Welcome to Miami

Two weeks ago we boarded a plane and flew to Miami for a family cruise.  It was my entire side of the family so we had 12 adults and 9 children in tow...Miami didn't know what hit it.  As much as I love to travel...I HATE FLYING...but I was excited for our first flight because it would be Phin's first flight.   He loved running around the terminal with his cousins...good news he was small enough for us to carry on the flight. 

He also loved watching the airplane as it landed and as we prepared to board.

Our first flight was to Los Angeles...then we had a red eye flight to Miami.  Phin decided to make this a very momentous trip and grew some molars just in time for our departure.  He had been up most of the night with a high fever.  He got pretty warm on the flight to LA and we ended up stripping him down to his diaper and putting a cool cloth on his body.  When we landed in LA we changed him into PJs and searched for some milk during our quick layover.  The red eye lived up to its name.  I gave up on sleeping...mostly because I can't sleep sitting up...and I was pretty worried about our little guy.    

We landed in Miami around 4 in the morning Utah time and hit the ground running.  We decided to brave public transportation to downtown Miami.  First we got on the airport mover.  It was a lot of work moving all of our luggage.  We had two backpacks, two carry-on pieces, a large rolling suitcase, a stroller and our Kelty Kid's backpack.

Next we bought tickets for the Metrorail and rode it to the Goverment Station

Then we loaded the Omni loop to our final destination.  We noticed a lot of people wearing pink...we figured out quickly that the Susan G. Koman run was taking place...and that we were headed right to its epicenter.  We asked some of our fellow riders about where we could get some breakfast...two of them started to verbally sprawl in front of us.

Once we got off the Omni loop we walked a couple of blocks to the water.  We had a lovely breakfast overlooking the boats.

We had a few hours to kill so everyone took turns watching the luggage while others explored.  We walked down to where the race started and enjoyed spectacular views of  the water.

Seth was wishing we had brought his hammock.

We also found some very cool trees.

Seth is able to sleep anywhere...me not so much.

When we had killed enough time we hauled ourselves and all of our luggage over a bridge to the cruise terminal.  It was quite a trek...especially in the humidity.

We boarded the ship and set out to explore before we were allowed in our stateroom.

Phin loved the small spaces in our stateroom.  I loved washing the flight and trek to the ship off of us.

Phin was a dream sleeper on the cruise.  He slept 10-12 hours every night and most of the time we had to wake him up in the morning.

We had two days at sea before we arrived at our first port.  We spent quite a bit of time around the pool and also played a few games.

We only had one towel animal awaiting us in our stateroom the entire cruise.  Phin took very little time to rip it apart from limb to limb...or towel to towel.

Play-date at Lagoon

A couple of weeks ago Phin and I had a play-date at Lagoon with Amy and Zoey.  Amy and I had a great time...I'm not so sure Phin and Zoey did...they had looks of terror on almost all of the rides.  

Phin seemed to be a little less frightened on the rides I could go on with him.    

He also liked the two trick-or-treating areas...I think he is going to have the whole trick-or-treating thing down this year.  Thank you for joining us for a fun and frightening play-date!

16 MONTHS

This month we have really started to see a little more of Phin's personality.  He has chilled out a little from the tantrums he was throwing a few months ago and seems to be coming a little into his own.  He is an active boy and loves to be on the go.  He loves music and can often been found dancing or singing along.  One day on my way to work the song glycerine by Nirvana came on the radio and Phin was doing some serious rocking out in his car-seat.  He loves to sing along to "I love to see the Temple" and the "ABC" song. 

We go on walks almost everyday...you can often see us stopped on the side of the road watching construction workers, waving to firemen or pointing out bugs.  We went to the local firehouse during fire prevention week this month.  Phin loves his fireman hat and can often be seen walking around our apartment sporting his fireman look.

As much as he loved the hat...he was a much bigger fan of the cookies they were giving out.  People often ask if Phin has a sweet tooth...I like to say that is the only kind of teeth he has.  He got one more tooth this month which brings his total up to a whopping five.

He insists that we put him down when we get out of the car and he is quite the doddler.  He cries when I decide we have doddled long enough and pick him up to bring him into the apartment.  He loves sticks and finds one almost every time we go outside.  He is starting to like bugs a little bit more but had a bit of a meltdown when a grasshopper landed on his face this month.

