MerryHappy ChristmasNewYear'sBirthday, part 1

In the last 35 days we've been to Illinois (Hazel Crest, Mokena and Chicago), Wisconsin (Appleton and Milwaukee), and California (Anaheim, Studio City, Burbank, and Pasadena). We've celebrated Christmas 4 times (in 4 states) and Zeb's 3rd birthday 5 times (including the party here in Seattle and a virtual party via webcam). We've seen cousins, siblings, parents, and lots of friends. We've visited famous landmarks like Navy Pier, Michigan Ave, the EAA AirVenture Museum, Disneyland, and Ventura Boulevard. We've played in snow, rain, and the sun. If you go back another month, you can add to all of those tallies one more state and city (Arizona, Tucson), another Christmas celebration, and playing in the desert.

Looking back at the sets of photos on flickr from the last couple of months, I can't believe how many places Zeb has traveled and how many people he's met. I am so thankful we have such beautiful family is such wonderful places. (There are 3 sets of photos: December 2008, Zeb's 3rd birthday party, and L.A. January 2009).

It all started on the Winter Solstice, 21 December--a Sunday. Seattle had already seen an unusual amount of snow and schools had been closed for a couple(?) of days. We were to fly around noon on a direct flight to Chicago, but hearing about flights being cancelled on Saturday and with the snow still falling, we were pretty sure our flight would be delayed. Not packed, we decided to relax.

Big mistake. Sunday we woke to more snow and no matter how many times I checked the web site, Southwest continued to show that our flight was "On time." We shoved presents and clothes into our bags and tried to find a way to the airport. Taxi companies weren't answering the phones. Friends didn't want to drive to the airport with all of the snow on the ground. Parking lots near the airport reported being full. Hoping for a flight delay, we threw our bags into the car and headed to the airport--unsure if we could make it and if we did, where we would park.

While the roads between here and I5 were beautiful (i.e., covered in snow), after John drove around the "Road closed" sign and got onto I5, we were fine. We made it to the airport and parked in long-term parking about 1 hour before our flight was to depart. I was still receiving text messages from Southwest that our flight was on-time. Our hearts sunk when the check-in line snaked back and forth in front of the check-in kiosks then bent around not one but two hallways. We kept our fingers crossed for a flight delay.

30 or so minutes later, we're finally checking in our bags and are told the flight has been delayed 1 hour. Thank goodness for the flight delay. We head through security and our gate. JetBlue announces that all flights have been cancelled. The boards shows several flights are delayed. Our flight no longer appears on the board. Uh-oh for the flight delay.

We figure we have time for lunch (thank goodness for the flight delay) so we stop, watch the snow and the planes taking off and landing. The airport is full--so many flights have been delayed or cancelled there are extra people milling around. Our gate is full and while the board shows that our flight should depart from here, the sign at the gate doesn't have our flight on it yet. There are two maybe three plane-fulls of people hanging around our gate. All of the seats are taken and many of us are sitting on the floor. Zeb has a box of candy canes and offers one to a lady sitting next to us, which is a great opener for starting a conversation (this boy has skillz).

Skipping ahead...we're landing at Midway in Chicago. We were only 3 hours delayed leaving Seattle. Zeb still has his box of candy canes and as we wait to exit the plane he starts handing them out to the passengers around us. As we walk off of the plane he has 2 candy canes left to hand out. He tries to hand one to a TSA agent sitting by the gate between the security and baggage claim. She says she can't take it and Zeb pouts. Determined, he sets off walking towards baggage claim looking for someone to give these candy canes to. He is unphased by the river of passengers swirling around him. He finds a young boy sitting, waiting for luggage. His face brightens when Zeb hands him the candy cane, although he is uncertain about accepting it. He looks to me and I reassure him that Zeb actually wants him to take the candy which he does with a big smile.

As we watch the weather the next few days we are thankful that we made it out of Seattle before the de-icer ran out. We listen to stories on the news about people stranded in Seattle. We also made it in to Chicago before the ice storm, tornado warnings, and "melt-down 2008" that caused flooding along river banks. It was a small window that we escaped through, making us appreciate the fact that we were in Chicago with family. It seemed like we were really supposed to be there.

The rest of the trip was just as magical and smooth. Snowed in (then iced in) we enjoyed time at the Boudreaus. Zeb has a firm handle on the concepts of "present," "Santa," and "Christmas Eve." He loved Grandma Mary Ann's Christmas Tree which she decorated with bubbly lights specially for him. The cats, Nipper and Buffy, were less excited about having Zeb as a guest.

