It's been awhile....

It has been awhile since I've written.  I feel a bit rusty.  A few weeks ago I became aware of some unwelcome blog traffic that made me take extra precautions to protect my boy's pictures.  When my first attempts seemed to be thwarted, I restricted access even more.  I'm certain most of my regular readers are "in the loop" about these issues, but I wanted to explain anyway.  I really appreciate the patience and support everyone had while I tried to work things out.  I'm not sure I have successfully addressed the issue, but I am starting to increase access a little at a time.  I'm inviting people back to our little corner of the blogisphere in stages.  There will still be passwords and accounts required.  Like so many other things in life, it's hard to regain trust here once it has been lost.

In the meantime, a lot has been going on around these parts.  I wanted to post a little something about the boys starting to take baths together. NB LOVES bath time, and kept trying to crawl into the tub when LO was in there.  It finally was just easier to keep him safe if we let him in than it was to try to keep him from going face first over the edge.  LO rolled with that change better than I expected, and the bath seems to be the place where they get along best in close proximity.  It's really been kind of cute to watch.  I have pictures courtesy of Aunt Cat, but they won't be posted until I get our security issues settled.

Otherwise, our little foursome has just returned from our first family vacation with NB.  We were out of town for 10 whole days, and things really went better than expected.  Of course we learned well from our first vacation with LO to keep the expectations low...very low.  I know I've said it before, but expectations are the gateway to frustration, disappointment, and misery.  Gosh that sounds awful, doesn't it?  Well, I think they are important in a lot of areas of life, but they have no place amongst the vacation plans for families with small children.  We were fortunate to have this time away at a family vacation home with extra family staying there.  You know, once upon a time vacation meant getting far away from my parents.  These days vacation really happens best if they are part of the plans.

So we left May 4th under cold, cloudy (later rainy) skies and drove a couple of hours to Grams and Gramps' house.  I had hoped to get LO to a local nature preserve there, but we were thwarted by the rain.  We made a trip with Aunt Cat and Da to the local pet store instead.  The rain continued for most of our time at Grams' house, but LO was unfazed as he had heard promises of grits and eggs for breakfast.  "What? We don't eat that!" he said excitedly.  Well buddy, we do a lot of things differently on vacation.  Unfortunately some of the other things we do differently were less well received.  While Grams had plenty of room for us, we opted to try our sleeping arrangements as they were planned at Papa's house.  That meant NB in the pack 'n play in a room by himself and LO on his old crib mattress with us joining him at our bed time.  Let's just say there was a lot of screaming from the boys the first night, and not much rest to be had.  With groggy boys and the rain still coming down, I reloaded the van and we were off to Papa's house just a few more hours down the road.

Not only was this NB's first road trip/family vacation, but it was also the longest LO has been in the car since learning to use the potty.  I am pleased to say that he did very well and we had no accidents!  Our basic plan had been to carefully schedule his fluid intake and then stop every hour to let him use the potty.  On the second leg of the trip we decided to let him tell us when he needed a stop and it ended up being about the same.

All in all the car time was pretty good on the way there and a little harder on the way home (we tried to drive straight home).  NB didn't nap much in the car, and when he did LO inevitably had to go potty or made a loud noise that woke him.  There was some crying from our over-tired baby boy, but not anything longer than about 45 minutes.  (ugh!)

Our time with Papa and Lah-oo was great!  The boys enjoyed the change of scenery, and the rain finally stopped making way for some great weather.  Early in the week a neighbor stopped by with her two boys that are the same age as LO and NB.  LO hit it off with E right away, sharing his garbage truck in a way I've never seen.  E and LO played for large parts of the first days we were there.  DH and I had some personal time scheduled, so E and his little brother were saving graces for Papa!  Their mom and dad adopted the grown ups in the family having us over for dessert, letting us do laundry at their house, and inviting us for play dates at the children's museum.  They were such fun and it is neat to think about the boys playing together for future visits to Papa's house.

Mid-week my aunt and cousin (L and H) flew in for the first visit I've had with them in easily 15 years.   They were two peas in a pod and it was fun to see their chemistry together.  They were also instant hits with LO.  (NB had a rocking case of separation anxiety, so no one was a big hit with him except Mom and Da.)  L and H's main goal most days was to pay special attention to our boys.  That was right up LO's alley of course.  They even made progress with NB toward the end of the week and managed to replace his cries with giggles as he dropped a ping-pong ball in a watering can.  (It only took three adults to turn him around!)

Papa removed the screen from this window so Aunt H could blow bubbles with LO even though it was raining.

 Sleeping arrangements went much better after we worked out the kinks our first night at Grams'.  LO even stayed in his bed in spite of us leaving the bedroom door open. He did, however, talk to me in the middle of the night for the first few nights.  After we stopped that, he and NB both had several times each night that they cried out in their sleep.  I didn't expect to learn so much about my boys' sleep during this trip.  It was really disturbing to hear them cry in the night.  On the flip side, LO woke every morning about 6:20 and padded over to my bed, kissed me on the forehead and whispered that he wanted to snuggle with me.  He was never still for more than a minute or so before he was up getting something else, but it was a really sweet way to wake up.

NB turned 13 months while we were at Papa's house, and it was odd to not be taking his pictures or blogging about him that day.  His separation anxiety ruled much of our time away, but when he wasn't worried about us leaving his sight, he was busy getting into cabinets or climbing up and down the four carpeted stairs in Papa's family room.  Those stairs were his mission in life early in the week, and he mastered them in no time.  He also started to stand briefly without holding on more often than he ever has before.  Papa thinks he'll walk very soon, but my money is on it taking about two more months.  He's motivated though, so a little practice is all he needs. (As an aside, his 12 month check up was May 2nd and he weighed 21 lbs, 10 oz and was 29 inches long, both about the 25th percentile.  Dr H was happy with that.)  He is such a different little man at 13 months than his big brother was.  He is a messy eater and is just fine with leaving 80% of his food anywhere other than his mouth.  Lately he has made a "mm-mm-mmm" sound while be chews.  He actually refuses to open his mouth sometimes for food...a problem we've never had with LO.  Sometimes he is refusing because he wants something he sees on the table.  He points and either says "dis" or whines until we guess what it is.  Tonight it was a spoon he wanted to put on his eye.

NB's first spaghetti face.  He thought mama's homemade marinara was yummy!

This apple sat on a high shelf beside some tomatoes.  NB pointed at the shelf often, but it was unclear why.  

Finally I gave him the apple thinking he thought it was a red ball.  He was getting his top two lateral incisors, so he gnawed on it a little.

Before I knew it, he had actually EATEN about a quarter of the apple!  

When he gets frustrated, he clenches his little fists, holds his breath and turns red shaking all over or grunting.  That would be funny if I couldn't imagine it heralding all sorts of tantrums in the near future.  He is still a tough guy who loves outside and dirt.  He enjoys digging in and trying to eat mulch, dirt, or grass, and he crawls readily across pebbles and pavement.  It was fun to think that we vacationed with Papa and Lah-oo both when LO was 13 months and now when NB is the same age.  It is also nice to realize then that the tough parts of NB now will pale in comparison to the wonderful memories we have of him just as they have in my recollections of LO at this age.

So as much of a challenge as it was to get this family of four packed and on the road for 10 days (without a laundry available), we had a great time away.  It was so wonderful for the boys to visit with family, to make new friends unexpectedly, to enjoy great weather (eventually), and for us to forget the time and date.  I'm so pleased to say we all exceeded expectations again!