A fun thanksgiving

Way too cold to do this now! This is from Mike's parents' visit - they took him, with a cold, to the splash pad in the park. Though the fun probably did his cold more good than staying cooped up inside.

Well, I haven't updated in a while, so I guess I should have lots to say.

John has been very blue lately. Mike has been transfered to London for two weeks, and John is clearly in distres over it. It seems there was a huge wave of resignations over the strike out there - lots of bitterness - so they had to bring in a huge crew to help them catch up. He gets crazy overtime, gets to live in a hotel, and gets a cash per diem way larger than what he could possibly ever use, so it's like a cash bonus. We thought it would be great for us, because the daily grind of him working 80 hour weeks, and me full time, and trying to do everything myself was really wearing both of us down. I miss him and all, but life is easier for both of us - I don't have to eat dinner at 10 p.m. He doesn't have to wait for the bathroom, and he gets a big hot breakfas, including eggs and pancakes complimentary at the hotel. He's in heaven, and I'm getting more rest, so it's good for us.

John, however, is not so thrilled. He's spent the last week wandering aimlessly around the house yelling "Da!...Da!...Da!" Clearly, he's searching for Dad. Times when they normally play are the worst. In the mornings, Adrian comes down the stairs and goes for work, usually while I'm dressing John in the living room. When John hears the footsteps coming down, the gets so excited! He tears away from me,and runs, often buck naked, up to the glass door, which blocks off stairs going up. As the footsteps come closer, he gets more and more excited. He jumps up and down. He squeals. Then, he sees that it isn't dad. His face falls. His body slumps. He wails. It's just miserable to watch.

For the first week, he wouldn't sleep. He woke up in the night, and clearly wanted to be held, so I'd bring him back to bed with me, only to have him get even more upset, because Dad wasn't in bed, like normal. Mike thought it might help to explain to him where he was, so I tried, and the second I said the word "Dad," John jumped up, his face aglow, and tore into the den, where Dad can normally be found. He found an empty chair and came back screaming.

Thankfully, Mike was given Sunday off. He got home Saturday evening, and they spent plenty of time cuddling, which made John's day. On Sunday, we spent the whole day together. They played hide and go seek in the morning (John's favourite game). At noon, Jer and Tiffany picked us up, and we stopped by the World's Fair. We were only there for a half hour or so - just long enough to see the chickens! You had to see John's face, as Dad showed him all the different kinds of chickens and ducks and roosters and geese and pidgeons. His mouth hung open and i don't think he blinked the entire time!

Then, we went to a town near London, for Thanksgiving dinner. There was a 12 month old girl there, which was pretty fun! John hasn't seen a baby younger than him in a long time - both kids in daycare are older. It was pretty fun watching them interact.

Before dinner, they were both happy exploring. John, true to his ways, collected pine cones for us. First he brought them to me. Then, when I had about 7 of them, he transfered them one by one to Mike, who was stuck holding them all. Not to be outdone, I eventually got a handfull of dead grasses he had collected for me. For those who haven't seen it, John is a great collector of like objects. When we walk home from the store, he stops to pick up leaves. During our last trip to the park, twigs were the "it" item. Other parents look at him very strangely, but I think it's quite bright of him to pick out all the same things like that. I was very impressed by the pine cones, because there weren't many of them, so he really had to hunt. He'd be a hoot at an east egg hunt, but knowing him, he'd come back with a basket of dandilions or something.

After dinner, I brought out the toys, and was an instant baby magnet. It was so funny watching them. John dumped all of his Duplo out on the floor, and then, instead of, you know, maybe building something, they each started this mad scramble to collect as many pieces for themselves as possible. Then they played with the pieces they had each collected, but were not at all happy playing out of the same pile. Then the larger toys came out and the same thing happened. They played tug-of-war over the phone many times. At one point, John saw Kylie going for the phone, so he picked up his little bead thing - the one where you have to push the beads along the wires. He actually gave that to her - put it right on her lap - and took the phone for himself. It was hilarious. It was a very primal form of play, I guess. Whatever looked like the most fun at that instant, both had to have.

We headed home, and Mike spent that night here too. He headed back early the next morning. John's taking the separation much better this week. It's like he understands that dad still exists, and he's coming back eventually, just like he came back the last time.

John is becoming quite bright. He can understand some of the things we say. Like, I say, take this to dad, and he does. Or bring me your cup, and he does. It's just little things, but we think it's pretty impressive. He has a small vocabulary of his own, but it's hard for anyone but us to understand him. He says baby, cat, hi, bye-bye and red, and what I think is down. Mike taught him red. He doesn't use them all the time, but they do come out. He copies our tones, which is really cute. He'll pick up one of his books and follow the words with a finger, jabbering gobbledygook, but in the same sort of rhythmic tone Mike and I use when we read the stories. It's so cute! He's very big on books right now. He likes to turn the pages and point at the pictures. One is a book of nursery rhymes, including Humpty Dumpty. I read it to him, and pointed out Hunpty Dumpty in the picture. Then he flipped to the front cover, where there were pictures of all the characters in the book. I asked him to find Humpt Dumpty, and he pointed right at him! Isn't he smart?

He's developed a bizarre obsession with one particular blanket - his pink knitted one. If he's fussy, I pull out this blanket, and he settles right down. He pulls it around the house, wherever he goes. He won't sleep without it. This is normal, right? It came out of nowhere, and it's a blanket he hasn't used very much in his life until now. He just pulled it out of the clean laundry pile one day, and they've been together ever since. Very strange, but I'm going with it for now. It appeared at the same time that Mike left, so I'm thinking they might be related.

On the new baby front, all seems well. For those who don't know, I'm due April 4. Mike was a little bothered at first that it's so close to his own birthday, but now he seems to think it's kind of cool.

I can feel the baby move now, which is a huge comfort. Every couple of days, I get a little flutter. Now and then I'll get a really big flutter, or lots and lots of little flutters, but mosly just a tiny flutter here and there. I didn't tell Mike at first, because I didn't think he'd believe me, and say it was just gas like last time, but he was actually really happy when I finally did tell him. And it's not gas! I know the difference from experince now - this is most definitely the baby.

Now the dreaded hunt is on for a girl's name that we both like. Mike is still stuck on Joan, but he has yet to find anyone else who likes it.

I need to know women's names on my side of the family - I know grandparents, but we need great grandparents, great aunts. Anything back there to help broaden the pool a little. Anyone? Names please!?

Anyway, I had better get going. John has found his way into a closet, and who knows what he may encounter in there.