Adjusting to Home

They're back! Finally, my girls are home! At around 7pm, I saw both my girls for the first time in over a week. You know that person who stands outside security impatiently waiting to catch the first glimpse of the person(s) they're waiting for and is pacing around and craning their neck over people? Yeah, that was me. Noone ever wants to be "that person", but whatever, it was worth it.

Unfortunately for me, my excitement didn't quite translate over to Kaylani. It took her a few minutes, but she eventually cracked a small smile. And when I took her out of her stroller, it took her another minute or so to stop trying to go to Mommy, and then another minute to stop trying to cry (never really a full cry, just looked like she was going to). It was kinda sad to not be "wanted" by my baby, but in her defense, she's sick right now.

Poor Kaylani got sick on her last day in Puerto Rico. She woke up this morning with a runny nose and a phlegmy cough. Maybe she caught it because she stayed up late to watch the Yankees win in 13 innings (oh wait, that was me). Either way, sick Kaylani, traveling Kaylani, and "new" place Kaylani don't all go together. After a 30 minute nap on the ride home and a yogurt for dinner, she finally seemed to really remember me during storytime/bedtime. I even got a kiss blown to me during good night, and a smile from her before she started to nurse.

Tomorrow's another day and I'm sure we'll be back to normal. Sure wish I didn't have to work, but once I get back, it's Daddy-Daughter time. Hopefully she won't be sick anymore. But if she is, we'll make it work. Whatever she is, she's home, and that's all that matters to me.

20 Pictures = 20,000 Words

If one picture is worth 1,000 words, then 20 pictures is 20,000 words. So instead of trying to type up 20,000 words, I've decided to just post the 20 pictures that Mommy and Kaylani have been sending me every day from PR for the last week. Tomorrow, my girls come home and I can't wait. So until they get here and I can start taking pictures myself, here are pictures from Kaylani's week in PR. I bet you can feel the heat just from looking through them! And for all of you going through the start of winter right now...try not to be too jealous!

Aaaaand we're back!

And we're back. Finally home. Done with vacation. Thankfully. Don't get me wrong, I actually loved vacation. A week away from thinking about work (most of the time), drinks starting around noon, endless amounts of meat and seafood, and 8 full days to spend with my 2 girls and the rest of my family. What's not to love about vacation? Before I get into that, let me give you a recap of what there was to love about vacation.

During our 7 days in Cape May, we went to the pool for 2 days, the beach for 2 days, mini golf for 1 day, a lighthouse for 1 day, downtown for 2 days, grilled 5 days, out to dinner 2 days, the liquor store 3 days (to restock), out for ice cream 2 days, and played games at home every day and night. All of that happened between the hours of 6am and 1am. That was the good part. The other 5 hours of the day were bad enough to make us want to cut that 3 days short.

Almost every night we would put Kaylani to bed between 7pm and 8pm, just like we would at home. And every night she would be fast asleep and stay that way for hours at a time, so we would stay up and play games, drink, or just hang out with the fam. The problem was that when we would go to sleep (around 12am or 1am), Kaylani would wake up shortly after, like 2am. Then she'd be so awake that she'd be up and crawling all over us in bed or crying until 5am. It got so bad that we almost left on Thursday. Looking back, I'm glad we didn't, but man, we were really close.

We got home Saturday afternoon and finally took the time to unwind. It was a little mini-vacation from our vacation, but it was much needed, mainly because I caught a cold at some point along the way. Apparently no sleep, lots of alcohol and food, and a bit of sun is enough to make me catch a cold in the middle of summer. Luckily I was the only one who got sick, and even luckier, Kaylani played along with our mini-post-vacation vacation. Saturday night, she slept 8 hours then another 3 hours right away. Last night she slept 12 hours. Looks like we're not the only ones glad to be home.

Anyways, that about wraps up our vacation. I should be back to our regularly scheduled postings soon enough. And as an apology for all of you faithful readers, or to Kaylani's photo stalkers, here are pictures from our vacation in Cape May. Enjoy, and see you tomorrow!

