Family Love

Owen and I flew home Saturday and Sunday this long weekend to visit my folks. Because Owen is walking now, I was a bit more apprehensive about the flight; I just wasn't sure if Owen would be willing to sit in a 2x2' space for an hour plus. But after both flights I realized that I need to give people more credit; more often than not people are good, friendly human beings. It is the rare person who rolls their eyes when they're stuck with the middle seat next to a toddler, in fact most people are quite thrilled to see Owen. On the flight to Oakland, I ended up having the best combination for our row of three seats: two grandmothers who were happy to take Owen from me. In fact, one of them, this delightful Russian woman, insisted that I hand over my child and relax. Imagine a thick Russian accent coming from the mouth of a small woman with short spikey dyed-blonde hair and smiling bright blue eyes: "Give him to me. Yes, to me. Give him to me and you sit back and relax." She spent the next 15 minutes showing Owen how to unlock, lower, and bang on the tray table. He was in heaven.



Needless to say both flights went fantastically, as did the entire trip. It was short but packed full of Owen-watching and fun. My Mom and I share a love for watching my boy do...anything. We sit together and watch Owen do whatever he is doing and talk about how cute he is and how great it is to be a Mom. His favorite new past-time at Nonni and Poppa's house: playing with Nonni's gardening implements and squealing with glee at Ozzie, who would offer the occasional soft lick or nudge with his nose to keep Owen satisfied that he was paying attention.



Some good family friends came for a visit on Sunday. John and Lois Rogers are some of the loveliest people I've ever met, and they are the parents of 6 children, one of whom, Molly, is a friend of mine from college. Their youngest, Liz, came along for the visit and brought her family (Steve - husband, Henry - 2.5, Maggie - 8 months) and together we enjoyed a fantastic lunch a la Marcia, then headed to the park for some family fun. Every time I see Liz I think the same thing: "Why do I not talk to this woman EVERY SINGLE DAY?" She really is that great. Needless to say it was a great way to cap off the visit.

Today we've spent with friends (Jenny & Stew) and family (Meg, Adam, Mathis). We babysat Mattie for an hour and a bit, and he and Owen spent most of the time cracking each other up. It's one thing to see a sense of humor emerge in a 14-month old, see him finding things funny on his own. It's another thing entirely to see two kids, 14- and 15-months old finding the same thing funny and doing it over and over again to make each other laugh. That is something entirely fantastic.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!