Snow is Here

Last year when we took Brayden out into the snow, he didn't like having snow on his shoes - he just wanted to wipe it off and go back inside. This year has been completely different. We got him a sled and a shovel. Lark pulled him around in his sled and he loved every minute of it. Then we shoveled the driveway and he helped with his little kids size shovel and kept making piles of snow. Although, he mostly wanted to fill up the sled with snow... We had to bribe him with chocolate to get him inside because he was having too much fun and was not interested in stopping. He crashed around 7 without eating dinner so we woke him up to get some food in him and then needed to wear him out. So we took him back outside and again had a hard time getting him in. Looks like he's giving the snow a big thumbs up this year!

The Adventure Continues

We've been having quite a bit of fun since the weather has gotten warm. We went to feed the ducks in Boiling Springs a few times, we took Brayden to the Crayola factory in Easton and last weekend we went to the Turkey Hill Experience in Columbia. He loved all of them! There were a bunch of things for him to do at Crayola - he made his own crayon labels, he played with a giant lite brite, we made markers and colored and watched a live show on how they made the crayons. At turkey hill, he got to try the drinks, of course the ice cream, go down the slide and make virtual flavors with big buckets of fake fruit. He also got to meet the Philly phanatic - he had a ball! Since we've been home he asks to feed the ducks bread, asks for chocolate peanut butter ice cream and to go to Monkey Joes (another favorite). Brayden: "Monkey Joes? Down Slide? Daddy car? Top Down?" And last week we also went to Negley Park to watch the fireworks since he enjoyed them so much on the 4th. Unfortunately, the Senators game went into extra innings and the fireworks didn't start until 10:30, so Brayden watched them with his head on his dad's shoulder because he was pooped by then. All in all, lots of fun and hoping for more over the rest of the summer and fall!

Catching Up - Brayden is 2!

Brayden turned two almost two months ago and has been learning more every day. He still is obsessed with the alphabet, now even more that he watching 'Super Why,' his new favorite show. They focus on spelling with both uppercase and lowercase letters so he's pretty good at both sets now. He still mixes up the b/d, p/q, and i/l. He's also starting to spell words on his own. The first one was wolf. Now I also see a bunch of others: party, bed, sand, meatballs, and happy to name a few. When we sit him down to color, instead of just scribbling, he's been really focused on learning to write his letters. He's still not very good at it, but he's just getting started and can do about half of the alphabet without help. He's also becoming more of a parrot and starting to repeat what we are saying. Usually, he'll pick up on one word from a sentence and start to say that a few times. He still loves to play outside, which is great now that the weather is getting warmer and we can go outside more regularly. He loves going to the park by our house - he finds the letters under the equipment, then climbs up and goes down the slide. Yesterday, he found the sandbox and was in heaven!

Interactions

Brayden is finally getting to the point where he is noticing other kids and wanting to interact with them. We took him to the bowling alley with us last Wednesday because Kelsey had to practice before Myrtle Beach. There was a little girl (almost three) a few lanes down who noticed Brayden and he also saw her. He went up to her to try to kiss her and she ran away crying. She eventually came back and warmed up to him and they chased each other back and forth for most of the rest of the night. The next day I took Brayden to Monkey Joe's to play for a little while and he really had fun in the low bounce house. There were two other kids in this one and one was probably about three and a half. He wanted the little boy to chase him, and he did. They ran around and around and around and fell down quite a bit. But when the little boy got close Brayden wanted to hit him, so I had to hop in a few times and tell him that wasn't ok. Last night we went up to the bakery to see how the prints looked hung on the wall and Brayden was playing with Austin. At one point he tried to give her a hug and their feet got tangled so they both ended up falling. Their heads hit the ground and they were both crying. Pretty pitiful. Then when it was time to go he gave her another hug and a kiss and it was the cutest thing!

