San Diego Vacation: Leg One

Curtis and I have run off to San Diego for a week and a half to celebrate some great accomplishments. First, my youngest brother, Doug, is graduating from boot camp on Sept 3 and then my little sister, Shelly, is getting married in the San Diego temple on the 10th. Originally I had planned to just fly to San Diego with Curtis. It was going to be great fun keeping him happy on a three hour flight! Instead, we just flew 1.5 hours to Sacramento and then drove 8.5 hours the next day, with my mom, to San Diego. Crazy, I know, but that is just how things worked out.

Here are a few highlights from this first part of the journey. Uncle Randy and Auntie Debra were kind enough to take us to the airport and help me get all of my stuff to the check in desk. I was so proud of myself for getting everything in one suitcase and a diaper bag. But I still had to take the laptop, a car seat and Curtis in the stroller!


After successfully getting the suitcase and car seat checked we headed through security. I must say that I'm pretty good and speedily making it through security with all of my stuff and a kid. After getting scanned and then having the security guy check the contents of Curtis's sippy cup, we headed to our gate. (to check the liquid the hold a test strip above the open cup and then pour some liquid on it. we passed the test) Once at the gate I realized that our flight didn't leave for an hour! What was I going to do with a very mobile kid for an hour! Well, I had some toys for him, but really I just let him crawl around.


People didn't mind and I'd scoop him up and bring him back before he got too far away. His favorite part about waiting was finding a cat in a carrier. It belong to this older couple and they were happy to let Curtis look at their cat. The cat on the other hand wasn't too happy, it kept hissing and batting at Curtis from inside its carrier. I finally told Curtis that the cat was done being looked at and that we needed to leave it alone. Finally our plane arrived and we got to board. Now, not to disrespect any BSU fans, but really, an airplane??


Anyhow, Curtis did well on the flight. He passed the time by putting the tray up and down and doing the same with the armrest. My two favorite parts was that the seat next to us was empty and that the flight was only 1.5 hours. Mr. Curtis didn't get an afternoon nap and was getting hungry. We made it to Sacramento without mishap and had a great evening with my mom and grandma.

Transition

My little monkey isn't so little anymore. He had a check up this week and weighed in at 20 lbs (24th %tile) and 31.25 inches long(96th %tile)! His doctor is happy with his growth and development but would like to see him put on a few pounds. I got the go ahead to wean him to whole milk, mix his cereal with half and half, and feed him breakfast meats like sausage, bacon and ham. That was the best news for Travis. I was ecstatic to hear that I could wean him. I have been blessed to be able to nurse him this long and am grateful, but I'm kind of tired of it. The dr. also informed me that he doesn't need to be eating every three hours at night. His waking and wanting to nurse is most likely for comfort and he needs to learn to put himself back to sleep. Let me just say that this is way easier said than done. Curtis is one stubborn kid and boy does he know how to throw a fit.

But night time is now not the only time that he puts up a fight. He now also fights going down for naps. It was not so long ago that when it was nap time I would put him in his bed, give him his blanket and binki and that was that. Now, to get him to sleep, he insists on being rocked and still puts up a fight. It is very frustrating and tiring.

Meal time is not as pleasant as it used to be. He doesn't want to eat what I usually feed him, but he doesn't want the new stuff that I'm giving him either. Extra pressure came when I was told to fatten him up and that he is anemic.

I guess when it comes down to it I just need to have a little more patience and remember that I don't have to have all of the answers all the time. And even though my little man is no longer this:


He is still pretty darn cute.

The Fair

No Summer is complete without a trip to the fair. Last year at this time I was about a month away from having Curtis and had a hard time enjoying the fair. It was much more enjoyable this year to have Curtis here to experience with Travis and I.

Curtis was a bit overwhelmed by it all, but did his best to soak it all up. I go to the fair to see the animals, exhibits and all the crazy stuff that people are peddling. And this year was no different. Curtis got to have an up close and personal experience with a lamb. One of Travis's students was gracious enough to let Curtis pet it. He enjoyed petting the soft coat until the lamb let out a loud baaa. He wasn't so sure he liked the lamb after that.

The fair for Travis wouldn't be complete without the tractor driving contest. He wasn't going to compete this year because we really don't need anymore trophies. But he was peer pressured into and had a go. Unfortunately, his go at it is not much to talk about. Fortunately, we didn't bring home another trophy! After everyone was done, Travis and Curtis sat on the tractor and Curtis had fun raising and lowering the bucket. His little face would get all serious as he pushed on the lever. So cute.

Stairs

What really got me thinking about blogging was because I wanted to share stories of Curtis. I can't believe how fast he learns things. I've spent a lot of time around babies in my life, but never really understood how smart they are. Curtis isn't even a year old and loves to just sit and look at books, knows what he likes and doesn't and tells me so. It just blows my mind!

So about the stairs. A few weeks ago we were at the vet clinic and Curtis climbed up two steps to get a big teddy bear that Candy (the office manager) was tempting him with. I was shocked, impressed and nervous. I wasn't ready for him to be interested in stairs. Most of the time he roams free around the house, but now I was going to have to keep a closer eye on him. Well, much to my relief, he has paid no attention to our stairs. He likes to play at them, but made no attempt to go up them.

Fast forward to yesterday. My neighbor, Lyn, watched Curtis for me while I was at work. She asked me if he climbs stairs and I told her no, he likes to play at them, but doesn't really care about them otherwise. Well, I was informed when I picked him up that they found him at the top of the stairs, looking around to figure out how to get down. I should have known that with the right motivator Curtis will do anything and a friend to play with seemed to be what he needed. So alas, the stairs are no longer safe and the baby gate has gone up. Travis is having fun climbing the stairs with him and is working on teaching him how to safely come down the stairs.

Needless to say, my little man is growing up way too fast, but I love watching him learn and grow.

Here Goes Nothing

I have tried blogging in the past and have been unsuccessful because I've never felt like my life is interesting enough to blog about. But now I have a little monkey who does cute and fun things that I want to share with people and Facebook just isn't enough. The other plus, hopefully, is that I will be better about taking candid shots of Curtis because who wants to read a blog without pictures?! So here goes nothing. Hopefully I will keep it up and you can enjoy a peak into our lives.