Cara Figlia - We're Off!

Cara mia figlia,

We are about to head to the airport so you can take your first plane ride and go to Florida! We will be going with your Grandma and Grandpa and having a great time! Hopefully, you will be easy this week. I'm sure we'll have fun. And I'm sure this week will be full of learning experiences and memories!

Ti amo,
Mama

Getting Ready to Vacation

I haven't been around much or had time to write much. It took me a while to recover from the food poisoning. I even had to take Monday off from work. So then I also had to make up the work I'd missed. Plus, I'm busy getting ready for the vacation I'm taking next week.

That's right, I'm going on vacation next week! I'm going to Florida with my parents. I'm bringing the Pumpkin. But Londo is not coming. Am I crazy? Why, yes. I think I am.

It's not that a vacation with my parents and daughter is a bad idea. It's just, as I've mentioned, she is "spirited" and extremely active. She is not easy in so many ways. I love her more than I could ever express, and she is fun and funny and good natured. Surely, we'll have a great time!

But I know it will be exhausting. She is exhausting. And while my parents will help, I will have to put her down for every nap and every bedtime. I will have to be night duty and cosleep with her every night. I will have to be the one making sure she is entertained and happy and on scheduled.

Also, we will be flying down, and I've read some good tips about toddlers on the plane. Luckily, I will be on the same flight as my parents, so they will be helpful during the trip.

If anyone has any tips for traveling or being on vacation with a toddler, I'm open to hear them!

Question of the Week - Child's Temperment

I am currently reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block, by Harvey Karp. I love this guy. Right after the Pumpkin was born, I watched The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD, and it was incredibly helpful! Oh, the five "s"s got me through those tough early months with a fussy baby. Dr. Karp really examines what is reasonable to expect of babies and toddlers given their age, their development stage and their personalities. He does not say "do this" for all babies/toddlers. He says "this might work for this type" or that you should try something else.

In the Toddler book, he talks about different toddler personalities. I read the three main types of personalities: easy kids, cautious kids and spirited kids. My child is definitely a "spirited kid." As a baby, she was surely what Dr. Sears defined as a "fussy baby," a notch away from a "high-needs baby," as I've written about before.

Even before she was born, she was constantly moving and active. In fact, during my third or fourth month of pregnancy, the nurse couldn't find the baby's heartbeat. To make sure everything was okay, the doctor did an ultrasound. I was SO worried, until we found the baby doing just fine, and doing somersaults! The doctor said, "No wonder we couldn't find the heartbeat!" While in my stomach, the baby was constantly moving, kicking and hiccuping. I knew then that this would be an active child.

As a toddler, she is high-energy, active, inquisitive, constantly moving and into everything! While this can be exhausted for us parents now, I know these traits will server her well both now and in the future. She doesn't get it from me, since I'm not that active of a person and never have been. This daughter of mine that has been moving since just about conception, she definitely gets it from her father, who is an active, fidgety, moving person. It has served him well in his life, too, so I know it's a good thing for the Pumpkin to have this temperment, this personality. I can't wait to see what she does with it!

Which leads us to our Question of the Week...

What is your child(ren) temperment/personality? Is your an active, spirited child like mine, or an easy, relaxed baby?