Another neat thing that Grandma Mary Ann had for Zeb were Santa night lights in his room. He stayed in John's old room, tucked snuggly into a "real bed" (twin size mattress on a bed frame...compared to the crib mattress on the floor in his "nook" that he sleeps on at home). Seeing him sleep so soundly and proudly in that bed made us realize that it's time to move him into a big boy bed.

We spent Christmas Eve with Aunt Sylvia and John's cousins and their families. John's cousin Michael's daughter, Maddie (Madison), is a couple months older than Zeb. As soon as we walked into the house, they were off and running. They enjoyed each other's company *most* of the rest of the night. :) Christmas Day was at the Boudreau's. Lots of presents and relaxing and eating--another of Mary Ann's well-planned and tastily executed dinners. One of those nights, we shared Wall-E with Grandma Mary Ann and Grandpa Ron.

On the 26th we checked into The Avenue at Huron and Michigan Avenue. When John was looking for a hotel online, he saw a photo of a room that looked like a kid's room. When he called they said that was exactly what it was and gave it to him for a good price. It exceeded all of our best expectations: bean bags, balls, chalkboard with chalk, frog-shaped towels, a suction cup basketball hoop for the bathtub, a spinning globe night light, and lots of room to run around and play with all of it.

That night we walked down Michigan Ave to Borders and found a copy of my book on the shelf then checked out the model train display in the Hancock Tower lobby, then went to dinner. Saturday we took the free trolley to Navy Pier to watch a magician then went to the Children's Museum. That night, despite the rain, we took a taxi (Zeb's first carseat-free ride...he loved the taxi so much he pointed out every taxi that we passed) to Lincoln park for ZooLights. The two female lions sent the frisky male on his way while the string quartet played holiday tunes. At concessions, I drank a *real* eggnog while John sipped a beer. We road the carousel. Saw a few other indoor exhibits then took a taxi back to the hotel where we rented a movie.

Saturday, we cabbed back to Lincoln Park, this time to the Conservatory to meet our college friend Thom and his three children to check out the plants and, of course, more trains! We headed back to the zoo where we met two more college friends Bill and Jim and Jim's wife Hope. (Side note: Jim, Bill, and John were in a band Chassis for a long time...they made many wonderful songs together). So, it was a bit of a reunion at the zoo! We hung out with the gorillas for a while then headed to lunch.

Monday we packed the car up and started Phase III of Christmas 2008: Appleton, Wisconsin and a visit with my brother, Zach. After a beer at a local micro brewery and a trip to the grocery store, we headed back to Zach's where I cooked dinner and we watched Wall-E. Tuesday we went to the EAA AirVenture Museum...airplanes!

Wednesday we started Phase IV: Milwaukee. We stayed with Mark--one of John's friends from high school--his wife Sue and their children Alex and Elsa. Alex is 9 months older than Zeb, so they are a pretty good match. We arrived post-nap and a couple hours before Alex and Elsa returned home from daycare, so Zeb had some time to hang out at the place before they got home. We fed the kids dinner, set up a bed for Zeb in the office, and met the babysitter--one of the teachers at Alex's daycare. Guess what we put in the DVD player? Wall-E! Soon after, the four parents were off to our own dinner. Sue called the sitter who had managed to get all three kids to sleep. I was so proud of Zeb! A new house, a new bed, a new sitter....no problem.

So, it was off to the New Year's Eve party at Rachel and David's house. Mark and Sue wanted us to surprise everyone, so they hadn't told anyone we were coming and asked us to wait in the car for a few minutes so they could get in their greetings before we came through the door. People were definitely surprised! It was great to see everyone.

New Year's Day the boys (Mark, Alex, John, and Zeb) went to the Marquette v. Villanova game while the ladies (Sue, Elsa, and I) watched it from home. That night we built lots of forts and race tracks and the boys alternated between playing with and tormenting each other.

Friday we headed back to Hazel Crest for one final evening with the Boudreaus before catching an on-time flight early Saturday morning.

Zoinks! That's a lot of detail. I haven't even started about the Birthday Party or the California trip! Looks like this will be part 1 in a 2 or 3 part series. :)

Since last I wrote...

Changes are afoot and that's when my writing takes the backseat....there seems to be a quarterly pattern developing. Curious.

