The photo is a few months old. This ran last week on the Dallas news.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_jx-qqXMCs
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Travelling to Hawaii with a toddler
We survived Hawaii!
First...any parent contemplating holding their toddler (2 and under don't technically need a seat) for a flight more than 2 hours....you're nuts. Don't "hope" for an empty seat either. Flights are very full these days (again I work for an airline)....not likely.
The flight out had 25 open seats...which were promptly filled by non-revenue (employee/employee guest) passengers.
Natali and Kelli had seats together on the 2 side (the plane was 2-3-2). I had an aisle seat a few rows up. They had real tickets, I was a non-revenue passenger.
On the flight out Natali wasn't happy. We thought she would sleep as it was her nap time. Nah.
Kelli installed the child seat to be forward facing. Natali , despite my best attempts at keeping her a baby, has been growing. Her feet can now touch the seat infront of her. Once the person infront of her leaned back..it was on.
Kelli fought with this issue for a while and became quite frustrated. About an hour into the flight I offered to swap seats. Kelli was very grateful. I then sat down...examined the issue...and turned Natali's car seat sideways with her legs facing me. Problem solved...for now. For the next flight it could be an issue. I think I might discuss with Kelli using the CARES harness for Natali and checking the car seat. The CARES harness will keep Natali further from the seat in front of her while securing her to the seat. We'd likely have to practice using it at home to get her used to it.
Once in Maui everything was good. Natali adjusted to all the family members in the house quite quickly. At it's peak there were 16 other people in the house besides us including 3 of Natalis' cousins.
There is/was an ongoing naming system with grandmothers in my family. Growing up I had a great great grandmother named "fat mama". My great grandmother was "mama eerie". My grandmother was "mama dear". My mother passed away before getting her "mama" name.
Natali has always been very good with my mother in law. While in Hawaii Natali really bonded with her. Natali calls Kelli "mommy". She began calling my mother in law, "mama". Natali says them very distinctly. I'm hoping for "mama yankee" but will settle for "mama peggy" or "mama richmond" or even just "mama".
Natali was very adamant about being held by "mama"....just about all the time. She was very insistent when any of her cousins was near "mama".
After a full week in Maui it was time to come home. Once again they had real tickets...I was non-revenue.
We left on a Wednesday. Normally a slower travel day. The flight was overfull. I had to non-rev to Honolulu on Hawaiian airlines (free for me as a pilot) and then grab a seat on a flight from there home. Natali and Kelli of course went straight home.
Lucky for Kelli Natali was tired and slept most of the flight (it helped it was an overnight flight).
Finally...photos from the trip. My mother in law rented an amazing house for the week. The house was named Prince of Polynesia....fancy doesn't even begin to describe it.
[nggallery id=46]
First...any parent contemplating holding their toddler (2 and under don't technically need a seat) for a flight more than 2 hours....you're nuts. Don't "hope" for an empty seat either. Flights are very full these days (again I work for an airline)....not likely.
The flight out had 25 open seats...which were promptly filled by non-revenue (employee/employee guest) passengers.
Natali and Kelli had seats together on the 2 side (the plane was 2-3-2). I had an aisle seat a few rows up. They had real tickets, I was a non-revenue passenger.
On the flight out Natali wasn't happy. We thought she would sleep as it was her nap time. Nah.
Kelli installed the child seat to be forward facing. Natali , despite my best attempts at keeping her a baby, has been growing. Her feet can now touch the seat infront of her. Once the person infront of her leaned back..it was on.
Kelli fought with this issue for a while and became quite frustrated. About an hour into the flight I offered to swap seats. Kelli was very grateful. I then sat down...examined the issue...and turned Natali's car seat sideways with her legs facing me. Problem solved...for now. For the next flight it could be an issue. I think I might discuss with Kelli using the CARES harness for Natali and checking the car seat. The CARES harness will keep Natali further from the seat in front of her while securing her to the seat. We'd likely have to practice using it at home to get her used to it.
