Collin is 18 months!

Oh my little buddy!  What a cutie with his messy hair and monster pjs!  Love him!

Hooray!  We have health insurance again!  Yay for a full time job/salary!  So I finally switched Collin's doctor to one in the Salt Lake Valley (yes, we had been driving down to south Provo anytime he needed a doctor between August and now...)

We went to the doctor for his well child check up this last week.  First, can I just say I LOVE our HSA.  I love being able to "shop around" and choose the doctor I want at the price I want to pay.  I also love that all well check up's are free.  I didn't love that, probably because we're new, the computer didn't notify the nurse that we were waiting and about 20 people came in after us and got called back.  I was almost to the point that I was going to just leave, partially because Collin was not having it.  I was chasing him back and forth (there weren't any toys in the waiting room) or trying to keep him from flopping out of my arms.  It was NOT fun.  Then the receptionist notices us about 45 minutes after we checked in(how it took that long, I have no idea.  Collin was making it very obvious we were there and he was not having fun.)  So she checked the computer and it showed that we were waiting, so she went back to the nurse, and her computer did not show it.  Then they took us back immediately after that.

There were toys in the rooms (and a LOT of rooms.)  Because we waited so long, two nurses took care of us, getting all our info and such.

Here's the stats:
Weight:  25lbs 9oz
Height: 32.5 in

No signs of autism (though I knew that already.  Thank you Elem Ed classes.)
He's right at the 50th percentile for everything except head size.  His head is in the 75th or just a little bigger than average.

I also asked about eating.  Collin will NOT drink milk from a sippy cup, so I'm still bottling him at night.  He also will NOT eat most meats.  He will eat bacon and hamburgers sometimes.  Nor will he eat bread (toast occasionally, but no bread.)  He only eats most fruits, some veggies, and then loves crackers and pretzels.  The doctor told me that typically toddlers are at their pickiest at 18 months.  He said it wasn't affecting (is it a or e?) his grow, but to keep an eye on that.  Doc also said that he'll start eating more things, I just need to keep offering them.  And this is the hard thing; I feel when I offer them, or prepare them for him and he doesn't eat it, then I need to so I'm not wasting food.  But I'm trying to watch what I eat to lose these last 5 lbs!  Ugh!!


So some other things about Collin:

• He LOVES Buzz Lightyear and all the Toy Story's.  We watch at least one a day.  Most day's its two or three...  don't judge me! 
• He loves being outside and being independent.  "No mom.  I can climb up these stairs like an adult."  "No mom, I can walk down the stairs like an adult." "No mom, I'm just fine even though my arm is bleeding."
• He climbs EVERYTHING.  Just yesterday he climbed over the arm of the couch, past the table and into the corner of the living room.  More impressive yet is he climbed out of his crib.  And yes he fell.  And yes, he cried for a long time (until I turned on Toy Story.)
• He still isn't talking.  He says a lot of words, but not consistently or when asked.  He mostly expects me to know what he wants.  He does a lot of pointing and yelling.
• He doesn't have the attention span to sit through a book.  This is probably the most heartbreaking for me.  I love books.  I love sharing reading time with him.  But he honestly just can't SIT there and listen to a book.  Its been this way since he starting moving.
• He's always on the go.  Always playing, stacking, throwing, hiding, running around the apartment.  He does make exceptions when Toy Story is on, however...

Cruise - Last Part

Saturday we were at sea again, to be arriving back in Florida Sunday morning early.  I guess our Captain wanted us to be really early cause he was going fast!  Because we were going faster and because there were already waves, I could feel the boat rocking the most ever Friday night.  Greg went up the the open deck to get a ice cream and popcorn and they had closed the pools early because the water was sloshing out of the them from all the rocking.  He tried to take some video, but it's kinda hard to see.  He captured the waves hitting the side of the ship, but its hard to tell just how bad the pool is sloshing. 

 

 We were mostly lazy Saturday.  We enjoyed our last day of free, all-ready prepared, cleaned-up-after-you food, including a chocolate buffet.  We went swimming in one of the ship's pools.  And watched movies in our room.  We also packed, and went to dinner in the dining room.  Honestly, we weren't impressed with the food in the dining room.  We preferred the buffet-style restaurant on the open deck.  I was kind of disappointed about the food, because I'd heard so many great things about how amazing it is (which is why I tried things I normally wouldn't) but it wasn't that great.  We took some last pictures, and then went to bed.  We had an early morning coming because we were to disembark at 8am.  Here's the pictures from the last day:

Hahahaha!  This is a picture from the Morning Show, done by our cruise director Gary (cheeri-o!) and his assistant Sam (C'mon Sam!).  And it was HILARIOUS!!!  They were unbelievable awkward.  Not to mention they totally look like they just woke up.

