Roatan, Briefly

I am tired! I’ll try to go into more detail about our day later, but for now, know this: A capuchin monkey got into my backpack and stole my menstrual cup... in front of quite a crowd. James said it was worth the price of admission and Mal could not stop laughing. Good day.

Second Day at Sea!

Today was easily the most laid-back, simple day we’ve had on vacation so far. I don’t think Mal cried about anything, and James and I both got a few minutes to ourselves. And we saw a couple of albatrosses escorting our ship for more than an hour, as well as a larger bird that was likely a juvenile brown pelican. That thing was HUGE. I took a picture zoomed in and showed James. He said, “That doesn’t look real!” I told him, “You were standing RIGHT HERE when I took it.” He said, “I think it’s Photoshopped.” It WAS pretty cool.

This morning, we took our time. Mal wasn’t in a hurry to get out, so I ran and got him some doughnuts, then James went out to breakfast. We slowly got ready, then decided around 10 to go to the arcade. We left James a note and walked over. About half an hour later, James joined us.

We walked through the “library,” which, on this ship, is just a couple of rows of old paperbacks and some magazines in one of the between-elevator-bay sitting areas on deck 10. It’s its own room on other ships I’ve been on; guess it wasn’t a hugely popular option for this particular class?

I forgot to mention it yesterday, but Mal and I DID go to the game room, so today we took James in and showed him, as he’d not been there yet. James set up checkers and chess to show Mal, who wants to play chess, not checkers, but doesn’t want there to be rules about where the parts go or how they move.

At this point, Mal asked for French fries, and we headed to the Windjammer buffet. On the way, he changed his mind and said he wanted waffles, but I told him that since it was 11:30, it was probably too late for waffles. But we hit the jackpot because they were still serving breakfast when we got there, then they opened up the lunch section a few minutes later. Mal got waffles AND fries! And I had some yummy sweet corn and onion soup, and a ginger chicken noodle bowl. James got a cheeseburger, and we also had the added benefit of seeing the tip of Mexico 9 nautical miles off of the starboard side as we cruised by.

Mal was ready to swim, so we went to the pool while James took a shower and rested a little. After we’d been there about an hour, James joined us. Then we tagged me out to come shower and get ready for dinner.

When James and Mal got back, we had some down time before going to the MDR for our supper. That’s when we saw the birds putting on a show outside. There were smaller white birds, too, but every time I reached for my camera, they disappeared. It was a fascinating bird show, for sure.

At dinner, Mal opened up a mini Etch-a-Sketch, which really kept him occupied for most of the hour. He actually ate all of the chicken he got, even after having had two slices of pizza an hour earlier. He did spend 2 hours in the sun and water, and in addition to being ravenous also has his first pink cheeks from sun. His arms just turned chestnut, and because of the rashguard, he now has a nice farmer’s tan.

James got the poblano soup, which he told me I’d hate but he loved. I had the seafood cake. Then for our main dishes, he got lasagna and I had an exquisite mushroom risotto. Dessert was warm dark chocolate cooke with ice cream for him and a lemon panna cotta for me (I know, who am I?). 

As we were finishing up our main dish, the photographer came by to snap a picture of James and me. Unfortunately, when James scooted his extra-heavy fancy chair over to be closer, he came down on my sandaled little toe. So instead of saying “cheese,” I cried a lot, and the dinner staff brought me an ice pack. The photographer came back, and if I’d thought of it, I’d have tried to talk my way into a free print, but hindsight…

It’s a little before 9 but I. AM. BEAT. 

Tomorrow’s Roatan! Can’t wait.

At Sea, Day One

This morning, we mostly woke up at the same time, around 7:30, which is early for Mal (actually, I was awake at 6:30 and James was up shortly after that, looking outside to catch the sunrise). We got dressed and Mal and I went to the Windjammer buffet for breakfast; James was trying out the main dining room (MDR) for a sit-down breakfast.

I picked out several things, but Mal liked the waffles the best. James ended up joining us for a bit as the MDR didn’t open until 8:30. He ended up accompanying Mal to the mini golf course while I finished up my breakfast, then we traded off. Mal and I went to spend some of his arcade credits, and then the store Mal wanted to visit was open.

He likes Pez dispensers, so I’ve chalked the expense up to this being a thing he collects on trips. They have Shimmer and Shine dispensers here, and he got both. While we were in the store, James found us. Mal said he was hungry again, so we went back to the Windjammer to get him second breakfast (more waffles.) 

