"That" kid

We were the parents of "that" kid on our flight home from Orlando. The morning started off just fine.

Good morning. We'd better get moving here.
What am I wearing today Mom?
Well, shades for sure since we're in Florida.

In the airport, he was a sweet boy...and even helped with our carry-ons.

His sweetness continued through take-off. He was happily entertained by us and the refreshments provided- his "Os," milk, and a water bottle. I took the pictures below to remind myself that he was sweet...because we had a feeling it wasn't going to last for 2 hours.

Then Daddy took the video below to remind us that we will not be traveling via air for at least the next 10 years. :p Brady SCREAMED and struggled for the Entire descent and landing. The people around us were extremely gracious. Brett and I wound up laughing about it because there was nothing else we could do. It was not a case of his ears popping or anything like that. All he wanted was for me to stand up with him, which I couldn't do at that time with my seatbelt fastened. I did stand up As Soon as I was able, and the incessant screaming that once again made us the infamous family stopped immediately.

The video is 90 seconds long. If you can even stand it for that amount of time, imagine that 20 (!) times longer and that will give you some idea of the reality that was our homecoming.


And the hits just keep on coming!
Brett's mom came "back east" (as she says) to look after an aged Sandy and Romey while we were away. We called her to come pick us up from the airport and she called us back to say she was unable to start my SUV or even get the key out of the ignition. Doh. (As it turns out the battery had died and GM vehicles lock the key in the ignition when that happens. Weird.) So she had to bring Brett's car and we had to finagle our family and our gear in to the 4-door. A sleeping (because he was Exhausted!) Brady and I waited inside while Brett loaded the car. He comes in with his hand wrapped in a napkin and blood soaking through and says, "So, we may need to stop by the ER on the way home so I can get stitches." He sliced his finger clear to his knuckle on a piece of glass that was in his trunk. Ouch!

Later that evening when I went to download our vacation pictures, we discovered that we had left our camera on the airplane. Ugh. Brett called JetBlue and as it turns out our little Canon had stowed away in the seat pocket of row 13 where we were sitting and was currently in JFK. They FedExed it back to us and a few days later he was safe at home after his little adventure (turns out he didn't take any pictures of his excursion!). :) So we ended with a "sunny side up" as we say. Oh, and Brett's finger is healing and we used Pontiac's roadside assistance to jump the Torrent's battery (which was impossible to find!). All is well. Now we need another vacation...ha! :)

Maintenance Man

Brady has a slight obsession with HVAC units. He Loves the air filters and the cold air return grate (I call it his harp because he runs his fingers up and down on it and makes music). Imagine his delight when he found some air filters and the grate at Meemaw's house! Oh boy!

We noticed this past week that Brady has a new word, well two new words- depending on how much whine he adds to the syllable. He says, "No" and "Now" (which is "no" with the whine). We don't think he understands what either actually mean, but they are still funny in context to us. Here he is verbalizing about the filter. We interpreted it as his urgent (you'll hear what sounds like "right now") helpful advice to Meemaw. :)

Cruising home

It's our final full day on board as we cruise back to Tampa. Brady visited the gift shop this morning and tried to convince Meemaw that she needed a book to read
Then we went to playgroup. This Fisher-Price sponsored activity for tots age 6-18 months was offered daily at 9 AM for 45 minutes. Each day they set out new toys for the kids to play with. It was fun and they even gave him a "goodie bag" gift on the last day.
Our final night

These are the same picture, but I liked the sunset in the one and then Brady's happy face in the other.

Cozumel

The day we docked in Cozumel there was a bit of drizzling rain. So Brett, Brady, and I decided to stay and play on board for the day. Brady found a very exciting new toy (a.k.a. a skirted table) that offered at least a half hour of squeals of delight as he played hide and seek with Daddy.

One of the advantages of being on the cruise with buffet meals offered almost 24 hours a day and a wait staff on the ready to clear and clean up is that we could allow Brady to practice his self feeding skills. It made for a good time for him, us, and even the wait staff (who knew they had to clean up after him but didn't seem to mind because he was quite obviously enjoying himself).

For the entire trip, Brady's nap schedule was all messed up, but he slept pretty well at night. Here's sweet little man in the cabin's pack-n-play in one of his favorite sleeping positions "child's pose."

We didn't take many pictures at dinner tonight. But my sister did want this one of us because it happened that we both were wearing our hair in ponytails and the necklaces we got in Costa Maya. So of course we then had to take one of the bros-in-law too. :)

"Gung hay fat choy"

That means "Happy New Year" in (Cantonese) Chinese. These photos were not taken today, but I'm posting them here because January 26 is the Chinese New Year of the Ox. Meemaw got this cute Chinese vest for Brady. Pawpaw (my Chinese grandmother) got me my Chinese vest when I was like 8 years old. I squeezed in to it for this picture. :p

Costa Maya

Brady and I started the day as we did every morning on the cruise- walking the track on Deck 10. It was a beautiful morning and the Caribbean air was much warmer. We watched the ship slowly dock at the pier in Costa Maya.

Little swirlie head is the "king of the world" at the helm watching the crew prepare to dock.

After breakfast, we all got off the ship to walk around and do some shopping. Here are a few pictures with the cruise ship in the background. I love the second one where the wind is blowing Brady's hair and it looks like he has a mini mohawk. haha!

As we were walking back to the ship, we passed a fountain and one of the shops was playing Micheal Jackson's "Beat It." Brady started boogie-in' and Cue caught it on video. One of the employees of the jewelery shop was also videoing the little man's wiggles...so we're guessing he's also on Mexican YouTube or something like that. ha! Aiyee says he's a strong candidate for Superstars of Dance, the international dance show. ;p

Dinner that evening

The Poop Deck

haha! This cute little outfit was given to us by our neighbor Laura. On the front it says "Lil Pirate" and everyone who saw him was calling him that. The back, with "Poop Deck" across the diaper portion, is even funnier though and we just had to get a picture of it

Fun and Formals

Each day, Brady went straight for the pool...which was filled with ocean water and Really cold. He often refused his morning nap and would be full-on exhausted by noon. Here he is playing in the pool with Meemaw and then zonked out after lunch.

This second night was the ship's formal night. Incidentally, the black dress I am wearing is the same dress I wore on the family cruise my dad took us on 12 years ago. But better than that? It's also the same dress my mom wore to a wedding in the 1970's...it was a reddish/orange color then. We dyed it black and she redid the sequined halter for me when I was in high school and I wore it to one of my proms. ;p

Deciding what to have for an entree.
Cheerios are the appetizer, of course!

Because I think little man looks adorable in this outfit and because I Love the tot squat...