Back from the Cruise

So our cruise is over and done. I am kind of relieved, I was so stressed and sad to leave Chase, but now that I am home, I am ready for another break! He has been such a stinker since I've been home, waking up multiple times during the night, not taking naps at all, and having fits of crying lasting 2 or more hours. This week has been much better. I decided I am going to start forcing him to nap, whether he naps in his swing, carseat, on my shoulder, or in his actual crib, I don't care, just as long as he sleeps! He is so much happier when he gets his naps. I've also been giving him gripe water to help with his colic. So for anyone with colicky babies out there, before you resort to medicine, try this first! The gripe water is made with herbs and spices that are known to relieve stomach pain, such as cinnamon bark, grapefruit seed extract, cardamom, fennel, ginger, etc. I've tried one called Baby Bliss Gripe Water from Walgreens in the baby section and I've also used ColicEase from the website http://www.colicease.com/. So far it seems to be working fairly well-Chase is letting loose lots of foul smelling gas that he wasn't before! And he hasn't been nearly as fussy. So as long as that's working I am not going to resort to medicine, called Levsin, it's an antispasmodic medicine for muscles. I just don't feel that great giving medicine to such a young baby. Medicine always has side effects. I am glad he's doing better and has been in a better mood, this week anyway. I've been able to read to him more and play with him. He is starting to play more and more with this toys, he has started picking them up and staring at them. I can't believe he is almost 3 months! He has also started to anticipate events based on certain cues. He knows it's time to eat as soon as I put on his bib or cover him up with his burpcloth. He starts to kick his legs excitedly and makes grunting noises and starts to open his mouth waiting for the bottle. But if I don't put that bottle in his mouth quick enough he gets really mad and starts screaming. He also has started to anticipate bath time. This kid will be screaming his head off but as soon as I lay him on his bath towel on the floor in the bathroom and turn the water on, he immediately stops crying and starts kicking his legs and waving his arms. He absolutely LOVES bath time! He loves to splash the water around with his legs. He gets mad when I take him out. I told Jason we need to get one of those cheap above ground pool for the summer so he can be in the water all day long.

About Our Cruise:

We got to Fort Lauderdale on Wed. Feb. 6th. We weren't getting on the ship until the next day so we stayed at the Hilton that is right on Ft. Lauderdale Beach. About 20 people from Prosper (Jason's work) and their wives were also on the cruise so we were one big group! We all had dinner that night as a group at this yummy restaurant called Casablanca. I wish there were good restaurants like that in Utah. The next day we woke up early and met at around 9 to go to the Everglades National Park to ride airboats and see crocodiles. We saw 4 or 5 crocs, some swam right up to the boat. Then we got to hold a baby crocodile and watch a crocodile show (a guy that dragged a crocodile by the tail, opened his jaw, stuck his hand in the croc's mouth, etc.) After that it was time to head to the ship! It was huge and had a rock climbing wall, a very small movie theater, an arcade, 3 pools, a spa, a fitness center, a shopping area (which turned out to be pretty lame), some game rooms, an ice skating rink, a basketball court, mini golf course, inline skating path, and that's a bout it. We were on the ship Thursday night and all day Friday, just hanging out, enjoying the warm sun by the pool most of the day Friday. We also went to an ice dancing show, ate at Johnny Rockets for lunch and met in the fancy dining room for dinner. Dinners were so fun. We could order as many appetizers, entrees and desserts as we wanted. We docked at Cozumel, Mexico on Saturday morning. We met as a group again and went to the mainland of Mexico to this resort called Xel-Ha (I can't even remember if that's how you spell it, but close enough). They had all kinds of stuff to do, like scuba diving, cliff jumping, tubing, swimming with the dolphins (which I'm sad we didn't do), and 3 different restaurants to eat at. It was all inclusive so you could eat as much food as you wanted and do whatever you wanted. We were pretty much there all day and only had like 20 minutes back on Cozumel to shop before we had to be back on the ship. That night we went to karoake where quite a few people from Jason's work performed and were quite entertaining! The next day we were on the ship all day again heading back to Ft. Lauderdale. I went to the spa and had a facial, which was fantastic! It got kind of boring that day, we had already done pretty much everything on the ship. So I took a nice long nap before dinner, since I hadn't slept much at all the trip and it was my one chance to catch up on some good sleep. Then Monday we came home, it was a long travel day! We had to go to our friend's house that night (our friends Josh and Raelene were on the cruise with us and her mom was kind enough to offer to watch Chase since she was already watching their son as well, and she did a great job!) to pick up Chase and pack all his stuff up. I was so glad to get to bed that night! I will post pictures tomorrow night of our trip and of Chase. I am too tired to download them and post them tonight. So check back soon!