Florida Trip

Florida was beautiful and sunny, it's pretty sad to be back!  Another day or two would have been great!

The flight down went well all things considered.  Sam was great on the plane, he played, took a bottle, and slept.  We bribed a cab driver to take us to pick up the rental car sans car seat and he napped again driving to the hotel in Jupiter.  The hotel was awesome, right on the water.  We celebrated Chris's birthday by hanging out by the pool with my friends and drinks.  Sam was so happy to be outside, playing, exploring, swimming in the pool with his dad, and he sneakily tasted his first pina colada, which apparently he liked because he went back for more.

returned from the Sunshine State

We got back last night from a much needed vacation in Florida and are home in chilly Massachusetts.  Sam did a great job on the plane, on the road, and in general.  Our first trip (to see my in-laws) in North Carolina was actually stressful as it was the first time traveling with the baby.  That trip we were laden down with a car seat, stroller, Pack n Play and diaper bag.  This trip we were smart and rented the car-seat with the car, borrowed a pack n play, and didn't take a stroller.  We did however take a Baby Bjorn type carrier, which I used once on the trip and then apparently left (with my sneakers), in the hotel.  I also need to call the hotel and have those items sent back.
I have come to conclude from these trips that what can be carried on the plane for a baby far exceeds what can be carried on for any other given passenger.  I think that the airlines just want these unpredictable little people to be as quiet and content as possible.  Coming back I managed not only to get a 9 ounce baby bottle through security, but also 7.2 oz of baby shampoo (that my husband had purchased and I didn't want to throw away), and a few other items that would have typically landed in the bin outside security.  The only thing that they questioned was what the baby was holding in his hand, which was a handful of my hair?
We received some great baby tips en route:
- the mother of a 19 year old recommended giving the baby a pickle spear when there was teething pain
- a mother of five told us to wear the kids out before getting on the plane and not waking them up for anything, including food
- a father told us to drink strong drinks and if necessary buy them for those around us

The only really annoying thing that Sam wanted to do on the plane was to pet the people's heads in front of us.  I think he related them to our housecat.  I think he only pet one person.   The cutest thing he did was try to look into the TV screen on the back of the seat in front of us to see what was in it.  We don't let him watch TV at home.

Snow in NE

So much snow!  Everywhere.  I looked across the street this afternoon as I shoveled, and could only see the top of the baseball hat of my neighbor.  No joke .  The mounds of snow on the street are taller than people.  The mounds (or should I say mountains?) of snow in the parking lots at local shopping venues are often two stories high and wider than a small house.  It’s unreal.  And snowing again tomorrow.  Possibly snowing on Saturday.  Tomorrow will be the fifth snowday we have had at school. 

Since December, between snow and being sick, I have not worked a full week of school. 

The sounds of plows have become common, as has the list of school closures, and of waiting behind cars to get down one two way streets when someone is parked badly.  Snow-blowers are also becoming background noise and roof collapses are the new top media trend on local stations.  The potholes are becoming dangerous, one has already been filled at the end of the street because it was the size of a compact car.  I just got off the phone with DPW reporting another one.

2/2/11

Groundhog Day brings more of the same, ironically.  Although this time on top of the light fluffy snow, is ice rain, soon to change to ice pellets.  I wasn’t aware that there was such a weather phenomenon as ice pellets, but they are being forecast.  It is cold and wet.  I can’t imagine the driving conditions that this will create. 

2/511

What I’ve Learned:

• There are such thing as ice pellets: they can fall from the sky.
• There are ice dams:  those can occur on roofs and cause leaks
• Roof rakes also exsist:  roof rakers are in high demand and people are waiting in “lines” of 100 people to get the service.
• Ice can be melted in high places such  as roofs with heating coils.  These can be easily installed, if one is so inclined to climb onto a roof and install one, and they can prevent ice dams and such.
• Building codes for roofs are different in the climate zones in New England.  Places that tend to get more snow fall have more stringent codes for constructing roofs that will hold said snowfall.  This lessens the chances of roof collapses.  What great common sense.
• Shoveling snow burns a lot of calories.  Like a ton.  800 per hour for heavy wet snow.  This increase and decrease according to the consistency of the snow.  Having said this, New Englanders will be very buff by the end of this season.  My husband already has a six pack.
• Snow blowers are very dangerous.  Not only can they chop off fingers, toes, and other appendages, but they can catch on fire.  Boston.com even featured an article on what to do if one did chop off one’s finger in a snow blowing accident.
• Sink holes can appear suddenly in such conditions.  The DPW  will attend to them immediately if it seems that a small car could be swallowed by one in the immediate future.  Apparently they also have to be deep and dangerous.  Six foot by ten foot holes in the side streets of Medford do not warrant such attention.
• Pushing neighbor’s cars out of the snow to stop the beeping from the line of cars accruing down the street will lessen the chance of waking a sleeping baby. 
• Most people are helpful in such cases, some clearly cannot handle this weather anymore.

