Who is this child and what have you done with my baby!?!!

Well, we're finally home from vacation and completely exhausted. Vacation was great, although, I don't recommend riding for 8+ hours straight with a 14 month old unless you have a plan and then a back up plan and another back up plan. All I can say is... the sweet precious baby that we left Tupelo with on May 23 IS NOT the same child I brought home on May 30. Let me explain...

When we left Tupelo, we had a stable, consistent routine. Preston loved oatmeal for breakfast and the little microwavable bowls of pasta or mac-n-cheese for lunch/dinner with the occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich thrown in there for a change. During our trip and upon our return, he hates oatmeal and the little microwavable bowls of pasta and mac-n-cheese. What he will eat is peanut butter and jelly sanwiches, graham crackers, ice cream, and yogurt...that's it. He hates everything else... HATES.

And his eating habits aren't the only thing that have changed. His demenor has completely changed. Can we say attitude?? Of course, I am reminded by everyone I talk to about this that Justin and I have been totally spoiled by having such a great baby (sleeping through the night at 7 wks., really laid back about everything, etc.). Well, since he's really taken off walking, that's all he wants to do. No more stroller or being held (which, by the way, if you do, he is leaned over the entire time looking at your feet walking) for this little man, he's ready to explore the world... on foot!! And if he can't, he'll let you and anyone else that's around know how unhappy he is. Perfect example: my mom and I were in the Polo outlet in Foley. It's completely packed with people and we've got Preston in his stroller. This was really the first store we had tried shopping in and Preston was furious he had to be in his stroller. He was arching his back, screaming, wanting to get out. Then, in order to soothe him, we hand him his cup-o-juice. In protest, he immediately throws the cup down and continues screaming... that's right, people, we were the ones in the store that you wonder "why don't they do something with that child". And now I know the answer... there is nothing you can do for that child except let them loose to roam without supervision... then you become the "I can't believe that parent is letting that child do that" parent. See?? It's a lose-lose situation. Needless to say the shopping ended that day with the one stop at the Polo store.

His new found independence and his disinterest in food culminated everynight at dinner when we would be in a restaurant. The last night we were in Destin, I actually had to take him outside while my mom and grandmother finished their meals. All he wants to do is walk, and if he can't do that, he doesn't want to do anything. The good thing is, he's ok with holding my hand to walk, which I'm thankful for. I did, however, end up doing something I never thought I would ever do... I bought a harness (or child-leash if you will) for my precious baby. It is completely necessary in order for Preston not to wander off and for me not to have chronic back pain (due to being hunched over holding his hand).

All of that said, he is still such a joy to me and to Justin and to our family. He loved the sand at the beach, but wasn't such a fan of the ocean water. When we took him down to the water for the first time, he walked towards the water after the wave had receded and of course wasn't expecting it to rush back up. When it did, it scared him a little and after that, he had had it with the ocean. He did, however, LOVE the pool and the kiddie pool. We had bought him this great float that had a shade over it and he loved it. Justin and I had a blast playing with him in that and also in the kiddie pool that had a shower over it. And like I said, he LOVED the sand. He didn't try to eat it, which suprised me... but he's not eating anything, so why should it? We tried to take him down to play after the sun started to set a couple of nights and he had the most fun, and we had fun watching him... and playing with him!

All in all, vacation was wonderful... I'll have to write more later on the ant-infestation of my van, the major family argument we were witness to at one of the nicest restaurants in Destin, us taking the wrong turn to Destin (which ended up adding an extra hour+ to the trip), the new traits Preston has picked up that I wouldn't change for the world, and the DVD player breaking on the way to Orange Beach and leaving a bored little boy in the back of the van on the way to OB and Destin.

One thing I learned from all of this is... vacations are different when you have a little one, but it's ok... even if the child you ended up with is not the child you thought you were taking!!