PR with PR, Part 3

Well, Penn Rye amazed us yet again.  After his solid afternoon nap (had to wake him up at 5pm!), he was well-rested and his sweet, pleasant self.  I fed him dinner, attempted a "bath" in the shower (he did NOT like it!) and then got him dressed in his classy baby blue rehearsal dinner outfit.  Pretty sweet!  

We were able to walk to the rehearsal dinner and when we got there I unsnapped Penn from his stroller/car seat and he was again the life of the party.  Everyone at this wedding is so gracious, kind and caring.  They are so thoughtful of our needs as the only ones having a baby here and they are so thankful that we even came.  It’s really so kind.  We are being blessed just by being a part of this very special weekend and all the people that are making it that way.  Here's a picture they got of our abbreviated family on Doug's phone.  Not the best quality, but the only pic of all 3 of us this trip, so I had to share.

At about 7:20pm, I decided that Penn should quit while he’s ahead and I went and changed him into his PJ’s, fed him and then returned to quietly snap him back into his stroller/car seat.  I handed him his blanket, shut the top of the stroller and never heard a peep.  AMAZING.  The room was dimly lit which I think helped, but later in the evening when different people were sharing a few words for the couple, the lights went up and people laughed and clapped loudly, etc. and Penn never woke up.  He never even woke up on our walk home.  He did wake up when I unclipped him to transfer him into bed, but once he was settled into the Pack ‘n Play we again never heard a peep.  A few minutes later I glanced over the edge of the crib and he was out cold again.  I was a little nervous that he would wake up in the middle of the night or something, but nope!  He slept in until almost 8am.  Good job, Penn Rye!  Here he is after his morning feeding in his adorable pajamas and big smile.

Here he wanted to show off his full belly.

We had our usual morning routine of little walk/playtime until our breakfast spot opened at 9am.  On this day, I put Penn in an outfit that Koen wore on the Australia trip and Tavin wore around the same age too.  Here's Penn sporting this Melder favorite with a pretty amazing backdrop!

Here's another picture I got of this cute little man that morning.  Melt my heart!

When I get home I'll do a comparison post on all 3 boys in that cute outfit.  I'm dying to see how they compare as it's been awhile since I've looked at old photos to see.  There's just not much time for PC activity with the beautiful ocean calling my name!  Anyways, we had a great morning.  After breakfast, Penn took his nap and we had our separate beach/workout time, then we enjoyed lunch at the pool with Penn.  This kid is truly a little fish!  We keep pushing all the way up to his afternoon nap with the pool fun because he is just so happy and content in our arms or in his little boat.  On our way back up to the room, I snapped some pictures of the view from the front of our room where you can see into the mountains and then the pools down below and out to the bay where the cruise ships come in (direction of Old San Juan). 

Penn had to have an abbreviated afternoon nap due to the fact it was the wedding day and Pastor Doug loves to get to the ceremony site with plenty of time to prepare for the service.  Penn was in denial of this fact though.  Look, he's completely out and covering his eyes with his blanket.  Sorry, buddy, but it's go time!

Penn did very well despite being tired.  He and I got to walk around Old San Juan for a few minutes before I had to feed him prior to the wedding starting.  Here's a view of some of the old architecture at the ruins of the walls and all the flecks in the sky are hundreds of kites being flown.  Very cool spot.

And this is a very old cemetery that amazingly has survived the raging seas.  It's all white stone and just an amazing sight to see in contrast to the blue ocean beyond.  

Penn and I got to the ceremony site at about 4:45pm so that I could feed him before it started at 5pm.  I was all excited because I found a lounge area that was away from the guests where I could nurse Penn.  Unbeknownst to me though it was filled with some hungry mosquitoes.  I got bit 8 times while nursing Penn.  Thankfully they were so excited to be sucking the blood out of my veins they stayed away from Penn's chubby flesh.  Needless to say I got him out of there as quickly as possible and I finished changing him and feeding him his solid food on a bench behind where the ceremony was going on.  Here's a picture of the setup.  Beautiful spot in Old San Juan, it's an old school's courtyard.

And here's the beautiful bride entering!

The ceremony was lovely and everyone was so thankful that it didn't rain (as it often does for a little while in the afternoons here).  Penn was well behaved although a little squawky during his dinner.  He looked dashing again in another classy baby blue get-up!

Even though he was really tired, he was such a sweetie at the reception.  We plopped him in an oversized, deep chair and gave him an indestructible baby book and he literally played with it happily entertaining himself for 25 minutes.  Amazing baby!