Better than Saturday morning cartoons

Sam Loves to Eat

He just loves it.  He is happiest when a.) I am carrying him around b.) when he is eating.  Eating anything.
Sam is eight months old now.  He started eating (solids) when he was five months.  That was not planned.  It was entirely to get through the night so that I could function when I went back to teaching full time.   I was told from helpful advice-givers to have him take a little bit of rice cereal before bed.  Sam did not like this plan.  He did not want to take rice cereal unless there was fruit mixed in.  Against all intelligent parenting, we started with sweet fruits, cooked down apples and mashed banana with rice cereal.  He was in heaven.
Everything about eating appeals to Sam.
When we first got out and assembled the high chair, it was so that Sam could be at our level.  The floor, swing, baby bouncer, and the bassinette where not places that Sam liked to be.  Propped in his high chair with rolled blankets, he would happily observe the world and the kitchen.  Sam’s large brown eyes began to focus on his father’s sandwich, my iced coffees, and bottles were fascinating and thrilling, as he learned about food.
        At four months old, at his great-uncle’s summer home, we sat by the pool.  The large umbrella provided shade from the hot summer sun.  Sam was not enticed by the light dancing on the blue of the pool or the flowers blooming on the bushes behind us, but by the shiny beer can placed on the glass table.   He tried desperately to grab it.
        Now, we sit him in the high chair and his face lights up.  He beats his little hands on the plastic tray, demanding food.  The puffed cereal container sits next to him, and he reaches for it, occasionally securing a grasp and pulling it onto his tray.  A few times I have found a mound of cereal poured by a very excited baby as he wrestles with the plastic container.  Sam loves to eat.  He loves his veggies, his fruits, being spoon fed, and picking up food with his fingers.  Chopped foods disappear at a high rate of speed.  A few days ago he discovered a great ability to pick up more than one item at once to deliver it to his mouth.
        A well-meaning friend offered to feed him one morning while I made pancakes.  I handed her his cereal and fruit and a little rubber tipped spoon.  She filled the spoon and ran it through the air like an airplane.  Sam was not amused.  He head dove for the spoon, which proceeded to zip away.  Sam reached for the spoon, looking gravely at my friend.  Finally the spoon reached his mouth, and went back to the bowl for another spoonful, then started the airplane ride again.  Sam was not having fun with this activity.  In his mind I am guessing, the food was being withheld.  He let out a wail.
        “I guess he doesn’t want to eat,” my friend commented.
        “Hmm,” I said, “Perhaps a more direct route to his mouth, I think the airplane isn’t necessary.”
        “Oh no,” she replied, “babies love this.”  
        Well maybe babies love it, but Sam wants food immediately, I thought.  Poor guy, his face was scrunched up in frustration, his eyes trained on the food bowl and stagnant spoon.  We switched, I fed Sam, she flipped pancakes.
        It has gotten to the point where it is hard to eat in front of Sam, without him eating.  If we want a snack, my husband and I take turns retreating to the kitchen, while Sam is otherwise occupied.  The first time the child willfully crawled, was away from his aunt, to remove the top of my sandwich and insert it in his mouth, before either of us could stop him.  He literally dove out of my arms once towards a brownie that my friend was eating.  Luckily we were sitting on the couch at the time.
        I am vaguely concerned that he might like his food too much, but with good habits set now (no brownies), lots of fruits and veggies, and specific mealtimes, I think it will be okay.  Food is important in both sides of our family.  I come from a family that always had mealtimes together, and still have Sunday dinners.  The Italian side always welcomes people in their homes to eat.  My husband’s family have gardens every summer and grown their own vegetables.  He and I both enjoy cooking and sharing good meals.
        I like to thank that Sam’s desire to eat is healthy.  His chubby little face is content as he learns to enjoy mealtimes and he chats with pleasure as he feeds himself.  He watches the people around him and tries to interact. I hope that family mealtimes are something that he continues when he is older.  For now, the baby food I made this morning, that I was hoping would last a couple of weeks, will probably be eaten sooner, but that’s okay.