Who Says "High Five" Isn't a Milestone?

Somewhere after a year, when the baby book ends, it's easy to stop noting the things that change in your baby. Once Baby Z started walking, I felt like there wasn't much more to watch for as far as milestones go. But when I think about it, I can see how quickly he is growing and learning now. So, I thought I would use this as my virtual baby book.

* Baby Z uses Dada and Mama proficiently now. He also says duggy-diggy for dog. And Aaah Da for all done. There is also something like Ahpun for open.
* Baby Z loves things he can open and close like doors and gates.
* When he hears music, he'll bounce a little and clap his hands. I also taught him to swing his arms side to side to dance.
* Baby Z helps me around the house by shutting drawers or cabinets I've left open. When we're getting ready to leave the house, he walks back to the container that holds our keys and looks at me as if saying, "Did you remember your keys, Mom?" Recently, when I had planned to go to the park with him, he also walked over to the chair where I stack our library books and touched the books. Then I remembered that, yes, Baby Z, the library books are due today!
* Baby Z is pretty affectionate, although I wouldn't call him a cuddler. He does his thing and then comes back to me occasionally and gives my leg a hug. He rests his head against my hip or butt and pats my leg. He does this head laying and pat-pat with anyone he loves, especially my Mom's dog.


* As for sign language, Baby Z knows: all done, more, food, milk, please and thank you (although these rarely get used). He made up his own sign for washing hands (looks like washing your hands - he's a genius! hee). And recently he started doing "no." Thankfully he only does that after I say no to something and he walks away and does the no sign. Sometimes he does other signs I used to do when he was younger, like bird and dog. It shocks me that he remembers these things from how many months ago.
* Baby Z can point to his hair when asked. If you ask him where his nose is, he also points to his hair. :)
* His Uncle R taught him High Five, and Baby Z still thinks it's funny. Baby Z has the wave down, too, although it is often late (after we're several seconds past the person to whom he's waving) and very often backwards (facing himself).

I'm pretty proud of my little guy. He really is turning into a little boy. But I still sing Rock-A-Bye Baby.

Traveling Lessons Learned

Well, it has been a busy week. More exciting posts to come next week. All I have for you now is more information on traveling - jotted down right after we got home from our trip. If anyone reads this and has other tips for traveling with children, please do post a comment.

Practical information for traveling with children:

• pack things in gallon ziploc bags to help you retrieve them from the carry on bag
  
• pack one of the gallon ziploc bags as your "take off" bag, with the things you need while taking off and landing, when you won't be able to dig around in your carry on. Mine had a sippy cup (for drinking to relieve ear pressure), some snacks and a few toys. Including some wipes is probably a good idea, too.
  
• pack a diaper changing kit - the all in one kind that folds out for a changing pad with wipes and diapers tucked in. This made changing the baby in airports or airplane bathrooms easier- only two things to carry- the baby and the kit.
  make sure you have enough food for baby (and you) so that if you don't have time to get things in the airport, you won't get stuck.
  
• ask the flight attendant if they have milk on board as soon as you get on the plane. They often only have a few cartons, if any at all.
  
• think about going through the security line and have things organized to make this easier. A friend of mine who had to travel alone with an infant wore a fanny-pack (against all personal fashion standards) to keep her ID and tickets handy but her hands free.
  
• rig a strap of some kind on the car seat, so you can carry it on a shoulder while pushing a stroller. The car seat was the most awkward thing to carry around. If I was traveling by myself, I would have checked it instead of carrying it on. Baby Z didn't want to stay in the car seat for very long anyway. However, I must say that I enjoyed having a car seat for the first leg of our trip, when he did sit in it for a while. On the way back, we knew there wouldn't be any extra seats, so we checked it.
  
• think twice about the special boarding privileges for people with young children. I'm not so sure it's a privilege to be trapped in a confined space with a toddler for that much more time. I tried to bring Baby Z on at the last possible moment. My husband went on ahead and grabbed the overhead space and got things set up.
  

