We had a loooong weekend - and it started Thursday!
Thursday, Husband drove us to Bartonville for my mom to pick us up and take us back to my parents' house. Kittyboy, car seat, play pen for sleeping, and stuff for a three-day visit. We would be at their house Thursday, leave on the train Friday for the suburbs to visit cousins and come back that night, and then Saturday Husband would drive up to bring us back. LONG weekend.
Went well, of course - my sister and brother, Auntie K and Uncle S, were thrilled to see their little nephew. And he was thrilled to have his entourage following him from room to room! All went well until it came time to sleep - it took him some time crying first. To be expected, it's a different place, different bed, and no daddy. But then at 10:30, he woke up again - wide awake! NOT going back to sleep! He ran laps of the dining room, he rocked in the rocking chair, he ran some more laps. I took him into MY bed, he would sit quietly until it became apparent that I wasn't going to amuse him, and then he got down to play again. This lasted about an hour before I got the idea of making him his own bed on the floor - he hadn't slept in the playpen since he was still in his crib, so maybe that was part of the problem. Mommy, that's not my bed! I'm a BIG boy! So I folded up blankets and sleeping bags, made a bed, and wrapped him up in a sheet like he's used to. This was followed by crying from him and shushing from me and my mom, and by about midnight, he was asleep enough that she could leave the room and I could lay down. What a night.
The next morning, we got on a train for our First Train Ride Ever. He's barely even SEEN trains, but for one time a month and a half ago that we were at my parents' house (they live two blocks from tracks) and a train went by. Uncle Yan and I pointed at it and signed Train again and again until Kittyboy did it too. But since then, I hadn't talked much about trains or the fact that we'd be riding on one, and the couple trains we'd seen since had been when we were in the car and I couldn't sign. So Friday morning, we were in the train as it was pulling away, and I said "Look, the train's moving now!" and he signed Train!!! He HAD put it together! The thing we were in was the same as the long, slow freight he'd watched a month and a half prior. He is so smart! And he was a very good traveler. I had overpacked my two bags and next time, I know I don't need as much. Just a couple books and his clunky wooden rosary around his neck. He finally has his own children's rosary - mine has been VERY well-loved, and now can be restrung and put up. I surprised him with his on the train, and he was very happy with how bright the colors are! (It hasn't been rained on or sun-bleached... yet). So he had a bright new version of one of his favorite security objects, and very fast scenery going by outside, and "Hop On Pop" to be read over and over and over and over, and that was pretty much all we needed!
My grandparents picked us up, and we had a wonderful visit. His cousins were very happy to see him, and I got to snuggle his cousin JT, who is just 11 months old and SOO precious. He and Kittyboy got along okay, minus some tugs-of-war over that bright and colorful rosary (I think Kittyboy will get him one for Christmas), and so long as I was not physically holding JT. That was Verboten, by order of Kittyboy. We'll be spending a LOT of time with younger babies, and me holding younger babies in his presence, before we have another. The first time I was holding JT in my lap on the floor, my son came up making distressed noises, grabbed his cousin by his shoulders and head, and tried to pull him out of my lap! I told him no and made him let go, and he grabbed my arms to try and pull ME away. It ended up with JT in his mommy's lap crying, and Kittyboy in mine making distressed noises every time his cousin cried. He didn't MEAN to make the baby cry, but I am HIS mommy after all, and it just wasn't fair for me to hold another baby, and couldn't JT understand that?! - is what he was thinking. It was sad. Apparently Kittyboy is quite jealous, and we'll have to work on that. He had a blast, though, watching his girl cousins run around and around and around from the kitchen to the hallway to the livingroom and back. First he was chasing them, then they were chasing him, then he decided they were just too silly for him and came and sat down with me to watch them. It was absolutely hysterical, because he would hear their voices coming closer and fall over laughing before they even came into the room. Their mother and I were laughing so hard, I was crying. It was a blast. When we were leaving, I picked up JT for a goodbye hug, Kittyboy saw that from across the room, and came trotting over making distressed noises again. I gave JT to his mommy and cuddled my boy, and told him that HE is my little boy and nothing changes that, but Mommy can hold other babies too! We've got our work cut out for us before we have another.
He zonked out in my grandparents' car on the way to the train station, and slept from there until our stop. Close to thirty pounds of dead weight on me for an hour and a half. My legs were sore - my back was aching - my arms were DEAD. But at least he slept well that night.
Saturday morning after breakfast, he grabbed his coat, handed it to me, and went to look out the window, so we thought he wanted to go out and play. After the whole long, involved process of getting him ready, his uncle took him out and they came back in again shortly after. All they had done was walk around the car while Kittyboy pulled at the door handles. Methinks he was requesting to go home! He communicates very, very well for not talking. (And his babbling sounds more varied and conversational every day.)
He was sooooooo happy when his daddy came through the door! And this morning, SO happy to wake in his own bed!
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