Traveling

Despite a bit of a rocky start, the trip is going pretty well. I will go into more detail when I can, with pictures too. Our days are long and I'm just too tired by the end to sit down and blog. We are currently in Williamsburg, Virginia and plan to spend the day at the Jamestown Settlement. More to come...

Baltimore

We awoke at the crack of dawn today, got ourselves together and headed out to catch the train into Baltimore. We had plans to visit to the National Aquarium, which is on the Inner Harbor.

The train ride was nice, just a commuter train, which wasn't very crowded. The conductor took quite a shine to DJ and sat with us for most of the trip, pointing out things and sharing history with us. The station sits right in from of Camden Yards, which is the home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

We walked the couple blocks to the Inner Harbor and then walked along the waterfront to the aquarium. There is a lot to see and do there, and taking the train makes it so simple, we may go back before my mom leaves.

The aquarium was fantastic. It's gigantic, for one thing. We wandered through the Animal Planet presents Wild Australia first, seeing some really cool turtles, freshwater crocodiles, and a bazillion fish. It was almost impossible to take pictures of any exhibits, with the glass, lighting, and the fact that the fish and such never stop moving!

After we had walked through that exhibit, we went to the 4D Immersion Theater, where we viewed a short movie about the Shallow Seas of the world's oceans. The film was in 3D, so we wore spiffy glasses, but the experience was enhanced by vibrating seats, real ocean smells, tubes under our seats that blasted air at certain times, water sprays, and bubbles. Very, very cool.

When the film was over, we spent a bit of time viewing the Ray pool. They had stingrays of all sizes, the largest probably being larger than the roof of my car! They also had a humongous sea turtle! We headed across the sky bridge and got into our seats (just out of the splash zone) for the dolphin show.

The show was great, lots of cool tricks, and I have always liked dolphins. DJ wasn't as into it as I had hoped, but I think he enjoyed some of it. It was hard to catch the tricks with my camera, as it just isn't quick enough.

We walked through the rest of the aqarium (no strollers allowed! DJ is good and worn out! Hooray!), seeing another 60 gazillion fish, sharks, some frogs, and another 100 million fish.

Even after grabbing a late lunch, we were still an hour and a half from the departure of the next train home, so we tried to slowly wander down the walkway along the Inner Harbor, but a rain storm was moving in, so we walked the couple blocks back to the train station.

It wasn't overly hot today (first day under 90 in a week), but it was definitely humid, due to the storm. We were waiting on the platform when the lightning and thunder began. We were under cover, not like a little rain bothers us Northwesterners, but it was nice to be under cover anyway. The train ride home was uneventful, although DJ seems to have found a whole new store of energy. All in all, a very nice day.

Up next, a week-long trip down the coast, from Delaware to North Carolina. We will have lots of time on the beach, as well as days in historic Jamestown and Yorktown, Virginia. I will be taking my laptop, so I will try to post some pictures along the way. Nothing can ever top Pacific Ocean beaches, but I'm sure we will have lots of fun. Just keep your fingers crossed that no new tropical storms or hurricanes form between now and then!

Picnic

With the heat index expected near 100 degrees today, we are staying inside. Since we were stuck inside a good part of yesterday and tomorrow is expected to be hotter, we're getting a little stir crazy.








Grandma Joan had an idea to have a picnic in the basement. We made some sandwiches and got some snacks and drinks, spread out our picnic blanket and had a little picnic lunch. It was a nice change of pace.

Monticello

Yesterday was a very long day, even though we made it home around 7pm. It was ok, could have been planned a little better, but now we know what we can and cannot handle in a day, or really, what DJ can and cannot handle in a day.

We left close to 7:30am and after a quick stop for coffee, we were on the road. I was feeling very generous and let my mom drive through the rush hour traffic on the Capital Beltway. Once we got off the worst freeway in the US, I think I drove the rest of the way. The drive was nice, for the most part. DJ used to be the master at car travel, now that he's 4 and a half, not so much. I think the DVD player with be a requirement next trip.

The weather was really nice. It was quite warm, but not the unbearable heat and humidity the East Coast is known for. The long car trip, skipping "quiet time", different meal/snack times, and walking around all day (even though we had the stroller) made for a very cranky kid. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, as DJ's behavior was less than desireable.

Anyway, we toured the grounds a bit. I'm not sure what area we were looking at, but it was definitely a great view.

I wasn't able to take pictures inside the house, but on the tour of the first floor and our quick walk-through the underground tunnels (where the kitchen, cellar, etc were), we were able to see how intelligent and innovative Thomas Jefferson was. It's hard to explain, but he was an interesting man.

By the time we had gotten through the house, DJ was melting down, so my mom made a quick stop in the gift shop and we got back on the road. I got the wonderful opportunity to drive through rush hour traffic on the Beltway coming home. DJ was busy dumping out the basket with his toys and books in it and then throwing books around the backseat, because he couldn't find the one he wanted.

We had originally planned a day trip to the ocean, but the drive is similar in length, so we have revised that, and are making it a multi-day trip. We also have a trip to Baltimore Inner Harbor and Baltimore Aquarium planned, so stay tuned for that.

Just a moment...

A snapshot before we went to church Sunday morning.

The weather has been great, even the thunder/rain storm we had last night was nice. It was only 81 degrees today, cool enough to allow us to take a walk and let DJ ride his bike.

We are headed to Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home) in Charlottesville, Virginia, tomorrow. It is a three hour drive, so we're leaving early, and may stay down there for the night, depending on how tired everyone is. I will try to take lots of pictures.

She has arrived!

