Jack's First Flight

Jack took his first airplane trip a few weeks ago when we went to Chiang Mai.

We took the new airport link train. Love it. Definitely recommend it if you are traveling in and out of Bangkok.

Baby Jack hanging out in the stroller waiting to board the plane. Of course, he was wearing The Hampton Family First Flight shirt.

Asher was soooo excited about the airplanes. He still talks about them, "Asher Boy ride airplane, take off, up sky, go Chiang Mai, go Krungthep (Thai name for Bangkok). See CLOUDS!"

Jack slept and ate and then slept some more. Easy.

Short and Spiky

We have been avoiding getting Asher's haircut because he hates getting it cut. He screams, he makes a scene, he acts like they are cutting off his head instead of his hair.

The other day I spotted a kids salon and we thought we would go check it out, after all the boy really needed to get his hair cut.


This place was wonderful. If your kid needs a haircut in BKK, I definitely recommend this place. It wasn't anything fancy, but the lady really knew how to work quickly and how to work with kids. It probably helped that she had a television. Asher was so good, he sat in my lap and watched Thomas the Train and only got squirmy when she trimmed around his ears.

We told her short, she suggested short and spiky. Here are the results.

The Hampton Baby (#2)

So far there's not much to update with Baby #2. I'm really less than 8 weeks along, but I have already reached the point of not feeling too great. Food is my biggest enemy and biggest love. I only feel good when I am eating, but thinking about food makes me feel nauseous. It's a sick cycle.
And the cravings...
I never really craved anything when I was pregnant with Asher. Now there is always something that I want. I just wish it was Thai food. My cravings are getting a little bit expensive because they only thing that sounds good to me is beef and Mexican food. Not exactly cheap options around here. Thai food is wonderful, but suddenly it all tastes bad. Considering that two weeks ago I ate Thai food at least once a day (usually twice a day) this has been quite a change. Roger and Asher are still eating their rice while I gag and try to figure out what in the world actually sounds good to me.
Luckily Thailand has my wonderful Xylitol gum. I discovered Xylitol a few months before Asher was born and it is amazing. I'm not sure why but it makes me not nauseous. As a result I chew gum from the time I finish breakfast until I go to bed everyday. It works so I'm not complaining.
Next week we have an ultrasound and a check up scheduled. Roger has a day off of school so he will get to go with me and since we have a new house helper Asher will not have to go with me. It's like a date...at the hospital!

How We Survived

Here's how we survived a trip from North America to Southeast Asia with a very sweet (and active) 16 month old baby boy.

Actually Asher was great, so it wasn't really survival. It definitely wasn't fun, but that kind of trip is never fun.

I started taking pictures the afternoon before we left and tried to chronicle our journey from Vancouver to Bangkok.

Waking up from his last nap in Vancouver, we finally had to wake him up after almost 3 hours of sleep.

Our arrival at the airport in Vancouver. Final tally on the luggage: 3 trunks, 6 large duffel bags, 2 car seats, 1 guitar, 2 backpacks, 1 carry on suitcase, 1 small duffel bag, 1 diaper bag and 1 stroller.

Once we strolled through security we let Asher loose so he could burn off some energy before the long flight. The airport was practically empty at midnight, so Asher had plenty of space to run.

He did set down to rest for a few minutes before climbing down and discovering the moving sidewalks. We spent about 15 minutes going the wrong way on one of them.

Hour One.

On the plane and settled into our seats, Asher was exhausted, but wouldn't sleep. The lights were all on and a meal was served right after take-off and that kept him up even longer. He finally crashed about 4 am and slept for about 4 hours.

Hour Eight.

Drinking milk and talking on the phone, Asher seemed to be unaware that anything was different about today.

A video update of Asher's Airplane Adventures. There's something all over his face, I have no idea what it could be. Considering he ate Teddy Grahams almost constantly for 14 hours there's a good chance it could be crumbs.

Hour Ten.

Another video update. Asher took a good nap, he slept from the beginning to the end of, "The Informant." I was holding him at this point and appreciated his thoughtfulness and willingness to not wake up until the credits had started. When he woke up he was quite excited to see that Daddy was nearby.

Hour Twelve.

Almost there and Asher is still happy playing with Daddy, one last video update.

Hour Fifteen.

We made it to Hong Kong and raced through the airport to make our connecting flight. Roger and I were having some serious caffeine withdrawal, but didn't have time to stop for coffee. Asher kept his hands above his head the entire time we were in Hong Kong. I think this is his exhaustion pose.

Hours Sixteen - Eighteen.

Asher and Roger slept almost the whole way from Hong Kong to Bangkok, I read a book. Sorry, no pictures, we were all looking pretty rough.

Hour Nineteen.

Arrival in Bangkok. After being an angel for nineteen hours of travel Asher lost it while we were in line for immigration. Perfect timing. An immigration official came and got us from the back of the line and took us through to the front. Asher is amazing.

Hour Twenty.

Luggage collected and trip over. We finally made it to our new home. Somehow by the end of all of this Asher ended up with a baggage tag on his arm.

Pictures from Bangkok and the new house coming soon.

Food Fun

At Asher's last doctor's appointment he was rapidly approaching the 20 pound mark, I attribute that to his love of milk and baby food. The boy loves to eat!

When Asher first started eating baby food I decided to try making baby food instead of buying it. I was very surprised how easy it was. Homemade baby food sounds like it would be difficult, but really all I do is cook it, put it in the food processor and then freeze it in an ice cube tray. Some foods are even easier because they don't have to be cooked first.

When Asher was just starting out eating solid food I would make them thinner and smoother, now that he is older I make them thicker and chunkier. Even easier than food that doesn't have to be cooked are the foods that don't have to be prepared in advance. I just mash up a banana when it is time to eat and I found out that it is cheaper to buy organic applesauce than to make it.

Asher's favorite food is sweet potatoes, so if I do come across a food he doesn't love (peas, corn) I can mix a cube of sweet potatoes in and he will love it! Some of the foods I make the most are avocados, sweet potatoes, chick peas, pears and prunes.

Traveling with a Baby

Everybody knows that we travel a lot. While I was pregnant with Asher we flew almost 30,000 miles, and while we have slowed down a little since he was born, we still spend a lot of time going places. We started out flying to the beach when Asher was 7 weeks old, flying half-way around the world (literally) when he was 13 weeks old and then driving all over the southeast and flying to Denver during the past few months.

One of my Momma friends recently wrote a post about traveling with baby and I thought I would add my thoughts about traveling on airplanes with babies.

1. A good stroller is a must for long trips. We started out with a travel system, but now have a Maclaren Triumph. It's super lightweight and easy to fold up. When we had the travel system we would gate check the stroller and car seat, now we check the car seat with our luggage (it's free to check a car seat) and only gate check the stroller. When we are in an airport Asher stays in his stroller most of the time, but having a sling is great for those other times.

2. Try to not get stressed. When we flew from Indonesia to America we traveled for 2 days with 6 checked bags, a stroller, a car seat, a guitar, a diaper bag, 2 carry on bags and an infant. It was a lot of stuff and it was a tough trip, but I think one reason we made it so easily was that we just took it one step at a time and tried to stay calm.

Roger struggling with all of our bags and Asher struggling to stay awake.

3. I love nursing tank tops and my hooter hider! For two days of flying all Asher did was eat and sleep and these shirts made it so easy for him to eat and the hooter hider made it easy for me to feed him. Actually I love my hooter hider all the time, I use it anytime we are out and Asher needs to eat. It is probably one of the best baby things I have bought.

4. Dress warm and take a change of clothes! Airplanes are cold and babies like to be warm, so when we fly Asher wears pajamas with feet. That way I can change diapers easily, he stays warm and I don't have to keep up with socks. For our long trip I took several pairs of pajamas and put a clean outfit on him every 12 hours. I also took little baby hats so that his little bald head would stay warm.

Asher was nice and warm, but feeling a little crazy after 2 days on an airplane.

Well, I think that's all of the advice that I have. Basically, go prepared and enjoy yourself. If you have any questions let me know, I would love to help.