Pack and Sleep

Today is officially my first day of vacation. We actually got down to Cape May on Saturday afternoon (after sitting in an hours worth of traffic), but today is the first vacation day I had to burn, so that means vacation has officially started. If vacation started Saturday, we would have kicked it off in grand style. But since it started this morning, we're off to a rough start.

Saturday night Kaylani slept for 10.5 hours in her pack and play in our room. Then, on Sunday, she took two 45 minute naps in her pack and play (which is unheard of since she only sleeps in her carseat or her swing at home) and played all day with the family. We went to the pool, for a walk by the beach, to the grocery store, and even grilled up lunch and dinner. And when bedtime came around, Kaylani passed out at 7:30pm, just in time for Mommy to come join the rest of the family for a nice, home cooked rib dinner.

The rest of the night was spent drinking and playing a dice game called Farkle until we were all spent at 11pm (man we're old). That's when the real vacation started. Instead of slipping quietly into our room and into bed without Kaylani even noticing, Kaylani woke up and greeted us with a cry. It may or may not have been Daddy brushing his teeth that woke her up, but either way, she was up. After a few minutes of trying to "shhh" her to sleep, Mommy tried nursing. 20 minutes later, still not asleep. Next it was Daddy's turn to rock her to sleep and put her down. 20 mintues later, no luck getting her to stay down. Then it was Mommy's turn to rock her to sleep. No luck again. The next hour was spent rotating between Daddy rocking her, Mommy rocking her, and Mommy nursing her, all with the same results. Kaylani wanted absolutely nothing to do with the pack and play.

With no options left, we tried something we've only done twice before, both with limited success. We put Kaylani in bed with us. Tucked safely between the two of us with her holding onto one of each of our fingers, she fell asleep. The problem is that we're both really uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed as Kaylani. Not that we think we'll roll over her, but more that we think she'll crawl away and fall off. Mommy's problem is actually that she doesn't like people sleeping real close to her, so the fact that Kaylani likes to cuddle and breathe on her doesn't bode well for Mommy getting some sleep. Daddy would love it if she would cuddle with him (Mommy or Kaylani), but that wasn't in the cards.

At 5:30am, Kaylani was up again and crawling all over us. After nursing and screaming some more, Mommy tried to rock her back to sleep and put her down. 15 minutes later and Kaylani was back in her pack and play, but she wasn't planning on sleeping, even though Mommy was. So after Mommy laid down, and Daddy was lying down, Kaylani scratched on the sides of her pack and play. 5 minutes of silence later, we thought we were in the clear, until we looked up. Looking back at us was Kaylani, standing in her pack and play, staring back at us with a look that said "you really think I was going to sleep with you lying right there?"

And that was it. We were up for good at 6:30am and it was time for breakfast. In total, Kaylani probably got 6-7 hours of sleep last night. Mommy and Daddy were lucky if we got 2 hours combined since we kept waking up to make sure Kaylani didn't crawl away. Thankfully Kaylani is down for a nap right now, in her pack and play, and Mommy is taking a quick nap too. I'm kinda scared to see what tonight brings. We're planning a long day at the beach, at the pool, and outside, so maybe we'll tire Kaylani completely out. I'm not sure what we expected since it is called a pack and play. Maybe I'll add in a trip to the store to find a pack and sleep. Anyone know where I can find one?

Packing for the shore

Let's get this vacation starteddddddddddddddd!!!! As of 5pm today, I am officially on vacation for 9 days, and I ain't going back until Monday morning on August 24. Woo hoo! We're all headed down to Cape May (about 2 hours from here) with Yin Yin, Yea Yea, Bat Bat, Auntie Shannon, and Cousins Connor and Zoe for an extended family trip down the shore. We've got a nice house rented near the beach (with a pool) and just gonna kick back and relax. Now all we gotta do is pack.

