Winter Getaway! 14 months!

 

 

 

Hi everyone! It's me, Andrew and my BFF Ashley.  I must have just had a bath in this picture because my hair looks so good!  Thankfully Ashley is very patient and is ok when I snuggle my head into her.  She's pretty much ok with  me unless I start pulling her tail. 

 We recently went on a winter getaway to Florida and the Bahamas.  I had a very good flight to Florida. Since I woke up extremely early (perhaps due to the fact that my sister got up even earlier than me...) I was really tired by the time we got on the plane and I fell asleep right when the plane was taking off.  That took a lot of stress away from my parents and after I woke up 45 minutes later they just needed to entertain me for 2 hrs and 15 minutes.  I spent a lot of that time eating and drinking so it should come to no surprise that I was the first one to get changed into shorts once we got to Florida since I was all wet! We got settled in at the Embassy Suites and I took a nice afternoon nap.  We headed downstairs for the manager's reception where I enjoyed this really nice fountain.

 

 

 

 We didn't rent a car at this point in the trip so we needed to wait for the hotel shuttle to take us to dinner.  This is me going in for the kill.  Pulling my sister's hair is a favorite pastime for me. 

 

Pretty sure Megan is saying, "Ow! Andrew pulled my hair again!"  The shuttle came and took us to a nearby Walgreens to get a replacement bulb for our nightlight that broke in our suitcase.  Then we walked over to Wendy's for an easy dinner.  Dinner was easy.  Waiting forever for the hotel shuttle to come pick us up again was not so easy.  I got it in my head that I really wanted to walk over to the gas pumps at the station next door and got REALLY REALLY mad when no one let me walk over there.  Everyone was super happy to see the hotel van arrive and take us back to the hotel!

 

 

 The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, and then I took a little nap in the hotel before we headed back to the airport to take the bus to Port Canaveral.  The bus did not have seat belts so I couldn't sit in my car seat, which meant I needed to sit on mom's lap.  After about 5 minutes on the bus with me squirming, Mom was really glad that they bought me my own seat on the plane. 

 

 

I was happy to see the cruise ship terminal where I could run around and get some energy out!

 Mickey Mouse was there to greet us.  I really wanted to taste his nose.  It looked like one giant teether!

 

 Cruisin' is just no big deal!

 

 We boarded the ship and went straight to lunch.  I am a big fan of buffets so I was pretty excited to see the lunch buffet. 

 I took a nice nap and then my slumber was interrupted by the mandatory safety drill.  It was a little windy and chilly at Port Canaveral so we had to find our jackets for the drill. 

 After the drill we went to the "Small World Nursery" during the Open House.  I loved the nursery during open house.   My feelings about the nursery changed when my parents actually dropped me off at the nursery.....

My first fancy meal at Lumiere's.  It was evident that I was not ready for fine dining.  My parents read a lot of Disney message boards ahead of time and got the good advice to feed the kids first and order an appetizer.  Then when Megan and I were done with our food, Mom or Dad would take Megan to kids club and me to the nursery and then they'd finish their dinner in peace.  Megan ate her food in record time because she was so excited to go to kids club.  I wasn't such a big fan of the nursery but I made it through each night for the hour I was there. 

 The next morning we woke up and went on the balcony in our jammies.  We were almost in the Bahamas at this point. 

 We went to "Wake Up with Disney Jr".  I liked this way more than my parents thought I would.  I liked the music and the dancing.

 Busting some moves on the dance floor

 After breakfast it was time for the Princess meet and greet.  The princesses were just ok for me. I'm a much bigger fan of big stuffed characters that don't look like actual people.

Rapunzel was pretty fun. Talk about the Taj Mahal of hair pulling opportunities.

 Lunch at the buffet dining outside on the deck.  It was a beautiful day to eat outside.

 This is the sort of mess I leave behind when I eat.....  The birds were really happy that I was dining al fresco!

 After lunch we visited Mickey again.  This time he was looking way more relaxed in his Bahamas shirt.

 His nose still looked just as tasty as the last time I saw him...

 This blue velvet rope couldn't hold me back from trying to get to Goofy!  I have no concept of waiting in a line...

 My turn to attack Goofy!

 He was...well pretty goofy..

Minnie's nose was just as delicious looking as Mickey's!  A Disney cruise is a teething toddler's dream come true.

I didn't quite cooperate for this picture.....

 

 Daisy's bill was pretty neat. I'm a big fan of characters! My parent's joked that Megan and I both got the big stuffed character gene.  Some kids are afraid of them but we just love them!

 Being silly with Chip and Dale.  After our meet and greet with these guys we headed off the ship to hang out in the Bahamas for a little while.

 Dinner that night was pirate themed and they gave everyone these cool head scarfs.  I look pretty intimidating with my headscarf and bottle. 

 Who are we kidding..I'm the most adorable pirate there ever was!

 Mommy makes a pretty nice pirate too!

 I loved all the different foods on the boat.  I had no qualms about sticking this giant green bean into my mouth.  Unfortunately I don't really have the teeth to chew this sort of thing.

 The next day we were at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas.  It was a great place. I loved sitting in the sand playing in the ocean.  It was all fun and games until I thought it'd be fun to eat sea shells.  Then my parents hovered way too much. 

 I also really enjoyed the splash pad!

 I had no issue with water being sprayed on me.  I thought it was great!

 The next morning I was up bright and early so we were able to get off the boat early and get on the bus back to Orlando.  I was so tired that I fell asleep on Mommy which was nice for her because I wasn't so squirmy like the ride tot he boat!  Since we got to Orlando much earlier than expected, and our hotel room wasn't ready for us, we got bold and went to Magic Kingdom for the day.  I took several little cat naps in my stroller.  I kept getting awakened by things like marching bands and whistles blowing.

 One such marching band awakening led to me being able to go on "It's a Small World" ride.  I liked all the lights and music. I liked it way more than "It's a Small World" nursery on the cruise ship.  This way I got to stay with my Mommy!

On my first ride!

This is me conked out.  Mommy found a somewhat quiet spot in the shade while Daddy and Megan went on a ride.  Overall I had a pretty good day at Magic Kingdom. 

 

Now we are back home.  One day last week we met Daddy for lunch near his work since we needed to go to Rosedale to pick up my 1 year pictures.  I was having a particularly fun hair day...

 

This is me on St Patrick's Day.  I thoroughly enjoyed our festive green cake.  I like most foods but I'm an especially big fan of cake.

 

I'm now 14 months old! 

• I am walking pretty fast these days. I choose walking over crawling now.  You can't look away for more than a few seconds without losing me!
• With my new walking skills I'm also depositing items all over the house.  Trying to find the TV remote and Mommy's cell phone is the new challenge in the house.  The other day Mommy had to call her phone to find it.  She was really glad we still have a land line phone because Daddy was in Philadelphia for work and she ended up finding her phone in the pantry at the bottom of the recycling bin!  She definitely would not have looked there!
• I'm still doing well at sleeping all night.  I didn't do great on vacation but hey..you try sleeping in a pack and play in a rocking boat!
• I still take two naps a day.  I don't seem anywhere near ready to give up my morning nap.  Someday my parents will get to go to church together again.  We only have 1 service and it's during my nap time so they take turns who gets to go to church. 
• I babble all the time!  And I love shaking my head no.  I am showing many signs that I'm understanding a lot of what I hear.
• One of my favorite books is "Teeth Are Not For Biting" which is ironic because I love biting.  During one part it talks about things that you can do when you feel mad or sad or cranky and want to bite.  One of the tips is to get a hug and Mommy always gives me a hug when it gets to that part.  We've read this book so many times that now I lean in for my hug at that point.