The Sleep Week Conclusion

WARNING: This is another long post about Asher's sleep habits. If you don't care about this then just enjoy these pictures of our sweet boy taking a good, long nap.



Sleep Week was a success! Asher sleeps without a swaddle blanket at night, he falls asleep by himself most of the time and he has been taking longer naps. I kept trying to do exactly what Baby Wise said to do or exactly what the book by Dr. Ferber said to do, but in the end I think Asher started sleeping better because we were consistent and we did it all in moderation.

Here are my conclusions from Sleep Week:

- We quickly realized that Asher will fuss until he falls asleep, but he will not cry himself to sleep. Once he starts to scream and get really upset it is best to go and pick him up and calm him down and try again.
- He still takes short naps, but now they are closer to an hour long and when he wakes up he looks like he is well rested. He will sometimes take longer naps, but I have stopped being stressed out by his short naps.
- Asher goes to bed earlier (7:30 pm) and sleeps much more soundly, although he usually wiggles from one end of the bed to the other during the night. He is still waking up earlier than he was a few months ago (6:30 am instead of 7:15 am), but maybe that's just part of him getting bigger.
- He has a special blanket he sleeps with at night. I know I will probably regret this later, but I feel like it has helped him learn to lay in the bed and fall asleep easier.
- Asher goes down for his first nap and bedtime with no problems at all, we still have a little trouble getting him to go to sleep for his afternoon naps. I figure this will just continue to improve.

17.5 Weeks

After hearing stories from friends at home who are having babies I am starting to realize that it’s just a little different to do it over here. So, I thought I would let you know a little about prenatal care here and how it seems to be a little different than America.

1. I must be proactive.

After talking to doctors in the States and reading my borrowed copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” I think I have a good idea of what a doctor’s appointment in the states would be like. It’s sort of different here. I walk in to see my doctor and she just stares at me. At first this was unnerving and awkward, I kept waiting for her to talk and I guess she was waiting for me to say something. I figured that she was the doctor, it’s sort of her show. Not true. After my first opening line of “Well, I’m pregnant,” was met with an odd stare and more silence I realized that just to get the appointment started I have to take charge. I tell her what needs to be done and she does it. I ask the right questions and she always has an answer, I just have to know what to ask. When I want blood tests or any other tests done I just write down what I want on a piece of paper, walk over to the lab and hand it to them. They run the test, no questions asked, and usually have the results back to me in an hour. Don't worry, my doctor is wonderful and knows what she is doing. It's just that most people that live here don't have the money to run all of the tests and get the same kind of care that we expect. Now that she knows what we expect (and that we can pay for it) we don't have to be as proactive during our appointments.

2. Ultrasounds, ultrasounds, ultrasounds.

From what I hear most of the time in the States you don’t have an ultrasound every single time you go to the doctor. The doctors here love to do ultrasounds and we love to see our baby kicking around. So far we have had an ultrasound every time we have been to the doctor, even when I was only a few weeks pregnant and all you could see was a little black dot. Ultrasounds are super cheap here, only about $5 unless I want a print out and then it’s closer to $15. It’s great to be able to see our baby every time we go to the doctor and not worry about our insurance company telling us it’s too expensive.

3. It’s so cheap!

It’s just cheaper here. It only costs around $9 to see the doctor (plus the cost of the ultrasound), so even if we didn’t have great insurance it would be cheap. I did once go to a different doctor that charged a whopping $15, but I think that’s about as expensive as it gets.

4. Making an Appointment

This should probably go under the proactive section. At the end of each appointment my doctor tells me to come back in about a month. So, about a month later I will pick up my phone on a Monday night and call the hospital. I tell them my name and that I’m coming in the morning. They say okay. The most difficult part of the whole thing is that the lady that answers the phone at the hospital doesn’t speak English, so my vocabulary has recently expanded to include all kinds of doctor and appointment making words.

Now for another belly picture. I really can't tell much of a difference from last week, but I guess it is getting bigger.

Next week we will go to the doctor again and of course have another ultrasound. Hopefully this time the baby will be awake and we will be able to see if it is a boy or girl. Make sure you vote because this week might (hopefully) be your last chance.