Harrison’s first walk on the beach.
Things Learned on Our Brief 48-Hour Vacay:
- Feeding a child without a high chair is hell.
- Three hours in the car with a teething child is worse.
- Everyone should watch the sunrise over the ocean at least once.
- My child loves any form of water.
“Hey, Daddy…what the hell is this?”
We really did have a lovely time, although it was a bit of a whirl-wind trip that resulted in Harrison cutting his (first!) tooth. Highlights of the trip: beach sunrise, watching him giggle as his toes dipped into the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Low point: Harrison screaming the entire way home because of his teeth.
He needed a little extra love this weekend.
Going out to eat at the beach is always a production & a dull spot since I have this pesky food allergy that requires an epi pen versus death scenario. So unfortunately, we NEVER get to enjoy the local restaurants or any fresh seafood. You know, les I DIE. Instead, we headed inward & settled for Outback Steakhouse. (side note: if I ever get on death row, I’m going out with a plate of lobster, shrimp, & crap cakes) & there, sitting in his high chair, my kid proved that he is the cutest damn kid in the universe by stuffing his face with sweet potato & saying “MMMMMMMMMM!” after every bite until I thought our water would spontaneously reproduce his own offspring from the cute. Yeah, that’s right. My kid can make COLLEGE BOYS want to spawn.
He also tried to eat seashells.
Tips for traveling with a 9 month old:
- time car trips with naps so he’ll nap in the car
- pull over to eat versus Momma sitting in the back with a bowl & spoon. Getting a high chair & some pancakes at McDonald’s was far easier.
- stick to the bedtime routine
- keep a few bottles of water in the car for emergency bottles of formula
- pack a few of his favorite, smaller toys (we took a few blocks, a ball, & his cat)
- bring a blanket to act as a changing pad on the floor next to the pack n’ play.
- Have a set menu plan & pack it – on vacation, it’s so easy for us big folk to grab something to eat or simply snack all day, but he needed actual meals with nutritional value.
I’m probably missing something incredibly important, like duh, pack something for your kid to sleep in, but those were the big things we noticed this past weekend.
& to be cheesetastic, have fun.
It was really incredible to watch Harrison take in the ocean – like he’d never seen anything that vast & that quietly loud while it crashes in front of him. I felt so privileged to witness his first encounter with the ocean & his first realization that the world is a huge, fantastic, mysterious, wonderful place.
Ack! That hair! It slays me. It's not right for him to look like a mini frat boy at the age of 9 months. Those poor girls when he gets older…he'll be breaking hearts everywhere.
Unless you just want to go ahead and arrange a marriage now. There's a good chance with you and Nate's heights that he'll actually be tall enough to marry my amazonian daughter.
so fun! Glad you enjoyed yourself.
I love taking my little man to the beach. He loves the ocean and any type of water. I just hate the mess of the sand
Glad you enjoyed your trip 
taking CP to the beach for the first time next week. I predict he will eat his weight in sand. so excited.
I am beyond in love with that last picture.
Absolutely adorable!! What a happy family
Besides the adorableness, you look HOT!
OMG I can't *wait* to take my son to the beach. Four more weeks! (Technically he went when he was 2.5 weeks old, but it will be so much more fun at eleven months! Holy crap I just realized he'll be turning eleven months that week…)
And what is this sleeping in the car you and everyone else keep telling me about? My son quit that when he was three months old. Now he screams when he's supposed to be napping
Love the pics! You guys look so happy. I, also, cannot wait for his first reaction to the ocean. I think we may go directly from the car to the ocean – who needs to unpack?!
Can't wait to take my little man to the ocean next month. This also requires a 6 hour plane trip.. Yikes. I guess I'm more scared than anything.
Wonderful wonderful post. That last photo had me smiling.
Side note, have you ever read Pat Conroy's Beach Music (your title made me think of it). It is a fantastic read, and not to be missed.
Jessica
Beautiful. I can't wait to be able to take my children to the beach some day. Great shots, I'm so glad you had a good time
BA, that last picture of you throwing him into the air brought tears to my eyes. its so wonderful to see you experience the reckless abandonment and the joy of being a mom. i'm so happy that your "moments of sunshine" are becoming less like moments and more like a way of life. your son is beautiful and you seem so beautiful enjoying him. my heart truly bursts at your happiness. & now i need to go hug my own 9 month old son & be thankful that my moments of sunshine are finally routine as well!
much love to you
The pictures are great.. I'm so glad you all had a great time, I'm sure seeing Harrison's expressions were priceless..
I second the necessity of a highchair. Roscoe ate all of his meals on our lap last week, which was inconvenient in more than one way. A travel high chair is at the top of my list for next time!
1) adorable pictures!
2) you look great!
3) i highly recommend the fisher price healthy care booster seat for traveling. it hooks onto any chair. lifesaver! http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Healthy-Care-D…
I wish I had a beach near by…. I think it's time for a VISIT!! or – wait? what was that? did someone say
VACATION!?!?! yes. I think i just did.
muah
I loved these pictures! Parker has this onsie too! I can't wait to take Parker to the beach.
color me stupid, but I thought in the first year the primary source of nutrition for babies was supposed to be formula or breastmilk. Now I realize Harrison is on a special reflux diet, but is that not the same rule?