My mom is here! My fridge, freezer and pantry are full! My car gets a tune-up tomorrow! DJ was beyond hyper today, having Grandma Joan here, but that's ok. Grandma Joan was a little hyper too.

My mom's flight was supposed to arrive in Baltimore at 8:43pm. It was bumped to 8:57pm sometime in the morning, not really sure why. Anyway, she got to Chicago on schedule, they got on the plane, and then they sat, and sat, and sat. There was a large band of thunderstorms over and near chicago and moving east toward Baltimore, so they stopped Eastbound flights for awhile. Her arrival time kept getting later and later and I was starting to freak out about keeping DJ up that late. When it looked like her flight wouldn't be arriving until after 11pm, if at all, I called one of my few friends here in Maryland and he was still at work, but I was fortunate enough that he said he would come by as soon as he got off work. So, with A LOT of drama, I tricked (yes, I realize it's not very nice, but he was adamant that he go to the airport) DJ into going to sleep.

My mom's plane finally landed in Baltimore around 11:40pm and my friend got here around midnight. I hopped in my car and since there it was the middle of the night, I got there quickly. It's only a 25-30 minute drive anyway, but I managed it in just a little over 15 (without speeding!), found my mom, and we were home again by 1:30. We both promptly went to bed and since DJ had gotten to bed later than normal the night before, we got to sleep in until almost 9.

We made a trip to Costco and then after quiet time, we went to Safeway. I have groceries in my house now. Real groceries! I'm going to get to eat real dinner! My mom is going to teach me how to make some things, even how to use the slow cooker we got for Christmas, that's still in its box.
I'm beyond elated to have my mom here, even without all that stuff. Just to have her close is awesome! Yay mom!

Argh!

My mom arrives tomorrow night and I'm trying not to go completely insane before then.

I know it's typical for 4-year-olds not to listen, to test boundaries, etc. I know that's typical behavior really from the time they become mobile. DJ was never really that kid, though. He has always tested boundaries with his mom, but that's because she's never around. With me, he's usually pretty good. Those days are long gone and I'm not really sure how to deal with it. It's like he has age-regressed back to 18-months or 2-years old. He doesn't listen at all, he gets into everything, bath and bed times have become nightmare-ish, and his answer to everything is "I don't know".

I have tried to sit down with him and explain things to him, trying to keep eye contact, so I know he's paying attention to me. It doesn't seem to be doing any good. I have tried time-out, all he does is cry and scream and nothing has changed. I have tried rewarding good behavior, still no change. I tried taking things away for bad behavior, nothing.

He won't talk to me about why he does these things. All he says is "I don't know" or "I wasn't listening". He knows his actions are inappropriate, because when he gets caught, he usually starts crying immediately.

The worst of this started when his mom left on this deployment, but some started when he started going to school. Maybe being with kids his age has allowed him to find his own age-appropriate behavior? He has grown up around adults, until he started preschool back in January. School is great and I love the school he goes to. I'm not blaming school, by any means. I'm just trying to find some kind of reason for this change.

I'm really at my wits end right now. I find myself going into my room and crying, after he's asleep at night, because I'm just so frustrated and feel so helpless.

Maybe this is just age-appropriate behavior and I have to find some way to work through it. This is when being a single-pseudo-parent is the hardest.

If anyone has any suggestions, please, please feel free to share them.

So much to do...

...and none of it is getting done!

I woke up on the 4th with the beginnings of one of those fun summer colds. Just what I need. It was a bit worse yesterday and I woke up pretty miserable today. That means I will be better tomorrow, right? I sure hope so!

My mom arrives Tuesday night and I have yet to accomplish more than 3 things on the page-long list of things to do before she arrives. Other than a couple things that I must do Tuesday, most things on this list aren't absolute. My mom knows how it is being a single parent. She doesn't expect everything to be perfect. I still like to try, though.

DJ is still in this weird phase. I don't know what to make of it. Is it just because he's 4? Is it because of his mom being gone again? He doesn't listen, he is constantly whining and crying over nothing. My mom says it's just because he's 4. It's just so out of character for him. Hopefully her visit will help. I know just having another person in the house is going to help me immensely!

I did manage to get his hair cut this morning. Thats another thing to check off the list. It was getting all shaggy again. So much easier to manage when its super short in the summer, especially when he freaks out every time we have to wash it! He loves bath time, but not the washing part. He just wants to play.

Our 4th of July was extremely quiet. I didn't want to try and work out the logistics of getting to and from DC for the fireworks, so we stayed home. Laurel had their big celebration on the 5th, with a whole day of activities. I just wasn't feeling up to it and with DJ's recent behavior... I did have to keep him up quite a bit later than usual, as the fireworks started at 9:15 and went for nearly an hour. Since they have them at the lake, just a few blocks from our house, we could see quite a few of them from my bedroom window.

DJ is down for his "quiet time" and instead of trying to do a few little things, I think I'm going to lay down for a nap myself.

Giggles

Due to the strategic placement of stairs vs DJ's bedroom and his previous encounters with sleepwalking, he has a gate in the doorway to his bedroom. Most mornings, after he wakes up, he opens his door and loudly calls out "Megan! Good Morning!", to which I drag my sleepy butt out of bed and we get on with our day. This morning, however, I woke up on my own and when I went to my bedroom door, I heard endless giggles coming from inside his room. I have no idea what he was laughing at, when I asked him later, he answered with his usual "I don't know!", but whatever it was must have been really funny!

(We are doing ok, by the way. When every day is the same, there isn't much to blog about. My mom will be here a week from today! Yippee!!!)