Florida October 2012–Part 1

We spent the last week in October in Florida, enjoying a couple of days in Orlando and then a visit with Andrew’s parents in Vero Beach.  It was a great trip and while the weather wasn’t exactly what we had hoped for, we managed to pack in a lot of fun.

We started in Orlando at a great Marriott hotel that was right across the street from Sea World.  We had not originally planned on staying there but fate was on our side because the hotel was fabulous.  It had a great pool area complete with a little water park for the kids!  Julia and Benjamin spent most of two afternoons splashing around.

It took Julia until the second day to try out the waterslide but once she started she was hooked! 

Julia’s first waterslide!

While in Orlando we also visited Downtown Disney and Sea World.  We were amazed at the Lego store in Downtown Disney – just incredible sculptures made entirely from Legos, like this one of Woody and Buzz Lightyear:

We also had a special treat because there is a Babycakes bakery there.  Babycakes makes only vegan (so egg-free) and gluten-free baked goods.  It made me so happy to be able to go in somewhere and tell Julia that she could chose whatever treat she wanted.  And she thoroughly enjoyed her brownie cupcake with orange icing!

Sea World was also a hit.  We all loved the dolphin show (Julia and Benjamin both sat mesmerized the entire time), walking through the shark tunnel, and seeing sting rays up close.  It was a busy couple of days but a really nice break and a great way to start our vacation!

Mom Moment: Animal Doctor

There are just some moments when I really feel like a mom.  Today I went up to my office at lunchtime to get some work done and this is what I found on my desk:

Julia’s shark.  It has a little hole in one side that needs to be sewn up by Dr. Mom.  I think I have a date with a needle and some thread tonight…

Benj: On the Move

In a recent post I talked about Julia helping her brother and Benjamin beginning to walk.  Here is a video that showcases both!

While Daddy’s Away…

…the kids will play!  Andrew had to travel for work last Saturday and while we were all missing each other it turned out to be beautiful, fun-filled day.

We went to the farmers market with Grandma Laurie and Alex where we quickly abandoned shopping and a scavenger hunt for the swings:

Then we headed to lunch at Tortilla Flats where Grandpa Boo met us and Julia and Alex decided to move to a table by themselves!

Next up was the zoo where we saw quite a few animals, including Alex’s favorite crazy crane and her least favorite flamingoes (apparently they smell), and we explored the new play area built by Hasbro.  It’s a very cool area with a tree house, a maze, a music area, an art area, a water garden, and lots of different materials for kids to construct, create, and build things.  We had a great time exploring until everyone ended up pretty wet on the coldest fall day yet!

What’s Been Going On

Things around here have been sort of crazy lately; I have notes for about 10 or 15 different posts that I have wanted to write over the past couple of weeks but obviously that never happened.  So here is the condensed version…

Over the past few weeks, maybe since school started, Julia seems to have made another big leap in her mental (and also physical) growth.  There are just little things that I have been noticing that have struck me and left me thinking, “wow, since when can she do that?!?”  Things like…

 coloring inside the lines

correcting my reading at when I’m putting her to bed at night

remembering what day it is when she wakes up and knowing what activities we’re going to be doing that day

helping her brother

understanding the rules of Candy Land and following them

eating a whole sandwich rather than pulling it apart and fussing with it

 

Benjamin has also had some major leaps in the last few weeks:

playing peekaboo with a blanket – holding it over his face and then pulling it off when I said “where’s Benjamin?” (the first time he did this was when he was supposed to be going down for a nap – good thing he’s cute!)

walking holding onto furniture or our hand

getting 5 teeth!!

climbing the stairs

drinking from a straw but really he prefers just using it to blow bubbles

swinging at the playground

and, of course, outgrowing all the pants that I bought him 2 weeks ago!    

Julia-isms

A few amusing phrases we’ve heard recently…

* Yesterday afternoon I walked the kids to the library and then to the farmers market where we met Andrew for dinner.  At the farmer’s market Julia and I picked out a few gourds to use to decorate the house.  She’s been excited about this for weeks and each time we’ve planned on going pumpkin picking it has rained.  So this was a compromise but she was excited to finally have some kind of pumpkin.  When we got home I handed the brown paper bag of five gourds to carry in the house.  She hefted it up, walked towards the house, muttering to herself about how heavy the bag was but when she went through the door Andrew and I clearly heard her say “these gourds are freaking me out!”

* At school on Tuesdays Julia learns sign language.  For the past few weeks they have been learning signs for colors.  So on the ride home today I was asking her about the signs she learned; she showed me orange and black and told me that they didn’t learn green or blue, then I asked if they had learned purple and her response was “I have to think about that Mom, ok?”

* Continuing with the sign language conversation at lunch I asked Julia if she knew the sign for red.  This was the rest of the conversation:

J: I’m not sure, do you know it?

Me: No

J: Why not?

Me: I’m not in your class, so I didn’t learn it

J: You need to find an adult school, Mom

8 Months

A little over a week ago was Benjamin’s 8 month birthday!  He has been a very busy boy lately.   He is almost always on the go and trying hard to master whatever milestone he is working on.  A few weeks ago that was getting to sitting from crawling then the day after he got that he moved on to pulling up on furniture!  He now has that down pat and is working on cruising along the furniture.  In his downtime, he has learned how to wave bye-bye, clap his hands, and crawl with his stomach off the floor (although he often resorts back to the army crawl when he’s in a hurry).  We have started going to a music class on Thursday mornings.  It’s called Rock-a-Baby and is actually as much fun for me as it is for him!

Physically, he weighs about 17lbs now and has two teeth with three more (we think) about to break through.  He had his first bad cold last week and was not at all pleased with that experience!  But he’s better now and once the teeth make their appearance we’re hoping to return to happier times.  He is still a very happy baby with a quick smile even when he’s uncomfortable and as I expected it’s hard to say no to him when he starts grinning!  He continues to be a great eater and is now mostly on solid food, rather than baby purees.  His favorites these days are pasta, meatballs, pears, bananas, cheerios, french fries, and ice cream!