Lessons I Learned in the Woods

Kyle and I decided to tempt fate and take a toddler camping in a tent. We have been tent camping for years and want our kid(s?) to have the same experience. Our favorite camp spot is one of the walk in sites at the Upper Manistee River Rustic Campground, near Kalkaska. No electricity, no running water (unless you count the handpump), no bathrooms (unless you count the outhouse) nothing but nature!

Here are some of my tips/lessons learned for anyone out there planning to do the same:

Bring or build some sort of changing table. Crawling around on a half deflated air mattress or on the floor of a hot-as-hell tent, while trying to wrestle a toddler into or out of a diaper, and avoiding all the sand on said tent floor…not at all a good time! Anything you can use to elevate the baby and give him that sense of that “if I don’t hold kind of still I am gonna fall” feeling will be a vast improvement over my experience on the floor.

Baby powder! Camping kids get dirty and sandy. They also get sweaty and grimy. Baby wipes don’t get sand off they only spread it around in what has to be an aggravating fashion for the poor dirty baby you are trying clean. Instead, take that dirty baby and rub baby powder all over him. This will suck all the sweat out of the equation, leaving nothing for the sand to stick to. Trust me, I’ve used it a number of times and it amazes me every time!

Try to stick to your routine, loosely at least. If nothing else, remember that babies get cranky when they are hungry and tired. Keep snacks handy, keep the tent open and aired out during the day so nap time isn’t miserably hot, and try to get some nutritious food in baby whenever you can. He needs the right fuel for all his adventures! Also, stay on top of fluids, especially if it is hot out.

If you are the type of parent inclined to let the baby fall asleep with you at the camp fire and then transfer him to the tent, here is a tip for you. As bedtime approached, we put Kaleb in his footie sleeper, and then put some more warm clothes, including shoes, on over top of that for being outside. That way, once he was asleep, all we had to do was remove the outer layer of clothes and put him right into the warm blankets. This prevented needing to strip him all the way down and dress him in pj’s, which meant he stayed asleep when we transferred him to the tent.

Clip fingernails before you go, and clip them short. The dirt won’t look so bad when it collects underneath them if they are nice and short already, also makes them easier to clean out. I did not do this and I was constantly fighting back a shudder as I saw those grimy little paws!

If it is going to be cold, bring a winter hat for baby to sleep in, especially if baby is going to have his own bed. I also put Kaleb in two sleepers, with a long sleeve onesie underneath…I was overly concerned that he’d be cold. Since we had him sleeping in bed with us, he ended up getting a little too warm and would wind up on top of the blankets by morning. But, I am thinking if baby is sleeping alone then extra layers are better than blankets, unless you want to spend the night obsessively checking on if he is still under his blanket.

Bug spray is a necessity, and Kaleb hated the aerosol kind I bought for him. This ties back to the changing table tip as well, because putting bug spray on a dirty, squirmy, cranky baby who just wants to go play…well, it’s bad enough as it is without adding in the challenge of being on the ground! Next time I will use a lotion kind and, if possible, try to find one that also has sunscreen in it.

Another bug spray related tip, once your tent is set up, spray around all the openings/zippers with bug spray. I spray it all over my tent, which may be a tad overboard…but it keeps those pesky skeeters away from your tent opening, and from feasting on your sweet little baby while he sleeps!

We used dry ice in our food cooler this year, and we will be doing this for all future camping trips! It was so much cleaner than bagged ice that melts in the bottom of the cooler…you’ve all experienced the random hot dog floating in the water at the end of your trip, ewwww! We got it at Meijer, right next to the “normal” ice. It kept the cooler cold all weekend and there was no mess to clean up at the end. We used one brick for the cooler, wrapped it in a paper bag, and away you go! Be warned, it is so effective that it will freeze anything sitting on top of it. A word of caution, don’t let baby play with dry ice…husbands, on the other hand, have a fabulous time playing with it.

Babies don’t understand “Mommy and Daddy need to set up the tent now, so you play nice and don’t wander off or fall in the river”. You are better off negotiating who sets up and who watches baby. Don’t try to do both, babies are fast and it takes a second for them to get themselves into trouble. You can not, for a single second, let that baby out of your sight, there are too many fascinating dangers at a campsite. Fire pit, grills, river, poison ivy patch, baby-snatching creepers lurking in the woods (that may have been my overactive imagination), you name it. Just plan to be on constant look out for potential hazards, and plan to have your eyes on that kid every. single. second. of your trip. If baby is young enough, you can use a pack and play. Once baby is walking…well, eyes open and heads up!