Next, we went to check out the kids’ club. They had just been playing with toys but were putting them up for a structured activity when we got there. Mal wanted to play with the toys, so after taking off his shoes and washing his hands, he declined to stay. Instead, we all returned to the room together to change for the pool.

Mal was really upset when I took him to the kids’ pool area. He wanted a life jacket and to go into the main pool. He tried just walking off from us, and I ended up having to YELL at him to get him to stop. We’ve lost sight of him as he rounded a corner and then panicked because he didn’t know where we were already. Don’t want that happening at the pool, especially.

We went over to the main pool, got Mal jacketed, and then he felt like the pool was too cold. James jumped in to encourage him, but no. So we took the life jacket BACK off (after I yelled at him again because he just abandoned us to go back over to the other side of the pools) and went to where we’d started in the first place. He ended up having a great time playing in the splash pad area, and we stayed long enough that James and I got some light sunburns, although Mal didn’t. He did have on a rash guard, too, but so far he’s never burnt.

We stopped by for pizza from Sorrentos to bring back to the room. They had an amazing seafood salad, and some tomatoes and mozzarella. They were just putting out these prosciutto and goat cheese roll-ups and, man, they were incredible. After lunch in the room, we hung out for a while. Mal asked for more pizza, but the line was super long so I got him fries, mashed potatoes, a cupcake, and a slice of watermelon from the buffet. Then we went to the ice rink to see the skating show “Encore.”

Although Mal was initially concerned about attending the program (as he’s trepidatious about anything new), he enjoyed it a lot. He even yelled out “What the heck?!” at a quiet break in a song when the skaters had done a particularly difficult trick. The performers were extremely talented, and one couple in particular was amazing. The theme of the show was basically a look back through famous musical performances, from early opera to broadway to Vegas-era Elvis. 

One part that made me uncomfortable, however, was the kabuki section. The costumes felt… inappropriate? I don’t know; maybe I’m overly-sensitive. But I found myself looking around the room to see if there were any Japanese guests giving the side-eye. I mean, they had “geisha” costumes as part of it, but, of course, it was only the head-pieces and shoulders and make-up that gave it away, as they were wearing typical skating short skirts. It felt off. 

Still, overall the show was super enjoyable. It made me laugh out loud at the last bit, when the announcer reviewed the musical styles we’d visited, and how all music culminates in… Las Vegas and Elvis. Mmmkay. But it was certainly a crowd-pleaser.

James came back to the room to rest his ankles, which aren’t super happy about all of the walking. Mal and I went back to the pool, but sadly there wasn’t a lifeguard on duty at the splash pool area where he’d played this morning.

Mal was disappointed, but we just sat out by the pool in the shade, eating fruit snacks and playing silly games together. Then it was time to come back to the room to get ready for dinner. Of course, we picked up some pizza for Mal on the way. His hunger knows no time frames.

This evening was a semi-formal night, and so we all got a bit fancier than usual. Mal’s dinner surprise tonight was a rainbow spinner, which delighted people at other tables all around us. Mal had plain noodles and French fries, with a tiny bit of vanilla ice cream. James and I both had a seafood puff pastry appetizer, then he got the duck a l’orange and cheesecake whilst I opted for the seafood linguini and seafood cake. Just kidding. I got a peach shortcake.

After dinner, while it was still light, we finally managed to walk the promenade deck together. The wind was something fierce, and although Mal ended up walking out to the helipad, we ducked out pretty quickly because it was difficult for him even to walk out there!

It’s interesting: tonight’s headliner is the exact same person D and I saw on the Navigator of the Seas in 2010: Lance Ringnald. Mal was ready to stay in the room after our post-dinner outing, so we have laid low and I’m the only one awake, but not for long.

All Aboard!

Correction: James went and got us doughnuts. After Mal’s crying so much yesterday about wanting to go home this morning, he woke up very sad that we were leaving the RV. We just spent the last hour playing with him, eating doughnuts, and trying not to talk about our plans for the day.

Once we actually got out the door, everything was great. Mal was a little trepidatious about the “ship” thing, but never got too panicked about it. He DID note that most of the check-in procedure, looked a lot like the airport. He asked more than once if I was sure we weren’t getting onto an airplane. His motto right now is, “No more airplanes and no more doctors.” He’ll get a rude awakening in the future, but not today.

