our trip to California

Last Thursday we went to San Francisco for four days. I took a different flight than Mr. Doodlebug because he wanted to work a full day on Thursday and I knew baby Doodle wasn't going to be a happy traveling companion at 8:00 at night. So we took a flight that was supposed to leave the Philly airport at 2:00 p.m. After sitting at the gate for a while the captain's voice came on the intercom and said that they were refueling the plane and as soon as they did that and the paperwork was through we would be "pushing back." Our plane had been sitting at our gate for an entire hour before we even boarded it. I don't know why they couldn't have been refueling then. So I was keeping baby Doodle occupied with many snacks (cheddar bunnies, animal crackers -- that I call cookies, grapes, cream cheese and jelly sandwich and apple juice -- which he didn't like!). After about twenty minutes the captain comes back on and says that they've refueled but are waiting for the paperwork. Another ten minutes go by and I'm already running out of food to keep baby Doodle quiet. We are supposed to remain seated.

I take out a Richard Scarry book. Baby Doodle is enthralled and happy to sit on my lap and point things out in the pictures that he recognizes (boats, cars, trucks, planes, helicopters, cows, cats, monkeys . . . you get the idea). The captain comes on again and says they're ready for take off, and the plane starts moving away from the gate. We're rolling around the tarmac. I look out the window and it seems that we are going in a giant circle. All the while I'm telling BD that any minute we're going to be in the sky and isn't this exciting. Another twenty minutes go by and the captain comes on yet again. He says that we're being rerouted because there are storms by Pittsburgh and the federal government wants to give the pilots their reroute before we take off. So we're apparently waiting for the feds now. More time goes by. Finally, we are on the runway ready to take off -- we're second in line for take off. We're in the air an hour and ten minutes after we were supposed to be. It was 3:15 p.m. Baby Doodle hadn't slept at all yet so I thought once we were in the air and riding along smoothly that he'd fall asleep. I could not have been so wrong.

He demanded constant entertainment. He paid no attention to the little screens that came down from the ceiling. He only tolerated the iPod earbuds for about thirty seconds even though they were playing Baby Beluga in his ears. After a few hours, several walks up and down the aisle, and two diaper changes he started getting crankier and kicking the seat in front of us. I would make him stop and he'd screem and cry and squirm away from me. He wasn't hungry any more, he didn't want to play or read, we weren't able to walk around because the plane was turbulent and we had to stay seated with our seat belts fastened. I was so frustrated I started tearing up. I got up and walked with him in my arms up and down the aisle a few times. Then I sat back down and tried for the hundreth time to get him to fall asleep. This time it worked. It was 7:00 p.m. Eastern time -- BD's regular bed time. He slept for the last hour of the flight, including the landing. My aunt was at the gate with a stroller in hand. We drove home and BD chatted to himself in the backseat.

You will be happy to know that that was the worst part of the trip. I had an excellent plan for moving around the airport and getting to and from the parking lot where we left the car. BD was in the baby carrier on my back. His carseat was set on wheels that I borrowed from a friend. The two bags I had (diaper bag and plane entertainment bag) were in the carseat that I wheeled. I even had a free hand. It was great and worked well in both directions.

Mr. Doodlebug didn't arrive at my aunt's house in Walnut Creek until midnight (local time) Thursday night. I'm so glad we didn't take the flight with him even though baby Doodle was a pill with me. On Friday Mr. D had meetings in San Francisco. Baby Doodle, my aunt and I went for a walk to a great playground and then to an adjoining museum that cares for animals that are hurt in the wild and unable to find their own food and survive. We saw a bald eagle with only one wing, a mountain lion, many raptor birds and owls. They had a play room that BD found entertaining.

Saturday, we went to Sonoma to do a little wine tasting. The wines and food were good. We went to Arrowood and Gloria Ferrer. At Gloria Ferrer they serve you the tastings outside on the veranda overlooking the grape fields and rolling brown hills. At Arrowood they had a basket of toys by the unlit fireplace for kids/babies to play with. It was perfect for BD. We sampled some chocolate at a chocolatier whose name I can't recall. We tried Cabernet chocolate ganache and mint chocolate ganache. Both were incredible.

Sunday, Mr. D and I took BD into San Fran. We rode BART there which was great. Baby Doodle loved boarding an actual train and looking out the window. We went to Pier 39 where BD wasn't as taken with the sea lions as he was with the constant stream of boats going by. He was quite taken with the carousel, but we didn't ride it, we figure we'll take him on the one at Point Pleasant this weekend. We walked up to Fisherman's Wharf and got some fresh crab and clam chowder. Then onto Ghiradelli Square where a musician was singing one of my favorite songs, Hallelujah, the Jeff Buckley version. BD played in the fountain and we listened to some very good covers by this guy. We gave him a buck and went to get some Ghiradelli chocolate ice cream which we kept hidden from BD because he was due for a nap and I didn't want him having chocolate. We hiked up to China Town, then down to Union Square where a band was playing and an art show was happening. We hopped back on BART around 3:30. It was a great day in the city. I love San Francisco. The vibe there is upbeat and uplifting. Just walking through the city you run into all kinds of cool, interesting things to see and experience.

Monday, we went to two more wineries in Livermore, not far from my aunt's house. Baby Doodle was asleep when we got there so my aunt graciously offered to stay behind and read while BD slept. They met us in the first winery after a good hour long nap. We tasted, had lunch and walked around downtown Walnut Creek a bit. We got some frozen yogurt, which we shared with baby Doodle -- he had already slept.

We took BART to the airport on Tuesday morning. This time Mr. Doodlebug was with us to help with BD. Our flight was late pushing back again, even though it was not late arriving at SFO. We left more than a half hour late. When we arrived in Philly we had to circle the airport for about 45 minutes while we waited to be cleared for landing. We landed then had to wait on the tarmac for another half hour or so while a gate was arranged for us. It was as if they weren't expecting us. Or as if we were early. I will do what I can to not fly US Air again. The flight attendants were unfriendly and unhelpful with BD on the way out, both flights were delayed and there wasn't a single apology from anyone let along free headphones to listen to the movie. They don't even provide a meal any more. You have to buy it from them for $5 (the headsets are also $5) -- be bought neither.

We all had a great time on the west coast. I'm sad that summer is coming to an end already. We head out to Spring Lake on Saturday.

At Gloria Ferrer winery.

The sea lions at Pier 39. There is a baby one in the middle of the adults.

Baby Doodle looking at the boats at Pier 39.

Baby Doodle looking for more frozen yogurt.

my whereabouts -- b/c I know you're all interested

I have been a very busy woman lately. I've just begun branching out of my stay-at-home life to which I've become a little too accustomed. On Thursday I went to a PR meeting for a local community center where I met a lot of nice new people. It was refreshing to "talk shop" and not about baby Doodle. I was given a small project that I'm supposed to start today.

On Friday we had our weekly neighborhood happy hour where I drank three or four of a delicious cocktail made with vodka, raspberries, tonic, some kind of juice and basil leaves. It gave me a new use for the growing basil plants outside my kitchen window. From happy hour Mr. Doodlebug dropped me off at the brewery where I met up with a bunch of moms I know from the playground -- the same moms I've met up with for drinks before. He took baby Doodle home and got him to bed. I stayed out only until about 11:00 p.m.

Saturday, I met up with three other bloggers at Honey's Sit n' Eat where I sat and ate two vegetable latkes even though I wasn't that hungry. They were delicious. And the homemade applesauce was incredibly smooth, and delicious!

Sunday, my in-laws came over and we went to Linvilla Orchards where we picked tomatoes, bell peppers (purple, green and red), eggplants, and not-yet-ripe peaches. The peaches are sitting in our fruit basket waiting to soften. We got sandwiches from Mugshots on Main Street and ate them in front of the Phillies game in which Mr. Doodlebug and his father were interested.

Yesterday, I drove to Kennett Square to see my friend and her two kids. There, I had a delicious, yes another delicious, sandwich made of pesto, Vermont cheddar cheese, apple, and alfalfa sprouts in a wheat pita. Baby Doodle had a cream cheese and jelly sandwich, as he does every day of his life, except today when he had a cheese sandwich.

It seems that much of my last five days were dominated by good food -- it's been a busy, but delicious five days.

naps -- can't live with them, can't live without them

We spent the weekend in Spring Lake visiting my in-laws in their air conditioned house one mile from the beach - I mention these two points because the high in Philly on Saturday was 97, and that's not a dry 97. We arrived around 10:45 on Saturday morning. My in-laws had a christening to go to so they left a half hour after we arrived. Baby Doodle didn't seem that tired so we decided to have lunch and then go to the beach before his nap. After we ate it seemed like baby Doodle was tired after all. So I cuddled with him and sang many many baby songs then deposited him in the pack and play and waited for him to fall asleep. While we were waiting we heard him talking and singing. Then we heard a loud thud on the floor and ran upstairs. Baby Doodle was standing smiling at us when we burst through the door. He had stood on his tiptoes and reached as far as he could to get to the book end that was sitting on the desk. He picked it up and threw it on the floor.

I rocked and cuddled with him to try to get him to fall asleep. He wanted no part of it. He squirmed and tried to get down. He was giddy and now didn't seem tired. I guess achieving his goal of reaching that brass book end gave him a high. We packed up our stuff, put baby Doodle in his bathing suit, lathered him with sunscreen, got our own bathing suits on and got into the car. During the one-mile drive to the beach (yes, we drove both because of the heat and because we didn't know how long BD was going to last) baby Doodle fell asleep so we drove right back home. I took him out of the car, put him in the pack and play and stuck his pacifier in his mouth when he protested.

An hour and a half later -- it is now 3:30 -- baby Doodle woke up. I reapplied the sunscreen and we headed back to the beach. BD took to the ocean and the sand quite well this time. He loved throwing the sand around, letting it land in his hair and stick to his arms and legs. Then we brought him to the baby pool at the boardwalk. He had a lot of fun climbing up and down the stairs. We got back home about 5:45, hosed baby Doodle's naked body off, fed him dinner and got him ready for bed. My in-laws came home and got to spend some time with him before we put him to bed at 7:30. He went down without a fuss, as he usually does at night.

16 months old

I'll save the whole I-can't-believe-my-baby-is-already-16-months-old bit and just let you know how he's doing.

Developments:

He climbs up the ladder to get to the upper level of the playground equipment at our park.

He is completely fascinated by the hose and now drinks water from a low-flowing spout.

He likes his pool, but only to splash the water around, he doesn't actually like to sit in it.

He rides on the bike seat we bought used in Spring Lake and likes it.

He has learned to immitate quite a few gestures, and almost everything you say. The gestures include: bouncing a ball off the side of the house (we call it "wall ball"); spreading lotion on his arms and legs; eating with a spoon or fork; putting on shoes; watering the plants with the watering can; turning the water on at the hose, and all the faucets in the house; putting keys into the keyhole of the door; reaching up to the doorknob when he wants to go outside; he reads books to himself sometimes upside down.

He also likes to climb into and out of chairs. He hands me a book, then climbs into his chair so I can read it to him.

His vocabulary is so vast I can't even count all the words he says any more. Around July 20th I counted 23 words that he says regularly, but he hit a surge right after that. I think he says upward of 35 words now. The newest words include: please (peese), plane (pay - said while he points to the sky), shirt (shir), water (wawawawa - said very quickly), and spoon (soom). He also has words for many things that I haven't been able to discern yet. I'm sure they'll be actual words before too long.

He takes one two-hour nap in the afternoon now, which I prefer to the two naps. He puts himself to sleep for naps and at night. As recently as a few weeks ago he had to be rocked all the way to sleep during the day, but he no longer needs that. He sits in his crib and talks and/or reads and then lays down and falls asleep.

He has the sweetest disposition, asking with his eyes and voice tone if he can play with something or do something. He almost never takes things away from other kids and doesn't seem to mind that much when someone takes something away from him, unless it's a ball. He's extremely loveable. Here's a recent picture: