Daniel's Baby Steps: Up North

June came in with a bang for us- we had a very busy week's end last week, with so many things to do, places to go, and people to see...but we survived! We spent the weekend in Crystal Falls, Michigan- about a 6 1/2 hour drive for us. Daniel was well entertained in the car by Grandma Mary Kay and Aunt Wendy (visiting from Florida) and lots and lots of toys, and he did well in the car, though the ride was a tad longer than he would have liked I think. On Friday's drive up, he also did not nap at all on the way up and he was up till 9:00 PM too which is really late, especially with no nap. But none of this stopped him from being his charming, happy, playful, chatty self even with so many new faces around at Grandma Ann's house. Daniel was delighted to have new places to explore, both in and out, all weekend, and equally delighted to have a new audience to entertain.

Daniel was also thrilled with having a friend his size, too. Wilson and Daniel followed each other around and played with our toys and just watched each other- it was cute to see their interaction. Daniel kept calling Wilson "Kid" all weekend- as in, where's the kid, kid come sit, there's the kid again, and so on. I've been trying to teach Daniel that some children are babies and some are just older kids, because Daniel would turn and look at the 5th grader in line behind us and say baby. Talk about embarrassing. (And I'm sure more things like that will come, too!) So...Wilson became kid, even though he is still just a baby like Daniel, being just two months younger than Daniel. Anyway, the little ones sure were entertaining.

And it was so nice to see so many family members all together, even if the occasion was a memorial service. We really had a nice visit with family. And Daniel was wonderful, of course. He even took a nap on Saturday after the service and lunch, and then proceeded to be a great sport through dinner and more visits well into late evening. After more visiting Sunday morning, we hit the road just before lunch time, with Grandma Mary Kay and Aunt Wendy entertaining Daniel once again- he sure loved their attention. (In fact, all we heard all weekend- and even still today- was "Wen"- Daniel wants his Aunt Wendy; too bad she lives so far away!) Daniel took two naps in the car this time, which was no surprise considering how busy our weekend was and how late he'd been up the past couple nights. All in all, it was a really nice weekend and we're so glad we went- we always are. We love the fresh air and we're always glad to see Grandma Ann. (I have to say though, seeing Grandma Ann makes me miss my grandparents that much more- especially now that I have my own child- because I know they would have LOVED being great-grandparents.)

One cute story...our first night in the hotel was hard for Daniel because we were in a new place and he was in a different bed. He cried for quite a while before falling asleep, and it was already late anyway. There was none of that clonking out immediately in spite of the late hour and lack of naps- it was heartbreaking to listen to him crying two feet away from our bed. But he fell asleep eventually, as we knew he would. At 4:30 AM, he woke up (he never wakes up that early) and started crying. Ben gave Daniel about two minutes and then ended up bringing him to bed with us. Oh, how I LOVED this- simply because I got to watch my son fall asleep inches away from my face, all snuggled up with his lion, pressed against his daddy, thumb in his mouth (though he did pause at one point to say, "home" clear as a bell- once again, breaking my heart, because we couldn't go home yet and I thought how strange this must all seem to him and of how he must be feeling), stealing glances at me (and that face, those eyes- that face took me back to when he was a newborn, in bed next to us and he'd look up at me- what a wonderful fleeting moment to relive), and later, kicking me, and rolling over in the weirdest most uncomfortable-looking arched back position- I loved it all. And we got two more hours of sleep this way! It was win-win all around. The next night, Daniel clonked out right away pretty much and then slept beautifully all through the night until 7:30 as usual. AND he woke up, stood up in his pack and play, and said, "Mama". That's my boy.