Playing catch up

I feel so lame that I haven't updated this blog in over a week! To be fair, last week was a doozy, and then I went up north for the weekend to see Nonnie and Papa with Owen, so I apologize for not being more "in touch" on this site. I pledge to do better this week! Yeah, we'll see how that goes.

Owen and I flew up Thursday night. I had no idea what to expect on the flight. He's 12 months now - his reaction to flying could range from mellow to screaming banshee not wanting to sit still for an HOUR. Who am I to predict such a thing?

The airport was interesting. He wanted to crawl all over; any mother can tell you that the last thing she really wants to see is her child crawling on the floor of an airport terminal, but I can also guarantee that the last thing that anyone else wanted to see was a screaming back-arching child waiting to board the same plane as them. Sooo, he crawled on the floor of the airport terminal. To all those gaping in horror at their computer screen, believe me when I say that we washed his hands very well and went through almost an entire bottle of hand sanitizer. It was all worth it because as soon as we got on the plane, we read some books, he nursed, and then he was asleep. We had a whole row to ourselves - bliss! He slept the whole flight, the whole drive home, I put him to bed and it was fantastic. And, aside from the green fungus on the palms of his hands, he's totally fine!

The trip back to OC was somewhat less subdued but I was blessed with no one in the middle seat and so Mr. Snuggles was able to play on the floor (again with the floor, I know I know), play with the man behind us (which was all fun and games until Owen smacked the top of this guy's head when he was reading leaning over his tray table - whoops!), and look out (and occasionally attempt to lick) the window.

In between the two flights, Owen learned a new word ("doggie!" - exclamation point included of course), charmed the pants off of all our friends up north, crawled all over Nonnie's garden, and spent a good amount of time hugging Ozzie (this activity is also known as "collecting dog hair" - seriously, springtime is not a good time to introduce a 2.5 foot tall dog fanatic to a laborador). Ozzie is such a perfect dog for kids, though. He gave the occasional sweet lick (nothing like Blue's unending painting in dog slobber), let Owen roll all over him and hug him, and - and this part is amazing - let Owen touch his tongue, nose, eyes, ears...he's a sweet DOGGIE!! Owen was constantly signing and saying "doggie" it was cute and also exhausting because I knew each snuggle session with Ozzie meant a change of clothes. Anyone who knows me at all probably knows that I brought more clothes for Owen than he would normally need for a 2 week vacation, and yet I could have used many more clothes for him given how quickly they were covered in Ozzie fur.

I, myself, had a great time. It was one of the funnest trips in recent memory, not only because of the fantastic cocktail party Mommers threw on Friday (complete with 6 types of homemade savory galettes and fabulous company) but also because of the nice visiting time with Mommers, Diana, Meredith & Bill, and Michelle & Lance. I was somewhat anxious about traveling with Owen alone at this age (his, not mine - at 33 I've learned the ropes) but I seem to always forget what a joy he is and what a charmer he is; he manages to win people over no matter where he goes.

While we were gone, Keith went for a looong ride on Saturday and started an Oktoberfest brew with Stew & Jenny on Sunday. I came home to a fabulous dinner and tasty Lambic. All in all, a really great week!

Tonight: Dinner with Gary & Kim (she's pregnant!). Thursday - girls night out with Jenn. Friday - fun at home with Owen & the Triplets. I'll keep everyone up-to-date with the scoop.