We technically started packing on Thursday, which is when we made the official packing list. We've been on trips with Kaylani before, and they were much further away than 2 hour drive to Cape May, but for some reason this trip has brought out the worst in us. We're going a little bit crazy with the packing, and while I haven't even loaded the car yet, I get the feeling that our car is gonna be awfully packed tomorrow. Here's a snapshot of her list:

Pack and play
Box of diapers
Box of wipes
Carton of toys (for eating, for playing, for bath time, and for the beach)
Sunscreen
Floaty for swimming
Mattress
Sheets
First aid kit - thermometer, alcohol swabs, tylenol, motrin, cotton balls, etc
Baby monitor
Beach blanket
Portable 10'x10' shade
10 outfits
3 pajamas
Sun hat
Stroller
Outdoor buggy

That's not even close to everything, but then there's the food. Kaylani's eating 4 oz, or 2 jars, of food for lunch and dinner, as well as 1/2 cup of oatmeal for breakfast, and 2 oz of food for lunch. Since we'll be gone for 8 days, that means we needed to pack at least 32 big jars of food, 8 small jars of food, and a box of oatmeal (and spoons, bibs, bowls, etc).

We thought that this local trip would be easier on all of us considering there were 7 adults, and 3 kids under 3 years of age, but I'm starting to think we're out of control. Apparently the fact that we have our own car means we can bring whatever we can fit. If we were flying somewhere, we would have limited what we brought to 2 suitcases. Now we've got 2 suitcases, plus 10 random containers/bags of stuff for Kaylani.

Well we're almost done packing and Kaylani is down for the night, so I think it's time to turn in. Tomorrow morning officially officially starts vacation, and I can't wait! I'm looking forward to getting to Cape May. I just hope all of our stuff fits in the car and makes it there with us! And don't worry, I'll be blogging from down there so stay tuned because I plan on doing another "live" post from Cape May. Until later...from the beach!

Nice one, Dad

I'd have to say Kaylani adjusted to being home from vacation pretty well. She woke up once last night after about 5 hours, but went back to sleep on her own for the next 7. Then she took 2 two hour naps, and even a 30 minute nap in between them. And to top it all off, she ate all 3 meals without complaining too much, and went to sleep by herself after crying for about 30 minutes on and off. Everything was going so well...until Daddy got home.

Daddy had a Little League playoff game tonight so he missed out on pretty much everything. He did get spend a quick lunch with Kaylani, but her second nap happened to be in the 20 minutes Daddy got to spend at home before going to the game (we lost 8-6 by the way). And when he got home from baseball, Kaylani was already in bed for awhile, so the only glimpse he got of her was through the video monitor which should have been good enough. Apparently, it wasn't.

After Mommy and Daddy had a late dinner, Daddy was walking back towards the kitchen to drop off the plates. That's when IT happens. Now in the past, IT has referred to a Code Brown, so to get that out of the way, IT did not mean a Code Brown. Instead, the knife fell from Daddy's plate onto the floor. And it didn't just drop lightly to the floor. It dropped like a rock to the floor. Like a rock that makes a loud metallic clanging sound when it hits the floor. And you know what loud metallic clanging sounds do to sleeping babies? Yep, it wakes them up.

That was 90 minutes ago. Kaylani JUST went back to sleep now. And all it took was 2 trips in to her room to try and calm her down, and then a third trip which involved a diaper change (to make sure that the knife didn't scare the poop out of her), some swaying, and a whole lot of calming kisses. After a few minutes, Kaylani was back in her crib. And after a few more minutes, she thankfully gave in for the night, or at least for now. Hopefully it's for the night.

Now it's time for Mommy and Daddy to call it a night. It's not so much that we're tired, but being in bed means that there's less chance that Daddy can make any more sudden loud noises. And it also means that he won't have to worry about Mommy saying "Nice one, Dad" again. At least not until Kaylani cries. Speaking of which, I think I hear her crying right now. Nice one, Dad.

Way ahead of my time

We're only 28 years apart, but Kaylani is growing up in a different time. A time that seems much further away than just 28 years. There's so much more available to her now than there was to me, but that's not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it's a really good thing because it means there are a lot more things for me to introduce her to.

For starters, Kaylani has been to Puerto Rico already. Daddy first went to Puerto Rico when he was 18, and that was part of a cruise. He didn't really go to Puerto Rico until he was 26. Even earlier than that, Kaylani went to Disneyworld when she was only 7 weeks old. Daddy thought he went earlier because he was around 6 months old, but again, Kaylani's ahead of him. And now that we're in Baltimore, Kaylani's got to experience a few more firsts, likely before Daddy did too.