Potty Time

About two weeks ago we bought a potty for Brayden and he was very excited to get it... until it was time to sit on it. The first time we put him on, he cried a little and seemed like he was scared, but we had Elmo so he watched that and calmed down and after about 15 minutes he finally peed. The next day we did the same thing and he sat there for 15 - 20 minutes and this time no pee. Same thing on day 3, so we've back off because he's just holding it until he gets off the potty and then pees. But he's still very excited to go to the bathroom and see his potty and watch the Elmo potty DVD so he's getting there - just not quite ready yet.

Bowling Alley Fun

Kelsey wasn't able to babysit last night because it was her last practice before Dallas so we brought Brayden to the bowling alley with us. About half way through, I took him into the bathroom to get him changed and once I was done, I put him on the ground and went to grab the diaper from the changing table. In the split second that it took to do that, he had already approached an occupied stall and was squatting down to see if he could see the lady on the other side.

Jamaica Mon

Saturday, January 26th, 2013 The day started early as we woke at 4:30 to get ready to leave. The limo bus arrived at our house at 4:35 and Lark began packing everything in, while I changed Brayden and brought him downstairs. My parents arrived a few minutes later and we got their things in the car, and drove off in about 3 inches of snow. We rode down to Baltimore to catch our flight to Jamaica and Brayden stayed awake the whole time. We got all of our bags out and made our way to the ticket line, got our bags checked and headed to security. Brayden fell asleep in the stroller and stayed asleep the whole way through security and to the gate. We made it in enough time to get a drink and board. Overall, Brayden did a good job on the plane. We kept him occupied with the iPad, books, snacks and Gigi walked him up and down the aisle which he really liked. When it was time to land and he had to sit on Dad’s lap, he wasn’t really interested because he was having too much fun walking around and screamed his head off until we landed. Our seats were in the very back of the plane, so it took a while to get up and out but we finally did and made our way to immigration. We got through there and customs and then found the Sandals lounge where we had time to go to the bathroom and get a drink before we loaded up our van and started on our way to the resort. Brown was our driver and he got us there in one piece. It took about 2 hours including a stop at a roadside Jerk Chicken place. The welcome to the resort was awesome – music playing when we got out and they ushered us right inside to the concierge where we got our keys and they took us to our room. The room was great – penthouse suite, 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a huge covered and uncovered patio that overlooks the entire resort and it’s the only room on the entire floor so we have the place completely to ourselves. We headed downstairs for food since we had a long day of traveling and ended up at the BBQ place. We had the jerk chicken and it was great! We walked around the resort to check everything out, and had a late dinner at Neptunes. Francis, the head chef, made me a special meal and it was delicious – chicken breast, broccoli, rice, etc and then went upstairs and hand made me a dessert! I haven’t had a dessert out since being gluten and dairy free – it was pretty exciting to say the least. We came upstairs soon after and Brayden passed out very quickly and I don’t think he moved all night. He had a long day and was pooped! Sunday, January 27th, 2013 After falling asleep so early, everyone was up early too. Lark left around 7 to head to the golf course, and we all went down to breakfast at Bayside after we got up and dressed. We went to the lobby afterward to see if we could get internet working on the computer and before we got too far, Dyce came to take us on our orientation, so we took the tour. It lasted about 45 minutes and he was a great guide. We came back upstairs, got our suits on and headed down to the wading pool. Brayden was a little hesitant at first, but slowly got in and realized how fun it was. He played on the crab and the other animals that had water shooting out of them. He also liked to walk along the edge of the pool back and forth. Papa took him down the slide and since he ended up going under, he wasn’t a fan of that. After playing in the pool all morning, we went upstairs to get changed and ran into Dad – just back from golf. We went down to Neptune’s for lunch (another special made meal) and I had the Snapper this time which was delicious. We headed back upstairs so Brayden could nap and I went down to the spa for a massage and sugar glow scrub. The massage was fabulous – very relaxing. The sugar glow felt like sandpaper on my skin, but it worked wonders. My skin felt so soft afterward. On the way out, I schedule reflexology for my dad since it was his birthday. He went down and had that and loved it! We hung around the room for