Interlochen (part 3: Who Gets to Sleep?)

While we were boating, Parker was doing a bit of this, with Grandma. And I do believe she enjoyed every moment of it. Ray and Andrew made a run to Karlin Deli for jerky, and went and checked us into our hotel.

And when we got back from our boat ride, we got Maia changed back into dry clothes, and Ray tried to get her down for a nap. It was probably a good 15-20 minutes of "No"s and crying, then maybe 5-7 minutes of settling down a bit... and then back to the crying. Knuckling her dark-circle rimmed eyes and assuring everyone she was not sleepy. Eventually we gave up, and gave her some "quiet" time watching Lion King with Lydia in the motorhome while we got dinner ready and I fed Parker.

MmMmMmmmm... hot dogs slow roasted over a fire. YUM.

While dinner was prepping, Lydia brought over her new friend, Mylah. Maia was fascinated by Mylah (not sure if it was the name or what) but Maia kept grabbing Mylah's hand and telling her to touch Parker, and telling her his name, and that he was her baby brother (Bee-bee bruthuh! Das Pah-kuh!). Over... and Over. And Over. Poor Mylah. I don't think she knew what to make of the situation, but she was tolerant. Since there is never a shortage of people wanting to hold a newborn... Parker was handed around while people ate in shifts (totally not necessary, as we had his buzzy seat, and I'm fairly adept at eating with one hand, although it's trickier when I'm trying to get Maia situated too).

Maia ate 1 1/2 hot dogs, half a bun and a bit of fruit (surprise!) and was re-energized again for a while. She did a pretty good job staying away from the fire (even though we were all quite anxious), but did not do such a good job keeping her hands out of the dirt (and the dirt is dark and sandy at this campground!)

Now. Here's where the fun really begins. After dinner, we packed up Mr. Chill and Little Miss No-Naps, and headed to the hotel. We were already about an hour past her bedtime.... and she, of course, started to fall asleep in the car.
Ray decided he did not want her to sleep in the car, for fear she would get a second (or 5th) wind once we got to the hotel and not go to sleep. So he pestered her until she woke up, and I sang songs and made Maia finish the lines (ME: You are my.... MAIA:(in a very small and quiet voice)"suh-shiiine" ME: My only... MAIA: "suh-shiiiine")
Then we got to the hotel and Maia walked up to the room with us. Still sleepy, rubbing eyes, fingers in mouth and actually admitting being sleepy (that may be the first time I'd ever heard her admit that!). Then we got in the room, and it was a new world to explore. So we got her dressed for bed, and Ray decided to give her a bath to get her into a bedtime frame of mind. And I read her usual bedtime books and brought a familiar blanket. And that was all well and good... and she laid down on the big queen bed and started talking, and asking questions, and calling the bed "Grandma's bed" and rocking back and forth on her hands and knees and insisting that "Momma lay down to me." And then maybe some singing, and some flopping around. And some wiggling. And some sitting up and talking some more. And this went on. And On. And On. We cajoled and threatened and offered time outs and cuddles, and "That's its!" and "Last ones!" I finally sent Ray to go get a few things, wondering if fewer people around would be helpful. It wasn't. 8:30 lead to 9, 9 to 9:30... finally about 9:45 or 10, Ray was back, and decided that it was time to try a car ride, and told me to try and get some sleep. I tried to make sure Parker was well fed, changed and would hopefully make it through a nice long stretch, and dozed off. They returned around 10:30/10:45 p.m, Maia asleep. He put her on the bed and tried to settle himself down for sleep.... and eventually we all drifted off.

Parker woke up at 2:30 a.m. I tried to catch him at first fuss to feed him. Usually I change first (and he cries) and then feed him, but to keep him quiet, I tried to do it in reverse. But eventually I had to change him, and I needed a little light to do that. Either the fussing or the light woke Maia, and she was sitting straight up in bed talking to Parker.

I got Parker situated (got lucky, too, as he pooped while I was changing the diaper, but I managed to get the dirty diaper back up in time, and didn't even have to go through a second diaper! Yay!) and back to sleep. Then it was time to focus on Maia. Again. She wanted water. She wanted me to lay down with her. She wanted something to eat. "I awake now!" (Oh, darling... I know you are!) She wanted to sing. So I would lay down with her, and if she misbehaved, then I would go back to my bed. Within a few minutes, she would be climbing in next to me.

In the dark, she did get a little disoriented, and several times asked me "Who issat?"

Finally, I laid down in her bed, said goodnight, and turned my back to her and said nothing more, but modeled lots of "Magic Breaths" for her. After a little while, some more flopping around, she cuddled up sidewise on the bed, with her head behind my knees and drifted off to sleep. At some point, I woke up, covered her with a blanket, took her pillow (because she wasn't using it, and those were some flat pillows!) and went to bed next to Ray.

I woke up at the usual time... around 7 am, and hoped that she would sleep a little longer, even though we'd intended to make it back to camp to have breakfast together at 8:30. I laid back down, but Little Miss Early Riser was awake and chatty within 10 minutes. We did, amazingly, manage to get all of us ready and packed up and to camp (with a brief stop at a grocery store for some cough drops for a very sick Ray) by about 8:45... and we may have made it on time, had we not had to wait for the cyclists crossing the road for their triathalon.

