A Good Trip

We took Pumpkin to Seattle last weekend. The weekend had a lot of firsts in it: our first trip to a city other my hometown with Pumpkin, Pumpkin's first plane ride, Pumpkin's first boat ride (the ferry to Bainbridge), Pumpkin's first night in a hotel.... One of the most surprising thing about the weekend was how well it all went. We did several things right:

1. We had bought a cheap umbrella stroller to take on the trip. However, at the last minute, I decided that we should take her regular "city" stroller (also a relatively cheap stroller, at least compared to her off-roading jogging stroller), because the seat in her regular stroller reclines. I had a vision of Pumpkin napping in her stroller while we sat in a brew pub and drank beers. This didn't really happen- she certainly napped in her stroller. She likes to sit very upright, with her arms on the tray that hooks across the front of her stroller (as shown in the photo). When she got tired, her little head drooped down, until it was resting on her arms. I would stop, gently tilt her back into the seat, and then recline the seat before continuing on her way. However, she almost always woke up when we stopped for drinks. I still got a beer or two, though- Pumpkin was generally happy to sit in a high chair and eat crackers while the adults drank beers.

Even if my vision did not come true, taking the reclining stroller was a very good idea, because it meant that Pumpkin could nap while we walked around and were tourists. The better touristing definitely compensated for the little bit of extra hassle in the airport (the stroller only folds flat with the seat reclined, so folding it down for security or when boarding was not as fast as it would have been with the umbrella stroller).

2. We took lots of snacks. We had all of her favorites with us, and this meant that she would always eat something when we were at a restaurant, even if she wouldn't eat the restaurant food.

3. We made an effort to find places where she could run around. On Friday, we stopped after a long stretch of stroller time and let her explore Pioneer Square. For those who don't know Seattle, this is a pleasant square with trees and chairs... and homeless guys. Pumpkin made friends with a lot of the homeless guys, who seemed to appreciat eth joy she took in the birds in the square. One guy in particular just broke into the biggest grin every time she came near him. Several also offered her advice, mostly along the lines of listening to her mother. She has not shown any signs that she plans to heed their advice.

4. We requested a crib for Pumpkin. This allowed us all to sleep better. Pumpkin is a very active sleeper, and since we aren't regular co-sleepers, I don't tend to get very much sleep when I'm sharing a bed with her. We did bring her into bed with us when she woke up at 5:30 on Saturday. She nursed, and then snuggled in and went back to sleep- and we all slept until 7:30. The quality of sleep was one of the biggest surprises of the trip- Pumpkin slept better than she does at home. It was wonderful.

There were also some things we could do better next time:

1. We didn't eat dinner early enough. We always had the best intentions, but things kept coming up that kept us from getting to dinner "on time". This meant that Pumpkin was pretty hungry by the time we sat down at a table, so she tended to fill up on the bread at the table or the snacks we had with us.

2. We didn't think to ask about a fridge or a bath tub when we booked the hotel. A fridge would have meant that we could have had cold ice packs to use to keep milk cold for Pumpkin during the day. As it was, we had to keep asking restaurants to rinse out her sippy cup and put fresh milk in it. And no matter how carefully we asked, they always filled the cup to the top. Pumpkin had no hope of ever finishing all the milk they gave her.

No bath tub meant that we had to try to give Pumpkin her first shower on Friday night. She was NOT impressed, so we skipped it the next night, and made a note to practice taking showers at home.

3. It would be better to get Pumpkin her own seat on the airplane. She would still probably have wanted to walk up and down the aisle several times on the flight to Seattle, but having her own seat would have made it easier to entertain her while we were seated. She is just a little too big to sit on my lap and have the tray table down, so it was hard to let her color with the special mess free markers I'd bought, which only color on the corresponding special paper, and we kept dropping toys and books.

On the way back, Pumpkin fell asleep and slept most of the flight. I still wished for her to have her own seat, though, because I could hardly move for the entire flight. However, I did manage to drink a ginger ale, which is more than I managed on the flight up.

4. We should have looked up the location of playgrounds in advance. We never found a playground for her in Seattle. We took her to our neighborhood playground when we got home on Sunday, and she seemed especially happy to be there. It was silly that we didn't find playgrounds in advance- I'm pretty sure that it would be very easy to do on Google maps.

Overall, we judged the trip to be a resounding success. Pumpkin really seemed to enjoy riding around in her stroller checking out the new sights. I enjoyed seeing things with her enthusiasm- it has been too many years since I looked at a bird banking in the draft from a ferry with the proper awe or appreciated the giant concrete balls serving as a traffic break for a building for their slalom course potential. Pumpkin quickly sorted me out on these points, and many others. I'm looking forward to more trips with her. I know that can't all be this good,
but now I also know that they certainly won't all be as bad as some of the horror stories I've heard.

