Beach Highlights

My husband's dad and his girlfriend rented a beach house in Virginia Beach for the week. We are about 3 hours away (no traffic) so we ventured down on Friday night after our softball game to take HMB to his first swim in the Atlantic Ocean. We had already been in the Pacific Ocean during our trip to CA last August. It's true, the Atlantic in Virginia in June was warmer than the Pacific in Half Moon Bay in August!

Anyway, I though I would offer some highlights of the trip:
-HMB passed out about 20 minutes into the drive and slept until we had about 20 minutes left. It was wonderful (except when he decided that he was awake when we got there and proceeded to play for an hour or so - at 1am). It was actually pretty cute!

-HMB LOVES sand. He loves playing in the sand and being very sandy. He loves eating sand and doesn't mind having it all over his chubby little body.

-HMB LOVES the ocean! He kept on going back for more, wanting to go further into the water. He loves the waves crashing down on him, as long as he was aware when they would crash into his face!

-Running near the beach in 95 degree heat is a little tough. But I knew were were having fajitas that night so I persevered!

-We did bring the Pack n Play but were too tired the first night to set it up. So HMB slept with me in one of the two single beds in our room. He tossed and turned before falling asleep and I DO think he actually likes his space...but he also likes to know I am there! More on the sleep thing in a minute!

-My husband's sort of step-sister actually lives in VA Beach and she came over with her little boys 13 and 21 months old. HMB ran up to the 13 month old, gave him a giant hug and while attempting to smooch him, they both fell over. HMB thought it was hilarious, but the other little boy did not and he cried. We need to teach HMB how to be a little less exuberant with his hugging and smooching.

-It was my husband's birthday on Sunday so we had a cake. Both he and HMB enjoyed it very much! I did taste the icing and it was delicious!

-The ride home was not fun, we sat with all the other beach traffic and HMB napped for about an hour. He was good, though, and played with toys and ate some licorice (yeah, I know). We made it home and HMB had a great night sleep (9pm-5am) in his crib!

Side note on sleep: After the 9pm-5am, HMB lasted only until 3am last night. I got him and rocked him for a bit but I made the mistake of sitting down on the couch, next thing I know it's 6:30am and my husband is leaving for work. Damn, I meant to put him right back in his crib! Why do you even pick him up, you might ask? Well, we have learned that the longer he cries, the more agitated he gets and the less likely he will get himself back to sleep in a reasonable time. And we can't fall back asleep until he does (living in 800 sq feet will do that). But if we either pat his back or pick him up for a minute and get him calm, he will usually go back to the crib (not always, of course). Needless to say, we are still dealing with an HMB as far as sleep goes but we are working on it!