Yum... This is our haul from the chocolate buffet.  We didn't even make a dent in it.  But it was delicious.

Like I said, we really just laid around all day.

watching movies and eating ice cream.

This is the view from the dining room where we sat that night.

This is on the open deck.

And then we got MORE ice cream!

Sunday was crazy.  We'd packed one of our two bags and left it out Saturday night to be collected by the ships staff and off loaded for us.  Sunday morning we quickly gathered our things and went to breakfast (with all of our things...)  before heading out to disembark.  There were lots of lines, and lots of people.  It reminded me of an airport terminal.  The bags that passengers had set out were to be collected at a conveyor belt before getting in line for customs.  The line for customs was by far the longest line.  There were tons of people, but also it took most people a long time to be cleared.  We were quick because we didn't purchase any alcohol or cigars. 

Once we'd cleared customs, we had to get back to the hotel we'd stayed in before leaving because we'd left a shirt and jacket there.  Greg called the hotel before we left port to see if they had them and would hold them for us til we got back from our cruise, and they did.  We took a taxi this time, and surprisingly it was less than the shuttle service we took to get to the port!  Then we just waited for the hotel's free airport shuttle.

We didn't plan very well when booking our flights back to SLC.  There were three flights that went from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas, TX, but only one flight from Dallas to SLC and that was at 8pm.  So we thought we were being smart by taking the last Ft. Lauderdale flight to Dallas, but what that meant was we were sitting in FLL for almost 7 hours.  We ate, and walked around some, and read some magazines.  It was BORING!!!

Then when our flight was almost to Dallas, the pilot informed us that because of bad weather in Dallas, no flights we being able to land.  We were in a "holding pattern" around Dallas waiting to land, when our pilot told us that we didn't have the fuel to wait, so we had to go land in Austin and refuel.  While in the holding pattern, and leaving Dallas for Austin, we were in some of the worst turbulence I've ever experienced.  I actually thought I was going to have to use the barf bag!  

In Austin, they gave us a phone number to find out about our connecting flights out of Dallas.  We called and our flight to SLC had been delayed.  They gave passengers the option to get off in Austin, and before finding out our connecting flight was delayed we thought about taking it.  I also called my parents, and told them that it didn't look like we'd make it in until really late, and asked them if they could keep Collin one more night.  They didn't mind.

As the departure time of our SLC flight crept closer, we worried that we wouldn't get back to Dallas in time.  Finally the pilot came on and said that we were cleared to get into the Dallas airport but we'd have to come in through the west.  There was turbulence, but not near as bad.  As we were driving to the terminal, the pilot informed us that our flight was probably one of the last to land that night.  He also told us that if he'd waited 30 minutes more in Austin, our flight attendants would have been done with their shifts and we would have had to wait for another flight crew!!  Thank heavens for our gutsy pilot!  

We landed and found out our gate was only two down and the plane hadn't boarded yet.  We were just in time!  Greg grabbed a snack, and then they called for boarding.

When we landed in Salt Lake, we decided the only way to get home was taxi.  It cost more for a taxi in Utah, than it did for the taxi in Florida!  And the ride in Florida was about 10 minutes longer (not because of traffic.) That really surprised me. 

The next day, Monday, I waited at home for my mom to bring Collin and all his gear to me and Greg went to work.  That time, waiting at home to see my buddy after a week and two days, killed me!  I tried to keep myself real busy, seeing as my mom wouldn't be able to come until 3pm.  I had Greg and I completely unpacked, and our laundry almost done when Collin got home at 4pm.  And then I smothered him in cuddles and kisses!!

 

Cruise - Part...what part IS it?

Oh man!  It's been too long since I last posted.  I'm going to forget all the details from our cruise!!!

So Friday, we were in Grand Cayman.  We hadn't booked an excursion yet, so we weren't pressed for time.  And that was a VERY good thing because we had to tender again.  This time, however, it took MUCH longer!  We arrived in Grand Cayman around 10am ship time, so by then most people were up and ready to get going.  We got ready and went down to the Amber Palace to get our number and wait just after 10.  We were in group number 8 this time, but waited longer for the boats.  By the time we were leaving we saw some people walking around with the numbers 25, 26 and 27 on!

We we arrived on the island, we walked around looking for excursions.  We found one that was pretty cheap, took us on a tour of the island, and left in about 30 minutes.  It was perfect.  We went to the dolphin show, where we could have paid a lot to swim with the dolphins.  Next we went to the Rum Cake shop.  I guess the Cayman's are famous for their rum cake.  We didn't have any, mostly cause it was CRAZY busy.  We decided to have some empanadas instead.  If you don't know what those are, they are a cornmeal breading wrapped around a meat.  I had chicken; Greg had beef.  They were yummy...

