Monday, April 27, 2009

International Man of Mystery

"Hola Guapo!" was the official and most common greeting during our trip to Mexico. Apparently, Callan's appeal is international. I had no doubt.

We had a seriously wonderful trip! Callan is perfect, and he behaved perfectly---no airplane crying, no tantrums, just wonderful wonderfulness. Can you even stand it? He was awesome (and as noted in previous paragraph) practically too cute for words.












Every day with my little Mister feels like heaven, but it was a wonderful treat to also wake up in paradise! Yay Eric for winning a wonderful vacation for us! We could get used to this kind of thing!!! ; )
Callan just enjoyed everything! He loved the water and watching the other kids. He also was very pleased to learn that on vacation, there are on no food rules. You aren't forced to eat your vegetables and meat isn't snuck into your mouth sandwiched between banana slices. He was able to pretty much eat only fruit, yogurt, cheese and cheerios for five straight days. We have already begun the veggie revolt now that we are back home!

Our first trip taught us, or tried to teach us a lot of things:
1..You can't change yourself too much. The universe won't let you.
I have spent WEEKS preparing for this trip. I had spreadsheets of check lists, due dates---I mean I was seriously working against type to make sure we had everything we needed. I even shipped freakin' boxes to myself ahead of time full of all the things I knew we would need. Infant sunglasses that are 100% UVa & UVb, pool float w/shade, sunscreen, deet free bug spray, antibacterial wipes, creams, lotion, shampoo, canned organic fruit, cereal...I think I would have made Martha Stewart proud...I mean I was ready. Or so I thought. Apparently my research on international shipping was a little lacking. 2 of my 3 boxes were held (and are currently in captivity) in Mexican Customs in MexCity. BOOO. I was frantic last Monday trying to track the boxes and then giving up and working to replace everything that was in the boxes to pack and bring with us. Phew. Crisis averted. Lesson: I did twice the work to try and be something I'm not (organized) than I would have done if I would have just waited until the last minute in the first place. OH well!

2. Giving Birth is a Right of Package.
This being our first family trip since Callan was born, I discovered an ascribed role I was previously unaware of: Family Packer. I assumed I would be in charge of packing up Callan. I know Eric would have done it, but I just didn't want Callan to have one t shirt and one pair of sweatpants as his only clothes for the trip. So that one, I was ready for. What I was not ready for was that I also had to pack Eric (who was having a little what to wear in a tropical paradise while working clothing crisis) and pack Vegas up to go to the Kennel. In addition to packing myself. Luckily, we got everything in, and I didn't even have to sit on a single suitcase!

3. Haircuts before vacation = Bad idea!
Or maybe that should be, letting your mom cut your hair is a bad idea. Callan, are you reading this? Callan's hair is growing like crazy! And as you may have noticed, it has a mind of it's own. So we figured it was time for a trim. Well I got started and thought I had done a pretty fine job. Eric took one look at it and told me I hadn't taken enough off. I have been using the clippers so as to not cut Callan, but my greatest fear of cutting his hair (aside from actually cutting him) is to accidently give him a flat top. SOOOO against my better hair cutting judgement (despite the red hair incident of '03 I do have some better hair judgement sometimes) I took the clippers to the top of his little noggin. I almost started crying!!! IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOO short! Or it seemed like it. I had a moment of feeling like ok, maybe I could glue it back on. Or that Callan could wear a hat for the next month. Or I could just tell everyone he was terribly advanced and had cut his own hair. With pinking shears. But, luckily, the majority of the problem was just his bed-head. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared. And thank GOD it will not be the bad haircut that is forever memorialized in all of our vacation pictures. Seriously. I'm sure that will happen sometime....but not this time! Yay!

4. Eric is right. Sometimes. Or at least once.
But we were in a foreign country, so it could have just been the international waters throwing me off. Nothing interesting, just worth mentioning as I am sure I won't admit to it again and want to document this one occurrence.
5. Pina Coladas are the new water.
Seriously. Most delicious thing ever. They make the beach better and the beach makes them better. It is a ridiculously wonderful mutually beneficial relationship. Plus, they both make me happy. I believe Micheal Scott would call that a win-win-win.
6. McGruff did not say take a bite out of your mom. He said crime. Crime.
I ate dinner over a swarm of mosquitoes our first night there. So I had about 40 bug bites from my knees to my ankles. Those were annoying. But my nastiest bites were from my hungry or thirsty or teething son!!! Since we haven't had teeth yet in tank top weather, more often than not Callan, lets me know when he would like to belly up to the bar by giving my t shirt, or sweater, or sweat shirt a little nip. Well, apparently the warning nip still happens even without the protective clothing. So I have about 15 baby bites from shoulder to shoulder. And they are hanging around longer than those of the mosquitoes. The good news is---you can't get west nile from baby bites!
7. Swim "diapers" is kind of a misnomer.
OK. Swim diapers may keep solid waste out of the water---but they do not repel, hold or absorb pee. Which after thinking about it, of course they don't. That totally makes sense. But, we know how I like my experiential learning! The first time Callan got out of the pool and sat on my lap I thought, hmm. That's weird the water feels so warm now. Right. Water. I learned and relearned this lesson a few times a day while on our trip. A high chair and a few pool lounge chairs also learned this lesson. Whoops.

Even though we had the best time ever, we are glad to be home! And if the universal greeting in Mexico was "Hola Guapo" our most common greeting upon returning is "How are you feeling?"...all feeling perfectly well--thank you for asking! But not to worry, the momachondriac has been taking regular temps just to be sure. (Thank GOD for digital ear thermometers! The old fashioned way I would really, really have to think about that. Yuck!)


I wasn't sure how Callan would feel about being home. He was glad to see Vegas, thrilled to see his room and toys, and absolutely beside himself to see his Grandma Char and Grandpa Mike! I guess there is no place like home!


Love to all!
P.S. I am seriously delayed in my posting, and consequently, seriously delayed in my blog bday wish to my sister! Glad you had a great birthday Ang! We are looking forward to seeing you this weekend and cheering you on to victory in your first ever half marathon! Can't wait!







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