Our trip to Florida and Colombia

This will be Desmond's 7th time flying.  He's 10 months old now and flying with him is getting so much harder.  I really wish we would have taken more trips when he was younger.  All he would do was sleep and he was so tiny and really couldn't move, so he was the perfect accessory: quiet, still, and cuddly.  Now, all he wants to do is to stand and touch the air vents and the lights, lean over and grab at the person sitting next to me, look over my seat and flirt with the people in the row behind us, and grab at people's hair in the row in front of us.  We have to be equipped with different playthings in order to last 3 hours on his short attention span.  It's exhausting.

Flying back from Florida, our flight left at 6pm EST (4pm MST, which is his usual nap time) so he slept that whole flight to Houston.  We had a 2 hour layover in Houston where he could sprawl out on the floor at the gate, eat cheerios (we gave him some french fries...his first foray into yucky fast food.  Hopefully, there won't be too many times that that happens), and release some of his energy.  By the time we got on the plane in Houston, it was 8:30pm MST, which meant it was time to put Desmond to sleep.  Perfect!  He slept the whole way home.  This was in contrast to our flights out to Florida and Colombia, which were during the early to late morning hours.  He was up practically the whole time.

It was nice, however, to see family and to let my extended family meet Desmond.  First, we stopped off in Florida to stay with my mom, stepdad, and little brother for a few days.  My mom was so excited; she bought him swimming trunks and pool/beach toys to take him out to the beach.

At a little beach in a park.  Yes, parks in Florida have beaches.

The water was super shallow, perfect for babies and kids.

Desmond loves the water!  Me?  Not so much.

Abuelita and Desmond.  I hate it that my own mother has better legs than me.  Heck, her mother, my grandmother, has better legs than me.  I got my short stumps from my dad's mom.  

My mother is so funny.  She acts like a crazy, drunk Lily Allen...except she's not drunk.  She goes in this crazy frenzied dance just to get a rise out of Desmond.  She dances around like a banshee, closing her eyes and throwing her head back.  It's the funniest thing I've ever seen.

My mom about to take a bite out of Desmond.

This onesie is awesome.  It has a picture of Darth Vader and says "Who's your daddy" on it. 

My mom getting ready to dance and shake it for Des. 

After Florida, we hopped on a plane to go to Colombia so Des could meet his abuelito.  My whole family loved Desmond and were enthralled by his light hair and fair skin.  "Mire ese gringuito!" they would say.  But they really did love him, and tried their hardest to find vestiges of our Colombian lineage in his face (they say he has their nose).

My Tia Martha giving Des a bath.  He fell in love with my aunt and every time she walked into a room, he would break out in a huge smile (see picture below).

Des's face when he saw my aunt walk into the room.

Desmond eating at a typical Colombian restaurant.

They bought Des a chocolate cake for his 10 month birthday.  He tried to eat the candle.  While it was lit.

His first taste of chocolate cake.

My Tia Aura feeding Desmond some lemon gelato.

Desmond sunbathing with my aunt. 

In La Calera, a small town outside of Bogotá, ready to eat some delicious food.

With my cousin Jorge and his fiancee.

Billy getting ready...

Acting like a kid.

Most of my cousins.   Look at how Billy stands out.  Desmond would, too, if his hoodie weren't covering his khaki-colored hair.

My cousin Juan and Des at Alpina, Colombia's biggest producer of milk products (they make arequipe, avena, and all sorts of other delicious treats)