Some pictures

Day 2. It will probably take me many tries to upload them all because Blogger sucks at uploading pics.

Day 1 Pictures

Travel Day

Yesterday was the travel day. I was worried to death because Char did NOT sleep well, as I think I mentioned. She was up at 4 am and really didn't go back to sleep except very briefly, and woke at her normal time. I think she must have been excited to go "way up high in an airplane".

Predictibly, she didn't nap in the airports. We started out with a leg just to Atlanta, which is normally an hour flight. The captain came on the PA and said we had a 60 minute flight delay. Ugh!!!! Turned out less than that, and Char handled it fine. It was the airport before and after the flight that was the big worry, and she was indeed overstimulated and very excited about all the people, sights, sounds, etc. At one point she was holding her ears as the people mover machine went by. Poor girly! The second flight from Atlanta to San Juan was much longer, about 3 hours, and she was a trooper almost the whole way. The last 30 or 40 minutes were tough on her, and she fussed and cried a bit before napping for all of 2 minutes, and woke crying again, but calmed a little with the television on the airplane. We were over the wings and the engine noise was pretty loud, so I don't really think she disturbed anyone too much, thankfully.

Amazingly, she came to the hotel and took a bath and went right to bed at about 9:30 or 10 local time, which is 7:30 or 8 our time. She woke about an hour later crying, and I reminded her that we were right here and she was safe, and she slept until 6:30 local time. So basically she's gone to bed at normal time and awakened an hour or two early for 2 days in a row, plus missed a nap. As you can imagine, her temper has been shorter than normal (and DH and I are very tired, too, so that doesn't help), but she's doing pretty well. I'll post some pics from Day 1 in a second.

This does not bode well!

In approximately 4 hours, we will be leaving on a jet plane to Puerto Rico! And, in my usual fashion, I was beyond thrilled 2 or 3 months ago when we booked it, but now I'm nervous as can be. I've been stressing about Charlotte not sleeping while we're there, throwing her into an overtired cycle of whininess, clinginess, and of course night wakings that can last a month or more. She's so sensitive that when her sleep is disturbed, not one night but 2-3 in a row, it literally takes a month before she's usually back to normal. The last time (the only time) I took her to a hotel, it was a disaster (as those who've been reading this blog for more than 6 months probably remember). It led directly to toddler bed transition hell, but since then and when she gave up the paci not long after, she's been doing well.

Last night, the night she REALLY needed to sleep well, she didn't. She woke at 4 am crying. Now, if she wakes and fusses, or cries out a little, she usually settles herself pretty quickly. This was a "Help! Help! I've had a nightmare and I really NEED someone to comfort me!" cry. So, being the selfish moron that I am, I asked DH to go to her, forgetting that he's not usually the most successful at getting her back to sleep. Usually I can go up, rock her and sing the 4 verses of "You Are My Sunshine", and put her back down calm, and she'll go back to sleep. I'm not saying that necessarily would have happened if I'd gone, but it definitely didn't happen last night!

I barely catnapped between her cries, which seemed to have 3 of them within 90 minutes. At 5:30, I got up to go to her, and I rocked her and sang and explained that she needed to go back to sleep, and left her happy. She was fine until I got downstairs and a hair before I shut the bathroom door to pee my brains out. When I came out, I tried singing to her over the intercom, which usually works. It didn't. I tried telling her that I understood she needed to cry, but that she needed to try to be a *little* quieter so I can sing, because I can't sing if she's quite so loud. It would work for about 1/2 a verse, then she'd be wailing again, so naturally I went to her. She never could (or would) use her words to tell me what was wrong, so I lay down in the big bed in her room and let her fall asleep again (it took until 7 am before I was certain she was asleep enough for me to exit stage left), and came downstairs to take a bath.

20 minutes later, she was wailing again. This time, I told her over the intercom that I was sorry she was sad, but that I was busy in the bathtub and couldn't come to her, and asked her to cuddle her monkey and I'd come get her when I wasn't busy. Miraculously, it worked. Still... it was a long night with far less sleep than she really needs, and we have a LONG day ahead of us in overstimulating airports, millions of new things to see and smell and explore, and I'm scared to death she won't sleep tonight in Puerto Rico.

You don't know what you're saying!

This one comes from Dada. Charlotte goes to pre-school on Mondays and Fridays, and she invariably sleeps later those days lol, making it hard to get ready for school. DH gets her ready every morning since I'm already at work. Today, they had an interesting conversation:

Dada: Charlotte, we need to hurry and get dressed. Let me get some clothes for you.

(Charlotte sits down in her rocking chair and observes Daddy searching through drawers and muttering)


Char: What’s wrong, Daddy?


Dada: Oh, I can’t find your purple shirt.


Char: Purple shirt?


Dada: Yes, your purple shirt. It would look go well with this…you always look good wearing it…I love that purple shirt…It’s almost like a friend.


Char: Daddy, what are you saying? You don’t know what you’re saying!


I swear, this child!

Conversations

Okay, someone please explain to me how my REAR-FACING toddler can still be a backseat driver?

Last night, we went swimming after work, and had a conversation that went something like this:

Char: Mommy?
Me: Yes, sweetheart?
Char: I love you so much!
Me: Awwww! I love you, too!
Char: Oh no!
Me: What's wrong, sweetie?
Char: You stopped the car!
Me: There's a red light, so I have to stop the car. We'll go again as soon as the light turns green.
Char: I need to go potty! I go potty in my car seat. I go potty in my pants.
Me: Pee pee goes in the potty. Please try to hold it until we get home. We'll be home soon.
Char: Look, mommy! It's green! You can go now. Go, mommy! Move the car!
Me: I know some cars are going past us but that's because they're going straight. The left turn lane light is still red. How old are you again?
Char: I'm 2, mommy!

This post brought to you by...

my Mother-In-Law's awful taste in toddler clothing. She gave Char a 95% polyester warmup suit that very much looks 80's (or, at best, 90's), a red sweater with cats and a VERY large collar, and more clothes that generally look like a 55-year-old woman might have worn in 1985.

And thus, a re-enactment of the opening theme song and credits to "Murder, She Wrote" was born: