Using those footsies!!

Hi friends!

Hope you all are doing well! I know that I mentioned this briefly in a previous post, but I did want to let you know that I am officially walking. Mommy picked me up from school on Monday (yes, the first day back after a week of vacation) and I walked to meet her. Occasionally I will plop down on my bottom and then pop back up and start again.

Everyone seems to be adjusting well! I'm very proud that I can now move in an upright position...I have a huge grin on my face when walking to someone. Fun times ahead!

MH Walking to Bath Time 5.20.09 HD from Bill Wingate on Vimeo.

Much love,
MH

Splash Zone Video

Hi Friends,

After all the talk about the splash zone I wanted to share a short video of me playing in it. Enjoy.

We have quite a few more videos, which we will share when they are all ready!

MH

MH Playing in Splash Pool 5.13.09 HD from Bill Wingate on Vimeo.

Disney Magic Day 7

Hi friends,

OK, for full disclosure, I've been on land for a few days, but I haven't had a chance to talk to you about my last wonderful, fabulously fun day on the Disney Magic.

The day started early and we went to breakfast as usual. We played in the hallway and staircase for a bit and then I took a bit of a nap before getting slathered from head to toe in sunscreen. Daddy, Mommy, and I got all packed up and headed to the gangway for my first experience (hopefully of many!) on Castaway Cay.

Just a short blurb about Castaway: Mommy and Daddy have had many a fruity drink on this island before most people in the Central Time Zone make it to work! Seriously though, it is a very pretty place with lots of activities for families and quiet space for adults.

Back to me: As we left the ship, Daddy spotted Donald Duck and then I spotted Donald and wanted him (at least from a distance!). As you can see from my picture, I wasn't really sure what to think, but I can report that upon returning home I do enjoy seeing my picture of him! After our picture taking sessions ended, we made our way to the family beach. This is the first time I have seen the ocean and been close to the sand since September, so honestly this was a whole new experience for me. BUT I loved it!! Loved the water, the sand, the feel of the sand on my feet, on my gums, etc. I giggled when the water covered up my feet despite the fact that that the water was a teeny bit cold. Mommy and Daddy tried to make sure that I didn't get too much sun, so we played in the water for a bit and then headed under the umbrella where I continued to play in the sand with my cups and buckets. Shortly after we returned from the water it was graham cracker time and admittedly graham crackers adapt quite nicely to the humidity and sand. Kinda melt, but I still thought they were quite yummy. Balanced the sand well and held me off for lunch for a few minutes.

BUT as you know I do like to eat, so there is not much "holding off". Soon after our trip back under the umbrella we began to make our way back to the ship for lunch. We all rinsed off quickly, got dressed, and then headed to lunch. AFter lunch, we made our way once again to my favorite place on the ship...the splash zone!! As was the case with previous days, I had a great time! I crawled, pulled up, tried to take a few steps, and overall had a very fun afternoon. Because it wasn't quite as crowded today, Daddy was able to lift me up on top of the Mickey hat...water sprinkles can tickle one's bottom!! :) Soon it was time to go back to the room.

Upon returning to the room and having one of my last baths in the tub, it was naptime. Not the best nap, but it did give Mommy and Daddy time to walk around the ship (separately, of course). After my nap, we went exploring once again and I was a happy girl particularly as I was shoving ham and pineapple pizza in my mouth (aren't you proud Aunt Lizzie?)! The happy girl persisted until right before dinner and once we got to dinner, Mommy and Daddy decided to ask for it in the room (a nice idea when they vacationed alone but not a good sign when traveling with me--translate: Melt Down!). Worked out fine for all of us, especially me, as I had hit the "vacation wall". SOOOOO tired but happy!

The next day was OK...a little long but I did get to see all kinds of plants and practice my walking in the airport. Admittedly the airport floor is not super-clean but Mommy decidied that the really bad germs weren't coming from people's feet. Flight was fine although I struggled a bit toward the end. Daddy was very sweet and sat next to me. He fed me as much as possible and deflected me from Mommy's constant sani-wiping.

So, the big question: would we do it again? The answer from all of us is a resounding "yes"! Would we change somethings? Maybe. Would we try to travel without being on steroids due to croup? Yes. Would we try to travel without the threat of "swine flu"? Yes. Of course, these are the things that we have no control over. Overall the benefits outweighed the risks (and the risks were potentially mitigated by many, many bottles of hand sanitizer and sani-wipes!!)
Of course Mommy and Daddy see their top priority as keeping me safe, healthy, and happy and that was the case on this trip. I understand from Mommy and Daddy that this was slightly (OK, maybe more than slightly) different than those cruises without me, but just different. Not better or worse. We had a great time as a family; we got LOTS and LOTS of pictures; and we are excited to return soon. Maybe by then I will have my own Splash Zone...I'm still working on Daddy!

