Our trip to Texas

Finally, a chance to give you our trip to Texas in pictures.

Here is Max at Chicago's O'Hare. We had one flight down and were waiting out the first of the 2, 4 hour lay overs. You know what happened for there rest of the day.Here is dad playing with Max on our first day. It was a beautiful sunny day (notice Max in shorts and no socks!). We took it easy on our first day, checking out the RV park and doing some outlet mall shopping in the afternoon.
We went to the Gladys Porter Zoo. It was a nice zoo, not too big and it is part of a Species Survival Plan, which basically means they are helping to breed endangered species in captivity. Tammy had the great idea of renting one of the strollers at the zoo, which made it easier for Max to sit up and check things out. He really seemed to like it. I think he is looking at some tiny monkeys in this shot.
Stopping for Max's lunch break.
After the zoo we headed into to town (Brownsville that is) to look around and have some lunch. Max was wonderful and slept through the whole thing! We had some incredible Mexican food. You get fresh salsa and tortillas when you sit down. And I am talking just chopped up fresh salsa and warm out of the fryer tortilla chips. We didn't know what was on the menu, so we all ordered something different and loved all of it.
On Wednesday we went to Mexico. It's the most surreal thing. You park your car, walk across the Rio Grand, which is the natural border between Mexico and the US, you put 35 cents into a turnstile, and... you are in Mexico! No, seriously. Coming back into the US is obviously a little more complicated with border guards and US customs. We shopped and had some more great food. Max was great considering he really isn't a fan of shopping. At the restaurant, Max was manhandled by everyone, which was something I got used to very quickly. Good thing I am not weird about strangers touching my child. I went to the bathroom and when I came back Max was in the arms of a strange woman. She was the owner and we had seen her while eating, but Tammy said she basically walked over and took him out of her arms.
This is Max showing Hobo his new rattle that Tam bought him in Mexico. Oh, and Mom and Dad on the patio.
On Friday we went to the beach. We packed up a lunch and the whole family, Hobo included, headed to South Padre Island. The weather was gray and windy, which was probably better than full sun. When the sun did peek through a couple of times, it was really hot. I don't think Max would have done very well in the full sun. The beach is hard packed and you can drive up on it. This made it very easy to push the stroller, so we went for a nice long walk. Max loved watching the waves and the birds flying around.

Max even got to dip his toes into the Gulf of Mexico. It was a quick dip as the water was really cold. He didn't seem terribly impressed by it all but seemed to like the fact that his toes were sinking into the sand.
On our last day we went to see this very impressive basilica, where Max discovered that if he yelled his voice would echo. He got louder and louder and I tried finding an exit faster and faster as there were several people in the chapel praying. Max thought this was a wonderful game. Mom also took us to her favorite Texan barbecue place. It's basically a shack made of plywood and corrugated metal, but man the food was good and you got a whole lot of it. So there you have it. A week of flip flops and palm trees. It was a great vacation which went by super fast. Thanks again Mom and Dad. And a huge thanks to Tam, whom made the two very long days of travel possible. I don't think I could have done it without you.

Vacation coming to an end

Our little vacation is coming to a very quick end. It's been a nice get away from the cold weather, but it will be nice to go home and see Marty. I know how much he is missing Max.

The past few days have been nice. The zoo was OK. I am not a huge fan of zoos, but this one is small, well maintained and part of the species survival program, so there were a lot of little baby animals which are always fun to see. Tuesday we went to Mexico. Basically just walked around, I bought some silver rings (had to stop myself from buying a gorgeous necklace, but living on credit means sacrifice! ;-) ), we had a nice lunch and made it home for dinner. Wednesday was a blah day. Grey and rainy. We did some laundry, ran a few errands, that's about it. Today we went to South Padre Island. Typical sea side town. It would have been really nice if the sun was out. It was super windy and grey. The sun did peek through a couple of times, enough to get a little colour in my cheeks and Max got to play in the sand and dip his feet into the ocean (no swimming as the water is only about 18 degrees). Now we are all tired from being out all day and I am looking forward to bed.

