Travel Necessities

There are a few things I do to prepare for a road trip that I think are key to a successful ride. 

I pack a cooler with food and an activity bag for Connor. 

Since this trip is longer than our usual ones, I'm taking along more food than I normally do. I'll pack dry cereal and fruit for breakfast. String cheese and more fruit for snacks, sandwiches for lunch, juice boxes, raisins, these small milk cartons, crackers, and a bottle of frozen water. This prevents stopping just for food, not to mention the high price of a restaurant or the unhealthiness of a fast food place. 

The activity bag is even more important because it keeps Connor entertained during the times he is awake. I pack a few of his favorite books, a couple matchbox cars, color wonder markers and paper (no drawing on the car doors!), a couple figurines, and my favorite thing, a wooden tray with paths for a duck, a train and a car. The paths are cut-out lines in the tray that let the car move along it. It's part of a larger activity set but it detaches from it very easily and is great for playing in the car. You could make something similar with a metal baking sheet. Make roads on the sheet with masking tape. Attach magnets to the bottom of some toy cars and voila, you have your own play road. 

There's one new thing that we're taking on our road trip, a portable DVD player. A friend let us borrow hers, so I packed that and some of Connor's DVDs to use in case of emergency. He's usually pretty good in the car so I don't know if we'll need it, but it's certainly nice to have. 

We're probably on the road by now, so I will let you all know how our trip goes when I get internet access again. 

Haircut

I gave the boy a haircut today so he'd be all handsome for our trip. Not like he's not handsome normally, but I figured shorter hair would be better in Florida. So I got out our buzzer and cut his hair. 

When I was done, he had little hairs all over his neck. I asked hubby to clean it off for me, figuring he'd brush it off with his hands or use the compressed air thing. 

He takes Connor outside in the backyard. I'm cleaning up the hair off the bathroom floor when I hear the leaf blower turn on and little man start crying. 

Apparently, hubby thought the leaf blower was a good tool to use to blow away the little hairs. Connor didn't agree. 

New Things

 There are a few new things that Connor has picked up lately. 

First is "Ta da!" He will put a blanket over a toy or himself then lift it up and say "ta da!" as if he's just done the greatest magic trick in the world. He will do this when he finds the remote hidden behind my back as well. 

Then there's the throwing himself onto the floor. He "fell" on the floor the other day, acting like he had been pushed or tripped when he really did it himself. 

He will spin around in circles. I think he learned this from my friend's little girls. 

He will put socks on his hands and pretend he's a boxer. Often, he will lift his arms up in a muscle show-off pose, scrunch up his face into a "mean" look and run at the front door in an effort to defeat it in battle. 

And my favorite: at least once a day he will throw himself on to me, wrap his arms around my neck and say "squeeeze." I will then squeeze him in a big hug while saying "squeeeeze."

I can't wait to find out what's next. 

Playground Friends

This week I decided to join in Mama Kat's writing workshop. I love reading every week. 

My participation is prompt # 5: Tell us about that thing that happened at the playground that time. 

Connor and I were at the park 2 weeks ago when he hit it off with another little boy about his age. They were immediately drawn to each other and played very nicely for over an hour together. The mom and I chatted and also hit it off. We agreed to meet back at the park the next week so the boys could play together. When we went to leave, I told Connor to say goodbye to the little boy. I expected a hug or a wave, but instead he walked right up to the boy and kissed him on the lips. Umm, yeah. I could hear what hubby would say if he saw that. But it's how he shows affection to us, so it's only natural that he would do the same with a playmate he had fun with. 

The next week, we met up again and the boys decided to make mulch pies on a little table that's part of the playground. When a little girl tried to play with them, he pushed her away, multiple times, despite my best efforts to get him to stop. 

We haven't seen them again yet as the mother was having a baby this week. But I'm sure that we'll meet up again. It's fun to see how Connor interacts with other kids, even if he is mean sometimes. 

Don't forget to check out Mama Kat's for more stories!

Road Trip

Connor has taken many road trips with me before. His first was at 2 months old. Since then, we've driven up to NY from Virginia at least a dozen times, if not more. The trip takes about 7 hours with minimal stops. I try to get on the road around 4-5 am so Connor sleeps most of the trip. He's awesome in the car. 

So, we're taking a road trip down to Florida for my oldest sister's wedding. Hubby won't be joining us unfortunately because he has to work. It's a 15 hour trip that we're breaking up over 2 days. I plan on getting on the road at 5 am Sunday morning so that Connor will sleep for the first part of the trip. When he wakes up we can stop, have breakfast and find a park for him to play in for a few hours. Then around lunchtime we can get back on the road and he'll be able to take his nap in the car. We should arrive in Jacksonville around dinner time, where we staying for the night with a friend we haven't seen in a while. The next day we'll get back on the road for the next 4-5 hour leg of our trip before we get to southeast FL where my sisters and parents live. 

It should be an interesting trip and definitely an interesting visit. My 4 sisters, 2 nephews, 2 nieces, 3 grandparents and, of course, my parents will all be there. It will be the first time our family has all been together in a year, and the first since my 6-month old niece was born. So, yeah. I'm expecting lots of great stories next week. 

But in the meantime I'll let you know how our preparations for the trip go. 

