Ah..."Vacation"

Last Thursday our family piled into the cars and drove to Seabrook/Galveston. Cade was going on vacation to my parents' house and Ross and I were headed out for a cruise to Cozumel with Ryan and Margeaux.

Well as it turned out Cade's vacation to Seabrook was much more successful than our cruise.

In bullet point fashion (because I am feeling too lazy for paragraphs) here's how it went down

• Beltway 8 was closed near 59 and we were detoured. I had never driven on 59 ever so we had to pull over, which woke Cade up from his nap, and reroute.
• The ship's departure was delayed several hours due to fog.
• We stood in line for three hours. Pre-trip online check in proved to have no benefit. We asked and they actually told us there was no value in it.
• Our room was direct above the propeller. Like bottom deck, right on top of it. Very noisy.
• Day 1 was cool and foggy. Not awful, but not great.
• Our excursion to the Mayan ruins was canceled.
• When we asked about other ruins excursions we were told the Cozumel ruins were REPLICAS so did we really want one of those anyways. No. No we did not.
• Day 2 was a high point. We arrived in Cozumel to beautiful weather, had a nice day on the beach and got some good tans/sun burns.
• Day 3 was OK. Fairly good weather.
• Day 4. Well there wasn't supposed to be a day 4.
• There was so much fog near the port in Galveston that we spent a whole day within 12 miles of the dock but unable to dock.
• They hadn't planned on us being on board so the hot tubs were closed and there were no planned activities. (Though I will say the ship staff tried really hard to offer entertainment. They really did their best.)
• So even though the decks were open, it was cold and foggy and damp. So everyone cramped into the few indoor common spaces. The largest of which was the casino. Which permitted smoking. 
• The ship internet didn't work due to the fog so I couldn't even attempt to do any work and not fall behind.
• Day 4 became night 5. Night 5 away from our baby.
• At 10 or 11p when we went to bed, I developed an inexplicable swollen left eye. It looked like I had been punched.
• Until 12:30a when we were able to pull into the dock but then could not get off the boat because there were no customs agents.
• Pulling into the dock at 12:30a with the propeller under us was less than awesome.
• Comically the only day we really took pictures was our day in Cozumel. So our photos make it look like an awesome trip. See below.

Ross did win enough money playing craps to pay for 90% of his ticket on to the cruise so at least that made it feel like a less expensive trip. And our drink tickets were extended free of charge into the delay day.

Most importantly though, Cade had a GREAT visit with my parents. He was super well-behaved and enjoyed lots of quality time with family he doesn't see very often. I'd definitely count that as the win for this vacation.

Slacker Blogger

I've been scolded recently for being a slacker blogger. We need written documentation damn it!

In the past week since my last post, we've been crazy busy. I spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in client meetings downtown (unusual since normally I have meetings 1-2 days per week). Our friends have had all kinds of crazy things going on; some that we've been helping with, others that we've just been a set of ears for.

Cade has been a bit on the moody side with a few nights of bad sleep and generally just up and down on happy v not happy. On a more fun note, he is really into clapping lately, including while we sing "If you're happy and you know it" which i really really cute. He has also consistently been using us as human jungle gyms which speaks to the high energy levels of an 11 month old...which yes, he turned 11 months old!

Unfortunately I cannot find his baby birthday/month tie stickers anywhere. So I guess 11 months and maybe his first birthday will have to pass without sticker pictures. Plenty of pictures, just none with sticker ties.

So that probably sums it up pretty well. The crazy busy life of a family with a small child, one parent who works 24 hour shifts and another who is self-employed. Operative word being crazy. ;)

Engagement Party!

Our Valentine's themed engagement party for Margeaux and Ryan is officially in the books! We had about 35 people over Saturday around happy hour time to celebrate. I was very pleased with how it all went. Everyone mingled; there was a healthy roar of conversation; the "love notes" to the couple to be opened on their first wedding anniversary (thanks for the idea Jane!) were a hit; I acquired as much wine as I purchased and the house was empty and clean before 8p!

Nancy took a great pic of Ross, Cade and me and as soon as I get it off my phone and onto Flickr I'll share it. In the meantime, enjoy this look at the happy couple!

WBC

WBC has a new meaning - Walking Baby Cade!

This afternoon while Cade and I were home on an "ice day" we had our neighbors Jenny and Holden over for a playdate. Gotta keep these crazy babies entertained while it is too cold to go anywhere.

And during this playdate, Cade took two steps!

He just stood up and took two steps toward me! What a champ!

There have been no step sightings since then. But ya know, those two probably wore him out. Rumor has it there will be more steps in his future.

Ross actually claims to have seen Cade's first steps a couple weeks ago but I declared it a farce. Either way, now that we have both seen baby steps, we can confidently call him the Walking Baby Cade.



Pre-walking practice by climbing his hippo chair.

The Life of Cade

What does the life of an almost 11-month old Cade look like?

Well first, there is some blended learning...that is watching a bit of the Very Hungry Caterpillar cartoon and reading the book before nap time.



There are pretty messy meals (self-feeding ain't easy y'all) that now require a bib with a catcher.

We went, we looked, we're enrolling

On Friday morning, Ross, Cade and I visited Sunrise Montessori School. We met with the director, Lauren, and toured the facility. We learned about the kids' schedule, curriculum, eating/napping arrangements, parent-teacher communication and more.

Their class for teeny tiny guys, known as Sweet Peas, starts at 12 months old and walking. There is a 5:1 kid:teacher ratio for that classroom and the kids range from 12-20ish months. Every day they send home a daily report (eating, diapers, naps, etc) and every week there is a curriculum report. Mornings are work time with curriculum, then lunch, then nap and then free play time. There is outside play time in the morning and afternoon.

We asked a bunch of questions, checked everything out and when we piled into the car to go home, chatted about it more. After our in person visit and extensive online stalking, we've decided it is a go!

I'm filling out the admission form and will send it in this week. Cade will start Montessori school in August!

We've been really happy and lucky to have Erin watch him since I went back to work this summer. And I am very happy she will be watching him until he starts school. I think new school year will be the perfect time for him (and us) to take the leap.

Now - should he have a hungry caterpillar lunch box or Curious George? Oh the decisions!