Make sure your first aid kit is stocked with hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin, gauze, every shape and size of bandage, cotton balls, and cotton swabs. If/when baby gets hurt you aren’t likely to have a sink to rush him to for clean up, so you have to prepared to be a full trailside medic. I also had tweezers, nail clippers, infant Tylenol, baby orajel, aloe vera, a bug bite medicine stick (or plain old calamine would have worked).

Don’t mess with a flashlight for in the tent, these are no longer the good old days where the only thing you needed light for after bed time was finding shoes to go pee! Go for a lantern, preferably one with a remote control. Keep the remote control by your bed. Keep the lantern in a corner where it isn’t going to blind you or baby when you turn it on. When it is 3AM and the cheddar brat you let baby eat for lunch has made an explosive debut in his diaper, you will thank me for this!

Most important tip I have for you: HAVE FUN!! Baby is going to get dirty, and he is going to looove digging in the dirt and the sand, finding interesting rocks and twigs and bugs and everything else outside. This is an awesome experience for a little one, try to let go and let him be a little dirt ball for the trip. You will return home and be able to scrub him back to your sweet smelling cherub soon enough. For now, it’s camping time, and that means it is gonna get dirty. Take pictures, encourage curiosity, get right down in the dirt with him. These are going to be some amazing memories, don’t blow it by getting all upset over some dirt.

Pretty wordy post, and somewhat pretentious of me to be sharing "tips" when I've only done this once. But, this is the kind of thing I scoured the internet for as I prepared for our trip, the first hand experience of someone who has done it. We had an amazing time and are planning to do it all over again as early as the 4th of July this year!

Behind the Facebook Updates

What a fun weekend! I'm going to share my two Facebook updates and some thoughts:

Fun filled day! Started @the farmers market with Jennifer Christian. Kaleb & I shared a lunch of veggie focaccia bread from the market, then he took a 3 hour nap, cha ching! Next, Rivertown for new candles, the play area w/ my sis and her daughter, then dinner w/ them at Applebees. Finished with a walk with Kaleb and Loki. Now it's time for new candles, quiet house, and a book. Take THAT rainy Saturday!

That was from Saturday evening, what a great and busy day that turned out to be. Kyle was gone since Friday night at 8:30 for my brother's bachelor party up at the cottage. I don't usually mind Kyle being gone on trips, the solitude of a quiet house is welcome every now and again :)

On Sunday morning, Kaleb and I got up and fed him breakfast while I had my coffee. We read lots of books, watched the birds, fed the birds, watched some more...the typical weekend morning. We had dinner at my mom and dad's house with Laura and the girls, Kerry, and Allison. The guys got home while we were there, Mikey was full of great stories and seemed to have had a great time. Kaleb and I went to Meijer, Kyle met us there with cans to return. Once the groceries were put away, I went for a walk with Kaleb and Loki, but Kaleb kept dragging the toe of his shoe so we ended the walk early. Here is the post from tonight:

Kyle is home, safe and bruised, from my baby bro's paintball bachelor party at the cottage. We all had a great weekend, and had fun trading stories of our adventures :) Now, we get to end the weekend with family play time, bath by Dada (the usual, Kaleb misses that when Kyle is gone!), bedtime, chili (to warm Kyle up and welcome him home after a rainy weekend up north), and a new Game of Thrones!

