Happy 2014!!!

I'm sorry it has been so long.  With traveling and everything else there just hasn't been any time.  Jayden and I left the day after Christmas to fly to Seattle.  I was a little nervous flying alone with Jayden, but I packed efficiently, checked our suitcase and planned the flights around naptime.  And it was a resounding success.  Most of the credit goes to our child, who is just the best little boy (big boy, if you ask him) ever.  He slept the first hour of the flight and then we drew for a little bit and then played on the iPad for a little bit.  And then we were there!

Jayden was very excited to see Gramma and Auntie and to ride in Gramma's car.  He wasn't a huge fan of the ferry boat at night but was very excited to piles of toys to play with when we got to Gramma's house.  We pretty much ate dinner and went to bed, and Jayden was great.  He slept in the crib and he slept all night, until a little before 7 am.  Not bad at all, especially for a new place.

The next day we opened the gifts that were remaining.  Jayden of course was excited to open presents.

A stocking from Gramma.

Opening a puzzle from Great Aunt Terri, Emily and Molly.  Dinosaurs!

We got out of the house in the rather chilly weather and went to a park and to lunch, before coming home to prepare for the Wrights (our good family forever friends) coming over that evening.

"Swide!"

Climbing!  And he is wearing his hat - a huge victory!

Checking out the Christmas shadow box-thingy with Gramma.

Jammin' to some music.

Some more jamming.

Hugs with Auntie, and with the new doggie from the Wrights.

Messing around with the present Jayden gave Gramma, a pig popper that shoots little soft green balls out of its nose.  It was loads of fun.

Saturday we hung around the house in the morning, exploring outside a little and then went in to Seattle to do some returning/exchanging.

Checking out the rocks and shells on the beach.

The game turned out to be finding mussel shells and throwing them into the water.  Until the tide started coming in and Jayden thought the water was going to "get him" and he had to be carried.  Oh poor deprived child not understanding the tides.  :)

Serious faces on the ferry boat.  With his hat on again!

Looking out the window for other boats.

Being silly for Gramma at dinner.

Talking to Daddy from the car on the ferry boat.
This might have been my favorite moment.  When Carmen calls I have a photo of him that pops up.  Because of facetime/skype, Jayden thinks that when he sees the picture he's actually seeing Carmen and that Carmen can see him.  So first of all, he called Carmen all on his own.  Second, he was telling him all kinds of stories: "Daddy, I on ferry boat!  It's uh sdkjnejadgisjfigjshtjtjsgljnsfkjthjs."  Normally when he's talking on the phone Carmen waits for me to interpret.  Well this time, not only could I not interpret but I couldn't even say anything because I was laughing so hard.  He seriously said maybe two or three sentences to Carmen that were completely unintelligible.  And finally, a boat with lights went by and Gramma pointed out the boat while Jayden was talking to Daddy.  So Jayden said "Daddy, a boat!  With wights!"  And then Jayden took the phone and pointed it towards the boat so Daddy could see too.  I explained to Carmen that he was "looking" at the boat, so luckily he played along.  It was so cute and so fun to see Jayden so happy talking to his Daddy.

Sunday we went for a walk near the house and then went to a family friend's house who we haven't seen in a while.  It was nice to see them and Jayden enjoyed worrying about their dog.

I saw these on one of my runs and decided I had to show Jayden.  I called them dinosaurs but when I showed the picture to Carmen he corrected me - this is Godzilla.  In any case, Jayden was not terribly impressed.  Above is about as close as he would get and even that was pushing it.

I forget exactly why we did this, but he asked me to do it.  :)

Walking on the public dock.  Jayden claimed he saw two green fish.  We're pretty confident we saw no fish.  But I'll fully support the imagination!

Playing marbles!

My little angel.  Except when he wakes up at 3 am and spends the next 3-4 hours literally kicking me in the head.

Monday was Ellen's turn to leave.  Her flight left midday so we went to the boat around 10 am.  We were a little early so we got some warm beverages.  When we went to start our car, it wouldn't start.  It was the weirdest thing - the controls were shaking and there was absolutely no turnover.  The local cops who patrol the ferry waiting lot came over and jump started the car, and the ferry workers were nice enough to let us on the boat, even though we'd need a jump to get off the boat too (it's absolutely not allowed to leave your car running for the ferry ride).  Mom was quick on her feet and explained we were trying to get to the airport.  By this point we'd sent Ellen running to walk on to the boat with her luggage, in case they wouldn't let us on the boat.  So I think maybe they thought Jayden and I were headed to the airport?  Who knows.  In any case, they jumped us to get off the boat, we drove straight to the airport, threw Ellen out of the car while it was almost still moving and then drove straight to get a new battery.  The dealership was great, although not in a great location.  Our choices for lunch were KFC, Pizza Hut or Taco Bell.  Oh well!