We had purchased “The Key,” which is Royal Caribbean’s… well, it’s a package of benefits, basically, including internet and priority boarding and stuff. The check-in process almost made the whole thing worth it, honestly. We never stopped moving. Security, check in, and then up to the terminal to wait. We had gotten to our parking lot around 10:05 AM and were up in the terminal waiting by 10:45, including a rather long bathroom break because there are only two commodes in the ladies’ room when you enter the port security area!

We were on board by 11:30, Mal having met a king and pirate who were traveling from a Renaissance festival. The king gave Malcolm a heavy metal coin, and Mal had fun chatting with them to kill time while we waited. Oh, and Chee-tos. He bought a snack from the vending machine.

They boarded those needing assistance, pinnacle and diamond, emerald, and platinum status cruisers first. Then The Key got to go! You have to purchase for everyone in the room over the age of 6, so I probably wouldn’t do it when Mal’s older, but it worked so well for us today!

Once on board, we dropped our carry-on bag in the theater for stateroom delivery, another benefit of The Key. Then we explored. We ended up at the pool, where Mal waded and James and I cooled our feet. Then it was time for our welcome-aboard lunch at Chop’s Grille… yup, another bennie of The Key. 

At first, I was a little sad about missing out on the first-cruise-day buffet, but when we rounded the corner and saw the line extending out of the venue and into the hall, around to the elevators, I suddenly was much less wistful.

Dang, lunch was good. James and I both got mushroom soup and filet mignon. We’d gotten macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes as family sides, but Mal decided he wasn’t super hungry and instead ate his Chee-tos and played with the Sonic toys while we ate. He was getting antsy and our room was ready, so we left James to bring our desserts up to the room, and Mal and I went to check out the kids’ club, Adventure Ocean. Mal is in Aquanauts. He liked the play area, and we got him signed up. We’ll see if he wants to hang out there later in the week.

We made our way to our room and chilled and unpacked while we waited for the muster drill. Mal decided he wanted to explore, but this was just about the time the cruise director started announcing the drill. Mal was very angry this guy was speaking so loudly over the public address system, and we came back to the room for earphones. 

Then we watched TV until the drill started. By the time we found our muster station, Mal was done. After the drill, we came back to the room and he was not wanting to take off his earphones. He was scared and ready to get off the ship!

But we went out to get some fresh air while James heated up his knees, and ended up having a great time. We found the mini-golf course, which Mal loved. It was getting very close to time to leave, and I knew the ship’s horn would freak him out, so I suggested we head inside. The arcade was having a “free play” hour and a half, and I got to enjoy a super-speed Ms. PacMan (my fave!).

By the time we’d explored there a bit, I could see out the window that we were moving. I took Mal out to show him, and he couldn’t believe it. He wanted to go back to the mini-golf, where a 7-ish-year-old girl told me that she’d been on deck when they sounded the horn and “it scared the crap out of me.” Glad we missed it!

We played for a bit, then came back to the room to get James for dinner. We spent half an hour or so on the balcony, watching the ships as we passed them. We also had a seagull flying beside us for a good five minutes. Mal thought it was hysterical.

Then it was time for dinner. We have gotten Mal a surprise for every night of the trip, in hopes that a new play thing will keep him at least somewhat occupied during supper. Tonight it was a wooden robot with lots of elastic-connected parts you can pose. Mostly, he kept wanting us to return it to the cube shape as it was in the bag.

Mal’s dinner was a fruit salad, pizza and fries, and vanilla ice cream. James got escargot, a steak (the second of the day!), and apple pie. I had a chicken Waldorf salad, baked polenta with amazing roasted vegetables, and a fruit platter. 

After dinner, James took Mal to the pool while I unpacked our checked bags, which had been delivered right as we were leaving for dinner. It was too cool for Mal, and “too deep,” because James wasn’t swimming with him. I told him I’d swim with him tomorrow. I got a shower and feel like a new person now.

I did take Mal out after that, intending to walk around the promenade deck. The darkness and the sound of the waves freaked him out, and since the helipad was closed due to winds, we went back inside. We gave a cursory glance to the art gallery, which has some really neat stuff. We also got some snacks for the room from the Promenade Cafe. Oh, my, the pistachio eclair is amazing.