Today, we took Kaylani to her first indoor pool. Overall it was okay. Wasn't great for her. Just okay, but that's okay. She gave us some signs and splashes to let us know that she wasn't afraid of the water, so we'll keep plugging away. Maybe some of our friends will invite us over to their pools this summer (hint hint). Either way, we're just happy she didn't cry the majority of the time because we sure do love pools.

For lunch, Kaylani got to experience her first Hooters. That's right, Mommy, Daddy, and Kaylani went to Hooters. Personally I thought it would be really funny to get a picture of Mommy nursing Kaylani while at Hooters, but that was vetoed. Instead we had a beer, ate some wings and some tater chips, and were on our way. Of course there was no changing table (I'd be more surprised if there was) so Daddy also experienced changing a diaper at Hooters for the first time (there's a joke in there somewhere, but I'm going to leave it alone). For the record, Daddy was 21 before he stepped into his first Hooters (still talking about the restaurant).

And then for dinner, Kaylani made her first trip into a steakhouse. Daddy and Mommy hadn't been to a steakhouse since well before Kaylani was born (besides Outback), so having Fleming's be right next to the hotel turned out to be too tempting to pass on. It also marked Kaylani's very first time in a public highchair. We were a little afraid of how it might turn out, but she did great! Her being able to sit in a highchair opens up a whole new world for us. Well, a whole new world as long as we are there well before 6pm. Not sure we're quite ready to take on a world of crowded restaurants yet. She was well behaved, but not WELL behaved if you know what I'm saying.

So that pretty much wraps up today. We're hoping that Kaylani gives us another 11 hour sleeping performance like she did last night. It looks like she's adjusted to hotel life just fine. We just need to keep her adjusted for one more night before we head back home. Hopefully adjusting to hotel life didn't screw up what we had going at home. But that's something we'll worry about tomorrow night. For now, we're still on vacation.

Oh, and don't forget to check out my latest Sports IllustraDad post on "Lessons I Learned From Little League" over at Dad-Blogs!

Down, but not out

Hi, we're in Delaware. Oh wait, that was us 10 hours ago. Now we're in Baltimore and getting ready to wrap up the day. It's just about 8pm and all is dark in our room. Kaylani is nursing for what we hope is her final time tonight, and then we'll see how the rest of the night goes. Luckily we were upgraded to a corner deluxe king room when we got here (thank you Bill Marriott!) so we have a little hallway/foyer that Kaylani will spend the night in (in her pack and play of course). We also have a white noise maker going, a bunch of sheets to block out some of the light, and we're really hoping that's enough. And frankly, it should be since she must be completely exhausted today.

She woke up around 6:30am. After getting her ready to go and putting the finishing touches on our luggage, we hit the road right around 8:30am. GPS had us arriving in Baltimore at 11am which was fine by us. The plan was to have Kaylani sleep for a solid 2 hours in the car and we'd be set for the rest of the day. And at 9am when she finally fell asleep, the plan looked like it was going to work...all the way until she woke up 40 minutes later. The odd part was that she was quiet for the next hour and a half. We stopped at a rest stop just 20 minutes outside Baltimore just to make sure we didn't have a car freak-out, but thankfully it never materialized.

After getting settled in our hotel room we walked out to the Inner Harbor around 12:30pm. Within 15 minutes Kaylani was out again which we again thought was perfect. And again, 40 minutes later, she was awake (timed inconveniently with our food showing up at lunch). And again, she lay silently in her stroller for a good 30 minutes before making a peep. That brought us up to 1:10 minutes of naps and 2 hours of quiet time. Odd ratio, but we'll take it.

We finished off the day with some time in a grassy knoll (which reaffirmed for us her hatred of grass), a walk around the rest of the Inner Harbor, a quick nursing/Starbucks break, and then back to the hotel. On the way back, Kaylani passed out in her Bjorn, which we thought was going to be good again. But this time, after only 30 minutes, she was back up.