A little before 7pm I found a private place to feed him and change him and then we snapped him into his car seat/stroller and he again passed out without a peep.  We stayed at the reception until about 8:30pm and then took a taxi home.  Penn was awake on the journey home and definitely a little confused, but still totally pleasant.  We laid him down in our hotel room at about 9pm and he was asleep in minutes with no crying.  Doug and I all weekend have just been pinching ourselves for this blessing of a wonderful travel baby!  Speaking of traveling, it's now Monday and we are heading home.  So far today we've had a good rest, packed a little, gone to breakfast in front of the ocean and splashed our feet in the ocean and the pool.  Penn's napping now hopefully for a long time as his afternoon nap will be a mess with traveling to the airport, etc.  Here's a quick pic of the relaxed and a little serious Melder men on this beautiful morning (sadly our last) here in San Juan, PR.

Stay tuned for the final update when we are back in the Burgh with the rest of our brood.  Speaking of our brood, I received this cute picture of Koen and Tavin from my Dad yesterday.  

Things are still going well at home.   Mom and Dad, we are so thankful that you are with the big boys while we are away.  Thanks for all you are doing!  Can't wait to get home and relieve you as well as spend some time with you before you head back home.

PR with PR, Part 2

Penn continues to do great on this Puerto Rico getaway.  He had an awesome long afternoon nap (yay, Mommy got time on the beach!) and then he was the talk of the "welcome party" the bride's family hosted for everyone who came in for the wedding last night.  How could he not be in this cute get up?

The party started at 6pm and the hosts and their beautiful venue (beachfront at the Hilton) were very timely and dinner was served before 7pm.  The bride's parents were so sweet and hospitable and very understanding of Penn's need to get to bed, so they were quite fine with our quick departure at 7:30pm.  We had originally planned to lay Penn down in his car seat to sleep if the night was long.  We were thankful that we could instead just get him home only an hour after his bedtime for an uninterrupted night of rest.  And that's what awesome little Penn Rye did.  He didn't make a peep all night and then did his usual happy chirping when he woke up a little before I normally feed him.  Such a good boy!  After I fed him we went out to find some breakfast again.  Here's a pretty spot on our walk.  Seriously, I don't know how people who live on the ocean ever go to work.  I'm not sure I could part with this view for 8 hours.  

This time for breakfast we went to a cafe right around the corner from the hotel.  You could still catch a glimpse of the waves breaking on the rocks.  The surf is incredibly high and rough today.  Apparently there is a high surf alert until Tuesday, we could see swells of 15-20 feet!  Anyways, back to breakfast.  Here's our little bug enjoying Daddy's cute coffee spoon.

After our super yummy meal (I think we've found our breakfast place for the remainder of our stay), we took Penn down to the beach to get those pudgy little toes into the salt water and sand.  You could tell he was perplexed at the experience (especially with naptime coming on quickly).

What he really liked was when I jumped him up in the air to splash into the waves.

When we got back to our room Penn was so exhausted and ready for bed, but Doug couldn't resist snapping yet another picture of this adorable little travel buddy.  We are so enjoying you, Penn Rye!

Like I said...exhausted.  I took this only moments after I laid him down.  Out cold!

While Penn was catching his Zzzz's, I received a picture of his big bros keeping busy at home with Gramma and Grampa.  Here they are proudly displaying their parking project.  Seems that everything is going well at home thankfully.  Good job, Gramma and Grampa!

Today's schedule has been much like yesterday's.  Doug and I both had some workout/fresh air time while Penn napped (different times of course so that one of us was always in the room with Sleeping Beauty).  Then after naptime, I fed Penn and we headed down to the pool for a swim with Penn and lunch for ourselves.  It worked out better than yesterday even.  As if Penn knew what was going on.  So amazing this little guy!  We had a blast in the pool.  He loves it.  

It's naptime again and Doug is off to do the rehearsal for the wedding.  I'm laying low and relaxing in the hotel room.  We look forward to the rehearsal dinner tonight (and of course are anxious to see how Penn does...will he sleep or just be the cuteness again?).  Stay tuned to see how it all goes!

PR with PR, Part 1

Puerto Rico with Penn Rye!

Over 6 months ago, Doug was asked to officiate a wedding in Puerto Rico for March 2013.  He easily said yes and we've been looking forward to this warm weather long weekend ever since.  We chose to take Penn with us since he is still nursing (and I'm not sure I could part with him for this long yet!).  We've loved traveling with our boys over the years and especially enjoyed the opportunities we've had to share some trips with just one of them at a time.  (Koen went to Australia at 8 months and numerous other trips, Tavin went to Clearwater, FL at 20 months and Penn is now in Puerto Rico!).  It was hard to leave Koen and Tavin in some respects as they would just LOVE the airport, train ride, airplanes, taxis, hotel pools, ocean, etc., but obviously it's nice only caring for one Melder boy vs. 3 when we are out of our usual routine and atmosphere.  