Once in Maui everything was good. Natali adjusted to all the family members in the house quite quickly. At it's peak there were 16 other people in the house besides us including 3 of Natalis' cousins.
There is/was an ongoing naming system with grandmothers in my family. Growing up I had a great great grandmother named "fat mama". My great grandmother was "mama eerie". My grandmother was "mama dear". My mother passed away before getting her "mama" name.
Natali has always been very good with my mother in law. While in Hawaii Natali really bonded with her. Natali calls Kelli "mommy". She began calling my mother in law, "mama". Natali says them very distinctly. I'm hoping for "mama yankee" but will settle for "mama peggy" or "mama richmond" or even just "mama".
Natali was very adamant about being held by "mama"....just about all the time. She was very insistent when any of her cousins was near "mama".
After a full week in Maui it was time to come home. Once again they had real tickets...I was non-revenue.
We left on a Wednesday. Normally a slower travel day. The flight was overfull. I had to non-rev to Honolulu on Hawaiian airlines (free for me as a pilot) and then grab a seat on a flight from there home. Natali and Kelli of course went straight home.
Lucky for Kelli Natali was tired and slept most of the flight (it helped it was an overnight flight).
Finally...photos from the trip. My mother in law rented an amazing house for the week. The house was named Prince of Polynesia....fancy doesn't even begin to describe it.
[nggallery id=46]
Friday, January 6, 2012
Natali Spinning
Natali's new thing is spinning. The other day in the kitchen she spun out of control....caught on a surveillance camera.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXTlIxS2kqs
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXTlIxS2kqs
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
All done....more....all done....more
All of us were sick in the last two weeks. First Natali, then me...finally Kelli. Kelli protested the most though by repeatedly stating she wasn't sick....as she was coughing and wheezing. She finally gave in.
All on antibiotics. Getting better.
I often sit back and think about our little family and just how good we have it. I'm not saying we are perfect (Kelli is a Democrat and I am a little nutty), but overall we aren't too shabby.
Natali is just about the easiest kid to take care of. Her biggest issue in my opinion is her love of reading. Seriously. She will bring book after book to us to read to her.
If we are sitting on the ground she will go find a book, bring it over, say "more", hand it to us and then sit in our lap and patiently wait to be read to. It's a great thing she enjoys reading...but I think it's a little extreme. She will sit through 3-5 books in a row. Rarely interfering. She's already picked up on a few words and pages. She knows just when to say "pop" when reading The Hungry Caterpillar for example.
Beyond that she's easy. She never protest at nap time or bed time. Often she will say "nite nite" and walk toward her bedroom on her own. The other night she fell off her chair, stood up and started screaming "nite nite! nite nite!" She knew she was tired.
Natali still gets a little flustered when she can't communicate what she wants. She has this cute thing she does when she's tired and frustrated. She will be eating a snack and say "all done" then immediately say "more, more"...then "all done, all done!" then "more, more". Yeah. She also loves to say "all done!" then grab one more bite as we pull the tray away from her.
She will be 17 months old in a few days....17 months. Goes by fast. I look back and photos and videos of her and just sigh.....she's getting so big.
It wasn't easy for us to have Natali. To those that stumble upon this blog and are having trouble....keep trying. It took 2 miscarriages before we were successful. Keep trying.
All done for now.....more? Probably not. Natali is too intelligent as is.....don't want to risk having more than two people more intelligent than me in this house.
[nggallery id=45]
All on antibiotics. Getting better.
I often sit back and think about our little family and just how good we have it. I'm not saying we are perfect (Kelli is a Democrat and I am a little nutty), but overall we aren't too shabby.
Natali is just about the easiest kid to take care of. Her biggest issue in my opinion is her love of reading. Seriously. She will bring book after book to us to read to her.
If we are sitting on the ground she will go find a book, bring it over, say "more", hand it to us and then sit in our lap and patiently wait to be read to. It's a great thing she enjoys reading...but I think it's a little extreme. She will sit through 3-5 books in a row. Rarely interfering. She's already picked up on a few words and pages. She knows just when to say "pop" when reading The Hungry Caterpillar for example.