Now we’re all pretty beat, and it’s looking like time for bed. 10 PM. We’re party animals. Night!

A Day in Galveston

Saturday morning (I’m writing this Sunday very early), I woke up about an hour earlier than everyone else, but because the accordion blinds in this RV let in a lot of light (which is GREAT during the day when it would be very hot to leave them open, but you don’t want to feel like you’re in a cave), Mal woke up pretty soon thereafter, about an hour earlier than he wakes up at home where he has wood blinds + a blanket tacked up over the sun-facing window. This kid takes his wake-up cues from the sunrise, definitely, if that’s an option.

James and I did have time to chat about the movie before Mal got up, then we all went to Miller’s Seawall Grill for breakfast. They had a wait time of 35-40 minutes, so we went across the street to the beach, where Mal had been very eager to take James. As I’ve said, I can’t upload pictures from my cameras yet, but here’s a shot from the nearly-deserted beach (if you can’t see it, that means I forgot to attach it after moving this post from a word processor to the internets):

When it was time to go back across the street to wait in earnest for our table, Mal declared that he was done and ready to go back to “the hotel.” We had about ten minutes of his crying and my being very frustrated that he might be a pill during the entire meal (which is bad enough when he does it at home, but I wouldn’t subject strangers — or anyone else, actually — to it).

He got distracted by some pictures of guys holding up their fishing catches in the vestibule, then I stated handing him sugar packets once we sat down, so he ended up being fine. He said he wasn’t hungry, but then by the time our meals arrived, he was ready for hash browns. Unfortunately, he’s used to McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A hash browns, so the real did did not impress him. I was appreciative that he tried, as he was initially hesitant.

Still, he was pleasant and our breakfast was great. We got shrimp and gouda grits, and lump crab Benedict, agreeing to share both. They were incredible. I tried the crab dish first and thought, “OMG, I’d better eat my portion of the shrimp grits first because there’s no way it can compete with this!” But the grits (which had a TON of mushrooms that had absorbed the shrimp-y flavor) were actually EVEN BETTER. Oh, man, what a satisfying meal.

We had things that we wanted to do, but James wisely suggested that since we’d done something we wanted to do, we then do something Mal wanted to do. So we came back to the RV. I dropped James and Mal off, then went across the way to Whataburger to get Malcolm French fries and a shake.

When I got back, he was playing happily with some Legos, and ate a giant order of potatoes. James heated up his knees and caught a bit more sleep while Mal and I played with his Leap Frog and just hung out. 

After a couple of hours’ down time, Mal was ready to go again. It probably helped that our destination was LaKing’s Confectionary. We saw the Carnival Freedom in port, and parked near the railroad museum, so got to see some trains as we walked to the candy store. We had timed it so we could see the taffy-making demonstration (it was raspberry, but tasted very much of strong vanilla, which was fabulous). I got some assorted taffy, Mal got a couple of pressed pennies and blue cotton candy, and James got rocky road ice cream.

The chocolate all looked amazing, of course, but I was still full from breakfast, and it was in the low 80s outside, so I couldn’t really eat anything at the moment, nor could I save chocolate. Oh, they were also roasting pecans in a cinnamon slurry, and though I don’t love pecans, that smelled incredible.

After that stop, we drove out to Pelican Island to visit Seawolf Park. It has the Galveston Naval Museum, plus a lot of fishing spots and a playground. It’s a very neat place; well worth the $6 to get in. James went on the tour of the destroyer and submarine, and I took Mal to play at the park. He got to burn off a lot of steam, and got very brave in the climbing area after a while. We also walked over to the fishing pier to get a better look at an old half-sunk (purposefully) concrete ship. There were about a half dozen manufactured during a steel shortage, and they were fine except when this one got damaged, no one knew how to fix it. After having tried to sell it or do something with it for several years, they just dug a trench for it and sunk it out in the bay. I’ll bet it makes for great snorkeling.

Oh, we read yesterday that Galveston Bay is only 6-12 feet deep and 30 miles across.