Yesterday we left the house a little before 7am.  We got to the airport, through security and onto our first plane with no problem.  The first flight was just to Charlotte, so it was just an hour and a half.  Penn was very good, but never did end up falling asleep despite his naptime being reached during that flight.  After a few minutes walking around the airport in Charlotte though, he was out cold.

Around this time I got a text from my mom that things were going well at home and a picture to prove it.  Here's Tav helping with the dishes...a favorite of his!  This was actually a huge relief to see/hear as we had a little scare in the night with Tavin before leaving.  He woke up around 9:30pm on Wednesday night crying.  He never does that. He said his ear hurt.  He was shaking and was definitely truly in a lot of pain.  Thankfully after some Tylenol, a good book snuggled up with Mommy and a prayer he went to bed for the rest of the night.  I was so nervous something major was wrong, but it seems that these ear infections he has are just really fighting it out with his antibiotic or something.  

We boarded our packed plane to Puerto Rico and it was Penn's lunchtime.  He nursed great (not my fav to nurse in public, but thankfully I don't think anyone noticed), but then when I fed him his solids he just got beside himself upset.  He was clearly hungry and opening wide for food, but would sputter and cry through the whole thing.  Needless to say, Doug and I both got spattered with sweet potatoes.  Thankfully with his full belly and cruising altitude he was much happier and enjoyed a little playtime before showing signs that afternoon nap was quickly approaching.  My mom had actually given us a travel bed she had found.  We decided to bring it in case it would help the almost 4 hour flight go better and turns out...it did!  Penn, amazingly, went to sleep in about 30 seconds after we laid him in this contraption on the floor at our feet.  He slept for an hour and a half in it!  I had some leg cramps since I had to sit with my legs on my seat, but it was totally worth it to have him getting rest peacefully.  He was super sweaty after his nap, but otherwise seemed refreshed from it.  Once we landed in San Juan, we thankfully quickly received our baggage and got a cab easily.  Our hotel was only 12 minutes away and we were happily taking in the view from our room by 5pm San Juan time.  Not too shabby!

We fed Penn his dinner, took a little walk to get a lay of the land and feel the sand between our toes and then we gave Penn a funny bath.  The hotel room doesn't have a bathtub (bummer!), so I thought I'd try the sink.  We won't be doing that again though as Penn is a little too bright and figured out how to turn the water on.  I guess we'll try some configuration in the shower next time!

Penn went right to sleep without a whimper and slept his usual 12+ hours.  Amazing little traveler!  I was just thanking the Lord this morning for how smoothly the traveling went as well as for our first night being a restful one!  Here's the rested little bug hanging out amidst our pillows while I got ready.  Couldn't he be a little spokesperson for the hotel?

After we got this adorable man dressed, we headed out to breakfast.  We got a recommendation from the concierge that didn't look impressive on the street side, but was totally worth the risk once we got to the sea side.  Check out the waves just crashing in towards the building as we ate!  Penn loved watching the water.

After our breakfast we scouted out our hotel a little more and discovered yet another pool.  We let Penn give it a try.  He was a big fan.

Around this time I got another update from home and I have to share another happy picture of Tavin just loving his grandparent time.  Here he is super smiley about the Play-Doh he and Gramma are working on!

Penn was pretty wiped after the travel day yesterday and the ocean air morning, I had to wake him from his morning nap...

He was happy yet again though and after he ate, Doug and I took him poolside for our lunch and then we tested the waters with Penn.  Oh, how he loved it!  The pool here feels somewhere in between a regular heated pool and a hot tub.  So, it's a baby's dream.  He absolutely loved his boat! 

Of course he was quite tired after this new adventure, so he's now taking his afternoon nap.  Doug had a turn outside and now it's my turn.  Stay tuned for more PR with PR updates!  Adios!

Penn Tries Toasted Oats

Penn tried his first finger foods on Wednesday!  On a whim I decided to throw a few Toasted Oats on his tray after lunch.  It was especially fun since my mom was right there to check out his reaction live and in person!  Here's what he did...doesn't look like he's super into them yet!