Airline policies & TSA recommendations for traveling with kids:

• Most airlines allow you to hold an "infant" (child under the age of 2) on your lap instead of purchasing a seat. We did not need to provide proof of age, although some airlines recommend you bring a birth certificate just in case.
  
• After buying your tickets (if you did it online), you have to call the reservations number to tell them you'll have an infant on your lap. They note that on your ticket and boarding pass.
  
• Check with your airline to be sure, but ours (American) allowed us to bring the car seat to the gate, and if there was an unoccupied seat, we could put the car seat in it. We asked if there was a seat when we checked in and they actually moved us to a spot where there was one and "blocked" the seat, so that no one else would get seated there. I believe they actually turned away some stand-by customers on our flight and we still had our extra seat.
  
• I've only heard this through others, so I'm not absolutely sure about it, but I guess an airline is required to provide a car seat for you if something happens to yours. A friend of a friend didn't get their car seat when they arrived so they got a new one from the airline. The airline then found theirs later and sent it to them. It makes sense that they have to give you a car seat since you can't go in a car with your child without one. (By the way, has anyone traveled without taking a car seat? I'm curious how one would do that, since we couldn't have even gotten a taxi without it. I know you can get one from rental car agencies... but we would have been out of luck since all the cars were booked because of the mass cancellations.)
  
• Packing food for the baby: although you can only pack liquids (in a carry on bag) in quantities less than 3 ounces, you are allowed to bring greater quantities if it is medication or food for the baby. For our airport (reading their packing guidelines), they said to pack it in a separate ziploc bag and put it in one of the bins that get x-rayed. So, we had a quart-sized bag each of toiletries (3 ounces or less) for John and I plus a gallon bag of food for Baby Z. On our way back, I failed to put this bag into one of the bins, and we got pulled out of line for an additional "screening." The TSA guy told me to be sure to pull out the baby food and put it into the bins next time.
  

Have Family, Will Travel

We're back after 48 hours of exhausting travel. It could have been better and it could have been worse. For the most part, Baby Z did really well. However, on the first airplane leg of the journey I thought the whole trip was going to be my own personal hell.

The flight was delayed by 45 minutes or so sitting on the tarmac. We made the mistake of keeping him in the car seat rather than walking around, but they kept saying it would only be a few more minutes. Those 45 minutes perhaps made all the difference. In the last hour or so of the ride, Baby Z started his own descent into a meltdown of exhaustion. Such a meltdown at home calls for an immediate evacuation to his bed. Instead, Baby Z got to squirm and writhe in our laps until the crying reached that hoarse, shrill cry that even a stranger knows is bad news. Thankfully, the passengers seated around us were very sympathetic. Although, honestly, I could have cared less because I was so consumed with the sorry state of my child. I could tell how very tired he was and wanted so badly to help him. He finally pushed his way back to a laying down position turned his head into my stomach and was asleep. John and I didn't move a muscle and Baby Z slept for 30 minutes or so.

At that point in the trip I was projecting three more airplane rides of such torment. Baby Z proved us wrong, thankfully, and did really well for the next leg. By this point, it was well past his bedtime but he entertained himself with the shades on the windows and the lights above our heads. Finally, we got to our motel (note the "m") and hurried to set up the pack-n-play to put Baby Z to bed. Baby Z was extremely distraught that we would put him in such a thing in such a place. He screamed the minute we put him in. Thinking of the poor neighbors around us trying to sleep at 1am, I did whatever I could to help Baby Z sleep. The rest of the night I alternated between laying awake next to Baby Z on the big bed, trying to transfer him to the crib, catching an hour of sleep and then having to comfort Baby Z again. All night I kept thinking, well, at least we'll be in our own beds tomorrow night (note: foreshadowing that things might not go the way the writer expected).