Bath time is just ending and I need to go brush Kaleb's teeth. I am happy that I have a life where I get to make my husband chili to welcome him home and where that husband loves me and my son so very much. It feels cozy and happy. Yes, also pretty domesticated...and I didn't even share about the new PJ's I got this weekend... ;)

Some Firsts

We had a couple notable "firsts" over the weekend. On Friday, Kaleb got his first "oh my gosh, what happened to your kid?!!?" scrape. He likes to go in the front yard and pull a couple rocks out of the side flower bed, carry them to the back yard, climb up on the deck, put the rocks on the table, climb back off the deck and go get more rocks. We make this route over and over. On one pass he noticed the little step that goes up to the side door. Naturally, he practiced on it as a balance beam. After a couple more passes with the new balance beam trick added in, he decided to up the challenge. He stopped on the step, dropped a rock, and then bent over to pick it up. Unfortunately he misjudged the distance and toppled over onto the driveway,with his forehead taking the brunt of the damage. Now he is sporting a 1" long and about .5" wide scrape on his forehead, it is pretty gnarly looking! He did cry, but it was more of an anger over the trick not working like he planned than a cry of pain. I took him in, put some peroxide on it and then some neosporin, and we went right back outside to play, at his request.

The other first was yesterday, he put his first two word sentence together. We were in the kitchen eating some yogurt, Kyle was outside in the driveway putting together the new bike we got Kaleb. Kyle coughed and Kaleb pointed to the door and said "Dada outside!" So cool :)

Happy Mothers Day!

True to form, Kyle gave me a wonderful Mother's Day today. Started by sleeping in until 9:30, the kind of sleeping in where I didn't even realize I'd done it until I woke up and saw the clock. When I came out to the kitchen, Kyle and Kaleb were playing on the couch. Kaleb had been up since 7, so the two of them had already had a full morning. I really love my weekend mornings with Kaleb, but every once in a while it is nice to be the one who wakes up to my family already up and about.

There was a gift bag and a couple cards waiting on the kitchen table. Kyle had brought home a hoodie for me from Newport Beach, with OC on the front :) The hoodie is pretty big, but we agreed it will be perfect for if I'm 5+ months pregnant this winter. Kaleb "got" me a kit that we could use to make a stepping stone for the garden. There was bacon simmering in a pan on the stove, so I'd get to wake up to the smell of bacon. If you know Kyle, you understand that this is quite the gesture!

After pouring my coffee, we played outside with Kaleb for a while, he loooooves outside right now! I had him help me get the dogs some water from the front spiggot, he carried the bowl half full of water all the way to the back yard, and there was still about a 1/4 bowl of water. It's so awesome to watch him practice all these new skills.

Kaleb went down for an early nap, we had some leisurely tv time on the couch, a rarity on weekends for us. Dinner with my family at Longhorn, then we went to Toys R Us where we got a 3-in-1 bike for Kaleb...I was SO excited when Kyle brought that up on the way to dinner!

When we got home we went outside and Kyle and Kaleb made my stepping stone, with Kaleb's hand prints in it. Kaleb got good and dirty playing in the water and mud in the front yard while Kyle cleaned out a bucket to use for mixing the cement, that was fun to watch!

While I got Kaleb cleaned up from his muddy pursuits, Kyle put together the new bike and we went for a brief walk. Then it was off to find a playground. We went to the one at Knapp Forest Elementary, WOW! That's a nice school, we were both impressed and when we got home Kyle was already checking real estate in that district, haha! Kaleb had a fantastic time climbing on everything at the playground, going down the slides, and doing lots of playing with the wood chips.

When he started to show signs of being over-tired, we came home, fed him dinner, did bath, and then it was off to bed for a very worn out little dude. Kyle and I had an easy dinner, frozen pizza, and caught up on some DVR. What a wonderful day filled with family fun, I'm a very blessed woman!

A Good Morning and an afternoon Adventure!

Kyle is in LA for some work-related training this week, so it's just me and the little dude holding down the fort. Got a call from day care late yesterday afternoon that Kaleb had a 101.1 fever, anything over 100.5 means he needs to be picked up. So, I took today off work to spend with him. Here's some text from an email I sent Kyle this morning to update him on our day, the subject of the email was 'Good Morning!':

yes it is :) I'm guessing you are just waking up in sunny LA right now. Kaleb and I have had a great morning here. He has a temp of 100.9 but it doesn't seem to be slowing him down at all. He helped me clean up his books and movies this morning, then helped feed the dogs by bringing me their empty dishes and then carrying them back with food in them, he didn't spill at all!

We watched some Elmo, read lots of books, built block towers, watched birds and took a nice long walk outside at Kaleb's request. He also helped me water the tomato plant when we got back. We're getting ready for lunch in a half hour, and then some sort of adventure this afternoon after nap time. Hope you have a great day, if you want to chat give a call before class. We love you and miss you!

