Since November, we have been busy and Jack has been especially busy - learning new words, new tricks and earning frequent flyer miles! We spent Thanksgiving with Doug & J'net and my family and it was a nice, relaxing day, although a difficult one without Justin.
On Dec. 2, we headed off to Hawaii. It was the 5th time that Scott and I have been there but of course this was Jack's maiden voyage and certainly his longest plane ride. We were very concerned about how he would do on the plane - we had to fly from Cincinnati to Atlanta and then direct from Atlanta to Honolulu (9hours & 45min). I was prepared with toys, treats, bottles and drugs to ensure that we - and everyone around us - had a good flight. Of course it was all for not b/c our extraordinary boy had fun on the trip to Atlanta flirting with the flight attendants and then once we got on the plane in Atlanta, he ate his dinner and promptly fell asleep for the entire flight. It was unbelievable. He was such a good boy, and everyone commented on it. He was just as good on our flight back home, sleeping almost the entire way as well. We couldn't have lucked out more. There were plenty of other screaming meamies on our flights, but as long as it wasn't Jack, it was music to my ears!
He absolutely loved Hawaii (told ya he was smart). Our first week was very rainy (almost hurricaine weather a couple of days), but he didn't care. 14 months must be the perfect age for something like this b/c he was happy to do whatever we wanted and was happy to be done whenever we were done. He absolutely loved the beach, and he had a great time playing in the waves. Scott and I would toss him back and forth counting to three before we would toss. He would just say over and over "tee, tee, tee" which meant he wanted us to count to three again and throw him. One of the highlights of the trip was when he got to go across the finish line of the Honolulu Marathon with his Daddy. Jack and I waited about a quarter mile away from the finish line and when Scott ran by we did the big handoff. At first Jack wasn't sure who swept him away and started to cry but once he saw it was his Daddy he was all smiles - even in the rain.
While we were in Hawaii, Jack said his first sentance - "Bye, Buy Truck". As soon as he had mastered that he was saying "Bye Bye" to everything and everybody - all the time. Of course, we were so excited every time we heard it that we encouraged him to repeat it. His talking really surged while we were gone and he kept us entertained the entire time with his pointing and proclaiming, which was always followed up with our unabashed praise and assertions that "he really is smart!" We were sure he was going to take his first steps in Hawaii. He loved "walking" on the beach holding our hands, but even with encouragement he wouldn't venture out on his own.
For some reason, Jack decided to adopt his "ba ba" while were on the trip as well. He picked the blanket that Tiffany had made for him as his special "ba ba" and had to have it with him everywhere at all times (and still does). It is like a love affair when he sees it and he runs and hugs it tight saying "ba ba" with the most adoration in his voice that you've ever heard. I'm glad he has found his security item, just a little wary that he chose the one handmade blanket that can't be replaced so we try to be as careful as we can with it.
We got home from Hawaii and rested a bit while we tried to get back into a "winter" mindset and gear up for the holidays. Christmas was here before we knew it and Jack was ready. He wasn't sure why there was a tree in our house or in every building for that matter, but he liked it. He didn't really bother the tree, which I was surprise about, but he loved looking at it. He also was into Santa. He got his picture taken with the big guy when were in Hawaii, and learned to say "Santa", which he would say about anything with a red hat (still does). So, although he didn't get the connection between Santa and the gifts, he loved saying his name.
So, Christmas Morning - I heard Jack wake up on his monitor and the first words he said that morning were "Santa, Santa". Now, as much as I'd like to think it was his genius factor kicking in, I confess I know it was the fact he could see the Santa book we read at bedtime the night before. Jack slept until 8am on Christmas morning too, which I think was his gift to Mommy and I'm pretty sure it will be the last time for a while that he'll sleep in on the big day.
Once he got up we played a bit while we waited on Daddy to finish up his holiday run and then headed for the Christmas tree to see what Santa had brought. There was a stocking full of surprises, a brand new truck and some puzzles and Jack's first set of golf clubs. He thought all that was nice (sorry Santa) but everything else was forgotten once Jack saw his new best friend - his shiny new red Radio Flyer car that Unlce Jack and Aunt Joie sent. It was love at first sight and he proceeded to push that car around for rest of the day non-stop. We had to coax him to stop to open the gifts that Grandma and Uncle Mike brought by. He never even got to the gifts under the tree and we didn't care. It was so great to see him having fun. His "tru-uck" is still the first thing he looks for (after he securely has "ba ba" in hand) when he wakes up in the morning. He's actually pretty great at steering it and will run at full speed pushing it but will be able to stop just short of ramming into the wall, furniture, dog, Mommy's leg, etc. which we all appreciate.
So, back to the holiday - we decided on Christmas afternoon to pack up the unopened gifts and ourselves and hit the road, literally. We headed out to surprise Scott's family in Hilton Head. We hadn't seen them since Jack's birthday and since the holiday made the workload light we decided to take advantage of it. Jack was a trooper in the car and slept most of the trip. We spent the night in a hotel and then headed into HH the next morning. We were very successful with the surprise effort. We caught Nana and Papa off guard, but they were so excited to see Jack we were forgiven immediately for not telling them we were coming. We had a great time seeing Nana, Papa, Aunt Ashley, Unlce Eric and Lexi & Abbie. Unfortunately Dereck was back in Ohio so we missed seeing him. Jack had a big time with his cousins as usual.
The ultimate highlight of the trip to HH was THE FIRST BIG BOY STEPS on Dec. 29!! Jack decided to save that milestone and share it only with Papa. He and Papa were home alone for an hour or so and he decided that would be the perfect time to take off on his own. We were sorry we didn't witness the actual first steps ourselves, but glad that Papa got to share that special moment with his boy. Jack seemed to take to Papa pretty well too and now at home carries his picture around and kisses it saying "Papa, Papa". It's pretty cute and I think Jim would think so too.
After leaving HH, we drove over to Atlanta for a quick visit for New Years with Phil and Barb and their families. It had been a long while since we had been to Atlanta so it was great to see everyone and spend New Year's Eve with them. We also got to visit my roomate from college and her family who live there. Erica has a little boy, Joshua, who is just 9 months old and we were hoping that he and Jack would hit it off, but Jack was a little cranky that day and less than social. But he was more than happy to play with Joshua's toys once he went to take a nap - we need to work on the "making friends" skills.
Finally on New Year's Day we headed home and were glad to be there and planned to stay for a while. Only 9 days out of the month of December in Cincinnati was a little too much travel time. Jack was excited to see his room and his toys - he seems to be a homebody at heart just like his Mommy and Daddy. There's no place like home!
Whew - looking back we really did pack a lot into a few weeks. No wonder we were tired.
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