Beyond that she's easy. She never protest at nap time or bed time. Often she will say "nite nite" and walk toward her bedroom on her own. The other night she fell off her chair, stood up and started screaming "nite nite! nite nite!" She knew she was tired.
Natali still gets a little flustered when she can't communicate what she wants. She has this cute thing she does when she's tired and frustrated. She will be eating a snack and say "all done" then immediately say "more, more"...then "all done, all done!" then "more, more". Yeah. She also loves to say "all done!" then grab one more bite as we pull the tray away from her.
She will be 17 months old in a few days....17 months. Goes by fast. I look back and photos and videos of her and just sigh.....she's getting so big.
It wasn't easy for us to have Natali. To those that stumble upon this blog and are having trouble....keep trying. It took 2 miscarriages before we were successful. Keep trying.
All done for now.....more? Probably not. Natali is too intelligent as is.....don't want to risk having more than two people more intelligent than me in this house.
[nggallery id=45]
Friday, December 30, 2011
Natali's word list at 16 months
No
Baby
Eye
Happy
Toe
Head
All Done
Doggie
Mommy
Daddy
Outside
Diaper
Please
More
Thank You
Bath
Lilo (One of Kelli's dogs)
Nite Nite
Off (turning off light switches)
Light
Up
Wash
Here You Go
I flew with a guy yesterday who has an 18 month old boy who has yet to say a word. I was a bit shocked, but "they" say girls develop faster than boys. I think Natali is a little too intelligent. She's been able to reason with us for a while. Reminds me of my niece Haley....another smart cookie. Haley was able to reason and negotiate from around age 2 I think...definitely by age 3. I fear Natali is on that path.
Sure it might sound great to have an intelligent kid, but there are downsides.
I've accepted the fact that Kelli is more intelligent than me...but I am smarter. There is a difference. If Natali becomes more intelligent than me...well they could rise against me.
I'm totally content with an average child. I was average....average is well...average. Eh.
Finally...Natali has her first set of Legos. I bought the Duplo 200 piece set for Christmas. She kind of gets how to put them together and pull them apart. I built a small house only to have her take it from me then have me dismantle it for her. Nice.
[singlepic id=293 w=320 h=240 float=center]
[singlepic id=292 w=320 h=240 float=center]
Baby
Eye
Happy
Toe
Head
All Done
Doggie
Mommy
Daddy
Outside
Diaper
Please
More
Thank You
Bath
Lilo (One of Kelli's dogs)
Nite Nite
Off (turning off light switches)
Light
Up
Wash
Here You Go
I flew with a guy yesterday who has an 18 month old boy who has yet to say a word. I was a bit shocked, but "they" say girls develop faster than boys. I think Natali is a little too intelligent. She's been able to reason with us for a while. Reminds me of my niece Haley....another smart cookie. Haley was able to reason and negotiate from around age 2 I think...definitely by age 3. I fear Natali is on that path.
Sure it might sound great to have an intelligent kid, but there are downsides.
I've accepted the fact that Kelli is more intelligent than me...but I am smarter. There is a difference. If Natali becomes more intelligent than me...well they could rise against me.
I'm totally content with an average child. I was average....average is well...average. Eh.
Finally...Natali has her first set of Legos. I bought the Duplo 200 piece set for Christmas. She kind of gets how to put them together and pull them apart. I built a small house only to have her take it from me then have me dismantle it for her. Nice.
[singlepic id=293 w=320 h=240 float=center]
[singlepic id=292 w=320 h=240 float=center]
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Still my baby
Natali is growing up fast. I miss when I could hold her in my arms without her protesting. It's rare that I can hold like a baby much anymore. When I try she squirms right out. Every now and then she lets me be a dad and she becomes a baby.
Today she wasn't feeling the best. The only thing that calmed her down was laying on my chest and letting me hold her. And I was totally okay with that.
She's still my baby.
Today she wasn't feeling the best. The only thing that calmed her down was laying on my chest and letting me hold her. And I was totally okay with that.
She's still my baby.
Friday, December 23, 2011
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