What a week!

The last week has been pretty busy in the land of Nages. Grandpa and Lah-oo (my Dad and step-mom) came to meet LO for the first time. They arrived last Saturday and were with us until Thursday night. We all had fun together, but I felt a little disoriented by the time they left. I had had to work last weekend, DH took time off several half days this week, and that combined with our visitors left me barely knowing what day it was! All in all, though, DH and I had our feet under us a little better before this week's visitors than we had our earlier ones. I felt it was progress to not be "barely keeping our heads above water waiting for help" and instead we were able to enjoy company's generosity and their visit.

In any case, we all had a great visit. We spent most of our time chatting between the demands of LO's day. While I've gotten used to being around home all day, I'm sure they felt a little stir crazy after the first eight or ten hours in our living room. LO did great with them. He has not yet gotten anxious about new people and he quickly initiated them with some spit-up and drool soaked fingers. That's the way he shows love these days, so they were golden. Lah-oo was especially good at putting on a silly show that kept LO smiling and occasionally laughing. Grandpa pulled out the You Tube videos on his iPhone, but I preferred the sweet time he spent singing and playing the guitar for LO. LO apparently preferred Grandpa's watch above all and by the end of his visit it had been bequeathed to our little guy. (Does he know how to work it or what?)

Even though DH and I finally feel we have our feet under us. Grandpa and Lah-oo did not want to miss the chance to give us a break. They very generously bought us groceries, ran to Target, treated us to every take out we could think of, and kept LO one night for us to have a belated Valentine's dinner. Still they wanted to do something special for me. I tried to convince them that just knowing I could have a shower every day WAS special. Apparently unconvinced, "special" came by way of our first mini-road trip to a nearby town that is WAY better than home. Keep in mind that LO has only left the neighborhood four times in his four months, so this was a big deal. LO and I have just started to get a routine at home and I was nervous about rocking the boat. I decided that this trip was a good opportunity to give going out a try, so we did. It went great! We were out about six hours. It was about a 25 minute trip each way and we planned to eat lunch, do some walking and some touring in the car. I had thought LO would sleep in the car and during the walk. He did get a little cat nap on the way in, then my Dad carried him in the carrier into the restaurant. We had a blanket over the carrier because it was a very windy (but gorgeous) day. When we set LO down in the restaurant and removed the blanket, his eyes were HUGE. It was hilarious! He held them that way for probably a full minute and they literally looked like they would pop put of his head. I knew the restaurant we had chosen was supposed to be nice, so I was a little uncertain how welcome LO would be. They were great and all of the guests were so complimentary. LO got a little fidgety about 10 minutes in, so I moved him to my lap very he sat happily through all three courses. Following our scrumptious lunch, we put LO in the Ergo carrier and we were off for our walk around town. LO napped for about 20 min then, but stayed awake in the car while drove around town. He got a little cranky when it was time to eat, but I managed to nurse him in the car (parked, of course) and then he was happy with Lah-oo in the back seat for another hour or so. By the end of the day he was exhausted from napping so little, but he had done so well and we all had really enjoyed the trip.

Our first mini road trip went so well, I decided to try to go out again the next day. This time just to lunch at a local deli, then to walk outside here. Bad idea. It wasn't a disaster or anything, but it didn't go as swimmingly as the day before. Oh well, live and learn.

That pretty much wrapped up our visit with Grandpa and Lah-oo. Thanks for such a fun week! LO has officially met all of his grandparents now. Next month he gets to meet another aunt, then his great grandfather in May.