As we've segued into autumn, our schedule has changed, J's been traveling, and I have successfully mastered keeping four balls in the air (Z, inner home/cooking, work, and finances). Next up: integrate into the mix "me," "john," and "outer home."

Z and I have joined the Crown Hill Toddler Preschool Co-operative. We both attend play time/parent education once per week for 2 hours, then one night per month I attend one hour of parent education. I also attend an hour of board meetings each month (with all of his allergies, I volunteered to be the Health and Safety Coordinator). As with the infant co-op, I'm learning about early childhood development and making friends with other mothers with children Z's age. It's awesome.

Our fall schedule is in full swing: Monday mornings we trade with neighbors (I hang with the kids for one hour while the other mom runs an errand, then she takes the kids while I do my thing). Tuesdays, Z goes to daycare and I work. Wednesday mornings is preschool co-op. Thursday is another daycare/work day. That leaves Monday and Wednesday afternoons and Friday for other adventures. Weekends are family time.

This last Friday's adventure: J took the day off of work to hang with Z while I drove with Joshua to Goldendale to celebrate the Geeze. Perfect timing for me to spend that much time ruminating about technology and life. I am amazed that the Geeze (an octogenarian) is faring better 4 weeks post-op than I was (at 34).

Other random bits:

• In the last month, J has been to Boston for 3 days and L.A. for 3 days. Today, he left for a week in Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, and China). Moments ago, I received a text message that he safely arrived in Bangkok.
• Z's favorite new word is "shoe."
  
• I'm still trying to master cooking a roast.
• The director of Z's daycare and many staff left so we are in the midst of many changes. Thankfully, the uber director is handling the situation well, i.e., making sure that all staff know about Z's allergies and has several new procedures to keep allergens away from Z.
  
• Photos. I haven't taken many lately. I'll get back on that.
• Today, we went to a harvest festival at a farm with animals and pumpkins. I should have taken the following photos. Please use your imagination: Z feeding the chickens, Z riding in the wagon, Z picking a pumpkin from the patch, Z petting the goats, and Z sitting on the floor of the barn admiring the container of ducklings.
• Some of my blogging time and energy has gone towards Facebook, especially Scrabulous.

And now, we sleep....

Midwest trek

great-grams and Z
Originally uploaded by anneke boudreau

Z has visited 8 U.S. states and 1 Canadian province - Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, British Columbia. He continues to be a worthy and fun travel companion. John left for London on Thursday and Z and I flew to Chicago on Friday. /* I burst into song - "just the two of us. We can make it if we try, just the two of us, you and I..." */

Z only slept for 20 minutes during the day and not at all on the flight. After that many hours of not sleeping and all of the stimulation from the airport, airplane, and what not, you'd think a 20 month old would have been beyond cranky. Instead, I am blessed. As we waited to be the last off of the plane, Z waved goodbye to every person who passed our seats. As we waited for our ride, he waved to every taxi and bus that passed. Z was ecstatic each time someone waved back, usually with a big grin.

On Sunday, we drove the 4 hours to great-grandma's house with ease and the ride back to Chicago on Wednesday was especially fun after I stumbled onto the satellite radio - goodbye Clint Black, hello Terrence Trent D'arby!! Since we were having such good travel karma, on Thursday we went to Michigan to pick apples and pumpkins. That trip started out a little rough - he fell asleep 15 minutes from the pumpkin farm and within minutes of waking up he was face-to-face with a Halloween ghoul and that was kind of it for the pumpkin farm. He was back in good form at the apple orchard, helping granny fill and carry the bushel.

Our flight home on Saturday was also a breeze. My fingers are crossed that trips with him will be this fun well into his 30s. Next stop Spain? :)

More photos of our trip are available in the "midwest 2007" set.

meeting the great-grandparents

high-five
Originally uploaded by anneke boudreau.

We finally flew to Pennsylvania to introduce Z to his great-grandparents, two great-aunts, and a great-uncle. Mission accomplished - and then some. Set of photos from Erie, PA.

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away, I went on a business trip. On the flight were screaming children and I wrote a science fiction story about an airplane that had a sound proof playroom. Parent Me thinks that it would be cool to have a playroom on the plane, but knows that Non-parent Me was annoyed.

Couple the thoughts that run through the mind of a childless road warrior with Z's determination to walk, talk, and climb when and where he wants, I was so nervous to travel with a 16-month-old that I almost didn't make the trip. Armed with advice from the Berkley Parents Network (BPN), I purchased 3 round trip tickets, booked a car, and reserved a dvd player with 5 children's movies....and we were off.