We came back to the RV for an hour then went to dinner at Gaido’s. We had a very warm and friendly server, Uncle Bill, who paid extra attention to Mal. Mal got some buttered noodles; I ordered the “Jazz Martini”: cocktail shrimp and crab meat tossed with avocados and hearts of palm; and James got crawfish asiago, which was a fettuccini dish. Mine was technically an appetizer, but it was plenty of fabulous food, and I wanted dessert! For that course, Mal thoroughly enjoyed a scoop of vanilla ice cream (thankfully it was plain; the kitchen had sprinkled parm on the noodles, and I had to turn them upside down before Mal would eat any). James got a “pecan roll,” which was vanilla ice cream rolled in pecans and covered with chocolate sauce. And I got Cassatta con cioccolato bianco: layers of angel food cake and sweet ricotta white chocolate cream with house-made raspberry sauce. Oh my.

Mal was ready to stay at “the hotel” the rest of the night. We played a lot. He’d bought a squishy oyster shell where a mermaid pops out when you squeeze it. We threw that around, he played the game where the shower is either a jail or his headquarters. We played hide and seek. And running games. James and I were both tired, and we realized that without internet, we’d never have any down time! So if it’s bad to use screens as babysitters, then call me the worst parent ever because my son has a TON of energy and no siblings, so it’s all us, baby.

Oh, it got really nice as the sun set, so we opened the windows and doors, and Mal had fun playing on the steps outside, hanging off of the handle grip. I figured if it can hold the weight of an entire adult, it should be fine. He wanted to play a game where he said a letter and we thought of as many words as we could think of that started with that sound. Also rhyming games. He’s pretty good at rhymes, but I realize that on some shorter words, he can’t “hear” that the middle sound is the same, but the end sound isn’t. Still, the fact that he thinks up these games and thinks they’re fun is cute to me. That’s DEFINITELY something he’d eventually encounter in curriculum if we were into that sort of thing, and it’s funny to me that it doesn’t have to be forced.

By a bit after 8:30, Mal broke down. He was weepy and saying he wanted to go home RIGHT NOW, and he loved our house and hated vacation. Cue sleep time. I laid down with him and he probably would have gone right to sleep, but the a/c kept running. I mean, like it’d blow (hard and loud; if you’ve never been in an RV, the air itself is just blown so hard into the unit that it can’t blend in with the ambient noises like a house a/c does) for three minutes, then click off. About 25 seconds later, it would click back on. Mal slept with it fine the night before, but last night wanted me to cover his ears. I’d do that for long enough that I’d (mistakenly) think he’d gone to sleep, and I’d roll over, but the next time (almost immediately) the air came back on, he’d complain.

Then I started being annoyed by how ridiculous it was. Like, just STAY ON. Why click off for under a minute? JUST RUN. In the end, we just turned it off and hoped for a mild evening. I actually opened the windows, and it was definitely cooler outside than in, though much more humid. There was a nice breeze, too, and we all fell asleep pretty quickly. 

I was awakened a couple of times by sea birds, but that’s not a bad thing. I woke up “for good” at 5. I got up to see what time it was, because there’s a lot of security lighting in the RV park and it’s hard to tell like I do at home by the light level outside. It’ll be nice to get on a ship where it will be DARK out when it’s dark out.

Mal doesn’t want to go on a ship. He will probably fight us a bit this morning, but I know once he gets on board, he’ll be SOLD. He didn’t want to come into our RV when we got here, either, and as of yesterday afternoon, he said he wanted to live here. Bless him. I need to get better at anchoring him instead of being irritated by his fluctuations into absolute despair and demands. I’m not too worried about boarding, though. I’m ready, and I’m confident that he’ll love it once he gets over the unknown.

I’m going to get dressed and go get us some doughnuts for breakfast. Later!

Traveling to Galveston

This morning, Mal woke up super excited to leave on our awesome trip. He had eaten breakfast and was raring to go about the time James got up and around and was trying to organize and pack some last-minute stuff, and eat breakfast himself. Mal and I ended up going outside and hanging out in the car for 15 minutes or so because Mal just couldn’t contain himself inside the house any more.

We drove for a little over an hour, stopping first at Giddings for a Buc-ees restroom and cheap soda break.

After that, we went on to Tomball to the Kleb Woods Nature Preserve. I’d read a very interesting story in our electric co-op magazine about how Elmer Kleb loved his homestead and almost lost it due to unpaid back taxes, and how many people and entities came together to preserve this beautiful site he’d carefully crafted, agreeing to let him live there for the rest of his life, at which time it would become a nature preserve.

