Off roadin'

No, we did not take Jack for a 4-wheel drive. It's just that we are all a little road-weary from so much traveling recently, and I'm so far behind in my blogging, that I'm declaring the next two months "off-road." We're hanging out at home and lying low until Christmas, when we get to do it all again!

So anyway, to catch up, after we got home from Pennsylvania we spent 3 days in Virginia and then were off again on our way to Connecticut. Remember Jon's Coastie friends Nick and Lindsey who had baby Rose 4 months ago, and who we visited in Key West early in my Jack-pregnancy? Well, they've returned to the old stomping grounds and invited us to visit. I was very excited about being in New England for the fall. Connecticut is on my list of places to move to after our DC stint, not that it matters, the government only cares about what's on Jon's list, but hey a girl can dream! So we braved the 10 hour trek with a 1 year old.

By the time we got to New York City it was getting old. We had watched several Baby Einsteins, both Jon and I had the Maisy song stuck in our head, read every board book in my book bag at least 5 times each, and went through all our lullaby CDs trying to get Jack to fall asleep. It was after 8:00, Jack was wide awake and not happy to be in his seat, and we were stuck in NYC traffic. I turned to Jon, who was regretting our decision to not take the long way around the city, and said, "I hope getting your Nick-fix this week is worth this drive to you, because I will never do this again." Well it was, nothing could hinder his excitement about spending 5 days with his best friend, former college roommate, former post-college housemate, former cutter roommate and, as I liked to refer to Nick the first year of our marriage, the "other woman." After 4 years together at the Coast Guard Academy and after living in the same city for 2 years and sharing a ship for those same 2 years, I'm still not sure if I've caught up to Nick in the "amount-of-time-spent-with-Jon" category.

So the two boys got to spend some quality time together, and the rest of us tagged along and heard all the same silly stories that get told every time these two get together. Ear-muffs Jack, your father didn't really skip a mandatory lecture to hide in the bathroom where Nick tutored him in Trig before the big test...




So anyway, it was fun to be back at the Academy. We caught a CG football game, gave Jack a tour of his future college, visited the Old Mystic Cider Mill, walked around Mystic and ate Mystic Pizza and ice cream at the Draw Bridge. Nick and Jon got in a golfing match and Lindsey took me to a baby sign language class. Connecticut was everything I had dreamed of in a New England Fall. The leaves were gorgeous, the weather mostly perfect and the old houses, stone walls and graveyards were interesting to see. Unfortunately, we all caught colds and Jack had one miserable night where he had a hard time breathing through his nose. He was up at least once an hour, couldn't fall back to sleep unless I was holding him upright, and then couldn't stay asleep as soon as I tried to lay down and get some rest myself. It was the worst night we've had since he was just a little baby, and probably the worst night Jon has ever had since he was in the same room with Jack and I this time. :)

Rose has gotten much bigger since the last time we saw her. Jack tried to grab her face a few times, and he also crawled over top of her whenever she was lying in his way, but for the most part he thought the two dogs and two cats were way more interesting than the baby. He spent most of the week chasing them around the house. I'm sure the dogs were wondering who the tiny human was that walked liked them. They would edge close enough to sniff his diaper, then run off as soon as Jack would try to "pet" them. We're working on being "gentle" when it comes to babies and animals...

So we returned to Virginia, and an 84 degree "fall" day last Wednesday after yet another long drive. It's much easier now that I don't have to pump on the way, or stop to nurse. But I definitely miss the baby boy who would fall asleep asleep as soon as the car would start moving. Having a DVD player definitely helps, but anyone would get tired of being strapped to a seat for 10 hours, especially an energetic little boy. Well, it won't be long before he has a buddy back there to play with and Mommy has yet another child to keep entertained on the long drives...