We left our house at 7 pm PDT to catch a red-eye to Detroit. Soon after we were in the air, Z was drifting to sleep as one of the other children on the flight started crying. The man sitting behind me griped, "I hope we don't have to listen to that for the next 4 hours." (If only the baby were in a sound proof chamber! :)

As predicted by the BPN, Z slept for the four hour flight. He woke when we landed in Detroit at 5 am EDT and happily played in the children's area during the layover. We landed in Erie around 11 am EDT where we were greeted by Z's great-grandma, great-grandpa, and Auntie M. They escorted us to Auntie M's B&B which was complete with a basket of toys and a high chair. We quickly settled into our downstairs apartment. J and Z took a nap then we headed over to the G's for an amazing dinner of roast, potatoes, and corn cooked in a tomato sauce canned from their garden. Despite the lack of sleep, Z stayed up until midnight.

We were moving slowly on Friday, so we didn't do too much - a trip to WalMart and playing/working in Auntie M's yard. We picked asparagus from the G's garden and ate it for dinner. I cooked risotto. Aunt D and Uncle B joined us. We took some photos.

Saturday we were a bit more adventurous, we met Auntie M at the Edinboro Highland Games. Z danced to the Celtic music played by a group of college-age kids from Michigan. During nap time, Auntie M and I headed over to the G's for happy hour. Grandma walked me around the yard retelling the history of each plant - the lilacs that came from the farm she grew up on, the pine that came from a friend who survived cancer, the walnut tree that they started from seed, the highbush cranberries that were "this high" five year ago. It's no wonder I'm a master gardener, yet I know nothing compared to these two who have been growing vegetables, trees, and flowers longer than I've been alive.

After happy hour (a glass of wine and some chips), the four of us played euchre - grandma and grandpa against me and Auntie M. I was intimidated! Grandma took two hands on her own. G&G won the first game and were winning the second when we called it to eat dinner.

Sunday grandpa fixed pancakes for breakfast then gave us a tractor ride around the property - and we were having so much fun that we went around a second time. Z enjoyed "driving" the tractor, the lawnmower, and our rental car. He splashed in rain puddles. It was the first time I had seen him do that - I don't know if he learned about it at daycare or figured it out right then. Regardless, he stomped in every puddle on the driveway. He gave grandpa several high fives - we all giggled.

We headed back to Auntie M's for naptime. Soon after, folks showed up for happy hour and dominoes, then ate the pizza I'd made, then finished up the game of dominoes.


Our trip home is a sidenote to the whole experience - the lasting impression is the time spent with family - but I tell it at length because it makes me laugh.

Monday, we were up at 4:30 am, checked out of the B&B by 5, and to the airport by 5:30. We boarded the plane at 6 then promptly deplaned around 6:30...still in Erie. We finally left Erie around 10:30 and should have been getting off of the plane around 11:15, but sat in the plane a few feet away from the gate while they prepared it.

At 11:50, we were at the far end of concourse C and were booked on a 12:20 flight leaving from the far end of the concourse A. We started talking about a hotel room in Detroit, but since it seemed like it was everyone's first day at NorthWorst airlines, figured the flight was probably delayed.

And, it was. One of my conditions for this trip was that J fly with us to provide backup and moral support. Plus, I spent the extra money to buy a seat for Z. I made sure that our seats were nicely lined up in a row for every single one of our flights....but that was when I made the reservations several weeks ago.

We arrived at the gate after seats have been assigned and first class has boarded. One of the flight attendants negotiated 2 seats together then strapped Z's car seat into the window seat. A grandfatherly type was sitting in the aisle seat refusing to budge. J asked him, "you'd rather sit by my 16 month old?" The man said, "yes." So, I put said-16 month old screaming into his car seat and hoped the volume would make the middle seat the more attractive option. He didn't budge.

Z settled into his carseat with a cookie and I heard J - two rows back - tell our sad tale. Moments later he was letting us know that the rows behind him offered to switch.

I felt a little spoiled as Z fell asleep and J and I relaxed with a snack, a beer, and a movie on the portable dvd player - but you get what you paid for, right?

Z's demeanor continues to amaze me. For the most part, we saw a curious kid who rolls with the punches. I was disappointed that he was crabby the first couple of nights we hung out with the family, but he needed time to catch up on sleep and give his first molars a chance to break through the gums (ya - great timing!).

We are blessed - with a beautiful child, wonderful family, the opportunity to travel.