Spring Break - Holland Style

2 weeks ago, Josh and I made the trip down to Palm Beach, FL with both kids to crash his parents vacation. As it turns out, spring break just really isn't what it used to be. Granted ours did include a lot of throwing up and very little sleep, but unfortunately, none of that was due to alcohol. That being said, we did have a great time. Who wouldn't have a great time with these two??? The flight down was pretty uneventful – both kids did great on the plane and even slept for the majority of the trip. The weather on the first day was a bit cool, so we headed to the zoo. Avery loved seeing all of the animals.


Alex slept through most of it, but seemed to enjoy what he did see (as much as an 8 month old can enjoy those things). The next two days were spent in the pool and on the beach. Avery had a great time playing in the pool, but was very hesitant. Most of the other kids were diving under water and splashing up a storm. Avery preferred to pretty much chill out on the stairs and watch everyone. Oh, and she also enjoyed “getting rid of some energy” by running in place or jumping in place in the water. That was about as crazy as she got. Alex also LOVED the pool. He swam around with Josh quite a bit and had a great time.
But, as with most vacations with a toddler and a baby, there were a few obstacles along the way. Alex started the vacation off with a horrible cold (dr. said that it was a light case of bronchialitis), so for the first two nights, he woke up at approx. 330 AM with horrible coughing spells. It took us about an hour to calm him down and get him back to sleep and of course, since we were all in the same room, it would wake Avery up. Nothing like having 2 kids up at 330 am on vacation. After that, something was bugging his stomach, so he woke up every hour for the last 2 nights with gas pains.

Then, on our second to last night there, we went to dinner and Alex was having nothing to do with it. So, for the first time in my life as a mother, I actually had to leave the restaurant to take him back to the room (thankfully we were eating at the restaurant in the hotel). Given my obsession with food, you can imagine that this was not exactly what I had in mind and I was not exactly thrilled, but don’t you worry – I stopped the waitress on my way out and threatened to leave my 8 month old, tired, cranky, sick baby with her unless she gave me my glass of wine that I ordered. She was clearly very freightened, so she handed it over without hesitation. And, for the record, Josh did offer to take him up, but seeing as how it was his family who we were on vacation with, I figured it would be best if I went. It was fine. I put him to bed, drank my wine, watched the oscar’s and then Josh brought my meal up later. Here's the little stinker the next day, as happy as a clam.... So, that night, at approximately 5 am, Avery decided to share her meal with us a second time by throwing it up all over her bed. And, she has never really gotten sick like that, so she was pretty freaked out and proceeded to scream the entire time I was giving her a shower. I’m sure our neighbors loved us. She appeared to be fine the next day and was out swimming again at 9 am. She wasn’t 100%, but managed to get her water aerobics in anyway. Other than those minor incidents, everyone had fun and it was a nice break for Josh and I to have his parents there. I even (dare I say it) got to lay in the sun for a full hour one day all by myself. It was amazing.

Last weekend, we took Avery to gymnastics for the first time. She loved it!!!! I didn’t get a chance to get any pictures, but will post some when I do. She seems to be pretty good at it. I can’t imagine that this will necessarily be “her thing” considering her mother (yes, me) doesn’t even know how to do a cartwheel and never has, but then again, no one in my family can really carry a tune and look at what a fabulous singer I turned out to be. :)

It goes by so fast....

A friend of mine recently forwarded me an article (which I subsequently forwarded onto most of you who read this blog) that was written by a mother of two boys. She was looking back and realizing just how quickly her two boys had grown up and was reminding all of us “young mothers” to really take time out of your day to play with your kids and to appreciate the little things that they do (even if these little things drive you crazy at the time!). The article really got me thinking and made me realize that I probably don’t spend enough time just enjoying the kids. I’ll be honest – with both Josh and I working full time (and then some), it is so hard to find time to get everything done that needs to get done around the house, especially when we have only 2 days a week to do it. I find myself (as I’m sure most working mothers do) trying to get things like laundry or cleaning , etc. done during the weekend whenever I can when really, I should be taking some time out to just sit and play with the kids. So, I’ve really been trying hard to do that lately and it has led to some great bonding moments.

For example, the other night, Josh took his parents to the airport, so it was just Avery and I alone for dinner. It was such a nice night. We both had spaghetti and chatted. I will admit, it is somewhat difficult to find things to talk to a 2.5 year old about (primarily because of my lack of creativity, I’m sure – cut me some slack, I’m an accountant!), so most of the time, I just talk to her about daycare and what she has been learning about. That night, I decided to probe a bit to find out what the other kids eat at daycare for lunch – I figured this would be a good way to get some new ideas for her food. Well, instead of really answering me, she listed all of the things that her friends get in their lunch, but don’t want to eat – Johnnie doesn’t like eating his beets (can you blame him??), Maggie doesn’t like eating her cucumbers and tomatoes, Jill (aka, Jilley boo) doesn’t really eat anything, but she always has cheese and turkey and Cole has chicken and rice, but he never eats that either. And, of course, when asked, Avery exclaimed that she eats EVERYTHING in her lunch (don’t worry – her teachers list everything that she does and doesn’t eat on her daily sheet, so I know the truth). We also went through all of the letters and numbers on her Elmo placemat that night – she is getting so good at reading them! She knows pretty much every number 1-10 and definitely all of the letters in her name and in Alex’s name (both of which, she can spell) and then even a few more on top of that. It is crazy to me to think that she is kind of reading at the age of 2.5!


Then, just last night, she wanted me to tickle her and play “up and at ‘em, up and at ‘em” (a game where I bounce her on my legs and say that over and over again)– don’t ask how this got started. So, we played that for a while (instead of me doing laundry, picking up, etc. like I typically would be doing). And, sure enough, first thing this morning, she asks me if I can tickle her and play the up and at’em game again tonight. So, clearly she too is enjoying this mom and daughter time.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of those specific moments, so here are a few random ones of her. Here she is in her coat, boots and pj's - she explained to us that she needed to go to the store to buy a few things, which is why she had her jacket and boots on.





She has really gotten to the point where she uses her imagination a ton. Typically, you will find either a parade (as seen below), a "party" (which includes all of her babies as well as some flash cards and other various objects in the house or nap time (which includes all of her babies lined up in a straight line covered by a blanket) and all of this tends to end up right at the bottom of the stairs for some reason....

Alex and I have fun just sitting on the floor playing with toys. He also LOVES books. LOVES them. If you bust out a book and read it to him, he gets all excited and squeals and tries to hold it, etc. It is really cute. And…nothing creates more of a bond than dressing your son up in his sister’s pink headband. Poor thing – it was bound to happen eventually. Here is another one of him looking a bit more manly in his own hat...