Gramma & Grampa Beat the "Blizzard"

This week Gramma and Grampa were slated to come for a visit.  Doug and I have to go out of town (with Penn) and so they were coming to watch Tav and Koen.  Their original plan was to arrive on Wednesday, but due to the large storm predicted to cross right through their long trek from NH to Pittsburgh, they decided to come a day earlier.  I was quite thankful for the storm as one more day with my mom and dad was a huge blessing, not to mention it made packing up a lot easier!  What didn't make preparing for our trip easier was Koen's school (and most of the schools in the greater Pittsburgh area) cancelling school.  Ugh.  I felt really bad for him actually.  He was hoping for a delay where he would have the best of both worlds...time to play in the snow and then he would get to attend school full day instead of half day.  Not to mention his Kindergarten class had been planning to video a play of the story, "The Mitten."  It was great to have the extra hands around with all 3 Melder boys at home for the day.  Here's Tav and Gramma working on a puzzle.  Tavin was being quite a clown.  He is gleeful with Gramma and Grampa around this time.  It's so special!

Grampa had some bonding time with Penn in the AM as well.

During Penn's nap, Grampa took Koen and Tavin outside in the snow.  To the credit of the schools that cancelled, yes, we did get snow, but by 10am the roads were completely clear and the temperature was approaching 40 and it was sunny.  A delay would've worked perfectly.  Oh well.  Got to make lemonade out of lemons...or snowmen out of snow!

After lunchtime my Dad took Koen out for some sledding at Mellon Park.  They had a great time just the two of them.  Koen loves to be one on one and often just comes to life in a calm, refreshing and reflective way. I was so happy Dad could see that side of him.  When they got home they started yet another adventure...playing Battleship!  I had totally forgotten about how you can play it with a simple grid on a piece of paper.  It's perhaps a little ahead of Koen right now, but he was so excited about the concept, the game with Grampa and using a pencil and paper (not to mention dropping bombs!) that he was very patient and by the end of the game was really getting the gist.  Kudos to Grampa for his patience as well!

With Penn soon to be heading out on an adventure with Doug and I (don't worry, posts to follow soon), Gramma and Grampa were eager to get their hands on him.  Dad got some great smiles out of him after dinner.

Mom and Dad, thanks so much for coming down a day early.  I was so thankful for that extra time with you myself and it was such a help having you around the day before our departure.  Can't wait to get back and be all together again!

Cute Doctor's Appointment

Tav has been pulling at his ears and complaining that they hurt pretty much since he finished his antibiotic for his ear infection about a week ago, so today (after he re-developed those other symptoms I listed yesterday) I finally took him in to the doctor.  He was super excited to go to the "Doc-wah."  I don't know why, but I think he felt special that I was finally taking him.  Poor thing.  It's just so hard to tell when I ask him if his ears hurt if he's trying to please me with a yes or if they really hurt.  I also had the doctor look at Penn since he's been goopy and stuffy.  Thankfully, Penn was all clear.  Unfortunately, both of Tav's ears were infected.  Poor bug.  He wasn't acting sick at all, he was Mr. Cheerful, Sweet and Obedient.  Check he and Penn out on the table.  Tav was being such a sweet big brother.  He was so into smiling at Penn that he didn't give me a good, "Cheese," but still the cuteness factor is way up there with these two little brothers!

Just Some Regular Days

So this has been one of the lowest blog posts weeks I've had in awhile!  We've just been doing our same, simple thing most days and I've been a little lazy with the camera.  It's been a good week overall though.  Penn has had a weird cold or something (goopy, gooey eyes at wake-up, but no pink eye, really bizarre, plus a stuffy, but not runny nose).  Tav has been so well lately (he's our usual runny nose/cough kid through most the winter), but just today some drippyness is back and he had a cough again this morning.  Koen is pretty healthy, but last week definitely had something stuffing him up.  Let me just say that Koen and Tav's room does not smell fresh in the mornings, stale is a better word for it.  Those poor kids!  All 3 of them are such troopers though, just plowing through their days with no complaints.  I love that about my boys.  Anyways, we've been playing it low key amidst some playdates, errands, Daddy time, outdoor time whenever we can, etc.  This afternoon Koen and I played our "sight word game" that I developed.  His teacher has been sending home the sight words they are working on as they target memorizing Scholastic's 100 sight words by the end of the year.  She lets us know the different words they are working on in a memo and I then make up flashcards.  I tried a few different things to get Koen interested in learning them.  I eventually stumbled into creating this game of reading Level 1 reading books and every time we reach a sight word in our story, Koen reads it and finds it in the flashcard lineup.  He takes a lot of pride in this activity.  Here he is at our set up today.

Later on tonight the big boys were coloring while waiting for their dinner to finish cooking.  Penn was in the exersaucer (as usual!) and he was enjoying his jumping game.  The boys tell him to jump and that's what he does.  And he loves it.  You get a little glimpse of it here in this video.  

Well, that's literally it from here.  We are in our routine, just doing our thing.  I'll try to do better this week with pictures and videos of our simple days.  =)