Big ol' jet airliner...

Tuesday Aug 26, 2008

Big ol' jet airliner

Don't carry me too far away
Big ol' jet airliner
Cause it's here that I've got to stay

So, this weekend was Jay's first big trip ... an airplane ride!
Oh, where to begin? Let's start with the day before we left...
When I went to pick up Jay from daycare, there was a big sign on the door about a "nasty stomach bug" going around the class and reminding parents that sick kids must be out 24 hours before returning to the center. Uh oh. That's never a good sign the day before you get on an airplane. But Jay wasn't showing any signs of feeling bad, so we decided to go with it.

We've already mentioned the vast amounts of "stuff" that we have brought along on prior trips with him. Experienced mountaineers have climbed Mt. Everest w/ less gear than we typically travel with. We made a real effort to minimize for this particular adventure, managing to get it all into only 5 bags. (Seriously. And that's with no carseat or stroller.) So off to the airport we go...

It actually went pretty well to start with. We got checked in, through security, and to our gate at RDU without incident. We even got up in the air without incident. I nursed him on the way up (Thanks, M, for the use of your "hooter hider"!) and mostly kept the hooters out of view of the poor guy beside me.

But then, there was the mid-air poop. The folks at daycare weren't kidding about the "nasty" stomach bug. This was a seriously foul-smelling poo. I would have just let him sit in it until we landed except that the poor guy in the window seat beside me was starting to turn green. If it had been only 2 seats on our side of the plane, I might have even changed him in my lap. Or Derek's. But I didn't want to risk airing out the sprinkler on our row 13 neighbor, so I headed back to the lavatory. Where there is no changing table.

So, how does one accomplish a diaper change at 30,000 feet? Why, with your son's head on the toilet seat, of course! There's really no describing the acrobatic feat of holding your squirming 6 month old's feet out of the smelliest poo on the planet while trying to open a pack of wipes. Isn't that an Olympic sport? I deserve a medal.

But we eventually did get clean britches and make it safely down in Denver. We had a marvelous trip, and I'll tell you all about it in the next installment of Torquil's News. But the fun airplane stories aren't over yet!

On the way home on Monday, Jay didn't get his morning nap because we were packing up our 5 bags to get back home. So he was pretty tired and cranky by the time we got to the airport. Derek carried him around in the Baby Bjorn carrier for a while, but it just wasn't making him sleepy. So I took over, strapping him to my chest and singing "You are My Sunshine" until he finally fell asleep. We were doing great - Jay was relaxed and we were ready to get on the plane. We thought we had it easy, as we chatted with a couple who were toting not one but two kids under age 5 AND a cat. We were in line headed down the jetway, in fact, when I felt the unmistakable stream of warm baby pee running down my leg. Apparently the Baby Bjorn had rearranged the diaper to allow for a side escape. We ran back to change him before we got onto the airplane, but the damage was done. And if you thought it was fun to change a dirty diaper on a plane, you should try wearing wet blue jeans for 3 hours and 24 minutes.

Maybe I do deserve a medal ... a purple heart.

Posted at 08:46PM Aug 26, 2008 by Jen Foster in General | Comments[4]

Rollin' (rollin') Rollin' (rollin') Rollin' on a River...

Thursday Aug 14, 2008

Rollin' (rollin') Rollin' (rollin') Rollin' on a River...

Jay's been rolling over for a while now - front to back & back to front. We've even found him on his belly in his bed a few times. But now he's figured out how to roll to get where he wants to go. And I'm not sure I'm ready for him to be mobile yet!

This weekend, we went to the beach for one last taste of summer vacation. We were only going to be there one night, so we decided to forgo the Pack & Play and put him to sleep on a mat on the floor. He slept in the car on the way down there, so we thought we were golden - just **gently** move him onto the floor and then wake up on Saturday morning. But he had different ideas. He was so excited to be at the beach that he decided to get out of bed and come hang out with us as we watched the Olympic opening ceremony. Derek went to check on him (and be sure he was still asleep). I heard Derek laughing, so I went to see what Jay was up to... he had literally rolled across the entire room (maybe 10-12 feet?). He was laying there on his belly, propped up on his elbows, grinning up at us right in front of the door. I think if the door had been open, he would have just rolled out the door and down the hallway to come join us.

So, plan B. Derek put our suitcase (a soft-side duffel bag) right beside him to keep him on the mat. 10 minutes later, we went to check on him and he was in the process of rolling OVER the suitcase! At this point, it was looking to be a long night. After putting a wall of pillows all around the mat, I guess he finally gave it up. What will life be like when he's really crawling?

Wanna see for yourself?
Rollin'





Rollin' from

Posted at 04:43PM Aug 14, 2008 by Jen Foster in General | Comments[2]

Put me in coach ... I'm ready to play today

Sunday Aug 03, 2008

Put me in coach ... I'm ready to play today

Look at me; I can be Centerfield

So this installment in the "Life & Times of Jay Michael is dedicated to our future athlete. This week has been quite sporty for sure - his dad is trying to get him to be a baseball superstar, and I'm working on that future as an Olympic swimmer.

In his short little life, he's been swimming not once, not twice, but THREE times, two of them this week! On Wednedsday night, he went to a pool party with his FBC friends. It was quite a production to get there since it was a weekday evening. We had major preparation on Tuesday night so we could go straight to the pool after picking him up from daycare:

Bottles for daycare? Check.
Extra bottle for dinner at the pool? Check.
Swimsuit? Check.
Hooded towel? Check.
Suncreen? (Don't want that tender little bald head to burn!) Check.
Personal floatation device? Check.
Swim diaper? Check.
Regular diaper to change into afterwards? Check.
Dry clothes? Check.
Swimsuit for mom & dad? Check.
Towels for mom & Dad? Check.
(You get the idea ... it's a good thing we have an SUV now.)

Even with all the preparation, we couldn't get there before 6:00 - it just takes that long to get from work to daycare and back to our side of town. But we arrived just in time for pizza, and still had plenty of time to play in the pool. We took him into the big pool, but it was a little on the chilly side. He really does enjoy playing in his float (Auntie Jen B. has the BEST hand-me-downs!!) - he just kicked like a little frog. Then we hit the baby pool, which was nice and warm. I'm going to keep believing that it's warm because the sun heats up a small pool better. I'm CERTAIN that is the ONLY reason it's such warm water. Really.

And on Saturday, he went to his first baseball game to watch Team USA take on Team Canada in Olympic preparation. This may be the last time that we have Olympic baseball, so we had to support the home team. We went with some of Derek's co-workers, and we had seats on the front row right behind the dugout. Awesome view! I was terrified we'd get hit by a foul ball, and we got awfully close. A pop up was headed right for us - I ducked & covered Jay while Derek (being the manly dad that he is!) lept up to catch it. If only he'd had a glove.... He did get a piece of the ball, but unfortunately didn't get a souvenir to bring home.

The only down side to the entire night was that Jay had a gigantic diaper blowout when we were feeding him in the car right before the game. I'm talking use-the-whole-pack-of-wipes, poop-behind-the-ears kind of blowout. Seriously, he didn't poop all day - why did he wait until we were out of the house & dressed in the baseball outfit to dump that load? You should have seen us in the parking lot. What a mess.

The game was at the DBAP, which we had driven past every day when Jay was at Duke. Every time we went by, I thought about the baseball theme nursery we had prepared for him and wondered whether our little slugger would ever be able to do "normal" things like going to watch a minor league game. It was great to take him to his first game there.


A little nervous about all these cheering fans...

Posted at 10:26PM Aug 03, 2008 by Jen Foster in General | Comments[6]