Woodrow Turns Three

I told myself that I was going to have this blog written before the end of August, and here it is September 1st in Guam...but technically still August 31st in the states, so I may count it as good.  Our sweet Woodrow turned 3 on August 5th and we can hardly believe it!  Some moments it feels right, that he's been with us for 3 years already and other times I feel like he was just born.  This little guy has certainly experienced so much in his three years on this Earth, and I just adore him to pieces!

 I sometimes joke that Woodrow and I haven't cut the umbilical cord yet because he's my little snuggle bun, likes to cuddle, and likes his mama nearby...but that being said he's got a special place for Mason and Theo and he's growing out of his shy shell more and more.  There are many times he might give people the scowly face, but more and more he's started to open up to other adults and kids. 

A year ago we celebrated Woodrow turning two in Minot, North Dakota and this year we celebrated his third birthday in Guam!  This little dude had become quite the world traveler.  In the past year he's traveled to North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas,  Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Japan, Philippines, Guam, Australia, and New Zealand!  What???  How awesome is that?!  Hopefully he'll remember bits and pieces of this travel when he's older. 









This year we've also seen major growth in this guys little body!  He's a little over 3 feet, we're still working on potty training, he's in 3T clothes, and wants to only wear shorts with pockets these days.  While Woodrow did come to love the snow and cool weather, he also has been enjoying his beach time.  This little guy is a fish.  He loves playing in the water whether it is the bathtub, beach, or swimming pool. Woodrow has also grown in leaps and bounds with his speech.  When he was 21 months we started speech therapy in Minot, and we completed it in March around 30 months old.  Now he can keep up with his brother in the speech department.  He loves to chat and he isn't going to let Theo outshine him.    

With our move we've had some sleep adjustments.  Our champion sleeper isn't sleeping/napping as much as he used too, so sometimes he gets to accompany me in my bed when I need a nap, and he usually passes out.  Although this then means he likes to party in his bed until 10pm.  Theo and Woodrow are sharing a room in our new house, and that has come with some challenges with behavior and sleep, but we've also seen his imagination GROW a lot during this time too.  It's amazing what two little boys can come up with during "rest time" when they aren't resting.  And Woodrow definitely likes to keep up with big brother Theo. 

Woodrow is going to be a big brother in about 2 months, and he's very excited.  He tells us that the baby is most likely a "sister" and that we should name the baby Yoda.  I think he's really going to like being a big brother, and will step into the role nicely, especially when Theo's at preschool.  Woodrow likes to hug and kiss my tummy and talk to the baby...I won't be surprised if we have to fence him off from the baby's room at naptime.

Woodrow fascinates me, because unlike Theo who has his special bear and goes through long phases of enjoying certain toys, Woodrow will really be into something for a few weeks and then move onto the next "thing".  This past year he's  really been into his toy school bus, and he toted that around for weeks, then he really liked sharks,  his Aunt Jill sent him a small stuffed dog and that's been a consistent toy that he sleeps with at night, and now he's obsessed with airplanes!!!  Oh my word!  We have loops of conversation.  "Is that the plane Dad flies?"  "Is that the yellow airplane (69th BS B52s)?"  "Is that the B1?"  When we go to see Mason at work Woodrow has started to request to wear his flight suit, and he currently wants to be an airplane for Halloween.  This plane obsession started after we got to ride on so many airplanes on our trip to Australia/New Zealand.  It's pretty fun to see him play and get into the zone with his toy airplanes.  He told me that he's going to have an airplane birthday with his friends...he didn't seem to thrilled when I told him that we'd already celebrated his birthday.  He thought he should have another party. 

This year, we kept it pretty low key and celebrated Woodrow with just our family.  He got to open a few presents, eat pizza, have a shark cake and Nemo cupcakes, and just be with us.  I can't believe this little guy is 3 and I just look forward to all the time in the world with this sweet boy of mine.    
 

Land Down Under Trip: Day 17

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Today we begin the journey back to Guam.  In January after returning to Minot from our winter vacation ((2 boys throwing up and Mason and I feeling queasy) I said we aren’t doing any more road trips or long trips this year.  Hahaha!  Since January we were fortunate enough to travel all around the US saying our goodbyes to family before moving to Guam.  We flew from Chicago to Japan to Guam (a LOT of flying and I was throwing up by the end of our first flight).  Then we seized this opportunity to take a family vacation before adding a baby into the mix.  So we headed from Guam to the Philippines to Australia to Nez Zealand and back (a LOT of flying and a ferry boat ride).  I got sick again on the ferry boat ride and hopefully will have successful flights back today to Guam.  I’m drugged.  I really try to not take any medications during pregnancy, but these meds are saving me!  And Mason.  Wow!  He’s an amazing husband. 

Anyways, our first flight from Sydney to Manila, Philippines was scheduled for 11:30 so we checked out of the hotel and left by 8am.  Banana Bread and cold pizza for breakfast for the win.  FOrtunatly the boys woke up in good spirits today.  Our hotel was fairly close to the airport, but as we were turning into the airport Mason remembered that we needed to fill up the rental car with gas (although I think it only needed a Liter or two).  Anyways, 40 minutes later after dealing with traffic and trying to locate a petrol station we were making it into the airport to drop off the rental car.  By 9:10am we’d made it to our check-in location which went much smoother than our last dealing with the Sydney Airport, but of course we were at the check-in counters furthest from where the car parking was.  I was getting in all my steps for the day by 9am.  Whew!  Dirty Laundry and two extra weeks of baby growth added some extra weight to the load. 

After checking in with Cebu Pacific we decided to grab some Subway sandwiches to throw in our bags for later since we’d depleted our snack supply (mostly) and there weren’t free meals/snacks on our 8.5 hour flight.  Fortunately security went fairly quickly, although my mind.was.blown. when I saw the container in front of ours come out of the security scanner with a LIGHTER in it.  Seriously???!!! Since we had some time before our flight was boarding we decided to check out the American Express Lounge. I may have commented on how it was out of our way, and I was not trying to birth this baby today, but we went and it was so nice.  Comfy chairs, clean bathrooms, and free drinks and food.  WE grabbed some apples and oranges to throw into our bag for the flight, the kids had some muffins and fruits, and Mason and I had a few snacks too.  Definitely not the worst place to spend an hour. 

I have to say, it is pretty nice that many places here have family bathrooms which make things easier when traveling.  Usually we try not to monopolize them, but it’s nice occasionally since most of the regular bathrooms don’t have changing tables.  As someone who’s traveled solo with both kids before it is a really nice option since there is room for luggage, kids, and all. 

I’m writing this on our flight, so hopefully the rest of the day will pass uneventfully. We’re a little concerned what the weather will be like trying to get into Guam, but first we have to survive our long flight.  We have about 6 hours left.  The boys have watched a movie, and Woodrow is happily playing with a cheap McDonalds toy that we acquired on our trip.  Theo’s plugged in, and Mason’s getting slammed in the face with Woodrow’s toy as he sips on a Coke.  Fortunately the boys have been really great travelers.  Hopefully they’ll both pass out at some point, since Woodrow gets a little temperamental when he’s hungry and tired.  We also lucked out that our flight is somewhat empty, so after some passenger rearranging I ended up with an empty seat next to me, which was a serious Godsend! 

Lol, update…Cebu Pacific…no free meals, snacks, or beverages, no in-flight entertainment, they did the duty free purchases service, they played two games where passengers could win a small baggie (you had to be first to know the acronyms LOL or JWU), but now the donation bag is going around…because my plane ticket didn’t cost enough…this is too funny.