Phin loves to carry things around the apartment.  Seth has to search for his alarm clock almost every evening because Phin has managed to walk away with it during the day.  We are living in a constant treasure hunting state.

Phin is almost all the way weaned...we are down to just the last feeding before bedtime.  He will try new foods...if he can feed himself with a spoon or fork.  He loves processed foods...i.e. bread, fruit snacks and Rice Krispie treats.  He was introduced to Rice Krispie treats this month while I have been helping my parents with a painting project at a rental property.  One day when I came over to the playpen to check on him he signed more and then held up the empty Rice Krispie package...it made my SLP heart flutter.  He repeated his new trick on the way to cousin Jameson's blessing...he ate a package of fruit snacks and then held up the package and signed more.  The Speech Therapist in me says "give him more," while the mother in me says "he has had plenty."  Needless to say the SLP usually wins.

He is a little daredevil and learned to climb the chair next to his crib and then somersault into his crib.  Seth took him out and put him on the floor and he immediately climbed up and performed the same flip...he wasn't so happy when Seth left him in the crib after the second flip.

One night we decided to build a fort for Phin...he was in heaven.

We dressed up like Pirates on talk like a pirate day at Krispy Kreme doughnuts and each got a dozen doughnuts.

We ended up dropping two dozen off to Seth at work.

We also bought a Visit Salt Lake pass which includes admission to 13 local attractions.  Phin gets in free to almost all of the attractions...and my best friend has the same pass so we thought it would be a good excuse for some unique play-dates.  Our first attraction was the Tracy Aviary.  You can see some of the pink flamingos in the background.  Phin liked most of the birds but he hated the parrots...they squawked and Phin cried.

We spent some time at Grandma Jo's and Grandad's the weekend of Jameson's blessing.  Phin loved exploring their backyard.  Their neighbors have chickens that prefer to free range in Grandma Jo's yard ...Phin was fascinated and learned by the end of the weekend what a chicken says.

Phin loved playing with his cousins...if they were around he didn't want to be hanging out with the adults.  He was especially fond of Ben, Ashton and Mark.  They were really sweet and did a great job of keeping Phin entertained.  

We took my mom to the T-Mobile store to get a new cell phone...Phin found a few spinning pink chairs and would have taken one home if they would have let him.

Phin continues to be quite the climber.  If we leave the kitchen chairs pulled out he climbs right up on the kitchen table.  One day he climbed right up on top of the printer table to look out the window and play in the blinds.  Phin will often try something over and over again until he figures it out...some people call this stubbornness...I prefer to call it grit.  I often think of the country song I hope you dance when I am with Phin specifically the line "I hope you never lose your sense of wonder."  It is so fun to have my eyes opened because of the wonder that this little guy is experiencing.

Little Cottonwood

We went camping with Seth's side of the family second weekend in September.  After work on Friday we drove up to Tanner Flats in Little Cottonwood Canyon and joined the rest of the crew.  I had never camped here but was a huge fan of the campground.  It was nice to not have to drive forever to get to a campground.  Here is a photo of our little flannel family.

We enjoyed hanging out around the fire that evening.  It was nice to relax and catch up with family.  It was really cold though and we had to snuggle to keep warm.

The next morning was even colder and everyone was hanging out pretty close to the fire.

After breakfast we went on a hike to Cecret Lake in Albion Basin.  It was the perfect weather for a hike.  

Phin got his first taste of gummy worms...he was a big fan.  Thanks for sharing the gummy worms and the picture Aunt Emily!

The lake was beautiful.  The kids were quite adventures and headed over to the other side to explore.

Phin was content to throw rocks in the lake and play with a stick.

After hanging out for about an hour, we headed back to break up camp.

Then we all caravanned to a park close to Beth's house.  Phin was a pretty big fan of the playground.

We spent the afternoon hanging out in hammocks, eating good food and playing card games.  We had planned to have dinner at the park but someone showed up to the pavilion with reservations...so we caravanned on to Beth and Philip's house.

Phin was entertained by cousins and loved his ride in the wagon.