We did have a nice breakfast together (Scrambled eggs: one of Maia's favorites) and did a low-key birthday (Andrew, Dad) and anniversary (Kath & Andrew) celebration. We hit the road at about 11:30 for home, and Maia was out by the time we hit Cadillac. I tried to take a picture over my head (since she's still rear facing right now), because she fell asleep with her sippy cup on her shoulder, and her head resting on it, sunglasses on and her "crossword" (magna doodle-type toy) on her lap.

She woke up shortly before we arrived in town, chatty and ready to go swimming.

Interlochen (part 2: Swimming!)

With all the excitement and outdoor play, we knew it would be difficult to get Maia down for a nap, regardless of how tired she might be. So we thought maybe we'd take her out on the boat, since the droning of the engine has been known to put a kid or two to sleep (like last year). However, with all the exciting people on board, along with the prospect of going swimming (!!!!) she was amped up for the whole thing!  

So here we are on Papa's boat...

Adrian

Getting a different view with Aunt Kathleen

Adrian and Emily letting the wake splash against their hands... Emily also announced: "Wow! It's WARM!"

And warm it was. See that little device in the lower corner of the pic? The first number: 25.3 is the depth where we anchored for swimming. The second number: 82.8... that's the water temperature. We estimated that was probably the warmest water temp the boat had ever been in. That's a swimming pool temp, not a glacial lake temp!

And Lydia's cute french braids... Emily did those.

Since I couldn't swim yet (too post-partum/post-surgery)... Aunt Kathleen took the first honors. Maia watched as Papa dove into the water off the back of the boat first, then Aunt Kathleen hopped off the swim platform and we got Maia to sit down on the platform next. She was pretty fearless, and I thought maybe she'd be concerned about me not being in the water with her. I think she asked for me once, but she was soooo much more excited about the swimming.

Maia hasn't been swimming since our classes ended at the YMCA... last fall/winter. Since the weather got warm, I think she asks "Maia go swimming?" at least 5-10 times a week. How she remembers all this stuff, I have no idea!

She did great swimming with Aunt Kathleen, and moved on to a brief swim with Emily too.

Then Papa took over. Lydia took her time getting in, but eventually, it was everyone in the water and me on the boat taking pics.

Since we usually prefer to swim in the deeper areas and avoid some of the swimmers itch that lurks near the shore, swimming can be some decent exercise. Particularly when you play catch while treading water (although easier done with a life jacket on).

After a while, it looked to me like Maia's eyes were at half-mast, and I asked if she wanted to come in and cuddle with Mommy. Nope. Keep Swimming!

We even got her to the swim platform and still she balked at getting out of the water. She didn't even want to get out when everyone else was getting out, too!

But eventually she complied and greatly enjoyed the boat ride back to camp as well.

Interlochen (part 1: Butterflies)

Parker is now THREE weeks old (can't believe it!) Time is flying!
I can't tell you the last time I actually went out of town... probably our NY trip last fall... when it turns out I was pregnant with Parker, but didn't know it yet, because my body threw me for a loop!
So, since my folks and my sister and her family were all camping, we thought we'd head up to Interlochen for the day, stay at a hotel and leave the next morning. Call it a dry run for our big excursion to Massena next weekend! Unfortunately, it was the last weekend of Cherry Festival, and finding a place to stay that was affordable and didn't require a two-night stay was a challenge. But, at last we found a place, and so I had the car all packed up on Friday night, and we were on the road by 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Parker and Aunt Dianne

When we arrived, Parker got to meet (great) Aunt Dianne and Uncle Larry for the first time. Maia was happy to introduce him: "Thass my beebee brutha!" And if you ask his name, she's happy to yell "Pah-kuh!" She's a proud big sister.
Maia could not have been more thrilled to spend the whole day outside, although inside Papa and Grandma's motorhome was pretty fascinating too. What was really exciting? Getting to eat all her meals outside too!

Her cousins did a great job keeping her busy. Blowing bubbles, walking around, playing "Pony Girl," "Buzzy Bee," "Tick Tock" games with Maia on their laps.

But one of the more fascinating things for Maia (and certainly for Lydia) was catching butterflies. There was a tree two sites over that was leaking sap and attracting Painted Lady butterflies. By the time we left, Lydia says she'd caught (and released) over 50 butterflies during her week (we suspect they weren't 50 different butterflies...)

Lydia would hope for the butterfly to calm down enough before she let it go that she could hold it on her finger for a moment before it would fly away. And sometimes it would After they let the butterfly go, Maia would play with something else for a while, and then she would grab Lydia's hand and ask "More Buh-flies?"

In the mean time, Parker seemed absolutely content in the warm, humid air. He's such a cuddle bug and loves to be wrapped and warm in the house (where the air conditioning or the attic fan are usually on, depending on the temperature outside). He would actually lay comfortably on a lap (some one's lap or arms... he got handed around a bit!) and hardly fussed at all.
Now that he is three weeks old, we are also seeing a LOT more awake and alert time. We're really seeing him study faces, turn toward something interesting (often his sister who is coming to give him kisses for the millionth time today).