a little bit longer and then went down to the Venetian for dinner. My special meal was a chicken breast stuffed with spinach over broccoli and carrots and it was great. But… Brayden decided he wanted most of my broccoli. And carrots. I was just glad he was eating since he wasn’t really into his chicken and pasta. We rushed out of there to get to the main stage for the Sesame Street show, but since it was raining, there was no show. They did have the characters come down and interact with everyone and said as long as it wasn’t raining, it would be the next night. So Brayden got to see all of his favorite friends in person and the look on his face was priceless. I took a bunch of pictures and was standing next to two of the photographer from the resort, so we started talking about cameras. They were really impressed with mine and were probably a little jealous. I would have been! After hanging out there for a little while, we headed back upstairs, watched a little TV and went to bed. Monday, January 28th, 2013 Having gone to bed a little later last night, I thought Brayden would have slept in a little longer this morning. Not so. He woke up around 7:15 and it was go time. He woke up Papa, we all got ready and went downstairs for breakfast. It was day 2 of having a pancake on his plate and not eating it. Not really sure why – since he loves pancakes at home. Today he was also not interested in the potatoes – just the ketchup. He had some juice and peanut butter and ketchup in between. So strange. We went back upstairs and got our suits on and headed down to the beach. We skipped the sand and went right for the ocean but he was not having it. So we put him down and he walked through the sand back up to the boardwalk, but not before he tried to wipe the sand off his feet. We took him over to the outdoor shower to rinse his feet and he loved it. He didn’t want to get out. Eventually we got him back on the elevator to head up to the wading pool but we were a little early so it wasn’t open yet. We ended up back in the lobby and Gigi and Papa booked their Catamaran cruise for Tuesday and Justin was looking into times for the ATV Dunn’s River Falls tour for Thursday. Hopefully we have good weather for both. It started to pour, so we came back up to the room and just hung out upstairs for a while. Dad came back from golfing and the sun was out so we went down to the wading pool again. Brayden played with the crab and went down the slides with Daddy – he had lots of fun. We had lunch from the BBQ Hut again and then headed back upstairs for Brayden to nap. He took another long nap (2 hours) and had to be woken up. He had some French fries and then we went down to see Oscar. Since it was drizzling, they didn’t do anything on stage, but Oscar, Super Grove 2.0 and ELMO all came down. Brayden wasn’t really interested in getting too close, but he loved that they were there and he could see them in person. We hung out down at the Bayside bar until dinner and then headed over to Neptune’s. The restaurant is open air on the boardwalk right next to the Caribbean covered by what looks like a grass hut roof. We had another delicious meal and I again got my strawberry dessert. We rushed off to see the Sesame Stage show at 7:00 and got there just after it started. Brayden just watched and took it all in. We thought he was tired (looked like he could have fallen asleep right there) and was quite clingy but once we got back up to the room after the show, he played with the pillows on the bed for about an hour. So I think he was a little intimidated by how big the characters were. Tuesday, January 29th, 2013 Brayden got up a little later this morning – about 7:45 and we went down to eat around 8:00. We tried more of the same – pancakes, potatoes, bacon… he ate some of the bacon, but wasn’t interested in the rest. I decided to try a blueberry muffin and he ate almost the whole thing. We thought we would try the Sesame camp today so we walked around the resort until it started at 9:00. Brayden made it quite clear that he was not at all interested in going in and playing. We tried a few times, but finally gave up. We walked around a little more and then got suits on to go to the pool. Papa and Gigi took him down and he played for a while and then they came back up around the same time Lark got back from golfing. We hung around the room/balcony until almost 12:30 and then went to the Bayside for the lunch buffet. Papa and Gigi left there to go to their Catamaran trip, only to find out it was postponed because of the wind, so they went off to the pool, while we stayed in the room with napping Brayden. Tuesday night they had a special dinner at the Venetian for all returning Sandals customers, so we showed up for that and Zoe welcomed everyone in. She took Ted and Brayden chased her around and then she gave him back. Brayden thought this was the greatest game ever. We went in and sat down and waited for everyone else to get started. It was a four course meal (except I didn’t get an appetizer or dessert) but everything was delicious and they gave us all a free bottle of Appleton Estate rum to take