Flying solo

 

Here's some tips that I learned from flying alone with the baby.

-BABY LEASH. I hooked it onto my wheelchair and he was able to cruise around during layovers. 

-I put socks on his hands during layovers so he could crawl around a little

-When things got rough, I gave him mini oreos and it calmed him right down.

-I brought pouch food and just squirted it in his mouth, no need for a bowl, spoon, etc.

-I bought shelf stable disposable bottles so I didn't have to carry around dirty bottles.

-Fly SouthWest! No assigned seating. I put Parker's stuff next to me while people were boarding. I would have moved it if someone needed to sit there, but for some reason no one wanted to sit next to the teething, crying baby... ;)

-FYI, if you fly with a wheelchair, you can bring a friend or family member with you all the way to the gate. Jon and my dad helped me get through security, which was amazing. Your escort needs to bring identification and go through security.

-Also, with the wheelchair thing, you have to check in every time you get on the plane. 

 -Apparently the SkyCap people can WHEEL YOU TO THE RESTAURANTS IN THE AIRPORT. I was mortified, but starving, so I asked the SkyCap to take me to Arby's and he totally did. 

 

5 days shy of 10 months old

I had to take P's picture early this month because we will be in NY when he actually turns 10 months old and it would drive me crazy to not have a picture of him in his rock n play.

Here's what he's up to this month:
-crawling, cruising along furniture, and climbing non stop. I am a terrible person and look at people with babies that calmly sit for storytime and Church and wish really hard that their next baby is just as active as mine. This would be payback for 1) having it waaay too easy and 2) the smug looks I get that say "I can control my child and you cant/ my baby is better than yours/ I'm a better parent than you." Ok rant over.

-he loooves trying new foods. In the past month or so he;s had Chineese, Greek, Mexican, and Indian. He loves new flavors.

-speaking of food, he drinks 32 oz of formula a day, in addition to about 6 cups of baby puree, and samples of whatever I eat.

-he has two little teeth on the bottom

-he loves to talk and can make lots of weird sounds. He is really really loud.

- he sometimes repeats after me, ie "mama" and "googoo". The other day he repeated "I love you" ("aaayy yuvv ooo") while I was driving and I had to pull over because my heart was about to explode.

-he goes to story time several times a week because I'm tired of him demolishing my house all the time

-he used to like to swim, but now he paddles his little float to the side of the pool, climbs out of his float, climbs out of the pool, and crawls away. I wish I was exaggerating but I'm not.

Seriously, as much as he exhausts me and frusterates me, I love this kid more than I ever thought possible. Happy 10 month birthday, little dude!

Foodie baby

You can tell when Parker really likes a certain food because he keeps his hands in his mouth when he eats to make sure the food doesn't fall out. Its gross... but I'm glad to see my chicken quesadillas made the cut

Book worm

Parker is now signed up for TWO summer reading programs! (Wake and Durham counties.)

Wake county:
PRO: easy to log activities with a sticker chart, I like their story times better. A LOT better.
CON: I'm not exactly sure what happens when the sticker chart is full

Durham county:
PRO: you get points for reading at home (not so with Wake county), cool prizes (Parker wins prizes every time he gets 100 points and could win a LeapFrog computer, and I get points for reading to him and win prizes too!). There is a family story time at night, perfect for working parents.
CON: you have to log your points on a computer instead of with stickers. Lame. Also, I haven't been impressed with story time. Then again, I now hold everything to same standard as the Wake library on Harps Mill.

This has what my life has become. Smh!

Decoy

Parker was offended when I tried to give him an old calculator so he would stop going after my phone...

New trend

Parker has started hanging off my leg all the time. This is 70% endearing and 30% annoying.

First hair cut

Jon wanted to cut Parker's hair, but there was no way I was letting him cut it, especially for his first hair cut. So we compromised- we could go all out for his first hair cut (the cutesy salon where he sat in an airplane or whatever, purchase the "first haircut package", etc.) and then Jon can be in charge of subsequent haircuts. (if he messes it up I'll just bring him back to the salon).

I have no idea why, but I was near tears the whole time. My baby is growing up!!