9 1/2 months old

Matthew has been out on his Newark-Bermuda trip for a week and a half now. We chat every day on the internet or the phone, but the house still feels empty! I've been taking Thomas for stroller rides around the neighborhood to get us out of the house, and also a trip in the afternoon to the library, grocery store, the nursery part of Lowe's, or wherever else I can think of to break up the days! Since Matthew will be gone for a whole month this time, we are planning to join him in Newark and/or Bermuda halfway through his month away. That means we will go see him this weekend! Lots of things to think about, and I suppose the only way we'll know if we'll manage to see each other, and where, is when we're on the airplane. Non-revenue travel on Labor Day weekend. Oh, this will be interesting. I have butterflies in my stomach already, but whatever happens, happens!

Thomas went through a stage last week of eating only Cheerios, making his mommy very nervous! I had visions of Thomas at 10 years eating Cheerios morning, noon and night! But his appetite has increased again, and he eats things like potatoes, avocados, rice, bananas, squash, cauliflower, and whatever else Mommy has made for her own dinner. Still not eating as much as the books (and I) think he should, but we have to start somewhere!

The fasting stage was accompanied by the refusal to take a nap, making his mommy pretty cranky! If Thomas doesn't get his nap, neither does his mom, and that makes her (feel like) a snarling tiger! But I found that walking him around in the stroller makes him pretty sleepy and makes a great transition to naptime. I hope (fingers crossed) we're over the worst of it for now. Now we have to find something like that for the afternoon nap, and a way to keep him sleeping longer! Good thing he sleeps between 11 and 12 hours at night!

Uh-oh. Sounds like he's up. Time to rummage around for some food for the both of us. Maybe a hunk of raw meat for the tiger and a banana for the monkey (Thomas).

Oh! And another tooth has come through! Now he has two on the bottom and two on the top!

9 1/4 months old

Well, we're back in Orlando. We've been back for a week now . . . . It's kind of nice to shed all of those layers of clothes, but it's also kind of sad to be back to normal, everyday life.

The flight from Auckland to Los Angeles was pretty good! After dinner, Thomas slept in his bassinet a little, then on my lap a little, then a little more on my lap, and then it was time for breakfast and we were almost to LAX! It went by in a flash. Once we got to LA, however, we missed all of the connecting flights to Orlando, and once we figured out what to do, it seemed a better bet to settle down and wait for the next nonstop rather than overnight somewhere. The good news is, we got on, but only just . . . and we managed to find two seats together! The bad news is that Thomas was awake and upset for the whole flight. Yes, WE were the crying baby for almost the entire 5 hours! Once we gave up trying to get him to sleep and accepted that he was going to stay awake, the flight went much better for us as we could let him be active, standing in the aisle and making friends with the flight attendant and the people behind us. But it was a great jumpstart into getting over jet lag because we were soooo tired when we got home at 7am, it was straight into bed for a nap for all of us! Thomas fell asleep as soon as we started driving! In the end, it took Thomas about 5 days to sleep through the night again, thanks to Matthew's efforts to wake us every day at 7:30, no matter what kind of night we had. As for me, I'm still awake until midnight, counting sheep. Matthew says the same thing. He's out and about on a trip right now, flying between Newark and Bermuda again, waking up early and going to bed late. And, of course, during the day, lots of swimming and jogging and afternoon tea and scones. He will be away for a month this time, and I plan to visit him in Newark/Bermuda at the halfway point. Perhaps some tea and scones for me, too!
Another tooth has broken the surface! This time it's the top right one. This explains the recent fussiness and lack of appetite for the last few days which I was pretty worried about! Seriously, he would eat only Cheerios and toast. And sometimes a few bites of something else later when I'm eating something. I could tell he was hungry because he'd stare wide-eyed at me, come closer and closer, put his hand on my knee, stare at me imploringly, and cry out a bit. He had eyes like Puss in Boots from Shrek . . . melts the hardest heart! So, back he'd go to the high chair for some more food. Still, he keeps gaining weight, so I shouldn't worry too much about his lack of appetite!

So I have at last called the Conway (Stay-at-Home) Mom's Club after cutting out their ad in the paper for the last 9 months. I talked to a very nice woman who told me all about what they do, and they are a huge organization with chapters all over America and the world, of which my local chapter is one. They seem pretty low-key and friendly, and they have weekly play dates (for kids and moms) and monthly "club business" with a guest speaker about various things like green cleaners for the home and teaching your child about stranger danger. Sounds like just the thing I'm looking for . . . . I'm excited to socialize Thomas, and I'm also excited to get out of the house and socialize myself! After all the contact with different people he has had in New Zealand, this is a great opportunity to keep expanding his horizons.

Yay!

9 1/4 months old

NZ flt okay -- 10 hr layover LAX, crying flt LAX-MCO

appetite decreased again

gradually got over jet lag

Video: Thomas and Old MacDonald's Tractor

Video: Thomas, Uncle Neville and Auntie Beryl

9 months old (NZ 3)

Week three of our New Zealand vacation . . . return to Auckland!