Figured that did a nice job of summing up our day, here's the text from an email updating Dada on our afternoon adventure, this one was aptly titled 'Adventure!':

He helped push the stroller on our second walk, he walked almost all the way to Sweet street before getting in the stoller! After the rest of our walk he helped me with the watering can...I guess we didn't have enough dirt in there :)

This email had a couple pics attached of Kaleb grabbing handfuls of dirt and stuffing them into the watering can.

Heart Smile

One of the best sounds in my entire world is the way my son says "Momma" when he is in my arms, just as he is falling asleep. His sleepy little voice, so trusting and so adorably sweet, more of a sigh than a statement. It makes my heart smile and I can't wait for bedtime tonight so I can hopefully hear it again!!

An Average Day or Screw the Chore

On an average day, I wake up at 5:30 to start the coffee, get myself ready, lunch packed, dogs tended, and Kaleb's day care bag loaded up before he wakes up and demands my full attention. We are out the door by 7:00 on a good day, 7:20 on an average day. I take him to day care, usually having to pull over to retrieve a sippy cup/pacifier/breakfast/lovey that has been thrown by a tantrum-prone toddler who hates the car seat right now. On arrival at day care, I fill the teacher in on how he slept and if/what he ate for breakfast. Then I'm out the door and racing to make it to my desk at work by 8:00.

I spend the day at work in training, meetings, projects, emails, chatter with co-workers, etc. The standard office setting and environment. At 5:00 I'm back on the road to pick Kaleb up, hear the report from his teacher on his day, and wrestle him back into his car seat for the drive home. He will either (usually) fuss and cry because he is tired and doesn't want to have to sit in the seat, or (occasionally) he will fall asleep.

Once home I haul Kaleb, all his gear, and all my gear into the house, trying to find a place to set everything down on the table that, no matter how hard I try, is ALWAYS cluttered. Kaleb wants to eat dinner immediately, I usually get him set up with something in his high chair and then rush to change out of my work clothes while still trying to keep on eye on him so he doesn't stand up and fall out of his high chair..he knows how to get out of the safety belt thingy. The dogs are whining to be let out, but if I let them out Kaleb will feed all his dinner to them. If I let them out and then make them go outside, they will stand at the door and whine/bark which makes me feel guilty, like I might be ruining the neighbors' evenings.

I try each night to focus my attention on my son, and on the nights I fail at this it is very clear in his behavior. He wants Momma all to himself and "Just let me finish cutting up these veggies for our dinner later" makes zero sense to a 16 month old.

Kyle is usually home by 6:15, which helps divert some of Kaleb's attention. We have play time and/or family walk if the weather is nice. We start bath at 7:30, usually governed by Dada so that I can clean the kitchen, fold laundry, vacuum, wash sippy cups, prep dinner, or whatever other standard-issue household chores need to be done. Bed time is 8:00, I dry Kaleb from bath, brush his teeth (which he *hates* and fights with all his strength), put on PJ's, read anywhere from 3-6 books, many of them more than once, and then it is into bed with Kaleb and out the door for me.

I confess that most of the time between after work and bed time, I am thinking about bed time and how much stuff needs to be done before my day is done and I can rest. I hate this reality so very much. Because, as soon as Kaleb is in his bed and I'm out that door I start to miss him. I have a hard time transitioning from Work to Home each night. I know I need to be in the moment with Kaleb, I know I need to forget the million things that need to be done and just focus on playing with him, and I'm able to do this at about 70% right now. But that's not enough. It's crazy to me how much I miss him once he is asleep. Each night I vow I'm going to do better tomorrow. Then tomorrow hits, at 5:30 AM, and I end up back in the same pattern.

This started a post to capture my thoughts on the two opposite sides of motherhood for me. How I spend a lot of time checking the clock to see if it is bed time yet and to see if I can maybe squeeze in one more chore without Kaleb noticing I'm not paying attention to him. And then, how much I miss my baby as soon as I get him to sleep for the night and how much I wish I had said "screw the chore, let's build that tower". I need to let that "screw the chore" side of me win more than the 70% I've been working with. An average day as the mother of my son is filled with such potential for magic, I need to remember that!