Besides the lovely weather, there were a lot of great things about my vacation. Most of them (maybe all) directly related to my adventurous and active toddler. Here are a few:
- We were on the second floor of the hotel and took the elevator up and down multiple times a day. The Pumpkin called it the "elegator," which I truly hope she did not confuse with alligators. I do not want her to walk into their open mouths! Also, she loved to push the buttons for the elegator, and she was really good about only pushing the one we pointed to.
- I'm happy to report that so far the Pumpkin is a happy beach girl. This would be the third trip to the beach in her life, and each time has gone well. This time was especially good, because she is old enough to really enjoy it. She digs in the sand, she laughs as the surf hits her feet, she tries to go into the water farther (holding my hand at all times near the water), she picks up handfuls of wet sand and looks for shells, and she sits in the water left behind by the receeding tide and plays with her buckets and shovels. Also, she got a kick out of stomping in the water when I sang "If you're happy and you know it stomp your feet."
- The place where we stayed was really a resort area. This meant that things were expensive, but they were also very nice. (Thank goodness for the Hilton points my parents had saved up!) The Pumpkin did well at the couple of nice restaurants we went to, and I enjoyed some good meals.
- The plane rides went really well. I'm really glad that she did so well. Minimum fussing and no real screaming. All the tricks everyone told me really helped.
- I discovered that sometimes, when the Pumpkin can't reach my hair (like in her carseat on the plane), she will settle for the hair of a My Little Pony. But if my hair is at all an option, she still wants it during every bottle, when falling asleep and when she needs comfort. My hair is getting really sensitive to all the tugging and twisting. I'm hoping she will start going for the My Little Pony more and more.
- We are now on cold bottles and lying down in bed to fall alseep with the bottle for both naps and bedtime. These were just easier on vacation, and really it's time to start transitioning. I don't think Londo was ready for it, but I feel like it's probably past time and she seems to be handling it well.
- My parents got to spent a lot of quality time with the Pumpkin and really see how much personality she has now! Also, she is talking even more than she was the previous week, with new concepts and whole sentences. My parents are amazed and really enjoyed her.
I'm sure there are more, but that's all I've got for now. It really was a great vacation. It's hard to come back, but at least it's a short week.
8 comments:
Looks like you had a nice trip. Welcome back!
When we went to Kings Dominion with our company, we rode the big elevator in the eiffel tower. She called it that same word! Funny. It must be the Vs that are hard for them to get out.
I find it interesting that you give the Pumpkin bottles still. The doc told us to phase them out at 1 yr, we did and it was never an issue. I think she even stopped drinking bottles before bed at around 10 months (or even before - I can't remember) when she started eating more real food. I know all babies are different and they all latch on to different things to sooth themselves (Aria had the paci for 2 yrs). I'm interested in people's choices. Not that mine is right...it's more about learning and thinkin about what I would do in a similar situation with a 2nd child (that's totally differnt from Aria). Have you tried not giving her a bottle at those times (if so, how did it go)? Does she drink from a cup or sippy other times of the day? Are you worried about her teeth since she's drinking right before she sleeps? Have you thought of a time when you'd phase bottles out? Too many questions? :-) If you don't want to answer, no problem. I'm just curious.
What nice memories!
Dana - I'm happy to answer your questions! I did try to phase out the bottles just after she turned 1, but she would barely drink any milk from sippy cups, and definitely not if the milk was cold. I'm just not that worried about her teeth yet. It has been more important to me to make sure she is getting milk, and make sure she is going to sleep (she has generally needed her bottle to go to sleep, and nursing before that). She is starting to drink milk from sippies now at other times of the day, and she is definitely drinking it cold. In my mind, the next steps are to move the bottle earlier and try to get her to sleep without the bottle while lying down. I'm hoping to have cut out bottles by her 2 year birthday.
Also, my girl is never still, except when she is taking her bottle. That is why I haven't cut out her morning bottle, because it is one of the only times when she is calm and mostly still. I feel she needs that calm time, so I haven't stopped that one yet. But it's probably time. Sigh...
I wouldn't worry overly much about the bottle. Sasha still gets them for naptime. We have it phased out the rest, but we had to go back to bottles because, inexplicably after being weaned for months, he wanted to go back to breastfeeding.
This was our compromise.
It sounds like you had an absolutely wonderful trip!
welcome back... sounds like a good trip. i bet it was a well needed vacation.
I also wouldn't worry about the bottle....Alex still needs one to help calm his body down - especially at bedtime, and sometimes at naptime (though he doesn't generally need one at naptime). With #2 on the way in 10 weeks, there is no way I'd think about phasing the bottle out at this point. He gets MAYBE one a day, drinks from cups and sippys the rest of the time. His teeth are fine. But that might have more to do with his obsession with toothpaste and toothbrushes than anything else. I am certain he'll be done with it by the time he reaches college. And really, it's whatever gets you through the day (and night). Don't stress about it. We've tried several times to take him off the bottle for his milk, and each time he's been very clear that he still really wants and needs his milk in a bottle.
I also have to comment on your wonderful husband who offered to take Pumpkin for the week so you could get some rest....what with my husband being out of town for 2 weeks, chasing around a 3 year old and being 30 weeks pregnant and working full time, I think you are crazy to have not taken him up on it.....but I also understand how hard it is to be away from your baby for any length of time, and I'm so glad you girls had such a good time together and made so many wonderful memories. I just can't stop thinking about being in a lovely resort with people bringing me things as I sit and lounge in the sun.........maybe with a book........aaaahhh.
I love how they talk right now! "Elegator" is sooo cute!. My favorites right now are how my Pumpkin says "nurse" (sort of like "nursh") and butterfly ("utterby").
I may need to buy a My Little Pony. I am always looking for something that might substitute for my hair as a calming device.
Sounds fun! I love the "elegator"- twists on words like that just tickle me. So glad you have a true beach girl and had fun!
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