Sail Away

Dear Ian,

Spring has officially sprung in Tallahassee.  That means two things in our little world.  First, we put our garden in recently, and second:  Spring Break.

Now you and I both love going to school/work, but we both (Daddy too) love to have this little break to spend time playing together with family.  And like last year, this Spring Break, we went on a cruise with Grandma and Grandpa Brooks, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Andrea, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Stacey and Abigail. 

The boat we sailed on was Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, and that mama-jamma was HUGE!  It never ceases to amaze me that those ships actually float.  Something that big should not be able to stay on top of the water.  But believe me, I am sure glad it did.  Before our cruise, a bunch of cruise ships from the Carnival Cruise Line experienced electrical and mechanical failures.  We were a bit on the nervous side, but as it turned out, all was ok. 

Instead of loading this post down with a bunch of writing, I am going to let our pictures do most of the talking.  So without any further ado, I present, your third cruise.  Spring Break 2013.

 As usual, we did a paper chain count down until our trip.  Here we are with four days left to go.  The waiting was killing me.

 First things first.  We had to hit up the water park and pools the very first day we were on the ship.  You loved swimming in the hot tub, or "warm pool," as you called it.

 You in the warm pool.

 And at the splash park.

 Here's a view of Nassau from the 11th deck.  We have been here a couple of times, so we decided to stay on the ship and have the boat (a little more) to ourselves. 

 My two favorite guys.

 Mmmmm.  Ice cream on the ship.

 This was a crazy chair!

 Posing with Alex the Lion, from the movie, Madagascar

 After our first formal night, we came back to our room to discover that it had been infested by bats!

 Making a pinwheel spin in the breeze off our balcony.

 You and Daddy trying to give me a heart attack.  Leaning over our balcony.

How awesome is this!  There was a carousel on our ship!  Of course you rode on it.

 You and Daddy.  Daddy being silly.

 And here is the aforementioned carousel ride.  One of many.

 From deck six, looking up at the back of the ship.  Holy Moly.  They had a zipline that went over this opening.  No, I did not do it.

 You on the carousel again

 Us taking pictures of each other :)  I need to get your photos off your camera.  Cant wait to see what you took

 A Dreamworks character during a parade.  Yes, there were parades on this ship, too.  Lord.

 You and Daddy patiently waiting for the balloon lady to make you a purple penguin. 

 Snacks on the balcony with Cousin Abigail

 One of the neat things you got to do via "Ship School" (this year you were an Aquanaut!) They had power wheel cars on the basket ball court.  You had a total blast!

 Power-wheeling.

 Here's a photo you took of me.  Proof I was on this trip, too.

 You eating grapes at dinner, doing a chipmunk impression

 With King Julian from Madagascar

 Here's St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.  We stayed on the ship during this port of call, too.

 And we had the pools pretty much to ourselves.  Daddy took the time to finish the book he started last cruise.

 Pouty face. Not sure why...

 Being sweet and playing at dinner.

 Two cookies for dessert!!

 Awwww.  Cousin love :)

 Playing mini golf on deck 16.  This boat had everything.

 Good form

 My monkey and a towel monkey.

We got off the ship in St. Maarten, and here's a photo of you and Daddy with a small part of the ship.

 We went to a butterfly farm and beach while on St. Maarten.  It was really neat! 

 Look at the size of this moth!!!

 You taking pictures of butterflies.  Again, gotta get your photos off your camera!!

 So pretty.

 One even landed on you!! 

 You and I at the beach after the butterfly farm

 You and Daddy having lunch, beach side

 There you go!

 My beach baby.

 Here we are, back on the ship.  You're having a non-alcoholic strawberry daquari.  I think I got you hooked on them

 Waiting to sail away from St. Maarten.

 More evidence I was on the cruise, too.

 Dinner

 awwwwww

 We even got to go to a special character breakfast one morning.  It featured different Dreamworks characters.

 You with Puss In Boots.

 Hahaha!  There was this playspace for kids, and this cut out was there. 

 Sailor Bear and a Sailor Bear.

 You with the Dreamworks penguins.

 With our towel elephant after the other formal dinner.

 You got exposed to jazz on this cruise, too.

 Our waiter Mr. Rolando, dressed you up like the Statue of Liberty!

A shot of another ship back in port in Ft. Lauderdale.  We had such a great time; it was really hard to get off the ship and head back to normal  life. 

Daddy and I sure love sharing trips and memories with you!
Love,
Mommy

Slacker Mom

Dear Ian,

Once upon a time, a VERY long time ago, Mommy wanted to be a writer.  I wanted to write children's books; I loved to read, and therefore, it was my dream to write things that other kids would want to read and from that help encourage others to love reading.  As a teacher, I am still fostering that love of reading, but alas, I am not a writer.  Well, not in the published sense.  I write all the time, but I doubt people would actually pay to see my words in print form.  Your second cousin, Christina Mandelski, is the writer in our family.  Published and everything.  (Check out her book, The Sweetest Thing, here.) 

Through the magic of facebook, I can follow Chrissy and her trials and tribulations with revisions, edits, more revisions and deadlines.  This is the part that would keep me from being a writer.  I don't think I could be able to work with the dealines.  I mean, I only get the chance to write every now and again; time works against me, it seems.  Take your blog, for instance.  Mommy has been pathetic lately when it comes to writing to you.  We have been so busy that time has just gotten away from me; we've really been having a lot of fun.  But the purpose of this blog and all of these letters is to hold on to all the fun we have and create a catalog of memories for you to cherish as you grow up.  And in order to to that, Mommy has to get her act together and write stuff down.  March was a sad, sad little month.  One post.  And we did so much!!  So this letter is going to kick off a blast through the past as we catch up on the back-log of goings on in our lives.

Here's a memory we made back in February, and I cannot believe we didn't get it down on paper.  Or posted on the blog-o-sphere.  Or whatever.  On February 20th, I took you to your very first baseball game.  FSU had a home game, and Mommy was able to procure tickets from her friend, Ms. Corey.  Daddy was at work and unable to go, so we loaded up our baseball gear, a snack, and some warm Seminole garb and headed off to the ball field.  When we got there, you were amazed by the green grass, the player's uniforms and the sno-cone stand.  We stood by the first base line fence taking it all in, and then you were approached by a man in an FSU polo shirt.  He invited you to announce the "Play ball" that started the game!  We got to go up into the press box where they announced your name, handed you the microphone, and you hollered out your two-word moment of fame.  Turns out, you were the youngest person they've ever had to do that!  Apparently the man that approached us thought you were six, which is the age they usually ask kids to be in order to announce.

You in the press box waiting to start the game

After starting the game, you had a blast watching the batters hit, but I think the part that made your day the best was a trip to the concession stand for hot dogs, pop corn and a blue sno-cone.  We had such a good time.  Mommy was so thankful for Ms. Corey for giving us the opportunity to have such a neat experience. 

So there.  I think we've now wrapped up the month of February, and therefore we can move on to March.  I don't know if you looked at the time stamp on this letter, but here we are at April, so I've got a lot of work to do. 

Busy, busy, busy...

Love,
Mommy

Motherhood Is...

Dear Ian,

When I got pregnant with you, I had a small clue of what being around small people was like; I mean, come on: by the time you came along, I had been teaching or running a preschool for almost 10 years.  However, the 24-7 gig that was you totally rocked my world there for a bit, and even though now that we generally have the hang of things, you still tend to throw me for a loop.  I will be honest and say that as much as I have taught you in your three-and-almost-one-half years on the planet, you have probably taught me just as much.  And the lessons have been immensely valuable. 

Every mother has their own idea of what motherhood and parenting "is" to them, and while I had an idea before you were born, you have helped me to define motherhood in some amazing ways.  My impression of motherhood was that whole "decision to have your heart forever go walking outside your body" or some such stuff.  I'm paraphrasing, and I really do love that quote, but for now, I'm going to be snarky and sarcastic, because I have come to realize that motherhood is more than just all that lovey-dovey stuff.  (Although you are my little Lovey-dovey).

Below are my new definitions of my role, as influenced by you.

Motherhood is...

...the ability to hear the same word or phrase over and over without losing your mind.  Sort of.  Your current repeat phrase is just the simple word, "Mama."  EVERYTHING starts with this.  And you talk A LOT!  One of these days, I am going to video record one of our afternoons.  So far, since 3:00pm today, you have said "Mama"  218 times.  No joke.

Motherhood is...

...the ability to remember the last time your child ate/pooped/napped/got a tetanus shot, whether their laundry is clean, when you have to deliver eggs for the class egg hunt, your spouse's work schedule and your in-laws wedding anniversary.  But you CANNOT remember where you put your cell phone, which is still in your hand.  This has happened twice this week.

Motherhood is...

...the ability to lie explain creatively the answers to all sorts of questions without needing to know the secrets of the universe or reveal how people make babies.

Motherhood is...

...the ability to deal with all sorts of nasty bodily fluids and behaviors that, had it been another person's child, would have you running away screaming, "Awww HELL naw."

Motherhood is...

...the bipolar-ism that comes with not wanting your child to get hurt, but then realizing that some lessons just need to be learned the hard way.

Motherhood is...

...realizing that when you open your mouth to speak to your child, your own mother comes leaping out.  (This is not such a bad thing.  It cracks me up more that anything.)

Motherhood is...

...sitting down to write this post and realizing yet again what a cool adventure I am on.  Sure, there are moments when I want to run for the hills, or beach, or desert or moon, but then I look at the funny, smart little kid you are and understand that I am part of the reason you are who you are.  (Can't forget about Daddy here; he's a wonderful, sometimes eclectic influence on you, too.)  And that realization gives me the ultimate definition of motherhood.

Motherhood is...

...humbling.  Whether you were peeing on me as a baby, or moving me to tears when I catch you being an empathetic friend, or shocking me by your blossoming ability to read, I am forever humbled that I get to have you.

Daddy and I love you always,
Mommy