Not cooperating for Auntie's farewell picture.
Lizzle, if it makes you feel any better, he's been asking about you ever since: "Where Auntie?  Auntie in Yhorrr?"  (Yhorrr = New York in Jayden language).  Yesterday when I told him we were on our way to the airport, Jayden asked hopefully "Go see Auntie?!?"  I had to explain that you don't, in fact, live at the airport and that you were home in New York.  So now he just keeps asking me "Auntie in Yhorrr?"  And I say "yes."  And then we repeat that three to four more times.  

Trucks on his head!

Silly faces with Mama.

Rockin' out in KFC.  He was getting down to some bad elevator-type music.

Reading a book while waiting for yet another ferry boat.

Tuesday it was our turn to leave.  Gramma and Jayden played in the morning while I got us packed up and ready to go, and snuck in one last run in my favorite place to run ever (besides the giant hill at the end).  We got back on the ferry boat, for the final time this trip.  Jayden was excited when we told him we were on our way to see Daddy and Jasmine.  And to clarify, Daddy was more exciting than Jasmine, in case anyone was worried.  We had to explain to Jayden 465 times that Mommy and Jayden were getting on the airplane to go to California to "go fine [find] Daddy" and that Gramma was going to go back to Gramma's house to "be wif Grampa."  It was awesome.

A few last games of marbles in the morning with Gramma.

Mommy and Jayden in the airport.

One last goodbye between Gramma and Jayden.

"Our" airplane.  Jayden wanted a picture.

Passed out in my lap before we even took off, maybe even before we backed away from the gate.  He was asking me all kinds of questions about taking off.  I got his blanket out in preparation and he said "Mommy, put on me."  So I laid the blanket on him and he was out in about twenty five seconds.  Awesome.  He slept for a little more than an hour again, then woke up and we did the same as before, had some snack, colored a little and then played on the iPad.

The view leaving Seattle - Mt. Rainier.

The view landing in California - we're over the Pacific Ocean, I think just south of Long Beach.

For New Years Eve we had big plans, which involved football and take out.  Jayden was in a good mood, but was easily in bed by 8:00 pm.  Carmen and I made it to midnight, even though we probably shouldn't have.

Carmen left this morning on a 7:30 am flight and I had been up around 3 am on Tuesday when Jayden decided he needed to sleep with Mommy.

Today Jayden and I went to Silver Lake (in L.A.) to have lunch with a few of my friends.  He was a hot mess this morning but calmed down once he slept a little on the ride to the restaurant.  He gobbled up his pancakes and even ate a little bacon (usually meat is the hardest thing for me to get him to eat).  When we got home we pretty much went straight outside and spent the afternoon running around with the tiny lemons that fall off our tree and Jasmine.

A close up.  He told me "no smile Mama."  I said no problem, I just want a picture.  You can see the lemon on the ground behind him to the left.

The lemon landed in the "garden."  We had thrown it from behind me.  But for some reason, the only way Jayden believed he could enter the garden was to run forward, through the grass and walk in by the retaining wall.  Then he walked around the back of all of the plants to get to this lemon that was a millimeter from the giant concrete pad from where we had just thrown it.  Whatever.  The more he runs the better.

Throwing a lemon at a brick wall.  Turns out they either bounce back to you or get stuck in the bushes on the wall.  Good times.

Tomorrow it's back to work for me and back to Juju's for Jayden.  He is actually really excited to go see Lucas.  He's been without friends for about two weeks now and I think he really misses interacting with kids.   He always stares, but I feel like he's been staring extra hard at kids recently, probably hoping he either knows them or can run away with them.  He even waved and blew kisses at a little girl in the restaurant today.  Her name was Julia.  So cute!

He continues to grow, in all number of ways - physically, mentally, developmentally, etc.  He's really smart.  He has a great memory - when I tell him Daddy is in Carolina or Florida or wherever, he can tell me and other people without me reminding him.  He is amazingly curious.  I was asked "what's dat noise?" about 97234 times while we were in Seattle.  He listens so well, I can be less careful than I might otherwise be because if I tell him to stop he pretty much always listens.  He's charming.  And he's goofy.  He makes the funniest faces.  Last night during dinner he kept making faces at Carmen, just to be funny.  Kind of like the picture above of me and him in the car - where his eyes are squinty and he's kind of smiling.  He loves making that face.  And he knows he's being funny.  I hope he retains that sense of humor.  But I think he will with the two of us as his parents.

Now it's off to bed so I can try to stay awake at my desk tomorrow.  We wish you all a wonderful 2014 with many fabulous adventures and lots of love and laughter.