Family Reunion

It has now been a full week since we returned from our family reunion in Janesville. 

Apologies for the delay, but three months old are distracting.

Case in point: please see the evidence of my lack of interest in the squash plants in my garden. Yes, it is as big as Henry (but doesn't weigh nearly as much 😂).

Overall, the trip was a success, determined mainly by the fact that Henry slept, ate, and played fairly close to his normal schedule, and was very chill when surrounded by MANY new people and passed around to MANY new sets of arms. 

The highlight, of course, was a pause in the memorial service for Grammie when Henry pooped VERY loudly and set of a chain reaction of silent giggling among the cousins. Seriously, priceless.

You will note that he is wearing his 'extra clothes' and not the adorable plaid romper I had picked out for the occasion. See above poop explosion combined with peeing everywhere.

Henry apparently love to sleep in hotels. I had brought the real sound machine this time, and that, combined with the intense air conditioner and blackout curtains must have made for a tranquil sleeping space. (Either that, or he was just so exhausted from looking at so many people and driving to more places in the course of  day than he ever had before.)

There was a minor meltdown on the way to Janesville that was cured with a few rounds of "Rise and shine, and give God your glory, glory." (This is his favorite song, for reasons that can only be explained by an underlying interest in either church, Noah's Ark, or simply singing summer camp songs. It is possible he is a future show choir kid. I am TOTALLY fine with that. #futurestagemom) 

We had timed our arrival to coincide with Henry's bath and bedtime. Of course, as I am quickly trying to complete a sponge bath/'bed bath' Eric realized the door to our room didn't lock. At all. Mama Bear came out, because you do NOT mess with bedtime, and between my obvious need to get our baby to sleep and Eric's insistence on a new room, we were upgraded to a King Suite and Henry was in bed by 8:30. (I should mention that while trying to negotiate the situation I was also trying to hold Henry, pump milk, and hide my breasts from the hotel staff.)

Henry even had his first restaurant experience, which only happened because I made Eric go and get us the newly opened patio tables so we could sit outside. I was not going in the bar with the baby because 1) COVID and other diseases and 2) the table we had for the family was a high top with stools. Just think about how great your back would be doing if you held a 14 lb. baby while sitting on a backless stool during dinner. Instead we sat outside with Henry in his stroller, where he had dinner and people watched, two of his favorite pastimes.

It was wonderful for him to be able to meet all of my cousins, see his Aunt Caroline and Uncle Greg, and meet his Uncle Stephen for the first time. Two of my cousins had never held a baby before, and their interactions with him were especially fun to watch.

On the way home Henry was so tired he slept through a meal. (And if you know Henry, you KNOW that's serious.)

Did I mention he stayed on his schedule? I knew the schedule was important, but now actually LIVING in, I know the schedule is EVERYTHING. We will see how all of this changes as he starts daycare this week...