National Aquarium

On Sunday after Lindsey's Wedding, Tim, A.D., and I headed up to Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium. A.D. has only been to one other aquarium in Charleston, SC, when he was 4 months old so we were looking forward to seeing his reactions. He did learn how to quickly make fishy faces and noises, but other than that...it seemed like any other day for him.

Riding on Daddy's back....you have to check your stroller at the aquarium and they give you the handy backpacks.

Probably A.D.'s favorite activity--drawing on the chalk board table!

Look at how big this bookstore is! Tim is lucky he didn't let me go in!

Lindsey's Wedding Weekend- Part 2

Hanging out with Panda Bear and Blue's Clues prior to the ceremony

Hanging out with Daddy while Mom was off taking pictures...as you can tell, A.D. enjoyed all the wedding food!

Having fun with the camera!

Lindsey's Wedding Weekend- Part 1

This weekend we headed back to D.C. for Tim's sister Lindsey's Wedding. We flew again this trip and were able to fit everything we needed for the 5 day trip (including bridesmaid dress and suit) into our 2 carry-on and 2 personal bags. I was amazed and happy not to be paying the additional baggage fee, but quickly realized that it just meant doing more laundry.

After arriving on Thursday, we went to spend the afternoon with Grandma Baird (Tim's Dad's Mom). A.D. was cranky since he is cutting a bunch of teeth and missed nap time that day, but we were able to get a few good pics!


Lindsey's rehearsal dinner was on Friday night and we were able to snag a photo-op with the Bride-to-be.

There were many more good family shots from this evening, but since I haven't asked to publish their pics on here we will have to save those for a later date. Even with all the teething, A.D. had a wonderful time with his family....tune in later for the rest of the weekend!

Where is A.D.?

A.D. has lately been a lover of all things stuffed. So, every night at bedtime, his favorite animals from the day along with his blanket must be present in his crib. I took my nightly peek-in before bed a few days ago and was greeted with this delightful image. Where is Waldo...I mean A.D.?

We do promise to post more soon...and up-date you all on everything from the past two months!---Tiff

How to Travel, the Baird... Cubed Way.

This past weekend we decided to take a trip up to DC for Aunt Lindsey's (my sister's) bridal shower. We knew that Tiff was going to go up for it, since she's in the wedding, but we weren't sure if all three of us were going to head north. At the last minute we found a good deal on some tickets, making it AD's first flight. Of course he was awesome as usual on the flight... mostly, I am sure, because Tiff and I are seasoned travelers.

Since so many of you read this blog for all of my expert advice, here are the official Baird...Cubed Travel Tips...

First of all, decide in advance whether you want to spend some extra dough to check your bags, or stuff as much as you can into smaller carry-on bags. We decided to carry all of our bags on.

Pack wisely.

Now think of a time in your head that you would consider to be an ungodly hour to try to catch a flight. Say 6:30 AM? Ok... book that one.

Next, plan on being at the airport with plenty of time to spare. If you have a kid, add 30 minutes on to that time. If you have a 15-month old, add another 30 to that.

When you get to the airport, trudge to the ticket counter like zombies who haven't had their brain fix yet. By brains, I mean coffee.

Do the kiosk song and dance and get your tickets.

Now, plan this next part very carefully. Grab all of your bags; in our case, each of our bags with the rolly wheels, backpack, diaper bag, nebulizer bag (for the asthma), cooler bag (for the antibiotics) stroller, and kid (optional).

Now, count how many hands you have. The kid's dont count. We had four, which is good because it sucks whenever you look down and realize you're missing a hand...

Find somewhere near the gate to feed the zombies and buy coffee. Make sure it is roughly the temperature of magma.

Now check on your gate because it is most likely boarding without your knowledge. Ours was, without our knowledge... until we checked.

Grab your two rolly bags, backpack, diaper bag, nebulizer bag, cooler bag, stroller, kid (still optional), and two cups of coffee that you haven't been able to drink due to the fact they are the same temperature as the sun.

Realize you only have four hands.

Curse.

Now this next part is also very important. Make sure you look as uncomfortable as possible. Making a face like you are both lost and in pain at the same time worked for me. One of the nice people at US Airways will hopefully see this, and offer to grab a bag or two.

All kidding aside, one of the nice people at US Airways DID see my lost-pain face, got us to the elevator, and helped us on the tarmac to the plane.

We did the planeside back check thing so we didn't have to jam the wheely bags into the overhead compartment. By his point they take the stroller away from you. So now you have a backpack, diaper bag, kid (no longer in stoller and by this point no longer optional), nebulizer bag, cooler bag, two cups of coffee that are 50 degrees cooler than before yet still hot enough to inflict 3rd degree burns on your tongue, and a ticket that you have to look up and down from at least fifty times to make sure that you don't pass your seat by.

Then finally... sit in your seat.

AD traveled great, and we really expect nothing less. He took everything in stride. Apparently the reading light was pretty cool, and the little doohicky that holds up the tray was really cool. We had a nice but very short visit, and headed back down to South Carolina the following night.

Bubbles

The past week has been quite eventful around our house. Tim was scheduled to be out of town last week so I was going to be a single parent. I thought I was prepared as Tim has been out of town for a few nights in a row before. Sadly, I was mistaken. All went well for a few hours, then A.D.'s daycare called and he was running a low-grade fever. No problem. Pick up little man and monitor him overnight to see what was going on. I can handle this. Uhhhh, no. A.D.'s fever spiked to 102.7 overnight so I figured that earned him a MD visit on Tuesday. This is the point where I should probably say that my diagnosis for A.D. was a sinus infection (he had had a virus a week before). Due to the amounts of flu going around, the MD's office was swabbing all children with a temp over 102 to test for Influenza A or B. Lo and behold, he comes up positive for Influenza A. H1N1 is a strain of Influenza A but the test they currently have does not separate H1N1 from Influenza A. Long story short....A.D. most likely has H1N1 and I'm at home alone. I was happy Tim was out of town so he would miss the germs, but it is always nice to have backup when a child is crabby. And A.D. got very crabby. Luckily, the flu was relatively mild as advertised and A.D. recovered by Friday. I, on the other hand, earned myself a MD visit today due to a running a temp all day yesterday. A.D. is good at sharing already and I have now also tested positive for Influenza A. Tim was given a prescription for Tamiflu also, in hope of him not getting sick. And for all of those who know us, we need all the help we can get to stay well. Now, if I can just figure out where to buy some protective bubbles so that we can make it through the cough/cold/flu season in one piece!

Children's Museum

This past Saturday we took A.D. to the Greenville Children's Museum which opened late this summer so the crowds were pretty thick on a Saturday afternoon. A.D. did great though and had plenty of exhibits that he could enjoy.

On the farm...the eggs went into the holes above A.D.'s head and dropped down to the collecting basket on the floor. He must have watched the older children do this because he walked over and did it the first time. He definitely shocked me!

Don't let his smile fool you. He was like all the other children...he definitely didn't like the horse!

He loves carrots!

The slides were the biggest hit. A.D. didn't want us to hold him going down. He is my little adventurer!

Playing the piano!

He loves playing the instruments!

The water exhibits were awesome, and he didn't even get wet!

The wind tunnel made him giggle so much!

They had these tubes set up that you could put balls into and they would shoot out into various bins below. A.D. figured it out pretty quickly.