Now it's 8:10pm and she's crying in her pack and play. She passed out after only nursing for 10 minutes so maybe she's hungry, or more likely, she's over tired. It's been a long day of her going down, but never quite passing out. And all of that means we're entering a night of a lot of unknowns, which is never a good thing. But what else would we expect from our first family vacation? Guess we'll just wait and see how tomorrow goes.

Gearing up for vacation

In 3 days, Mommy, Daddy, and Kaylani will take our first family vacation. Sure we've already been to Orlando, Puerto Rico, and Boston, but this will be our first family vacation alone. Picking our vacation took a little bit, but we finally settled on a place. We wanted somewhere nice like Hawaii or maybe even San Diego to save a few hours of travel, but decided that was too far for a 4 day excursion so we looked a little closer. We wanted somewhere warm, but we've been to Orlando already so we looked a little Norther. And we wanted somewhere family friendly, so we ruled out a casino trip to Atlantic City. Finally, we settled on Baltimore.

Now many of you might say, "Baltimore? What's in Baltimore besides some crab cakes and a losing baseball team? Are they playing anyone good at least? And Mommy doesn't even eat crab cakes!" While those are valid points and questions (to which the answer is no, they're not playing anyone good or even anyone at home), we decided that Baltimore was the perfect place for our first getaway. We'll be staying right in the Inner Harbor and will be walking distance to things like the aquarium, the shops at the Inner Harbor, and even the National Museum of Dentistry (which we will not be going to...sorry Steve) so we're sure we'll have enough to keep us busy during the day. It's the nights we're worried about.

Daddy spent almost 2 years of his life living out of a hotel as a traveling consultant, and Mommy spent a significant amount of time doing the same by herself while she worked trade shows and also with me. But we haven't stayed in a hotel since Kaylani was born, and there are significantly more challenges to deal with now. For example, Kaylani will spend her nights in her pack and play. Sure she's spent a few nights in a pack and play before, but never in a confined hotel room. Luckily they've upgraded us to a king studio room so we'll have a little bit more room to move around.

So the room size issue isn't a big deal, but there is the part where Kaylani is usually asleep in her crib in her room by 8pm. At home, we walk out of the room and go downstairs to watch TV for awhile before going to bed. But in a hotel, we can't exactly walk out of the room. Well, we could, but I'm pretty sure our monitors won't work if we try and go down to the hotel bars or lounges. And if we can't hit up the bar, that means we'll be in the room. And if we're in the room while Kaylani is trying to sleep, that probably means we can't watch TV either. And it probably also means that we can't have any lights on, or move around, or do anything besides sleep.

Maybe this is what vacation as a parent of an infant is all about. Lots of daytime activity, followed by family bedtime at 8pm. Maybe it's not such a bad thing anyways. Maybe we'll get 10 hours of sleep with Kaylani and we'll all wake up early in the morning refreshed and ready to go. Or maybe it won't be much of a vacation for Mommy and Daddy and we'll sit in the dark trying to be as quiet as possible so we don't disturb her and hope that she sleeps. If you've got any advice, hit me. Otherwise, wish me luck. Whatever vacation turns out to be like, it couldn't come soon enough. Is it Saturday yet?

Farewell to NJ

In just about 12 hours, with any luck, our plane will leave Philly and take us to sunny Puerto Rico, and those 12 hours can't come soon enough. We booked this trip about 2 months ago, but in actuallity, we've had this trip booked in our minds for over 6 months now. We always knew that we would take Kaylani to see our family in Puerto Rico somewhere between the 3 and 6 month mark. Right now, I'm sure glad we didn't wait 2 more months. It's going to be 6 days in really warm weather that we're gonna enjoy.

Having already taken Kaylani on a plane when we went to Orlando, we're much less worried about tomorrow's flight. Now, that doesn't mean that we didn't have any issues packing for the trip, but overall, I'd say we're much less worried. I'm sure we're overpacked (or will be by the time we finish tonight), but really, how many burp cloths would we have to bring to be considered overpacked? 5? 7 (which is what we have)? 15? And how many bibs would be considered overpacked? Again, we brought 7, but we really think we might be underpacked. After all, we've seen what Kaylani can do to both a burp cloth and a bib...

