I realize it's been a while since our last post. It's not for lack of having things to report. We've been busy!Mick's mum came to visit at the end of February and stayed for about 10 days. We had a really lovely visit with her and I was sad to see her go. I get such joy out of watching the grandparents interact with Jack. Julie's specialty is her singing, and Jack just giggles with delight each time she sings a little song to him. I've tried to replicate some of her songs for him, but he just raises an eyebrow at me and gives me a slightly disgusted look. I've posted a few pictures from her visit in our photo album under "Granny's Visit." (Rest assured, there were many more pictures taken while she was here; the vast majority though are on her camera.)
We then traveled to Michigan for about two weeks, starting off our visit with my cousin, Emily, and her family in the Ann Arbor area. We had 2 days there and Emily & Brian watched Jack while Mick and I got out and enjoyed the city and even got to meet up with my beloved English professor from U of M. Mick then headed back home while Jack and I continued up to Big Rapids to spend a bit of time with my parents. Other than one night when we sent my parents out for dinner to celebrate their 35th anniversary (congrats!), we had lots of quality time with them. Jack enjoyed the pool, snuggling with Grammy, and helping Papa with various tasks (reading the sale paper, working in the office, feeding the fish). I took lots of pictures from that trip and have not limited duplicates yet as my mom wanted to see all of them first -- so just a warning before you embark on that massive photo album (Michigan Trip).
We capped off our Michigan stay with a weekend with the whole family: Trevor & Steph came up from Kzoo while Andy, Sarah, Marcus, and Deagan traveled over from Fremont. It was so neat to see the three cousins interacting with each other. Marcus is an absolute gem and is so good with the babies. Deagan is doing laps around Jack (seriously - Deagan is crawling AND walking behind push-toys) while Jack is content to sit and eat. The size difference between the boys is still noticeable but I think Deagan is closing the gap. I took tons of pictures of the boys together & with the grandparents, all in the album called "Cousins."
As luck would have it, Jack came down with a nasty cold the day before he & I were due to fly out to San Francisco to meet up with Mick. I debated whether or not to go and eventually decided I would make the trip. I won't go into detail here about the flight, but suffice it to say I don't think I've ever come as close as I did on that plane to having a nervous breakdown. I knew things were going to be bad when I tried to reach the first plane from Grand Rapids to Chicago. It was a puddle-jumper so it didn't even pull up the the jetbridge; we had to walk across the tarmac. So, here I was with Jack (in the Jackpack), a backpack diaper bag, purse, stroller, and car seat. I had to get through security with all of that (of course removing shoes, belt, laptop, and bag full of Jack's food & medicine and collapsing stroller & car seat) and then I had to navigate down about 15 steps out the the tarmac and then back up 6 steps to get onto the plane. Luckily, a good samaritan (father of 3 kids) helped me get the gear to the plane's side as the airport personnel seemed a bit disgusted that I should need help. I desperately hoped Jack would sleep from Chicago to San Fran, but alas, it was not to be. I ended up standing with him for almost the entire flight so I could rock him and calm him down. At one point I seriously almost locked myself in the airplane's bathroom and cried, but then I channeled Grandma Drouillard who I could just hear telling me "girl, get a grip -- crying isn't going to get you anywhere!"Anyway, we made it. I think Mick was a little concerned when we met him after getting off the plane, I handed him Jack and said "I just need a few moments in the bathroom to cry and then I'll be okay."
Despite Jack's cold, we had a terrific time in San Fran. We stayed in Nob Hill for two nights and Jack and I enjoyed a picnic lunch in the hotel courtyard and got some serious exercise trekking up and down the hills of the area. We were able to go, as a family, on a cable car ride and to enjoy some seafood at Fisherman's Wharf. We then headed up to Napa for two nights where the highlight was Jack weeing through his diaper onto Mick's shirt and all over the floor at one Napa tasting room. Classy. We finished our trip with two nights near Union Square in a great hotel with stunning 29th-floor views. Photos are in our "San Francisco" folder.
We've been home since Tuesday evening and are slowly getting back into the swing of things. Jack has been to the doctor and has a little inhaler to help clear his chest congestion. Mick's dad arrived Wednesday afternoon and has been keeping our Jack busy and amused with lots of playtime. Mick will fly to England on Thursday to spend a long weekend there so Jack and I will be on the lookout for fun things to do around here. If the weather's nice next weekend, I may venture out with him to the zoo or, if we are really brave, we'll navigate the crowds downtown and check out the cherry blossoms. We'll keep you posted!
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