 

So…back in Guam!  We made it.  Whew.  God was watching this trip because thankfully the 8.5 hour flight (almost 9 hours) ended up being tolerable.  It was the most partylike plane I’ve ever been on, but seriously 9 hours, 32 ounces of water for 4 people…I could have used some more water, like the free kind from the airline.   Anyways,  we arrived in Manila and had to get our baggage and transfer to a different terminal.  The process this time was more official/organized, but was still sketchy.  They loaded us onto a bus with some other people and took us across the airfield, through some city, and finally dropped us off at Terminal 2. For 8:00pm it was pretty crowded.  It took us an hour to get through the check-in line, then we had to go through customs and security again.  This time we knew there woudn’t be many food choices in the terminal, but we didn’t have many choices.  There also ended up not being any ATMs in the terminal, so we had a few pesos left, but not much.  Mason scouted for food, and we ended up spending our last pesos on a bag of Sour Cream and Onion chips, 1 bottle of orange juice, and 6 bottles of water-we were thirsty and don’t trust the tap water in the Philippines.

The boys were pretty exhausted at this point, we all were, but they did pretty well for being dragged all through the airport with having very little food or drink all day.  Thankfully we had our subs on the plane and our apples from the AMEX lounge.   The flight from Manila to Guam was not my favorite.  I was feeling pretty dizzy and tired before getting on this flight, so I popped another Zofran and prayed for the best.  Theo fell asleep before we even took off, although this was after a meltdown about not sitting next to Mason or the window.  The plane was on the ground an additional 45 minutes waiting to take-off which DID.NOT aid in the situation, as it was midnight on the Australia time zone at this time.  Woodrow got the window seat for the beginning of this flight and had a blast spotting airplanes.  Once we took off Woodrow fell asleep fairly quickly for a bit.  Theo woke up not to long into the flight, actually right after we got food and was freaking out. 

Sometimes when Theo wakes up from a deep sleep he’s very confused and so he was shaking while I tried to determine if he was just coming out of a deep sleep or something else was wrong with him.  He cried and fussed for a bit, and eventually (of course when the drink cart was right next to us) told me he had to go to the bathroom…unfortuanaly though I had asked him a few times he had an accident.  I threw the boys pjs in my backpack for this trek in case of accidents or just wanting to change, so we made our way to the bathroom so he could get cleaned up or changed.  When we got back to our seats he played on the ipad while I gobbled down some rice and rolls from the meal, and then Woodrow woke up.  He also doesn’t wake-up well from a deep sleep especially when he wants to still be sleeping.  I swear time stopped on this flight. 

Woodrow spent the last two hours of the flight, asleep on me, us moving uncomfortably in different positions, waking up and screaming, and then falling asleep again.  We’d all hit a wall.  At one point Woodrow was asleep on me, I was in pain, Theo had fallen back asleep, I’m bawling and I just turn to Mason and say, “I need to get off this bleepin’ plane NOW.”  We landed a little after 4am Guam time, but had to wait 90 minutes for our baggage!  It was raining…seriously Guam?!  Theo fell asleep on the floor waiting for our baggage, but Woodrow had pepped up and there were some K-9 dogs training with this unit in the baggage area.  They actually ended up asking Mason if they could plant some drugs on him as part of a training exercise.  Woodrow loved the dogs being so close. 

We reached home around 6:15am, the kids were great about putting on pjs and going straight to bed even with their plane naps, and I passed out so fast! Such a great trip and so glad to be home! 

Land Down Under Trip: Day 16

Monday, August 1, 2016

After passing out last night we all woke up feeling refreshed this morning.  Somewhat.  The Holiday Inn-Sydney Airport location is a pretty nice hotel that I’d recommend or stay at again.  Nothing to fancy, but I’ve slept very well in both times we’ve stayed here now.  Mason scoped out a breakfast location, Pratchett’s Pies, that was within walking distance, so we packed up for the day, loaded the car, and walked over for breakfast.  Theo and Mason led the way, while Woodrow soaked up the 4 blocks which took us 15 or 20 minutes to walk.  Woodrow wanted to see every cement mixer, truck, airplane, person, etc…that passes by.  I may have been feeling ready for a nap at this point.  The breakfast was surprisingly good, and I say surprisingly, because these small pies are quite popular here.  They have various breakfast ones, meat ones, all savory flavors, but they are usually displayed in a way that I find to not be super appealing.  They are like small little quiches.  Mason got a sausage one, I got a bacon and egg pie, Woodrow picked out an orange chocolate chip muffin, and Theo had raisin bread toast.  We were able to have a leisurely breakfast at the outdoor café part of the restaurant which was relaxing and a nice reset for me after Woodrow had to be carried the last little way and then was crying when it was time to order.  The boy gets hangry and it becomes this morning battle.  He literally was running and skipping with Mason back to the hotel to pick-up the car. 

