We just returned from another tour of the states and are enjoying a good 2 week break at home as a tiny family. For the last two weeks, Daryl and I have been jumping around the United States for a total of some 15,000 sky miles and 12 airports all together. Daryl hit Virginia/DC for another tough week of measurements and meetings and then swung through Oregon to visit his Mom, Donna (more on that in my next blog).
ALBUQUERQUE
While he was TCB, I hit the trail with little Phoenix in his signature leopard suit to visit Albuquerque/Santa Fe. It was half work and half play for me. I had a measurement out in Grants, about an hour and a half outside of Albuquerque. So I enlisted some help from Mom to babysit. It didn't take much arm twisting. I ended up having to take two site visits for 8-10 hours each so she had two full days with Phx and survived! It felt so good to get back on the work horse and meant so much to me to be able to leave Phx in good hands for a full day. I want to move her out to SD right now! But, I almost cried when I got home, I missed my little guy so much. I'm not used to being without him anywhere now. Although I enjoy having some independence from him sometimes, I don't feel the need to get away from him near as much as I feared I would. I enjoy taking him with me just about everywhere I go. It's nice to have someone to talk to all the time. Poor kid.
So, while I was away for the day, I called to check in with Mom to let her know I was leaving the site and would be home soon. We talked briefly and then I let her go. But, when she put the phone down, she unknowingly did not hang up. And, I could hear them playing with one another in the distance. I drove for several miles just smiling to myself soaking in the sounds of grandma and baby enjoying one another. It gave me a lot of confidence in leaving those two together (as if there was any doubt). We also managed to squeeze in a little shopping and Grandma Kim got Phx som great outfits to kick off his summer wardrobe. She treated me to some appropriately fitting jogging bras (yeah!) and a couple of shirts and not second hand stuff, either. This stuff had TAGS on them! It's been so long since I hav bought tagged items, I felt guilty tearing the plastic ties off as if they were stolen. There is nothing like going shopping with Mom, is there girls? I told her I wanted to do some serious shopping while I was with her because it's great to just have that extra person so you can just run to the bathroom without having to pack the entire mountain of baby support items into the stall like a sherpa headed for the peak of Everest. I even took Phx once in to an itty bitty bathroom, but could not fit him in to the stall. I couldn't leave him outside unattended, so I just left the door open and hoped no one came in at that moment. I got away lucky that time. Mom and I also went scouting for potential properties in the Albuquerque area. It was a lot of fun. My Mom rocks.
The first day I was in town, Jason treated all the Moms (new & established) to a Mom's Day dinner. He grilled a delicious meal of kebabs that included buffalo steak, which was delicious. I guess it's notable for being juicy & flavourful without being fatty. Phoenix and Amanda are really starting to become aware of each other. We're trying to give them some good play time together. But, they are a handful and I can't picture anyone watching both of them at the same time for excessive amounts of time. Jas and I took Amanda and Phx to Santa Fe for a day. We spent a brief morning with Nanny and then split up. Jas did his delivery rounds and I hung out with Victoria.
She was so accommodating and escorted me to check out a property up in Hyde Park for a couple that might be doing a project there. It was really great to walk the property with her and talk about the sun, the wind, the views. It was gorgeous up there. Phx was good and V was so great just being patient with me and my buddy. Everything takes a little longer with Phx in tow, but I suppose he's worth it. We were going to squeeze some other stuff in, but we knew we were on a short schedule, so opted to go back to her pad and just hang out which was just fine with me. She has a great place for a crawling baby. We can all sit in the living room and watch Phx wrestle around and eyeball her cat. She put on a puppet show for Phx, which I caught in a movie. I uploaded it to YouTube and will post the link once I add a few more movies. We both miss each other a lot despite all our recent trips back and forth. But, we have managed to keep in touch between visits using iChat. It's fun to keep her abrest of Phx latest antics. She is really geting to be a stellar surrogate Mom, but I don't think they're ready for me to drop Phx off for the week!
Well, the week went by so fast. The morning I was leaving, Jas put together a breakfast. It was nice to enjoy the morning with peers Jas, Heather and Heather's visiting sister, Colleen.
TAMPA
So, Phx and I hit the skies again and find ourselves in Tampa Airport. Beth and Eric pick us up with Little Jacob. Beth looked amazing. She did an incredible job keeping fit during her pregnancy and maintaining after. She looks better at 2 months than I do at 8 months. I'll definitely model the next pregnancy after her because losing weight after having the baby is no fun. Then, Jacob and Phx proceed to scream the entire 20 minute car ride home. Beth and Eric are visibly disturbed by the significan volume of Phx shrill cry. Something to look forward to as little Jacob is only 2 moths old and his tiny wails are quickly drowned out. Finally, just blocks from home, the boys fall asleep.