We made it back from Wellington with no problems. There was all kinds of space on the flight, and the flight attendant even offered to let us sit in a row of three empty seats right at the back so we could have an extra seat for Thomas. Well, really it was for his wiggle room and toys since he sat on our laps the whole time. In fact, I think he even napped the whole flight! Such a peaceful trip!
This time in Auckland we were much better about our time management. Instead of being a hectic, confusing muddle of people and plans and intentions, we put everything down in our schedule and this week has been calm, smooth and purposeful. So nice!

First we visited the Glengarrys for "morning tea" and we had a lovely time catching up with them, meeting their beautiful new cats, eating Roz's delicious baked goods (especially the cheese scones!), tormenting the cats with Jocelyn's knitting needles, and watching Thomas roam around and explore. We also, through the week, managed to have a meal with almost all of the rest of the family and our old friends, go shopping, go to Borders, get some exercise, visit Katie's school, and go out to dinner a couple of times minus Thomas. Jocelyn was babysitter extraordinaire again, even on one occasion babysitting all four grandkids at the same time! Matthew even managed to squeeze in some flying. And attached are some photos of Auntie Jocelyn and Uncle Arthur Hammond and their daughter Kay on one of their visits. Thomas was mesmerized by Auntie Jocelyn's singing to him -- the first time he's ever heard a professional. It was a treat for all of us, in fact!
Thomas' appetite increased dramatically this week, eating about half a little jar of baby food at a time. Doesn't sound like much, but for him it's a lot! He likes Jocelyn's soups, potatoes, bananas, Farex rice cereal, and of course those rusks. It's a relief that he's finally eating instead of having a few bites and then turning away or playing with his food. Yay!

Thomas has also been sporting some bruises lately from where he slipped or fell over while exploring or crawling or standing next to a hard surface. The worst was where he slipped and hit his head against the ridges on which the sliding doors in Jocelyn's living room ride. His head made such a hollow ringing sound and such a lump on the side of his head! Thank goodness everyone was there because I was quite useless from shock and fear! He has recovered nicely, thanks to Arnica cream and everyone's levelheadedness. And still no new teeth. Looks like he has the top two and two flanking ones on the bottom on the go.
So after a final Tim-Tam shop, we headed for the airport where we were met by a throng of people with whom we wanted a few extra minutes. It was nice to be alone in the morning to concentrate totally on our pre-departure preparation to make sure we had enough clean clothes and Tim-Tams, diapers and all of our passports! And then it was equally nice to have all those people to distract us from the lengthy airplane ride ahead! We managed to relax with a cup of tea and some lunch at our favorite airport coffee shop. And then it was through to the gate and our bulkhead seats again . . . . Thank you, Air New Zealand.

8 3/4 months old (NZ 2)

The three of us flew down to Wellington on Air New Zealand again. For all you Americans out there, it's only an hour flight south!



Anne and Lloyd were kind enough to let us stay with them in Wellington. They are so hospitable and kind, and we felt right at home in their beautiful house. Once we started chatting, we found that we didn't really have a lot to catch up on because they had stayed with us in Orlando just three months before! We were amazed at the flexibility of time -- on one hand, seems so long ago and so much has happened (babywise)... on the other, it was just a little while ago and not many big events have happened! Here we are in the pub around the corner where Thomas was introduced to crackling (he loved it--maybe he's a Southerner after all!).

Matthew drove us around in a rental car while we were down there. We drove down to the coast, drove around his old stomping grounds, walked around Oriental Bay (yes, it's really called that), window-shopped downtown in the cold rain (because it's winter down here), ate lunch out, ogled the gelato and met some old friends. We also had a lovely big, delicious family dinner with Auntie Beryl, Uncle Trevor, Uncle Neville, Lloyd, Anne, Chris and Jennie. A fun time was had by all, especially Thomas, who even got to sit with all of the adults in his own high chair and eat a rusk (teething biscuit)! Thank you, Auntie Beryl, for thinking of Thomas!


On another one of the days, Auntie Beryl and Uncle Trevor took us to see their new house up the road. It was just a concrete slab, but looked like it was in a nice community where they take care of all the routine maintenance and yard work--very handy! Where can I get one of those? While we were there, we dropped into Uncle Neville's house which was just around the corner, and he introduced Thomas to his amazing brass Euphonium (I think). I've already forgotten what it's called! But it was gorgeous and sounded amazing!


On the last day, Lloyd and Anne drove us all in their car up to Paraparaumu (yes, that's really the town's name) to see Thomas' great-great Auntie Phyllis. Thomas is named after her brother! She was inundated with guests that day, because she also had her own daughter and son-in-law, coming back from abroad after 20 years! Then Lloyd and Anne whisked us to the rental care place just in the nick of time so we could get the shuttle to the airport.



In Thomas news, he is talking away ... one of the "words" we recognize is "nein nein" said with a clicking noise on each syllable. He sounds like he's speaking one of those African languages! Sometimes we just click our tongues back at him, and he clicks back with a big grin!



And then back to Auckland!

Video: Thomas and his rusk (teething biscuit) (NZ)