I think tomorrow will be spent getting some last minute shopping done, going for one last Mexican food lunch (they have been amazing so far) and packing. Then up at the crack of dawn on Saturday for the LONG journey home. I can only hope that Max is half as good as he was on the way here. All week he has been his usual laid back guy, only melting down when he is really over tired. My parents have been flaunting him all over the park, and all the other grandparents seem to like having a little snuggle from a wee one, reminding them of the ones they are missing at home.

Stay tuned for Tiny Moments from Texas when I get back.

Travelling Hell with an Angel

Here we are in Texas. The sun is warm and the sky is blue. Couldn't ask for better. How was the trip dow you ask? Hell. Well actually, Houston was hell. But let's start from the beginning.I woke up at 2:30 with Max and didn't get back to sleep. I knew it was going to be a long day. Up at 5:00am, out of the house at 6:30 and off to the airport. Went through the ridiculous US security and customs. Had my letter of consent to travel from Marty (they did ask for it), was allowed through with my 4 bottles of water for Max's formula. Everything was going well.First flight, 2 hours to Chicago. How did Max do? He was an angel. He didn't cry at all, even napped for a little bit. Wow! Have I told you we have the perfect kid lately? Four hour lay over in Chicago. How was Max? He was an angel. Again, have I told you how perfect our kid is lately? Three hour flight to Houston. How was Max? He entertained people, laughed and napped again. Have I told you... you get the point. Then we hit Houston.First of all, the George Bush International Airport in Houston is a pit. It is old, ugly and the people are not friendly. How long did we have there? 3 1/2 hours. First thing, we had to change terminals. No problem, right? Ha! In this airport, you have to go through another security check, full on with taking off your shoes, getting your bag swabbed for explosives and NOT allowing ANY water through, even for baby formula. Can you believe this? We just went through O'Hare, one of the largest airports in the world, and we had three bottles of water with us, no questions asked. No questions, because we had already gone through a security check. Where the heck does Houston think you have been between terminals that all link together and in which you can't get out of?! How was Max through all this? You guessed it, an angel.So now we are getting ready to get on the plane. After we are all on board we are told that 6 people have to get off the plane or it can't leave. They had to put in extra fuel to make sure we would get to our destination an hour away because of bad weather and strong head winds. Well, 30 minutes later, they finally had 5 volunteers and they figured that was good enough. In that 30 minutes the weather changed from light rain to full on electrical storm. We were stuck on the tarmack for 4 HOURS! So long that we had to pull back into the gate to get the toilet drained because it was full! 4 hours in which Max slept. Did I mention her was an angel? (yes I know, it's getting old, but this was a very long day and he never cried once) We had to wait out the weather, not a single plain was leaving or coming in. Once things cleared up, there was 100 plains waiting for flight path approval. The pilot was really nice and gave us updates every 30 minutes or so. Did I mention it was a tiny little plain? Only 80 passengers.When we finally got off the ground, the flight was pretty bumpy and made me hold on to Max really tight. I was actually nervous for the first time flying. We landed, everything was fine. Mom and Dad were waiting for us (they had been at the airport for the 5 hours of delay), they didn't loose the car seat (another worry of mine), we got to the RV, everyone plopped into bed and as I closed my eyes I realised that I had been awake for 24 hours. Ugh.That was day one. Yesterday we went outlet shopping. Yes, I spent an obscene amount of money and today was the zoo. So far so good. Tomorrow Mexico and Thrusday the beach. Sounds good to me!

Bye Y'all

We head off tomorrow. I am still packing. Feels like I have been packing for weeks. It really is incredible how much you have to pack when traveling with a baby. Especially a bottle fed baby. Especially when your travel day is 18 hours! Hey, we're traveling points and beggars can't be choosers.

I am really looking forward to the trip. Not only because the temperature for the week is in the mid 20s, but because my mom is going to have so much fun with Max. He is so interactive now. One of his favorite things to do is pass you stuff. I think it is the cutest thing ever.

I am sure that I will have the chance to post a couple of times while in Texas to let you know of the adventures we have been on. I don't think I will be able to post photos, so there will probably be a huge photo montage when we get back.

I am still a little stressed about the flight. I know that I tend to worry, and Max ends up being a really trouper, but this time the travel can be painful for him. He still has a cold and is pretty stuffy. I just don't want him to be in pain. I have bought some saline drops and will put them in before each flight to try and at least have a little moisture in there. We'll see what happens.