It took beth and I a few days to figure out our new relationship. We were not just silly high school girls or crazy college girls now. We were two mommies. We had these new responsibilities that had top priority and lots of new aspects to our personalities to incorporate. Honestly, it was very disorienting at first. I'm not sure we recognized each other with our new cuddly accessories. But, after a time, we could spend some time together while the two boys napped and finally settled in to our old comfortable friendship. We re both still here under all our Mommy duties--the same two girls riding around with a fresh driver's license and bad perms singing to Depeche Mode. We just have better hair and less sleep. I think we both learned to not try to tend to each other's needs as much as we normally might. It's every Mom for herself. And, if you have a little bit more to give after your stuffs in order, you lend a hand to the other. It seemed the more I tried to "help out," the more turmoil I caused because my attention was divided between any given situation and Phx. I just know how nice it was to have people come help me when Phx was in that first stage of need and it was so great to havethat help. I wanted to do that for Beth. But, just sharing this experience side by side and witnessing this event for each other ended up being really great. We are in a unique position to one another, having known each other since Sophmore year of highschool (gee, almost five years now ;) .
We hit the beach together and enjoyed all the amenities of their cool house. I'll let the pictures speak for me here or this blog is going to be a novel. The last day, Eric's sister joined us and was a big help with both babies. Phx was cute with Jake. Eric seemed to really enjoy interacting with Phx and is obviously going to have so much fun when Jake starts going mobile. He said he was going to have to temprarily suspend Jakes nickname and apply it to Phx while he was visiting. His nickname is "Big Boy." Beth's a real natural Mom and reminds me so much of myself at that stage. It's so weird to relive that stage now that I'm at the crawling stage. It seems so easy now, but seemed very challenging at the time. I found myself saying to her what all the experienced mommies were saying to me at two months: ...I don't mind the crying at all so don't worry about me...Enjoy this stage. It goes by so quick!...his neediness doesn't last forever...I really don't mind changing his diaper...
But, now I understand why they were saying it to me. I'm not sure I can explain it. But, those Mom's mean what they are saying. It's not a romatic, mushy, sentimental thing. It's a real factual thing. Phx was a good kid on the trip home, but I got a little air sick. I was so happy to see Daryl in the airport, it felt like we hadn't seen each other for months. Phx rcognized him right away.
SAN DIEGO
The next day, the Roeleffs swept into town. I didn't have a lot of energy the first day, but Julie and I managed to make a trip to the Farmer's Market and pick up some fresh goodies for grilling. Her boys, Brett & Gabe (& Dave) really entertained themselves playing video games and drawings. It gave us a sneak peek at what lies ahead. It's going to be so fun when Phx is old enough for board games! The next day, we hit the zoo. Gabe decided the Hippo was his favorite animal. It was a cool exhibit (se pics). Brett was a ball of energy and I commented what he might look like if he ate sugar--I proposed he would just explode. Phx was very popular in his signature tiger outfit. People stopped to touch him and take his picture. We got one shot of him in front of the tiger cage with the tiger in the background.
PHX DEVELOPMENTS
Now, we are just trying to get some projects wrapped up and get some swimming in at the local pool. Phx is a cute little water bug, now and is starting to turn in to a rel brown bear. I think He'll have my skin coloring. As for his development, it's been an exciting month. He just started to crawl this last week. It's pretty neat to witness the first steps. We ran out and got some baby gates. He's starting to eat more intersting things at the dinner table--like his first watermlon and french fry. His baby babbly is geting more focused. He says "Hi Dad" and this morning for the first time he repeated it to us. He seems to only say it to Daryl, so maybe he's starting to figure out who's Dad & who's Mom. He 'also says ba-ba-ba and puh-puh-puh. I'm not sure they mean anything. He's showing interest in pulling himself up to a standing position, but it's a little too challenging with all his mass for now. He really cracks us up constantly with his expressions.
Oh, and my favorite development--he's learned to play practical jokes! I was shopping with him in hte cart. I have a habit of handing him unbreakable items to distract him. Typically, he drops things when he's not intersted in them anymore. When he dropped the item I handed hiim, I said "Phoenix!" He laughed heartily. So, I handed the item back to him and asked him to hold it for me. He waited until I looked away and dropped it again. I repeated, "Phoenix!" with a smile. He laughed again. This went on and on throughout the store with various items. Everything I bought ended up dented. When I got home, I recreated it for Daddy and we got it on a movie. I'll post it later. Cute stuff.
OK, I've got about half an hour of nap time left so I better get some lunch going. Another blog will follow shortly with our upcoming travel plans and some general news. Hugs & Love to all!
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