Mal was not interested in doing this. He wanted desperately to head on to “the hotel” (which I’d told him was an RV and he also did not like the idea; he wanted halls to run up and down). I wasn’t the most tactful in explaining that we were ALL on vacation and we’d end up doing things that we ALL wanted to, but this might be one thing he wasn’t too excited about but would have to do, anyway.

James helped even more by giving Mal a pretty brief piggy-back ride up the paved trail from the parking lot to the nature center. It was lovely. Mal did love the nature center. It had a kids’ room, with lots of interesting artifacts, such as bones of animals found on the property, lots of books, stuffed animals, a few live reptiles and amphibians, and just air conditioned space for him to move around.

The whole area is becoming housing tracts (nice ones, but cookie-cutter neighborhoods, nonetheless) so it’s really neat that such a pastoral place will live on right in the middle of it. If James and I had been alone, we could really have enjoyed the trails… well, I guess, if James’s legs weren’t shot. I might have enjoyed them alone, but there were lots of signs warning to beware of venomous snakes, so I likely would have preferred a partner.

Regardless, the stop was lovely, and a great break from the driving.

We were going to stop at a taco truck I’d read about, but learned as we drove up that it was closed down (this was after I accidentally drove on a toll road on which I am not authorized, as I don’t have a Harris County EZTag pass, but Google told me to!). This lead to our accidentally eating at Mannie’s Seafood on the southeast outskirts of Houston.

This was a happy Plan B! James had some salmon, and the texture was amazing. I liked it a lot, but I think they used a sweetish glaze, and I’m not sure it’s James’s favorite. I got a fried fish combo: two fish fillets and three jumbo shrimp. Mal ate my fries. The fish was perfectly flaky but not dry, and the shrimp were not too chewy. They were lightly breaded and not greasy. It was just a great meal we hadn’t intended on having.

When we arrived at the Galveston RV Park and Marina, Mal cried. He said he didn’t want to go into the RV. He did, though, and by the time I got the second set of bags out of the car, he told me he loved it and wanted to stay here the whole trip. (He has no idea how much he’s going to love the cruise ship.)

Mal wanted to play with Legos, and I wanted to go to the store while James heated up his knees. James is seeing “Avengers: Endgame” right now, and I wanted some sodas before he took off. Mal didn’t feel like going, so I drove down to the beach (I mean, we’re so close; I had to see it!) then grabbed our drinks and a couple of pieces of fruit for Mal. When I got back, he said, “Mommy, I should have gone with you. I’m sorry.”

It was just as well. We decided to let James drop us off at the seawall on his way to the movie.

Mal LOVED the beach. He found a kid a little younger than he, and they ran and ran. Mal ran so much, and chased seagulls, and finally worked up the courage to let the waves roll over his feet a few times. It was a perfectly sunny golden hour, and erased every bit of travel stress from driving so many hours earlier!

We were going to get a Lyft to bring us back to the park, but ended up walking to a McDonald’s to see if they had a play area; they didn’t, which I knew, but Mal needed to see it for himself. They DID, however, have an aquarium, and Mal enjoyed that a great deal.

We kept walking inland up 61st, past all of the cemeteries. There was the Serbian Cemetery first, then Orthodox Jewish, then Greek Orthodox, and then the “main” (biggest; like blocks long and wide) cemetery with the huge catacombs. It was haunting and beautiful. 

By then, we were almost back to the “resort.” We scoped out the nearby restaurants (alas, all chains) and walked through part of a residential area, looking at the stilt-built houses. We saw a cat, several dogs, and at least one feisty pygmy goat.

In all, Mal walked over a mile and a third, plus all of the running he did on the beach. I guess he needed to make up for sitting in the car, too.

I showed him the Nintendo Switch James bought for him, and while Mal was extremely pleased, he was also too nervous to play it, but wanted me to do all of the mini games for him. Sigh.

The internet doesn’t work on his computer, which is just as well that he gets used to that now, as it won’t work on the ship, either. And the channels here are just weird. It’s like all of the shows are from 1974. Literally, I switched over and saw a Joan Rivers talk show, a la Phil Donahue.

Instead, Mal had fun playing a game where he’d run in circles in the RV: through the bathroom into the bedroom, then up the tiny hall and back around into the bedroom. Then, after I made the dining area into a bed, he did flips and jumped onto and off of it repeatedly. So much better than a hotel room: we don’t have to worry about anyone being bothered by the jumping… err, landing.