We are very blessed to be back at home safely. I'm back at school, loving my friends (occasionally with my teeth--another story for another day!), and loving my Henry. I know that I had suggested that I might walk on the cruise, but in keeping with my independent streak, I decided that Monday, May 18, my first day back at school, was the day. Mommy came to pick me up and I walked to see her. More about that later...

Thanks for reading about my adventures!

Much love and sweet dreams,
MH

Disney Magic Days 5 & 6

Hi friends,

Hope you are doing well! We arrived in St. Thomas very early yesterday morning (Wednesday)…and I was ready to go as well! Honestly it was a pretty quiet day overall. Mommy got off the ship briefly, but Daddy and I stayed on board so that I could nap. I did my usual eat, play, sleep stuff. I did spend a few hours in the morning in the nursery while Mommy and Daddy hung out by the pool and then again for a bit in the evening while they went to dinner at Palo, the only non-kid friendly part of the ship. Apparently they have really good steak and chocolate soufflé. I did get to play in the splash zone again and had a great time!

I am happy to report that I am gaining more confidence in the walking department. Even when the ship is moving I’m taking a few more steps! Mommy is convinced that I’m going to walk to one of the characters because I get so excited when I see them. Incidentally Daddy and Mommy are working with me so that I don’t bark at every character that I see…although I’m still not convinced that Goofy isn’t some sort of canine. I haven’t seen Donald or Daisy yet, but I am working on my quack-quack, so maybe by the time I see them…

Today (Thursday) was pretty low keyed as well although I seemed to have hit the wall that all children on vacation seem to hit at some point. I bought myself an early bedtime because of an unhappy attitude for part of the evening (most likely due to lack of naps during the day). Tomorrow is a big day, though. Castaway Cay, here we come…

Much love and sweet dreams,
MH

Disney Magic Day 4

Hi my friends,
I hope you are doing well! Daddy, Mommy, and I had a very good day today visiting the island of St. Martin. Technically we only visited St. Maarten because we docked in Philipsburg which is on the Dutch side of the island, but it’s OK for me to say St. Martin, right? Easier to spell! In any case, the day started VERY early because when the sun is up I am up and the sun wakes up very early here. We all went to have a bit of breakfast and after a teeny tiny meltdown over Mickey waffles I found myself back in the bed for a little nap. After about an hour and a half I woke up smiling and all ready to go. So we ventured off the ship.

The dock was a little windy and there was the threat of rain but we pressed on and took a water taxi across to the shopping area. I do like a little bit of wind in my face but there was something about the wind on the smaller boat that was a bit too much for me and I melted again. However, once I got back in my stroller and started moving (without people touching me!), I was fine. I had a good time flirting with total strangers (as I am very likely to do these days) and just taking it all in. After about an hour we headed back via the sidewalk. Took a few minutes longer but much less wind and fewer tears worked well for all of us!

We made our way back onto the ship and then headed to eat…again. I had a very nice grilled cheese with veggies and applesauce. After lunch in an attempt to make me really tired and hopefully take a good nap, we made our way outside to the pool. I’m trying to convince Daddy that I NEED one of these splash zone thingies in the backyard…think of all the fun for the neighborhood children! Interestingly I have more confidence walking in the water than I do on land. I was brave and took a few steps on my own in there! Speaking of steps, I have told you about the joy that I find in climbing the stairs from deck to deck but have I mentioned how happy it makes me to step over the little step that goes onto our balcony? For a while I was just crawling over it, but I have since figured out that I can step over it while holding on and remaining on my feet. Amazing!

After our pool time, it was bath time because Mommy is obsessive (as she is with most things) about sunscreen and she was particularly concerned about my head getting burned so my hair had some extra volume due to sunscreen. The greasy look is not my favorite but no burnt heads (thanks to sunscreen and hat!) to be seen. After a nice 3 ½ hour nap, it was time to eat again! This time it was my dinner as I went to the nursery for a few hours while Mommy and Daddy ate dinner by themselves. I’m not a huge fan of being left in the nursery but thankfully I snap out of it pretty quickly and move onto playing. Mommy and Daddy had a nice meal without me, but of course we were all very glad to see each other at the end of the evening!
Overall a good day and now we are off to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands!