Gratuitously Cute Toddler Story

The trip to Seattle went really, really well. Pumpkin did great on both the airplane rides, slept better than she does at home (we're thinking of moving to a hotel), and generally seemed to love her weekend. I'll write more about that (and what I think we did right and wrong on this trip) later.

For now, I'll just share a gratuitously cute toddler story:

One of Pumpkin's best signs is for cracker. This is probably because crackers are her favorite food, but is too difficult a word for her to say just yet. The sign, for those who don't know, is made by knocking on your left elbow with your right fist. You're supposed to bend your arm into a vertical position. Pumpkin doesn't do this- she just holds her arm horizontally and knocks on it with her other fist. Still, it is clear what she wants.

Today, we tried to give her some of the pork fried rice we were eating for dinner. We put some on her tray. She poked at it, and then looked at me and signed "cracker". We put some in a bowl for her, and gave her the fork she uses, hoping this would interest her. No dice. She looked up at us with her big blue eyes and signed "cracker". We offered her the toast we had also put on the table, which she often eats with a fair amount of gusto. Nope. She just repeated the sign for cracker. We tried several more times to get her to show some interest in the food she had in front of her, and each time, she looked at us very intently and signed "cracker".

I was torn- on the one hand, we want her to learn to eat other foods. On the other hand, we want her to learn that she can communicate with us via methods other than screaming and crying. In the end, I caved, and got her a cracker. Which she ate, and then looked at me, and signed "cracker".

I think I need to look for high nutrition cracker recipes....

The First Plane Ride

Posts might be even sparser than usual around here this week- Hubby and I are busy trying to plan for Pumpkin's first plane ride. We are going to Seattle at the end of the week. For this first, relatively short trip, Pumpkin is riding on my lap. But part of the point of the trip is to practice for a trip to Hawai'i that we are planning at Christmas time, and on that trip, she'll have her own seat.

Being the geeks that we are, we've googled for advice. This post was helpful, as was this packing list. Sadly, I couldn't find anything about this on Ask Moxie, my source for all other parenting wisdom. If I had my act together, I would have sent this to her as a question a week or two ago, but it seems a bit self-absorbed to hope that a question I sent in now would get answered in time to help. So anyone in my much smaller readership who has advice- let loose in the comments! I'd also love to hear of any ideas for cool things to do in Seattle with a 15 month old who likes to run (walking is so last month....) and play with balls. So far, we know we'll go have a drink in the space needle, if they do that sort of thing- we have a tradition to maintain- and go to Pike's Place Market. We'll probably also check out the Children's Museum, because we are staying right there. Beyond that, who knows?

Random Things

Earlier this week, we had Pumpkin out for her after dinner walk. She had insisted on walking, not sitting in a stroller, so we weren't going far. She was not walking in anything approximating a straight line, but she was doing a great job of staying on the sidewalk. Then three women came by, also out for their evening stroll. They were walking three abreast, so were walking in the street. They stopped to admire Pumpkin, who was shy, but friendly. After they walked away, Pumpkin looked up at us, looked at the street where the women had been standing, and headed straight for the street. I think she thought that if they could walk in the street, so could she.

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Last night, I made some of Pumpkin's favorite pasta for her dinner. It is Annie's Peace and Parmesan Pasta. If you haven't seen this pasta, it is in the shape of little peace signs. I think she originally took to this pasta because it was easy to pick up- she could stick her little fingers through the pasta. I had some of the pasta last night, too. I, of course, ate with a fork. So Pumpkin wanted a fork, too. I gave her the toddler fork we'd bought for her. She pushed her pasta around with it for awhile, and then went back to using her fingers to eat. Towards the end of the meal, though, she picked up her fork again, and speared a single peace sign, and then steered it into her mouth. The look of pure pride and happiness on her face was wonderful to see. We clapped for her, and she tried again. She succeeded again, and again, she beamed with pride and we clapped. She repeated this 5 or 6 times before she got tired of it or full, and started pointing at the floor so that we'd get her out of her high chair.

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Here is a gratuitous cute picture:



We bought Pumpkin the "pop pop" toy at a garage sale last weekend. I couldn't resist, because I had (and loved) a very similar toy when I was a toddler. So far, Pumpkin's favorite time to use this toy is when she wakes up in a super playful mood at 5:15 in the morning, and one of her parents is trying to get a little more sleep.

One Less Thing to Feel Guilty About

I saw a story about a new study that found that doing rigorous self breast exams is not particularly beneficial on the BBC website today. I like the British "TLC" approach much better than the American "you must do this specific type of exam" approach. I wonder when the American medical recommendation will change? Regardless, I am officially crossing this off my list of things I feel guilty for not doing.

My theme of laziness continues!