By the time he went to sleep, Mal was a weepy mess. He was mad we didn’t have chocolate chips, and then crying that I was so sweet and he loved me so much. There are a universe of big feelings crammed into that tiny body.

Tomorrow, we’re going to try to eat at three restaurants I want to try (plus, I really want to walk over to Darlene’s Shrimp Shack, but we just don’t have enough time for all of the food!); go to The Strand, specifically LaKing’s Candy Shop; visit Seawolf Park; maybe swing by Moody Gardens. I think that’s it? There’s a Catholic Church I’d like to visit, too. 

Now Mal is asleep and I’m just waiting for James to get back to I can let him into the trailer and go to sleep!

Good travel day; can’t wait to be a tourist tomorrow!

Also, no pictures yet. The internet here sucks, so it'll be later before I can post anything. It'll be worth the wait, though! If you want a link to the photo album, let me know and I'll get it to you!

Crazy in the Night

Here's something I shared in my "online journal" (because "blog" wasn't a word in wide use at the time) on November 4, 2001: -- Oh, and please join me in remembering that this means D was a whopping 2 DAYS old at the time -- "There are probably all sorts of psychological ramifications of this, but Daphne slept in the bed with us for most of the night last night (she cried from 10:05 until 11:00 and I figured that was enough of that; we tried again at 2:00 and she cried until 2:30)... she does so well when she knows someone is close by."

To reiterate: I had been brainwashed to believe that sleeping in bed WITH DESIGNATED CARE-GIVERS was something that would negatively impact my TWO DAY OLD INFANT. Sigh. 

Anyhoo, suffice it to say that I am not a natural-born co-sleeper. If it wasn't "How will they ever individuate?!" then it was "I'm too light a sleeper; I'd wake up at every roll-over" ad infinitum.

However, Mal simply refused to sleep if someone (typically me) weren't touching him bodily for months and months. 

Four and a half years later, here we are. I'm still sleeping in the same room he's in.

Contrast this with when D was 9, and Ken and I were in full divorce swing but still living in the same house. I was sleeping on the pull-out sofa sleeper, and D wanted to sleep in the living room with me. I refused. I just thought it was "weird" for parents to sleep with their kids.

(And, yes, there are MANY things I'd change about my initial foray into parenting, as we've covered many times.)

There are so many times Mal wakes up in the night needs reassurance. I'm sure D did, too, but since there was no one in the room... we just didn't know. And, yeah, most kids get over it and go back to sleep. I remember being TERRIFIED some nights, when I was a child. Whether it was a storm or I was awakened because I needed to use the restroom or I had a scary thought I just couldn't shake, I'd be absolutely petrified, but would try to cover every inch of myself (blanket protection, you know) and close my eyes. I'd will myself to fall back to sleep and not pee the bed because there was no way I was going to risk running across the bedroom floor... who knows what might shoot out from under the bed?

I knew, logically, that I wasn't in actual danger. I also knew that calling for "help" was ridiculous because of that. But I am certain I could have experienced much less anxiety and a quicker return to sleep if I'd had a reassuring hand on my back for a few moments.

Last night, Mal woke up and said, "You have to save me!" I was right there, reaching for him and assuring him, "I got you. I'm right here." He said, "I'm in bed. You didn't have to save me! I thought I was up on the counter bar, really high." Then, "Can I touch your belly?" And he went back to sleep.

We tried to find a transitional object for Mal when he was about two years old and I was tired of nursing (joke's on me with that one, I suppose). He liked stuffed animal and blankets fine, but none of them were particularly comforting to him. What was? My belly. 

For some reason, if he can rub my belly for a minute or two, it helps him calm down. You know how Al Bundy on "Married with Children" would sit and watch TV with his hand in his waistband? That's what Mal does with me. It helps him maintain contact with my skin without having to bear his own hand's weight. That way he can fall asleep, and I can just place his hand on his bed when he's out.

Is this weird? Maybe. But it's weird AND sweet.

I AM a light sleeper, but I find that I don't actually wake up for every breath and every movement. I DO wake up quickly when he actually needs something.

Actually, I do that for D, too. I can go from REM to catching a spider on the bathroom ceiling in about 45 seconds.

Mal's awake now, and he remembers waking up thinking he needed "saving." He said he "glitched" from the cabinet bar and ended up back in bed. Cute stuff. 

Our day started, I leave you with this: One of my favorites from my own childhood.