Babysitter sucess

Today we hired our very first babysitter for N. He is almost 4 (7 weeks tmrw!) and we have only ever left him with family or 3 very close friends. We had tickets to see the Long.Island.Medium and with J's parents in FL and probably needing to hit up our friends for help soon, we decided to bite the bullet and hire a sitter. We've been saying for ages that we need to find a sitter so we can go out on dates more often, but the cost and finding someone we trust has always been the drawback. Which is kind of funny considering that I was babysitting at 12 or 13 (and was totally fine) but wouldn't think of having anyone that young to watch N.

Our sitter is the son of the other nanny at my job. He is a really sweet 18 yr old college student and I've known him for years. The kids at work often ask if he can babysit them as they have so much fun with him. N wasn't that keen on the idea and asked lots of questions about who would be home with him - one of us, the sitter's mom whom he knows really well or the kids. And he has slept so badly the past couple of nights that I wondered if it was some kind of anxiety about it all. But none of us needed to worry. It turned out so well, the sitter said that N was great and really funny. Even better, N asked if the sitter could come and live at our house, if that isn't a great seal of approval I don't know what is!!

J and I had a great afternoon and both really enjoyed the show. It was amazing to witness other people getting messages from family members or friends that have crossed over. I told J in the car that I needed to bring tissues in with me and then forgot. I know I shed lots of tears during the show and wasn't the only one! I didn't go there with any expectations that we would get readings, our seats were not close enough to the stage, I just wanted to see the experience for myself and was so happy that I did.

Vacation

We are back from our wonderful, whirlwind vacation. It was so much fun, definitely the sun filled break that we all needed but came to an end way too soon. We were even talking about moving to Florida - shame it's non recognition state. 

Of course we couldn't leave for vacation without a little drama.... After complaining his belly hurt for a couple of days N came down with a stomach bug the day before we left! He seemed better the day we were due to travel so we headed off to the airport in the early afternoon for our evening flight. As we were hanging out waiting for the plane to board he announces that he needs to go. J takes him to the bathroom and nothing happens, then just as they start boarding the flight he again says he needs to go. I picked him up and started to head to the bathroom and then remembered that I'd put a diaper in my carry on, so doubled back to get it before we made it to the bathroom in time for a massive blow out. After a little convincing I managed to get him to put the diaper on and we headed back to J just as we were being called to board. 

As we got on the plane with all our gear (bags and the car seat) N was looking through the window into the cockpit when the pilot waved him inside. The lucky guy got to check everything out - they even let him press buttons and light everything up as well as push up the throttle. He was so chatty and told them that it was his first time on a plane, all while J and I carried on to our seats and got organized. He was then brought to us as I tried to figure out installing the car seat, which is harder on a plane because of where the buckle is positioned. We all got settled and soon took off just a little later than scheduled. 

We hadn't been in the air all that long when N said he needed to use the bathroom again. Luckily the seat belt sign had just gone off and I lost the rock, paper scissors game and took him to the bathroom. I'm not a fan of flying and always avoid the bathrooms - my worse nightmare is the plane going down while I'm stuck in there. But I sucked it up and manoeuvred us both into the tiny bathroom. Again it was another blow out and just as I got his diaper and clothes back on he had to go again. Poor guy was not feeling great at all. Once he was done and back in his seat he settled down to play with his Peter Pan figures and was happy for the rest of the flight.

We landed at 10.30 and by the time we got off the plane, got our luggage and sorted out our hire car it was midnight before we got on the road. N fell asleep soon after we left the airport (he had napped earlier) and we made the nearly 2 hour drive to J's parents place. We hadn't taken into account that it was daylight savings so we arrived at 2am, which was really 3am! I transferred N straight into bed, we said hello, got what we needed from our bags and crawled into bed with N. 

Luckily for us N slept until 9 the next morning so we managed to get some sleep before we really started our vacation. We spent the first day around the house, taking rides in Gram and Pop's golf cart, made a quick trip up to the pool and popped to the store to get a probiotic for N's poor tummy. 

On Monday we went to Seaworld where N got his first taste at dealing with crowds and waiting in line to do the things he wanted. He liked seeing the animals, especially the penguins but probably liked the rides more. He rode a kiddie roller coaster with J a bunch of times (I don't do roller coaster) as well as all the other rides they had. He even played in the arcade and won a couple of stuffed Orcas that he was really happy with. The penguin ride and exhibit had the longest line and I ended up being really happy that I'd thrown the Ergo in the case at the last minute. It was so helpful for keeping him contained and happy while we stood in line when we weren't allowed the stroller. He even took a nap in it as we stood in line at Disney. 

We had planned to visit the magic kingdom on Wednesday, but when the weather forecast started showing rain and thunder storms we switched it up and went on Tues instead. After much debate about how long we were going to be at the park we got our act together and got there at 11.  I have to give the folks at Disney credit, they are great at dealing with the crowd and coming up with plan B when they need to. The monorail wasn't working and before we knew it there were a bunch of buses that arrived to take us from the parking lot to the park entrance.

There was a performance in front of the castle when we got there and N was mesmerized. He loved seeing his favorite characters and insisted that we watch the whole thing. Despite our attempts to move him along so we could start getting in line for the rides. He dealt so well with all the lines which saw us waiting 30-40 minutes. We had stuffed a backpack with toys, snacks and water so that helped with. His favorite ride was Peter Pan, which had one of the longest waits so we only rode it once. 