 

Our activity for the day consisted of heading to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney.  Mason was slick enough to download some google maps which he could use to help us navigate some of the days and this was helpful getting to the zoo.  City driving though, oy!  After being out of cities for so long it stresses me out, so I was grateful that Mason took it on.  Some of the roads were super confusing because it said there was a toll required, but there were no cash lanes, only an option for a pass…we later realized that our rental car must have had a pass because it was beeping through the end of the tunnels…confusing, but also made me think a lot about what it’s like to be a foreign traveler in the US. 

 

We got to the zoo a little after 11am and what fun!  We really do enjoy zoos.  The kids were excited because they got their own kid maps and Mason planned out when we should be at different keeper talks and shows during the day. We were able to buy our tickets online which saved money and we didn’t have to wait in the long line to get into the zoo, but instead couls go straight to the entry and just show the pass on Mason’s phone.  We quickly walked to the Tasmanian Devil area since there was a keeper talk going on.  Those are crazy little fellas. The keeper was throwing huge pieces of chicken with bones into the cage and they were gobbled up quickly. 

We stayed until 3ish and saw the zoo.  Theo was most looking forward to seeing the zebras and Woodrow mostly wanted to see the giraffe-es (that’s how he said it all day long).  We were able to see farm animals up close, Australian local animals, elephants, large animals, chimps, etc…we caught the keeper talks at the Tazzy Devils, Sun Bear, and giraffes, and we were able to catch the seal show.  At the end of the trip we were able to take the Skyway ride back to the entrance for free which was fun for the kiddos and a relieved trip for me.  I think we walked around 5 miles in the zoo alone.  The view was pretty amazing since it looked out over the Sydney Harbor and you could see the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

 

Since we didn’t eat at the zoo, we were all pretty hungry leaving the zoo and we went to search for food.  Mason headed to an area we thought would have lots of food, but it did not.  We passed through some fancy neighborhoods and did get to see a lot of the local area.  The houses are pretty old looking, but fancy brick and facades.  The kids were getting out of school as we were driving through the neighborhoods and they all seem to have very fancy uniforms.  Lots of layers with matching hats and accessories.  I noticed there were lots of Catholic/private schools and all girls schools, yet even the public schools seemed to have uniforms.  After hearing from some kids on our Ferry ride it seems like the students go to school year-round with a longer break around Christmas time. 

 

Eventually we ended up heading over the Sydney Harbour Bridge back towards our hotel where we finally found a block with some food, so we parked and picked up an assortment of food for our early dinner.  Mason grabbed Thai which he said was really tasty since the meat must have been smoked on a grill.  The kids and I had Pizza Hut, and we parked behind a Cake Shop, so we had to get an assortment of treats for later.  Theo picked a pink and blue macaroon, I got some powdered sugar cookies, and we got two different small slices of cake…it was all delicious! 

 

We were back to the hotel by 5:30pm and were staying put for the evening.  We were all happy to dig into some dinner and veg out to a tv show.  Mason did the bath routine while I organized luggage and bags for our flight.  I’m pretty sure the boys were all sound asleep by 8:30pm, while I stayed up to read and browse Facebook a bit.  And try to prepare mentally for a day of flying-seriously no idea how people do this as a career.  Not sure if it’s pregnancy or what, but flying is not as exciting as it used to be.