Much love and sweet dreams,
MH

Disney Magic Day 3

Hi friends,

Hope you are doing well! Things are still good here. Today was another fun day! This morning I woke up, got dressed, and went exploring again. The picture of me grinning here is right after I climbed the stairs all by myself (with Mommy right behind me of course!). I’m getting very good at it. We also went to explore near the Walt Disney Theatre. There was a very nice space for me to play, crawl, walk, lay on my back and let Daddy tickle me, etc. Also, there is this really fun hallway with all these pictures of Peter Pan characters. Can you guess which one is my favorite? I have to go by and “woof” at Nana quite often.

The same hallway with the picture of Nana is the same one with the picture of Flounder, signifying the place where I get to go play. Mommy and Daddy dropped me off around 10 AM for some playtime while Daddy explored and Mommy went for a massage. They came back around noon to get me, but I had just fallen asleep, so more downtime for Mommy and Daddy, just enough time for some fun at the pool. When I finally woke up and they came back to get me, I was greeted in the room by my favorite meal…grilled cheese! It’s no Biggie’s grilled cheese but it hit the spot. AND I got to eat it outside on the balcony!

After my late lunch Mommy and Daddy lathered me up in sunscreen, layered me in my bright pink sun shirt, and hat and off we went to the Splash Zone. Unfortunately because I’m not potty trained (who is at 1 year?), I can’t get into the big pool, but they have this really neat area that has less than an inch of water in it and has all these different types of water spouts. At first I wasn’t really sure what to think about it all. I just kinda hung back and watched, playing in the ¼ inch of water near Mickey’s Sorcerer hat. However, I soon discovered that it is completely OK to crawl, walk, etc. in this little area. I was off and moving! Another daddy whose little girl was sitting quietly playing in the little sprinkler thing asked Daddy and Mommy if I always moved this much…yep, busy, busy, busy. As you can see my hat got a little wet (notice the very fashionable sag), but it wasn’t stopping me a bit! So much fun and it sounds like we are going back tomorrow!

After pool time, I was sleepy and hungry. So after a good snack, Mommy and Daddy put me down for a little nap. Two hours later I was up and ready to go again! Dinner was OK…I did try banana bread for the first time. Yum! And this very nice lady sitting next to us gave me a box of tic tacs to play with. Have you ever noticed what a wonderful sound those make when you shake the box? So, after an abbreviated dinner it was off to bath and bed.

Overall a very good day! Tomorrow will be my first day on land since Saturday. We dock in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, my first international port. Very exciting!! St. Martin, the French part of the island, is just over the hillside, but we are just going to hang close to the ship. I think the plan is to keep it pretty low key, maybe explore some shops off the ship for a bit, but mostly utilize the spaces that we can’t when all the other folks are around. Will let you know!

Much love and sweet dreams,
MH

Disney Magic Day 2

Today was a good day! We were still somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea, close to the Bahamas. Tomorrow we will continue on to our first port. After a great night’s sleep in my pack n’ play, I woke up happy and ready to go. If the curtains to our balcony are open, I want to go outside and let the wind blow through my hair and tickle my face. Because I usually wake up ravenous, we made a quick trip to the buffet where I tried a few new foods. Daddy got me some Cream of Wheat…I’ll leave that one alone. He also gave me some bacon, blueberry muffin, pancake, and peaches. Yummy! Not too bad for a girl who usually eats a standard breakfast of cheese grits and fruit.

After breakfast we headed to Flounder’s Reef Nursery for family play time. Of course Mommy and Daddy are too big for the toys but they were there to help me on the slide, show me how some of the toys work, and to meet the counselors. Very nice folks! It got a bit crowded so we headed out for nap time. A brief one, but I was refreshed and ready to go do some exploring! We wandered around and finally made our way to Parrot Cay for lunch. Unfortunately I haven’t found a really good grilled cheese here, but I’m still working on it. We struggled finding things at lunch that held my attention so Mommy and Daddy had to work fast to get any nutrients in me or them (not sure that margaritas and mojitos count as nutrients?) We headed back to the room for a bit and then it was back to Flounder’s for some exploration for me and some downtime for Mommy and Daddy.

While I was playing with my new friends, Mommy and Daddy were outside at the fabulous (so they tell me!) adult only pool. They rested a bit, read, and swam in the pool for a few minutes. As soon as they got up to leave, their pager went off with a message from me saying, “Mary Hudson is upset and asked that you stop by to see her”. Well, by the time Mommy and Daddy could get to me (in the 45 seconds it took to walk from Deck 9 to Deck 5), I was fine. Very sleepy, but fine. So sleepy in fact that I slept for 3 hours, almost until dinner.
Dinner tonight was in Animator’s Palate and it was good! I had spaghetti with meatballs, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, apple sauce and crayons. Yes, had a little appetizer of crayon wax and paper, but I am mastering my grip and successfully created my first masterpiece on the children’s menu. I wonder if it will bring in any cash at the art auction here on board the ship tomorrow? Will let you know! Maybe a worth a cup or so of milk?

All in all a good day…the croupy monster has left me a little hoarse and the steroids are still making me need to move and eat and not sleep great, but we’re making progress with the long nap today. Bath time was equally as fun tonight as last night. Oh! And I forgot to tell you the best part…we saw Cinderella and she had on a pretty blue dress just like I did! I think she liked mine better because it had smocked roses.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Much love and sweet dreams,
MH

Happy Mother's Day

Hi there

I am on the Disney Magic as I type. I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to my mommy who is working out in the fitness center.

I had a good night and slept in a little for me.

Got to run, time to find some more of the ship to explore.

Kisses,
MH

Disney Magic Day 1

My first day in Orlando and on the Disney Magic was an adventurous one. Daddy and I spent part of our morning at the doc-in-a-box because of yet another visit from the croup monster! I’m fine though…a little out of sort because of the steroids, but no major effects. I just want to move and eat and if I can’t do those, I get very grumpy! However, where better than a cruise to do both of those things!

In any case, Daddy dropped me and Mommy off at the cruise terminal to get us all checked in. We got all the paperwork taken care of and then had a few minutes to play until Daddy got there and we could get onto the boat. Now remember this is not just ANY cruise terminal…it’s Disney’s so that means there is music and of course, Disney movies going on at all times. By the time we got there it was pretty quiet, so I had lots of space in which to play. I was a crazy girl! After having been trapped in my seat for quite a while and after having had 1 2/3 bananas and a “grilled cheese” (piece of cheese on a hamburger bun!) from McDonald’s, I was ready to move. I was cruising from seat to seat, even daring to take my hand off a few times and take a few steps. The most fun part was slamming my knees on the ground to move forcefully from a kneel to a crawl…and Mommy wonders why I have bruises? Daddy came to meet us pretty quickly and off we went to have our pictures taken. There were all these funny people waiting to greet us as we got on the ship (and calling me “Princess” no less! Mommy’s commentary: Trying not to encourage the “princess” mentality, but she shouldn’t be too scarred!)

We came to our itty-bitty room and put our stuff down and then we went to wander around the ship. The picture of me in the hat was taken on Deck 4 where the running track is. It is a great place to learn to walk. At 4 PM we had our lifeboat drill. Have you ever seen the life jackets for wee ones under 32 kilos? Not fun. Mommy and I cheated a bit and took ours off so that we could snuggle as the drill was right in the middle of what should have been my nap time. Once we returned to the room, we tried napping again but no such luck….loud speaker came on to tell us about the Sailaway party. After a futile attempt at a nap, we wandered around the ship some more, had some snacks, and then played for a bit before dinner.

Dinner was fun! We were seated next to a family from South Carolina and by the end of the evening I was sitting on their table (yes, that’s right, my bottom right on their table!) The daddy is very nice and reminds me of Biggie. Dinner consisted of Mickey-shaped pasta, carrots, broccoli, bread, and applesauce. After dinner it was back to the room and into my new just-my-size bathtub. A very full and very fun day!
More tomorrow….

Much love and sweet dreams!

MH

Out of Day Care message

Hi friends,

I hope you are doing well!

Well, it's finally here! My first cruise! You knew that Daddy and Mommy (especially Daddy!) couldn't keep me away from a big boat too much longer. After an interesting day of travel, we arrived in safely in Orlando. I say interesting because right around the time the pilot turned on the seat belt sign signalling our initial descent into Orlando, I got very upset...not just mildly peeved...I was out and out mad. As it turned out, my little bottom molars (teeth #9 and #10) decided to make an ugly appearance. Mommy and Daddy had never seen me so upset and Mommy was slightly mortified that we had turned into "those people" on the flight...you know, the ones that you cringe at when they walk on the plane! In any case, once I had a change of scenery (and the Tylenol kicked in), I was much better. Mommy and Daddy were better too--after the margarita-in-a-bottle for Mommy and the beer(s) for Daddy.

Our adventure for tomorrow: We drive to the port for my first maritime life boat drill and Sail Away party with Mickey! I'm a little concerned that the orange life jackets will clash with my stylish embarcation couture, but it's all for safety! Speaking of safety, don't worry...Mommy and Daddy are all stocked up with a ridiculous supply of hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes, so no germies for me!!

I'm going to do my best to keep you posted of my daily activities and pictures. Stay tuned for updates!

Much love and sweet dreams,

MH