OK, off to more packing. Bye y'all!

A Winter Day

Yesterday was a great day. A great winter day. It didn't start off great, but definitely made up for it by the end.

Our friends Dave and Andra and their two girls Zoey and Andy were in town for Winterlude. We were supposed to meet up with them at the Snowflake Kingdom with Kev, Sab and Kathryn. The first problem was finding parking, which we finally did at the museum. Then as we were unbuckling Max, we realized that the backpack was not in the car as I thought. Crap. Marty said he would be fine carrying him around, but I felt terrible.

Second problem, the number Dave gave us for his cell didn't work. You see, there are hundreds of families, all dressed up in their winter gear. Trying to find one family is basically like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. We met up with Kev and Sab (using the cellphone) and ended up walking around for just over an hour trying to find the others. No luck. We enjoyed the time but it was noon and we were all getting pretty hungry so we decided to head home and wait to hear from Dave and Andra. We did hear from them, just as we were getting to the car. It was decided that Marty and I would go to Kev and Sab's for lunch and Dave and Andra would call us when they got back to the hotel. The second part of our day was to go swimming with the kids at the hotel pool.

Once we finally all got together we were eight adults and six kids. Mike, Julie and their kids Jayden and Harrison arrived as well. Thank goodness it was a suite. We all hung out for a while and then headed down to the pool. Holy crap it was cold!! I was surprised that Max didn't complain. He is used to much warmer water when he swims. It was Marty's first time with Max in the pool and they both had a great time. I was very happy that Marty decided to swim.

After the swim it was back to the hotel to hang out again. We ended up ordering pizza and stayed until Max could barely keep his eyes open. He did so well even without any nap.

It's interesting how kids can bring friends together more than before kids arrived. You'd think it would be the other way around, that kids would make it more difficult to get together, but it seems that they are the ones that bring you together. We are so fortunate to have friends with such great kids. Marty and I will learn a lot from them.

This is Jayden the oldest, with Max the youngest. Is Max's head bigger than hers? Ack!

Knitting

I am learning to knit. Actually, I am taking a class in learning how to knit. It's actually a lot of fun. Five women sitting in a living room, drinking jasmine tea and eating whatever goodies Karen brings with her. I guess you could call it a "Stitch 'n Bitch" but it's an actual class where we are learning how to do stuff. There is a small period to bitch at the end of the class.

The first project we are doing is a scarf. A scarf that I have had to rip out three times. I am finally making some progress and have learned how to fix my mistakes (excellent reason to take a class might I say), though I am finding it extremely long and somewhat boring. Once you learn to knit sstraight rows, there isn't much excitement in it. So Karen suggested I try a dishcloth. She had this great easy pattern and a ball of cotton. Yesterday I sat down during Max's three hours of nap (yippee!) and knit myself this lovely little dishcloth. It was extremely satisfying to have finished something. Unfortunately the scarf we are making isn't the nicest of colors. I am pretty sure it's going to end up in the Goodwill bag if I ever get to finishing it.


Aunty Iris, I am now one less person you will have to knit these for!

Mystery solved

The mystery of the baby halitosis has been solved. It seems that the nasty breath is an indication of teething. Max had the stink on Wednesday again and it got me thinking, "didn't he cut his tooth the last time he had this?" Karen had the same thought process. So, two days after the stink arrived, Max cut his second tooth. It's not the only sign, but it seems to be the first one to show up. Yesterday he was drooly, a little cranky and wanted to chew absolutely everything. And then lo and behold, his second tooth arrived over night.

Another milestone today: we lowered the mattress in Max's crib. "You haven't done it yet?!" I hear you scream at the computer screen. Don't forget, Max isn't really showing much interest in mobility and there was no real need to. But yesterday he had his toes on the top rail, and Heather told me today that Sara was standing in her crib this morning. That was enough to stress me out and the mattress was dropped. My little guy is getting bigger. The next step is the big boy bed! Ack!

As I sit here in tranquility, Marty is upstairs dealing with a screeching Max. Max loves his bath. So much so, that when Marty takes him out he pretty much has a melt down until he is dried, lathered and dressed. Looks like swimming lessons next week will be a hit.