After a very busy day with the funeral, family, and killing time at a local mall, we were ready to get on another plane to head home. It turns out that a gigantic storm shut down Dallas and over 800 flights were cancelled. We were in the airport for a couple of hours figuring out what to do. The entire stressful time, thankfully, Baby Z conked out in his stroller:


We all got to stay another night in Texas. It was really a blessing in disguise, I think, because we were all so tired that even a few hours sleep in another motel seemed worth it before braving another plane flight. The next morning, really early, we got on the plane and Baby Z went to sleep almost right away. John and I cramped and contorted ourselves keeping him comfortable across our laps and he slept for about 2 hours. The entire time I thanked God and wished I hadn't had that cup of orange juice. We finally had to get up and go to the bathroom, but Baby Z had enough sleep to keep him content and we only had an hour and a half more to go.

The next plane ride went fine, too, and we got back to southern California safe and sound. We are SOOO thankful to be home. I learned a lot about what worked and what didn't for traveling with the little dude. And it's true what they say about traveling being an opportunity to grow as a family. I am thankful for our family (Aunt E and Uncle R in particular) who all chipped in with Baby Z. And I'm extremely thankful for my husband who through it all keeps his ability to have fun:

Trippin'

Sorry I haven't written much lately. We've been busy with birthday celebrations and new baby welcomings.

John and I dropped Baby Z off at the grandparents and motored out to Las Vegas to celebrate the big 3-0 of our friend. Although we couldn't stay for what looked like the serious partying on Saturday night, we had our fill of relaxation, good food and awesome friends in a mere 24 hour period.

I already wrote about Baby P. Just a few days later, beautiful little Baby Lila was also born. She is oh so precious. I must get a picture of her so you can sigh and want one of your own. Congratulations to E & L!

Now, we're preparing for another trip. John's grandfather passed away, so we are leaving tomorrow for San Antonio. Although it is a sad occasion, I'm looking forward to meeting some of John's family. I'm especially excited for them all to meet Baby Z. That said....I'm pretty nervous about the whole travel experience. I'm making lists like I have OCD. I'm thinking of every possible snacky-goody that could keep Baby Z content. I've got books and toys and baby tylenol. I'm running through contingency plans (what if the pack-n-play doesn't make it to baggage claim?). I've googled advice for traveling with children. I've read the TSA recommendations over and over.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Whenever I've been worried about how Baby Z was going to handle something, he has blown me away with his grace under pressure and good-natured resiliency. So, once I finish checking off my lists, I'm going to try really hard to learn from my child: just relax and go with the flow.

They're Dropping Like Flies

All those pregnant friends I mentioned? One less pregnant friend! Yeah!
Here is Baby Z's new little buddy, who we will call Baby P (but he's really a baby-baby!). He is 8 pounds, 15 ounces and apparently has a head big enough to keep those silly hats on. He also looks a lot like his Mom. On our first meeting he gave me a fine show of contorted facial expressions and only cried once. I love him already!


We are so thrilled he is here and his Mommy is doing fine. When you all are home from the hospital, you can bet we'll be stopping by with more ooh and aahs and a casserole or two.

Big Boy Walking

Baby Z finally decided the way of the bipeds was preferable. After a grueling workout with his Obaachan on Sunday, Baby Z conceded that walking on his feet rather than his knees is faster and more comfortable. He's still scooting around on his knees here and there, but he is walking on his own on his own initiative now. Yeah!

The part of me that was slightly worried about showing up at his 18-month appointment (he's 15 months now) and explaining his unorthodox mode of transportation is very relieved. I'm also very grateful to his grandmother for working so tirelessly with him to give him that burst of confidence he needed. She walked around with him for an hour and a half, gently pushing the entire time for him to do the walking on his own. I did not have the concern/desire yet to "work on" the walking. See, a lesson in parenting: if you neglect something long enough, a grandparent will fill in!

Here is a picture of Baby Z, the big man on campus, cruising the scene at a local park: