We decided on cruising for our first vacation with baby boy, and now we have to prepare for an experience unlike any other vacation we’ve ever taken.

We usually are super active on vacation, and pack in a lot during each day, but considering having an 11 month old with us, we’re going to have to slow down considerably. Just being away from home, cooking, cleaning, email, phone calls, emails, obligations etc will be wonderful, and getting 8 uninterrupted days of family togetherness time is awesome for us right now.

Our plans are to: eat a lot , explore as much as we can with Roey in tow, hit a beach up, and take advantage of all the ship has to offer activity-wise.

We’re going to make use of:

In-Room Sitter:

This service we’re going to try at least one night, once we get Roey down to bed, we’ll have the sitter scheduled to come hang out in the room with him while he sleeps, so we can have a grown up night “out” and do dinner and a show.

Switching Off:

On the nights we don’t use the sitter, we’re going to switch off while Roey sleeps, alternating some “free” time. I’ll probably use that time for the gym….wait…sorry, damn autocorrect, I meant…casino.

Nursery Service:

I’m really not 100% on this one, but I’ve been getting such good reports/feedback on it. If I check it out and it feels OK, we may leave Roey in the nursery for an hour or two on a sea day and enjoy some kid-free time. (let’s see if this actually goes down lol)

My-Time Dining:

This is essential. We’ve got “any time” dining scheduled instead of the 6:30 or 8:30 rigid meal times that the cruises normally offer. Hopefully this allows us to eat early with Rohan on days we won’t use the night time sitter, and late sans baby on days we do have the sitter.

I’m so grateful that the ships offer so much for families and so many options for flexibility. I cannot wait to get on board this ship and just enjoy!!

Have you used baby facilities on a cruise before? How was it?

My goodness. I’m planning a 1 year old’s birthday party. Jeeeez *GASP!* I just realized this is the last monthly post I’ll be doing. My lil man will be a big boy now, and we’ll just do periodic updates and posts on certain milestones.

Height:

30 inches

Weight:

23 lbs

Clothing/Diapers:

He’s in 12/18 months clothes and size 4/5 shoes.  Diapers he’s in size 4.

Personality:

This smiley/giggly little boy is super active! He is always laughing, smiling, squealing, talking, singing, playing, pushing, pulling, reading, throwing, banging, eating, bouncing, and just….GOING. When he was sick he was slow and quiet and even though I didn’t want him sick, I liked the momentary (relative) peace!

He’s really fun and makes me laugh a lot. You can’t squat down or sit on the floor while tying your shoe or anything or he will run over and jump on your back for a piggy back ride. It’s annoying as hell sometimes but the cutest thing in the world.

I can see tantrums coming my way very soon. He’s so determined to get what he wants, but luckily he’s still able to be redirected pretty easily.

Sleep:

He’s doing well, sleeping from 7pm to 5am and we nurse at that point and sometimes he goes back to sleep for an hour or 2 and sometimes he’s just up so I put him in his crib with some books and I go back to “sleep” until he fusses. He usually will play and “read” for 30-45 minutes so I can doze a lil bit. His naps are still morning and afternoon and are about 1 hour in the a.m. and 45 minutes in the p.m. I’ll take what I can get. He hates going down for naps and now that I’m weaning (so I’ve cut out a pre-nap nursing session) he is extra hard to get down.

Eating:

Oh he just eats everything. Mostly the same things we eat, unless it’s too spicy to give to him. He still has some purees, and he seems to LOVE cauliflower mash and oatmeal. He also eats a lot. Sometimes I’m giving him a spoonful and asking him “are you sure?” but he’s really good about turning away when he’s had his fill.

Likes:

• chase games and tickle games
• piggy back rides
• playing with anything that’s NOT a toy
• food.
• pushing, pulling, ripping, banging
• singing and now, dancing along with music

Dislikes:

• getting changed
• being left alone for one second (unless there’s something dangerous around for him to mess with)
• naps
• the word “no”

Why I’m gunna punch him in the face:

• Throwing himself around – He flails and throws himself back without notice. At first I thought it was a tantrum because he does it when I tell him no. But he does it at random during story time or when just sitting and drinking too. It’s scary and I fear one day my reflexes will fail me and he’ll go boom really hard.
• Blowing razzies. I just can’t stand it and hope he stops again. He goes through rasberry blowing phases it seems.
• MORE Sabotage. He somehow changed the exposure on my point and shoot camera, and also the display now shows some heat sensor lookin’ thing that I can’t get rid of. He also archived my emails….I didn’t even know how to do that. (But I sure learned how to undo it!)

Why I’m gunna give him lots of kisses:

• He’s learning! He’ll never sign so I’m just giving up on it. But he’s communicating more and I love it. He’s learning his body parts, even though when I say point to Rohan’s ____, he’ll point to mommy’s ____… at least he knows what the ____ is!!  He’s also starting to wave, though he’s sometimey with it. He tends to wave at people with good energy, and bubbly ladies.
• He’s “speaking” more. He totally says book!! It sounds like “duck” and I love it. Also I think he says yes sometimes. I’m going to wait before claiming that one though. And he’s still saying Hey and hey girl to me. Still not saying Mama but he says Dada (and even better: Daddy) and means it! (I’m soooooo jealous)

Next update will be a full year of Roey!!! Can you believe it?

Oh girls, I’m feelin’ it today. Feeling under it is more like it. Under what, you ask?Just a HUGE to do list, and feeling like I have zero time before vacay to get everything done. Anyone have a few more hours of the day I can borrow?

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I usually have vacation brain by now, but since my to do list is 17 miles long, I kinda wish my cruise was farther away. (I cannot believe I just ‘said’ that!)

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How was your mothers day? Did your family spoil you? I know I won’t be getting spoiled for mothers’ day until my kids are in school and come home with awesome macaroni glued to construction paper gifts. And I CANNOT.WAIT!

I spent the weekend at my parents’ house since John had to work. We just hung around and had dinner together, nothing fancy. But was nice to spend time over there.

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Speaking of my parents’ house, I feel like going there is like a whole different world. I’m cut off from communication, my schedule’s all off, Sharkie’s schedule hangs by a thread, and I just forget that there’s a to do list waiting for me when I get back to the “real world.” I used to not mind this, but now that I’m trying to get a lot done professionally (and personally) it feels like a family visit is a step back in life. (Does that sound horrible?) I think I’m going to have to start bringing my laptop and being a lil dictator(ish).

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I am going to go to rehab soon. I realized I have a problem, and I’m ready to get help. I tried weaning on my own, but the drug is just too strong.

CANDY. CRUSH. SAGA.

WHYYYYYYYYYY does it exist? WHY CAN’T I JUST GIVE IT UP!?!?!

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Did you end up having your active family play date?! We played around in the backyard. Roey liked it and went down for a nice nap afterward!

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Low carbing is going well (well, except when I was at my parents’) and even though I’m not running as much as I’d like in the past week and a half, I’m feeling good. Happy that on the cruise I won’t have to cook and will still be able to eat in a low carb way. I’ll do a full post on this, but I realize I don’t miss bread/rice/potato/cake/pastry desserts. I do miss chips so I eat them a little bit.

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Oh, I”m mad at yall. Why didn’t you guys tell me what a good show Nurse Jackie is!? I was sick and in bed all yesterday evening and somehow I inhaled season one all last night! #howthathappen?

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OK I’ve gotta go get crackin’ on my to do list. But, I feel like I’ve been neglecting you girls too, so I’ll have some good stuff posted soon. Talk to you later! XOXO

You think he’s being sweet:

But when you look closely:

He’s trying to rip the bear to shreds!!!!

He’s SCARY!!

But I think I’ll keep him anyway.