I only ask because my boy is 4 weeks younger than Harrison and while he eats some things, I couldn't even imagine him man-handling a pancake, or a cracker or a cheerio… He's all about his pureed and slightly lumpy foods, which are more for new tastes/textures than about getting it in him as an official "meal"
Please set me straight, because I'm confused and questioning my own knowledge as a mom.
Bonzer, he eats three solid meals a day! Usually fruit mixed into oatmeal in the morning, or banana pieces & pieces of pancake. & he loves Cheerios. Lunch is usually a pureed meat, pureed vegetable, maybe pasta with pureed veggies over it like a "sauce." He'll eat sweet potatoes, white potatoes, bread…& then dinner is the same as lunch, but he gets oatmeal at dinner to weigh down everything for bedtime. He still gets most of his stuff from formula, but he's very big into feeding himself.
Glad you guys had a nice trip!! Love the pics..Especially the one of Nate kissing Harrison..So Sweet!!
OMG those are such beautiful pictures. They are making me so excited about our upcoming beach trips (sans hubs of course, but it will still be wonderful!).
As for the pancakes, I totally agree. Sully is 8-months-old and is doing fine with soft textures like that. We've thickened up his purees and he eats softened foods like some bread, some cheese, stuff like that. Every baby is different! Of course the main source of nutrition still comes from formula and breastmilk, but some babies this age are eating three "solids" meals a day. Like my Sully and Blair's Harry
Too cute! I love those little "creeper" outfits, my son has a ton and lives in them. He's 8 months old and we live on the beach, yet he's scared of the loud waves! Harrison is brave!
"…I love to shag on the beach with the salt in the air & the sand at my feet…" That old favorite song will be in my head for the rest of the night! Yay for beach trips & sand in between cute Harry's toes! Looks like yall had a great time!
you are so lucky! my kids suck at eating
gosh you two are cute!!
Dude, get thee to walmart and get the fisher price booster chair, it makes a fantastic travel high chair. About $24 and very compact. You will use it all the time!
Also hell yeah timing is everything when travelling. We drove from MI to DE for a fam reuinion, and we sucked it up and drove overnight so DS could sleep the whole way. It sucked for us but his schedule wasn't all jacked up so it was sooo worth it.
Oh I love the quote!!! "I like to shag on the beach, with the salt in the air and the sand at my feeeeeeet!"
And yes. High chair. In fact, I just said something similar on my blog and got the advice to purchase a feeding chair. Which I did. And now my life is almost all sunshine and smiles. Almost. Although I'm still living in a hotel.
This is the kind of post that makes me love your blog
Your trip sounds like so much fun. I still have not taken mine to the beach and I am dying to. We are about 3 hours away from the Atlantic. It is my favorite place, but my DH is a upstate NY lake kind of guy, so it hasn't made it on the priority list … yet.
I agree with the booster seat rec. We have one and it is awesome. We took the boys to Albany (from Baltimore) when they were ten months old and drove through rural Pa looking for McDonalds with play lands because we needed one with 2 highchairs and learned that if there was a play land that there would be two highchairs. I don't know how we amused ourselves before kids.
I also love your sweet potato story. They were a big hit for us until they started refusing to eat pureed foods. It was a sad day. But one of mine applauded last night in response to being served fresh mozzarella cheese.
Love the pictures! I am so glad you had a good time!!
Ahhh, youre making me want a beach vacation. Glad you had fun! Love all the pics
That romper he's in is so freaking adorable! This makes my ovaries ache for a boy.
Cutest.Pictures.Ever! Looks like you had an amazing time! I know the craptasticness of not being able to eat at local restaurants – I cant even enjoy a good burger. grr.
Glad you had a beautiful time! ♥
How has nobody commented about how this post says your final meal would include "crap cakes?" Hilarious typo.
Also, adorable pics. Glad you enoyed the well-deserved mini vaca.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA
IT DOES SAY "CRAP CAKES."
I die. I can't stop laughing. & just on that, I'm not changing it.
It makes me laugh that people think 3 hours in a car is traveling. HAHAHAHHAHAA we did 13 earlier this month. STRAIGHT. With a 9 month old. I feel like 3 hours is nothing now, how sad is that…
Harrison is one seriously cute baby! I've been reading since before he was born & I can't believe that he'll be a year old in 3 months! WTF! Also, that pic of Nate kissing Harrison on the head is just gorgeous. I say it should definitely be framed.
adorable… but i must say..
3 hours in the car with a teething baby?
try 15
EACH WAY
Oh, you have to try this high chair alternative. Easy to pack, easy to use anywhere. Love, love, love it.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/41955062/infant-trave…
Depending on how teething goes for you, you might also want to check out teething necklaces. Amber teething necklaces, also available on Etsy.
When we travel I buy the hugely expensive but very helpful 2 oz nursettes of ready to serve Nutramigen. They don't need to be refrigerated and I can keep 4 of them handy of a quick feed on the go. (You can put a nipple right on them or dump them into a bottle.
you did it! you survived it! and looks like you had lots of fun along the way…
So glad y'all had fun. And I just love that last photo of you two! Beautiful!
you look so skinny in that last picture!!
I absolutely adore the pic of Harrison just sitting in the sand. He sure is a cute.
HE IS SOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!