no doubt that Charlie would have dived just as enthusiastically into a simple sheet cake or even a cake from Publix, but I am thrilled with my creation.  This is another one of those "mom"moments for me.  A year ago I couldn't even fathom that my brand new baby would be turning one in the blink of an eye and two years ago I honestly believed that I'd never have a baby.  But last night I took on a crazy plan, beyond my abilities and while visibly it just turned out "ok", in reality it's fabulous -- it's my cake for my Charlie's first birthday and I did it myself (mostly)!

Previous Cake

Tah-Dahh!!

Where's my Charlie?

Yesterday evening was absolutely horrible.  I honestly don't know what sparked it, but our sweet, goofy Charlie was replaced by an evil twin (tempted to call him Chuckie...but that may be a bit too creepy...).

It all started while I was putting together his new trike/rocker/push toy --- yes I was putting it together.  It came in the mail yesterday from Grandma and I couldn't wait until Jason got home.  I have to say that I did a fairly good job (despite the fact that I had to remove and re-screw 13 screws because I thought I had used a #10 instead of a #8 somewhere on the handle -- turns out I had just counted wrong -- and the fact that a wheel came off this morning...no worries, though, Daddy will fix it tonight).  Following the apocolyptic tantrum, we even played with it for a while before bed.

Well, while I was figuring out the toy, Charlie was playing with the stickers.  From time to time he wanted something he couldn't have (screwdriver, screws, small plastic pieces), but I just took them away and though he would fuss, he recovered fairly quickly each time.  Jason got home a little bit before six and Charlie was thrilled as ever to see him, but when Jason tried to put Charlie down the crying started.  It soon developed into screaming -- we were stunned.  Thinking that he was hungry, we tried to put him in his highchair but the screaming turned to shrieking -- which is highly unusual.  Charlie loves his highchair because he only sits in it when he eats.  We fed him a bit of cheese and sausage on Jason's lap, but even that didn't calm him down for any significant period of time.

Next, Jason took him upstairs to change his pants and see if perhaps something was pinched or twisted (ouch!), but everything was fine.  While they were upstairs I frantically counted screws, plastic pieces, instruction sheets, etc, thinking that I may have allowed Charlie to swallow something that was now stuck in his esophogus and causing internal bleeding, but everything was accounted for. 

Still, the crying/screaming continued, so we opted for a bath -- which is typically fool-proof in our house.  Naked is the closest thing to heaven for Charlie.  He did calm down in the bathtub briefly, but started crying again before we even got him shampood.  It was absolutely bizarre. 

Finally, after rocking him for a while, I decided to nurse him early.  Thank goodness he finally started to come around.  Jason and I considered that the whole ordeal might be due to the fact that we've started weaning this week (a whole other blog...), but I don't think so.  So far Charlie has only given up his mid-afternoon bottle, so we haven't gotten to the part that should cause any separation anxiety.

Afraid of kicking off yet another fit if we put him down, we brought Charlie back downstairs to play with his new toy (which he adored!) and even fed him some fruit and puffs while we ate our somewhat congealed dinner.  Then around 7:30 we read a couple stories, said our prayers and he went down fairly easily.

All in all, the entire episode lasted less than 2 hours, but it was all just so un-Charlie.  The only times he's ever been inconsolable before were the first time we left him at Kate's and one time in the nursery at church.  At Kate's a bath solved the problem, and at church he recovered soon after I came back to play. 

While I have never belittled the trauma that colic can inflict on a family, after 2 hours of a screaming child I have much more empathy and sympathy for those poor parents -- and this was nothing in comparison.  I can honestly say that I don't know what I would have done if this had happened when Jason wasn't home. 

This morning our sweet Charlie was the one staring back at us from his crib, and so far he seems to plan to stick around...but I can't shake the underlying fear that that horribly unhappy little boy might make a return visit.

Feeling it out in the "rocking" position

Getting the hang of it

Don't Mess with Texas

Some would call us crazy...a number of other travellers thought we were cruel (to them!)...but we took an 11 month old to El Paso, TX this weekend -- and he was perfect!

As Jason can attest, I have been dreading these flights since the second I clicked the mouse to buy the tickets.  I couldn't wait to take Charlie to Texas for the first time, but was convinced that the flights were going to be a nightmare.  After a quick hop to Atlanta, we had an almost 3 hour flight across to El Paso -- and as all the pictures prove, Charlie is not big on sitting still these days.

After all of the worry, over-analysis and general annoying-ness, I humbly admit that I underestimated both my son and the power of an empty plastic cup.  Charlie loved crawling around the airport before the first flight and curiously observed all the other travellers as we boarded and waited to take off.  Once we were airborne, he was content to treat the couple behind us to a rousing game of peek-a-boo and play with an empty cup provided by the flight attendant.  We made it to Atlanta unscathed, and I thanked God that at least part of the trip had gone well.

Our flight for El Paso left around 7 PM, so Charlie had a quick dinner on the plane then after a few minutes of fussing (nothing like the hour plus of howling from the child 2 rows ahead), he fell asleep and didn't wake up until we were almost to the luggage carousel!  We'd made it!

We all had a fabulous time in Texas with my mom, dad, sister and her fiance, Bill.  I can't remember a lazier (or more relaxing!) weekend -- of course my jeans don't fit right now, due to an overabundance of homemade chocolate chip cookies, but it was well worth it! 

Charlie had his first visit to the playground, and he is definitely a fan.  We're going to have to start looking into some sort of swingset, since our neighborhood's idea of a playground is 2 swings.  He also adored playing with Aunt Angie's chihuahua, Wiley.  I think he may have gone into withdrawal if he'd had to survive all weekend with no dogs!

The highlight of the weekend may have been the two stairs from the game room to the kitchen.  Charlie took it upon himself to master the obstacle and even worked his way up to the three stairs that lead down into the family room.  The best part is watching him lay on his tummy and start scooting backwards 5 feet away from the steps.  I'm not sure what he's going to think of the less scoot-friendly carpet here at home.

Despite the lessons learned on the trip out, I was a worried mess again yesterday.  This time the long flight was first -- and in the middle of the day!  I still had an arsenal of toys and enough snacks to satisfy a preschool class, but I was in full dread.  Again, Charlie played and flirted at the gate -- and as an answer to worried prayers, our seats were unexpectedly changed to the bulkhead!  Charlie had a full 4 foot by 6 foot play area for the entire flight!  He loved it!

After an hour nap following takeoff, we played with some toys, scarfed down some blueberries and landed in Atlanta 3 hours later, none the worse for wear.  By now I was getting confident!  We had a relaxed dinner in Atlanta we even shared Charlie's first icecream cone -- he's a fan (though other travelers seemed to think we were insane).  The short flight to Charleston started out a bit rougher, but after 10 minutes of restlessness (still no wailing), Charlie zonked and slept until the seatbelt light dinged.

I realize that this all may seem like a small success to some, but the anticipation of torturing 4 planes full of strangers with a screaming baby and worse, of not being able to console a little man who just wanted to get up an crawl around, had me almost in tears last week.  I am so grateful to and proud of Charlie -- and me and Jason.  We definitely believe that the keys to our blissful travel were plenty of snacks, some brand new (and inventive) toys and frantic prayer!  Now we just have to duplicate the effort come May...

Ready to go...

First Bubble Bath

Tough guy...

Chuga-chuga-choo-choo!

Playing with Aunt Angie

Love for Grandma!

Meeting Wylie

Perfect teether

Saying Goodbye to Grandpa

The power of a baby

Celebratory Ice Cream Cone!

What a weekend!