The Hagemann Family: First family vacation is under our belt

You live and learn....and oh, did we learn! Next time we go on vacation, we'll be sure to have a grandparent or two with us. We had a great time being away from work and the everyday stresses, but man, going to the beach for a week with a 6-month old is not easy! Here are just a few highlights:

While attempting to put up our 3-sided beach "tent", it almost got blown away like a kite. Corey was trying to put it together, Cooper was screaming (we decided nap time was a great time to take him on the beach), and I was holding Cooper b/c I didn't want him rolling around, eating all the sand off the beach. After less than 10 minutes, we decided to pack it up and head for the pool.

Cooper LOVES the water! The condo we stayed at had 2 baby pools; one had all kinds of splashy buckets, spouts, and mushrooms, while the other was sort of like a lazy river but without the current. They also had a real lazy river, and Cooper did enjoy riding around in the tube with Corey.

We experienced our first poop explosion while Corey was giving Cooper a bath (in the very dark bathroom because the light fixture went bad). I was glad it didn't happen in the pool. That would have been a nightmare! Cooper also got his first tooth (lower left) in the middle of the week, so he was a little more fussy than normal, but overall, not too bad.

Tuesday, we drove 2 hours to meet my friend Mollie from PT school in Charleston. It was so hot and I forgot to bring Cooper's hat.  We spent a good while walking around trying to find a store that sold baby hats, without luck. Mollie had suggested the open air market, but it was so hot, Corey just wanted to get somewhere with a/c, so no hat was found. Charleston is very pretty, but we did a ton of walking and it was difficult trying to keep Cooper in the shade.  We'll definately have to go back when it's a little cooler and we have more time to see more than we did. It was great meeting up with Mollie, whom I haven't seen since we graduated 4 years ago! She has a beautiful baby girl who is about 3 months old. So glad we finally got to meet her.

We ended up coming home 1 day early, just because it was so difficult being away from home, with Cooper being fussy. Corey was dreading the 7 hour drive home.  We thought Cooper was beginning to hate sitting in his carseat, so we prepared to hear him scream for most of the ride home. Corey even got a pack of earplugs just in case. The boy ended up sleeping 4 of the seven hours, and the rest of the time, he was just talking or playing with his toys. We were pleasantly surprised. He was sooooo excited to be home and see the dogs! His face lit up when he saw his jumpy activity thingy and his swing.

This past week, Cooper also started babbling "dadadada". As of now, his lower right tooth that has broken through and it sounds like he's also starting to say "thth" sounds. He blows raspberries all the time, and loves being tossed in the air. He is rolling all over the place, and seems to be getting ready to crawl any day now. So much has happened in 6 months....even just this past week.  Needless to say, we are all very happy to be home and have learned from our first vacation.  Now, I've been back to work for 2 days, and I think I'm ready for another vacay....