Then we headed out to Hell.  Yep.  Hell, Grand Cayman.  Complete with a Post Office (you know, so you can send people letters from Hell.)  Before arriving I thought it was just named that for fun.  Nope.  Turns out there is a field of jagged, gray rocks, that when it was discovered reminded the people of what Hell must be like.  Hot and humid with jagged rocks...sounds about right.

Finally we stopped at the Seven Mile Beach.  The beaches on Grand Cayman are all public, so it was crowded.  The driver of our tour gave us the option to stay and then he'd come get us in a couple of hours, so we took it.  He did fail to mention though, that it would cost us $5 a person to do that...

The beach was gorgeous.  We found a place to put our stuff, and Greg rented me a floating lounge chair thingy, and him a snorkel mask from a merchant on the beach.  I loved just laying in the ocean, watching people and enjoying the gorgeous view of the ocean.  Greg did a little snorkeling.  Then we laid on the beach to dry.  We were just getting dressed to check out some shops when our bus pulled up, 30 minutes early.  So we headed back to the pier to do our souvenir shopping.  I think if we would have known about the extra charge, we would have just stayed at the beach a while longer and taken a cab back.  It cost us about the same.

On our tour, I noticed that Grand Cayman was definitely the most American-ized of all the places we went.  There were tons of fast food restaurants, and other shops that looked more American.  Also, they drive on the wrong side of the road there.  (Greg laughed when I pointed this out.  "The WRONG side?  It's just the left side."  But my friend Tennille pointed out that they are both the opposites of the right side, so ha!)  Also, I didn't know that they are still run by the British.  Our tour guide even drove us past the hotel where the Queen of England stayed when she came to visit many years ago.


Well, here's the pictures:

This is at the dolphin place.  You can see the people who got to "swim" with the dolphins.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Hell's Post Office.

A close up of the field of jagged rocks.

We thought the sign was funny!

Me, lounging in the water off Seven Mile Beach.

There were lots of people there compared to the other beaches we went to.  There were places all along the beach to rent things like the blow up toys you can see.

The Caymans are also famous for their history with pirates, along with the rum cake and banking.

Cruise - Part 4

On Thursday we were on Isla Roatan off the coast of Honduras.  This place was different from the last two places because it was very hilly and very green.  It was by far our favorite place!  If we were to buy a vacation home somewhere, this island would be that place.

We decided to go on a zip line tour through the jungle in Honduras.  Our tour left 20 minutes after we were supposed to dock, so again we were in a hurry and again the directions weren't very descriptive.  But we found the meeting place, and were on time.  This tour was bigger, but still rather small.  There was about 20 people in our group.  After meeting and checking in, we got a tour of half the island on the way to a high hill where our zip line tour started.  The island was gorgeous. 

When we got to the top of the zip line, we put our stuff in lockers except for our camera and went to get harnessed up.  When everyone was all hooked up they gave us some instructions and then started sending us down the zip lines.  I'll admit I was scared.  My first line the guy kept yelling at me to loosen up cause I was slowing myself too much.  If you did that on some of the longer cables then you'd stop and have to pull yourself to the other end.  I got used to it, and even loved it! 

There were a bunch of zip lines to get to the bottom.  So we'd go from one side of the ravine to the other, and then switch to a new cable and go back.  It was so much fun.  At one point, one of the guys helping us asked me "Is this guy with you?  Is he your husband?" talking about Greg.  I said he is.  Then he asked us if we'd like to go together.  And we did it.  He hooked me to the cable first, then Greg right behind me with his legs wrapped around me.  Then I just held onto my rope, and Greg held onto the cable to be our breaks.  It was crazy, and fun.  Another guy in our group got a picture of us (we just need to email him to get it from him.)

After getting all the way down the valley, they drove us up a dirt road back to the top.  They then got out their pet monkey and let us hold him.  Finally after everyone had taken a break they offered us two options.  We could either go back to the cruise ship dock or go to a private beach.  Of course we went to the private beach.  It was totally worth it!  It was beautiful.  There were shops along the beach and we purchased all of our souvenirs there.  

This day was by far my favorite; it was nearly a perfect day.  Here's the pictures:

See how pretty!

Us at the top of the hill.

With all our harness and safety gear on.

Becca getting hooked up to the cables.

Greg coming down one of the middle cables.

The view from one side to the other.  You can see the platform on the other side.

Becca on her way down one of the longest cables.

Us at the start of the longest cable. 

Greg with the monkey.

The gorgeous private beach.

Greg jumping in!

Our feet.