By around 5 J's parents were done and I was telling J that I didn't need to come back again any time soon. I really wanted to stay for the parade so J took her parents home while N and I hung out, rode some more rides, ate ice cream for dinner and waited for her to come back. We missed the parade at 9 but did get to watch the fireworks - N and J from the speedway! J has to cutest video of him trying to see the fireworks while he was supposed to be driving. By 10 we were staking out our spot for the 11pm parade (thanks Amanda).  Watching N's reaction to the parade was the highlight of the whole day for me. He loved it. He waved and called hi to all the characters and smiled the biggest smile ever when Cinderella blew him a kiss. 

Wednesday saw us hanging out at Gram and Pop's house for most of the day. It did rain, but not as much as we thought it would. The great thing about Florida is that even when it does rain it doesn't last long. The warmer temperatures and light rain meant that we could still play outside. N sang and danced around in the rain and said that he wished it could be summer all day long :-) 

The three of us went back to Disney for dinner on Wednesday night. We had booked a table at Chef Mickey's thinking that we would end our day there after the park, but we were so glad that it worked out the way that it did. We got the full day in the park the day before and were well rested for dinner and to meet the characters. N started out a little shy, but in no time at all he warmed up and was happy to meet all the characters, especially his favorite Donald Duck. 

Thursday was our last full day and we decided to visit Legoland, which is only 15 mins from J's parents. After experiencing the efficiency of things at Disney we found the park very slow. It wasn't crowded but they could barely handle the visitors that they did have. Lines moved really slowly and we only managed a fraction of the things we thought we would. N still had fun and at the end of the day that is what it's all about!

We flew home very early on Friday morning and were greeted by the freezing cold. The whole plane was groaning when the pilot announced the temps when we landed! I was hoping we could bring back some of the sun and warm temps with us but we couldn't squeeze it into our cases ;-) 

Waiting

Why is it when you are waiting for AF to arrive she decides to take her own sweet time? My irritability, cramps and cravings for chocolates tell me that she's almost here. All the drugs on the kitchen counter mean that we are officially counting down the days to our FET....or would be if only  it was cd1 already!! 

After so long on the TTC train you would think that I would have more patience for the waiting game, but no. I'm ready to get this show on the road and watch my belly start growing :-) 

N update

I feel like I've taken over the blog with TCC stuff so thought it was time for a N update. 

He is feeling lots better - but was kind enough to share with me and I passed it on to J. Just so she wasn't left out ;-) 

N went from taking no classes to being enrolled in gymnastics, basketball and soccer. He is loving gymnastics and can often be found tumbling around the house. We got to watch a class recently and enjoyed seeing what he does while he is there. The coaches were surprised to hear that this is his first gymnastics class as he has caught onto everything so quickly and does a good job of following the instructions. N gets a little confused between basketball and soccer and can be found kicking the basketball and attempting to dribble the soccer ball! I personally think that the basketball looks a little boring as there is a lot of time standing on their colored dot waiting for a turn to dribble and shoot. I have seen him 'accidently' dropping his ball so he can run around the gym trying to catch it. Soccer is more active and he has an English coach (that he thinks talks funny!) so you can't go wrong there ;-)

I have also been trying to get him back in the pool. He is very cautious in the water and definitely forgot that he was swimming so well last summer. It took some coaxing to get him in the first time and he cried until I managed to get him through the fear. If we leave it too long between swims he goes backwards a little. We had to take a break to wait for his wetsuit to arrive as he gets super cold, quickly and if I'm going to all the effort to get us in there we are staying more than 10 minutes!! Now I just have to figure out a way to be warmer myself and we will be able to work on improving his skills. It's hard to believe that last summer he was jumping in and swimming, as well as diving down to retrieve things from the bottom of our pool. I'm sure he will be back there by the time we open out pool again this year. 

School is still going well - if you don't include the getting up part! I'm always glad when Friday rolls around and I don't have to wake him up. J went to his parent teacher conference last week and his teacher said that he's doing well. He still hangs back a little and they are working with him on inviting friends to play with him instead of choosing to play alone. She also said that he has a great imagination, but that his pretend play can get a little out of hand. Or in other words his pretend sword play can go a little too far. He is doing well at rhyming words, can identify most of the letters and counts with one to one correspondence when appropriate. Still working on beginning sounds but he can now write his name and a number of other letters too. Now that I'm not working as many days I'm trying to work on more play dates to fill our afternoons.

While N is a lot of fun he is definitely pushing the limits and my patience frequently. We are working on doing a better job at listening, he has already started talking back and the annoying habit of copying everything you say. He is also trying his hand at playing us against each other to see if he can get what he wants from the other mom, when one has already said no!. I really thought we had a little longer before we saw those not so desirable habits - but I guess our boy likes to keep us on our toes! 

We took him bowling for the first time and he loved it. It was a lot of fun for all of us and was a nice glimpse of the things we will be able to do now that he is getting older. Thank goodness he gave us the excuse we needed to use the bumpers! J and I were both a little rusty and used them a couple of times ourselves. He handled the ball well and even started to follow his throw with his customary slide on his knees. I see a lot of holes in the knees of his pants in our future with that one :-) There were only a couple of occasions when we wondered if his ball was going to make it all the way down to the pins as it was moving so slowly. 

Just a few more days are we are leaving on a jet plane for sunnier skies :-) We are trying to balance our trip to Florida with lots of fun things for N and some down time for the moms too. We will be staying with J's parents so hopefully we can squeeze a date in there too!