home. Lark took Brayden to the Sesame Street show part way through the dinner and then came back to finish. He said that he loved it again! Wednesday January 30th, 2013 We got up and got ready but hung out upstairs a little longer than usual because we were scheduled to have breakfast with Sesame at 8:30. We headed down around 8:20 and the place was already hopping. They had us in for the wrong number of people, but we got it straightened out and got a table and they headed to the buffet. Brayden finally decided to eat his pancake (with syrup today). Then one by one the characters started to come in. They came around to all of the tables and took pictures with the kids and Brayden was still a little hesitant at first but you could see him warm up as the breakfast went on. By the end he was wanting to give the characters his Ted and get it back like he was doing with Zoe the night before. Clearly this has become his new favorite game. After that, we headed to the pool for a little while and did the usual – play with the crab, walk around, get in and out of the tube, etc. He was starting to slow down so we grabbed some food and headed upstairs to eat on the balcony. Lark ate quickly and headed out to golf. Then we got Brayden to go down for a nap and I went down for a facial since the spa was doing a 50% off all services sale. It was for the most part very relaxing. When she was squeezing stuff out of my face, that was a little uncomfortable, but the rest was great and my skin felt so nice afterward. When Brayden woke up we went down to the main pool and hung out near the bar. Brayden sat on the side of the pool and played with cups of ice. Pouring them back and forth into each other while they melted all over. He really enjoyed this game. After plenty of fun, we took him up to get ready and then head back down to the front of the hotel for the Sesame Parade. All the characters came out and danced around with the kids, there was face painting and the George Washington High School Band and Cheerleaders. They paraded from the front down along the east lawn, past the pool to the main stage where the dancing continued. Brayden was LOVING it! Bert held his hand as they walked down the stairs and then once they got to the stage, he ran around from character to character – he couldn’t get to each one fast enough, he was having so much fun. Until he tripped over the foot of one of the employees and landed forehead to the cement – then he wasn’t too happy. He wasn’t badly hurt – just needed a little love and then went back to playing (but at a slower pace). Thursday, January 31st, 2013 We got up early and headed to breakfast, as our excursion was to leave at 7:45. So we showed up on time and they put us in our van and started to head off to an ATV tour. Not exactly how we thought we were seeing the falls, but as long as that’s where we were going, it was fine with us. The drive then asked us when we were going to see the falls. Needless to say we turned the van around and headed back to the hotel to straighten things out. They apparently had us going on a ATV tour of the countryside – not going to Dunn’s River Falls. So it took a few minutes to find space on the correct tour, but we got it all squared away and off we went. Our van driver took us to another hotel where we met up with the group and headed to a coffee plantation first. It was very neat. We saw the coffee beans, pineapple, curry and a bunch of neat stuff. Mr. Black told us how they make the coffee and the different kinds they have and how women are better workers then men. We got back in the safari jeep and further up the mountain to a 14th century slave house. What a view! We walked around there for a little bit and learned about the culture of Jamaica and then got back in the jeep for the “bumpy” part of the ride. And bumpy it was. It seemed like we drove all over Jamaica – we went up and down mountains, in through towns, through countryside, and more. The trip was eye opening and beautiful and after passing Ocho Rios High School, we finally made it to Dunn’s River Falls. Lark and I decided to do the dry walk instead of getting in and not taking the camera. We weren’t in for five minutes before one of the guys grabbed my camera and started taking a bunch of pictures of the two of us by the falls. Some of them actually came out pretty good. But needless to say, he then asked for a tip. That seemed to be quite the theme at the falls. We walked up and down along the falls and got quite a few good shots (even without the tripod!) We made it back up to the top and headed out to the parking lot so we wouldn’t miss the jeep in case the rest of the group was already there. They hadn’t arrived quite yet, but followed not too long behind. Then we dropped everyone off at their hotels and got back to ours as well. Lark grabbed some food and we ate on the balcony and then he and Papa went down to the pool. Gigi and I got showered and got Brayden cleaned up and ready. The boys came up and got ready and we headed down to the photo shop to meet Nevin for our shoot. He took us out on the beach and shot for about 20 minutes (which was enough to get a few good shots, but not too long that we missed the Sesame show). So we went back up to the stage and caught the 6:00 show. He ran up to the stage and watched from close up and then ran back to us. He kept going back and forth with a huge smile on his face – he loved it! Then we went to Neptune’s for dinner and got to sit out on the pier under the stars. It was wonderful. Francis and Cornelia were both there so I had my two favorite chefs and had another delicious meal. We hung out a bayside and the resort shop until I discovered that the resort shop seemed like a good place to stop a poop, so we took Brayden upstairs and got changed and then stayed in for the rest of the night. Friday, February 1st, 2013 Today we got up and got ready and everyone was off on their trips. Papa and Gigi went to their Catamaran boat ride and visit to Dunn’s River Falls and Dad went off to golf one last time. Brayden and I had breakfast, got changed and went down to the pool to play. We had lots of fun doing more of the same and we went down the slide once, but he wasn’t really interested in doing it again. We played with the guys that were working the pool – he even gave one of them a high five! Around 11am, we walked down to the BBQ Park and ordered some food, got our stuff together and went back up to the room. We had lunch on the balcony and the weather was gorgeous. It wasn’t too much longer before Daddy got back and we went downstairs with him to get lunch. (And both had a little more food, because, why not?) We went back upstairs and Daddy and Brayden hung out together while I went down to the spa for a facial, since they were having a special. I met back up with them around 2 and Brayden was napping. It was around 2:30 when Papa and Gigi got back from their trip. We all got ready and went down to the big pool with the swim up bar. Brayden played on the steps with the watering cup that Gigi had gotten for him. We stayed down there until about 4:30ish and then went up to take a shower (since it was quicker and the bath was clearly not something he wanted to do). We all got cleaned up and ready and went down to eat. We went to the Venetian and Junior Francis came out and asked what I wanted to eat – I couldn’t decide between the fish and the chicken and asked what was better and he said, “I’ll make you both!” They were, as usual, delicious. Then we hurried over to the stage to catch the Sesame show one last time before we had to go home. He loved it again! I stopped in the photo shop to try to pick out which photos I wanted to get to take home and only got through a few before I had to get upstairs for Brayden’s tuck in with Elmo. It was the highlight of the trip. Elmo came to his room and they read a bed time story together and Brayden couldn’t even contain himself – he was so excited! He stayed for about 15 minutes and then had to go, but Brayden enjoyed every minute of it. (And so did we!) Seeing his face light up was awesome! Then it took some time to settle back down but we did and got some sleep. Saturday, February 3, 2013 We got up and went down for our last breakfast and then finished up packing so our bags were ready for their 10am pick up. Then we went for a walk around the resort. I stopped in the photo shop to finish picking out my photos and get the CD. We also got a free 5x7 with our Elmo tuck in so I got to pick that out as well. We did some more walking around and then got an early lunch so that we were ready for our shuttle at noon. Mercy was our driver to the airport and we had a small bus/large van full of people and luggage. Jamaican driving is not something that Papa got used to at all and was a little on edge the entire two hour ride. But we made it safely to the airport, got our tickets, got through security and made it to our gate (where we had to check in again). We had time to grab a snack for the plane and then we boarded. Brayden was pretty good for most of the flight again. He cried on the descent – which could have been because we weren’t letting him move around at that point or because it bothered his ears. He didn’t cry too long but that didn’t stop the lady in the row in front of us from turning around and giving me looks (like she didn’t have two kids traveling with her). We landed, got off the plane and made it through immigration (I think that was first). Then we moved on to baggage claim and while we waited for our bags, Papa called the limo company to tell them we had landed and would be out shortly. The driver apparently had the days mixed up and was not there to pick us up. After a few more phone calls back and forth, the limo company had someone else coming to get us, but they were two hours away and it was snowing. So we found a restaurant and had dinner (I skipped the meal since I didn’t really trust the place). After that we made our way to the front of the airport so we’d be ready when they arrived. We waited there for about a half hour and then they showed up. We got everything in and were on our way home. It took a little longer than usual because of the snow, but just before midnight we arrived at our house.