So the last week has been spent preparing for our trip. We bought a few new things (a cute pair of shorts, a big floppy hat, Aveeno Baby Sunscreen, a swimsuit that leaves nothing to the imagination or to the sun) and tied up a few loose things here at home and for me at work. And besides throwing the last few things into a suitcase tonight and packing her/our carry-on bag, we're left with tonight's bedtime routine.

Our bedtime routine has been pretty solid for the last week with Kaylani being asleep by 8:30pm, and out for a solid 9 hours. She would then nurse for a bit, then it's back to sleep for another 3 hours. But since we have to start out trip to the airport at 5am tomorrow, bedtime got moved up an hour. The plan was to bathe her at 6:30, nurse her at 7, and then she'll be asleep by 7:30. Tacking on 9 hours to that means she's up at 4:30, and with a quick change and some more nursing, we're out the door by 5 (with her hopefully back asleep in the car). It's 7:23pm right now, and we're already slightly off.

Bath time started at 6:30 on schedule, and we were tracking towards being finished even a little early. But Kaylani had other plans and decided to give her bath a nice farewell gift before she saw it next week. So after we finished round 1 of soap, and then round 2 of shampoo, it was brown round for Kaylani. Unlike last time, Daddy was around and could help the process along with the disinfecting, the refilling, and the re-disinfecting, but it did set us back about 10 minutes since we had to rewash her. It wasn't the biggest of deals, but hopefully those 10 minutes won't come back at us in the morning.

If you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a time freak and like to have everything down to a schedule. I know I'm going to have to let it go now that Kaylani is here, but it's a hard thing to break for me. Speaking of time, it's time for me to wrap up. Kaylani's not quite done yet, but Daddy has baseball practice in 30 minutes (I'm an assistant coach for a Little League team...more to come on that), and still has to pack his own bag AND watch Chuck AND 24 before going to bed tonight. Not exactly sure all of that will happen, but we'll see.

So for those of you who just come here for the pictures/videos, I'm going to have nothing for you until Sunday at the latest. But for those of you who come for the posts, I'll try and keep it as daily as possible. One of my favorite parts of Orlando was sitting on the porch on a nice sunny day, drinking some coffee, and writing my blog through my Blackberry, so hopefully I'll get to do that again. Come check in, or just check through Facebook, but either way, have a great week. I know we will!

Let the holidays begin!

Today was my first day of holiday vacation. I don't go back to work until January 5th, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not actually on vacation. Just to be clear, once you have a baby, vacation isn't the same anymore. It doesn't mean you can go to bed late, and wake up late, and it definitely does not mean that you can just get wasted every (or any) night. There's a whole lot more responsibility in your life now, which means that vacation as you know it has changed.

Don't get me wrong though, it's not necessarily a bad change (as long as you don't like to sleep and you don't like to drink). I spent all day with Kaylani, which is now the 3rd day in a row. That's something I haven't been able to do for 3 straight days since my 1 week of paternity leave. Sure the first part of it involved her first shots (wasn't as bad as I thought, but still sad to see her cry during and after it), and the second part was spent making sure she was comfortable (which includes holding her to sleep and rocking her all the time instead of trying to put her down), but it was a lot of fun for me. After all, I got to spend my 3rd straight day with her.

Tomorrow will be the 4th straight day, and to make things even better, tomorrow is Tam Family Christmas #1! My brother, my sister-in-law, and Kaylani's 2 cousins are here. My parents are here. And Mommy's parents are here too, which means we get to open presents 2 days early! It also means we have a full house including 2 newborns, a 2.5 year old, and 8 adults, but hey, if that doesn't scream "holidays" to you, then I don't know what would.

Speaking of family, I've got to finish putting Kaylani to sleep (up past bedtime also screams "holiday") and then go pick up Mommy's parents at the airport. Tomorrow will be a packed day, but just like when I was a kid, it's hard to sleep the day before "Christmas", no matter which one it is.

So for now, good night, and Happy Tam Family Christmas Eve #1 to you all!