Happy Easter

Just wanted to share a picture from an egg hunt we went to on Friday. I love the look on his face.

I'm wrapped up in a freelance project and taxes, so sorry for not posting more. I've got a big event coming this weekend, so I'll post news soon. 

Sports Dilemma

We got a package from my mother-in-law today with Easter gifts for Connor. A Sponge-Bob book (whom I loathe, but my son loves), the Pinnochio DVD (her & my hubby's favorite Disney movie) and a baseball outfit. 

Connor loves baseball and enjoys watching the games on tv, but we are Red Sox fans. Always have been, always will, despite the fact that we grew up in NY. The in-laws still live in NY and went to the new Yankee stadium for an exhibition game last week. While there, they picked up a Yankees outfit for Connor. Now, do they really expect for us to put our future Red Sox fan in a Yankee outfit? That's just insanity!

So, what do we do with it? Take a picture, send it to them and then pack it away in a box? It seems unfair and unthrifty to do that. But I just can't imagine letting him wear that. It's just an abomination to our sports allegiances! 

Have you ever gotten a gift you don't want to use from your family? 

A sign of the times

Connor attended his first storytime this Tuesday at 11 am at the local library. This was the biggest of the local libraries and the parking lot is very large. And it was packed. The entire parking lot was full. People had taken to parking along the curbs. Some were waiting for cars to pull out of spots. It was like the mall on Christmas eve. 

I'm not sure if there was something going on or not, but I've never seen a library that packed in the middle of the day. I guess there were just a lot of people using the library's awesome resources. It's a great place to use the internet for free, read new books, rent DVDs, and more all for free. The library offers a lot of entertainment options all at no cost. Paid for by your tax dollars. 

Just out of curiosity I checked the holds on the Twilight books (I just watched the movie for the first time and loved it! So now I must read the books). The 1st book had 33 holds, the 2nd had 30 and the other 2 had close to the same. The DVD had 141 holds! I couldn't believe it. If everyone keeps the DVD for 1 week, the last person on the list won't get it for almost 3 years. It's definitely a popular book/movie and I finally understand why. 

Watch my garden grow.

Connor's feeling much better today thankfully. He's been a bit congested from allergies and (this is kind of gross so skip this next part if you're eating!) I think some of the mucous drained into his stomach while he slept and then mixed with his milk in a bad way. Gross!

He did get another injury though; a scratch below his eye from the dog. He punched the dog in the head and when he pulled back his arm to do it again, Jack went back on his hind legs to get out of the way. Connor stepped closer and right into the dog's paw. I swear this boy looks like we torture him. 

In other news, I got to do some garden shopping yesterday! I've been wanting to grow some of my own vegetables and herbs since last year, but was too nervous about it. Well, I got over that fear and purchased some pots, seeds and some plants. I have three pots right now. One has lettuce and celery. One has a strawberry plant and chocolate mint. One has bell peppers and eggplant. I need to get one more pot to put my herbs in once they sprout. I'm hoping I'll get some decent vegetables this summer. It should definitely be interesting as I haven't grown anything since a bean plant in kindergarten. It's raining right now but I'll get some pictures tomorrow. 

Connor had a great time playing with the dirt and is looking forward to doing some more gardening! I love being able to find ways to expose him to new things that are fairly inexpensive.

Anyone have any gardening tips to share?

Rough Weekend

It's been a rough couple of days for my little boy. 

Friday, we went to the aquarium where he fell on the pavement, resulting in popped blood vessels and a bump on his forehead and scratches on his nose and cheeks. 

Saturday was a trip to the park with him and the dog. Before we even get in the car, he manages to run into the leash and get rope-burn on his neck. 

After we get home, I go outside to do some work in the yard and Connor keeps me company. He falls into the ditch we have next to the patio and cuts his hand. Then he falls on the cement patio and scrapes his ankle. 

That's a total of 5 injuries in 24 hours. They're all minor and are simply because he likes to run and not pay attention to where he's going. 

And then this morning he wakes up, and after having a half-glass of milk, proceeds to throw it all back up. All over the couch, himself and then me (including some in my hair) as I'm trying to carry him to the bathroom. So I clean us both up, and the couch, call the hubby to let him know what's going on, throw the blanket and towel used in clean-up into the washer and sit down with my sick boy. When Matt got home, Connor fell asleep so I went to take a shower. Halfway through that, he pukes again. He is now asleep with his head in my lap with hopefully the last of it out of his system. 

He doesn't have a fever, so I assume it's just a stomach bug. But I hate when he's sick. The injuries I'm used to. This is the boy who fractured his wrist when he was just 16 months old. He always rebounds quickly. But when he's sick, he's just so helpless. I wish I could take it away but instead I'll simply spend the day cuddling with him on the couch, comforting him as best I can.

Attack of the Orange

My DH was driving along the road yesterday going about 40 mph when he heard a loud BANG that sounded like something had hit the roof. 

He looks in his rear-view mirror to see an orange fly off his car onto the median where several sea gulls start attacking it. Apparently, the sea gulls were flying overhead carrying the orange when due to fighting or a loss of a grip caused the orange to be dropped onto his car. They must have been pretty high up too, as the dent left by the orange was the size of a bowling ball.