Trip to the Beach

We're back from our trip to the beach! It was a short trip with a couple of challenges (called Will) but we had a good time. We headed out on Monday around noon and Will fell right asleep in the car (which was our hope!). He woke up with about 45 minutes to go in the 3-hour trip but he didn't make a peep until we were there.

We stayed at the Lighthouse Inn in Rockport, TX, about 20 minutes north of Corpus Christi. We were literally right on the water. We had a suite with a patio just yards from the water. There was no beach there- just some piers and a paved path that dropped off to the water with no rails. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck with Will but he was fairly cooperative. He loved seeing the ocean and all of the boats, birds, etc that went along with it. Each morning he'd get up and open the curtains to check on the ocean.

The evening we got to Rockport we went out for dinner and as we were putting Will in his high chair the waitress came to take our drink orders. Before we had a chance to say anything, Will looked at her and said "Diet Coke." And he kept repeating his order. It was the first time we'd heard him do that, though he continued to do it throughout the trip. The waitresses look at us like they are wondering if he is serious. I have to let them know that no, he cannot have a Diet Coke.

The excitement must have been too much for Will because he would not go to sleep that first night. We had about an hour of screaming before he finally crashed. It was a good thing we had the room at the very end of the hall- which we don't think was an accident! The next morning, though, he was in great spirits. He had a waffle in the shape of the State of Texas and then we headed to the beach. The beach was actually part of a county park and it is supposed to be one of the cleanest and most family-friendly in Texas. First Will played on the playground equipment and even got to drive a large "pirate ship." We then put his swimming gear on and got out the sand toys. My intention was for him to play in the sand until it warmed up a little, and then he could get in the water. But you can guess how that went. The weather was warm but there was quite a breeze and the water was still pretty cool. The poor guy seemed so cold but he love wading in the water. He got in about knee deep (his knees) but he fell down a couple of times so he definitely got wet. He loved splashing around! He built some sand castles with Daddy and had a pretty good time. He definitely didn't want to leave but he was looking pretty cold and it was lunch time so we left the beach around noon.

After lunch we put him in the car and drove down to Corpus Christi. Mostly we just wanted Will to have a little nap and the night before had taught us that he wasn't going to sleep well in the hotel room. He did fall asleep and was out for about a half an hour before we got to the mall in Corpus. We walked around the mall and did some shopping then we headed back to Rockport. We had dinner at a seafood/burger bar across the street from our hotel. Then we had dessert back at the hotel. He must have been tuckered out from all of that fun on the beach because he went to sleep very easily.

Finally, yesterday we drove back to Corpus and went to the Texas State Aquarium. Will got to see stingrays, sea turtles, a dolphin show, an alligator, a bald eagle and lots of other sea creatures. He now knows a lot of animals he didn't before like sea horse, dolphin, shark and many others. He got a lot of attention when he spotted a clown fish and kept yelling "Nemo!" And he had a ton of compliments in his authentic Hawaiian outfit from his Aunt Judie and Uncle Herb, who live in Hawaii. The aquarium was right next to the U.S.S. Lexington but we didn't venture onboard. After lunch we headed back to San Antonio.

Since our last non-vacation related post, Will has continued his alphabet and counting pursuits. He now knows all of his letters and has been spelling words he sees around the house, which always startles me. Before we left on our trip, I had my back turned and heard "P-A-N-A-S..." I spun around to find Will standing in front of the TV spelling "Panasonic." He did it again later on when I heard him saying "T-I-K-E-S." He was in front of his Little Tikes car. We got him some of those letter magnets for the fridge since he likes letter so much. We've been showing him how to spell "Will" but he's not quite there yet.

He can identify his numbers 1 through 9 but he's not yet consistent at counting in the correct order. Prior to my last post, he knew numbers and could string a few together in the right order but he hadn't seemed to grasp the concept of counting. A few days before we left, however, he started to count objects. He seems to have figured out that numbers stand for quantities of something and now he tries to count objects. He's not always accurate (he told me I have six toes on my foot) but he's trying. At the hotel, he loved saying the numbers for each of the hotel rooms. It was cute. He'd walk by each room, point to the number plaque and yell out the numbers. He was pretty good except the font was a little strange so he kept calling the 3's an 8.

Like any toddler, Will gets frustrated when he can't do something he is trying to do. His initial reaction has been to get upset. I'm trying to teach him to say "help please" when he needs help doing something. I usually have to remind him but once I say it, he usually calms down and says "help please." When he just says "help" I tell him, "say please." And he lets out and adorable "pweese!" Gets me every time.

We're still having some trouble with our napping/eating schedule. We haven't figured it out yet. But we're working on it. As far as baby #2 goes, I'm starting to get pretty uncomfortable. I woke up with a sore back a couple mornings of our vacation and it was a little hard to get around. I'm feeling a little bit better now that we're home. Less than 10 weeks to go and he'll be here!