THREE Months!

First off, I can't believe baby J is THREE months old today. She's progressing so fast that I can barely keep up. It's amazing how interactive she is...and with such personality. Already, I can tell she's easy going, but enjoys being around people. She watches everything to the point that you can see that little sponge of a brain soaking everything in. She smiles at songs and kicks excitedly when we come into her room in the morning. She's infatuated with her big brother and would much prefer to be out doing something than just twiddling her thumbs (or the baby equivalent). On the physical side, she's advancing quickly, too. Case in point: she's holding up her head as well as E did at six months and I'm really thinking she'll be able to sit without falling over in the next month or two. 

Secondly, I can't believe it's been a MONTH since my last post. True, it's been a whirlwind since then, so bear with me. In the middle of May, Tante Ness came for a visit to prep wedding stuff and to meet baby J. It was a blast just hanging out and we really miss having her around. You can just see by the kiddos' (and dogs') faces. 

We'd been planning to go on an extended trip, first to Arkansas to see cousin Kristi graduate high school (CONGRATS, Kristi!) and then to New Mexico for my extended family to meet baby J. One of the distinct advantages to living in California is that new dad's get 6 weeks of paid time off, so I was pumped and looking forward to using part of my time. Unfortunately, the day before we were to leave Lisa started feeling under the weather...and by that evening, she was feeling more like six feet under. It was a nasty case of mastitis and her fever sky rocketed. At 3AM (after we'd stressed and stayed up late packing), we decided to stay home and hopefully get Lisa well enough to catch the NM part of the trip. I tried to keep E entertained out of the house and make sure the girls had all they needed at home. While it was a stressful time, Lisa started feeling better and E and I did a lot of fun things including "plasma car riding" with cousins S & H and a trip to Great America where we rode the "Scrambler" twice...and while it may not appear that he's having fun, I can assure you he clapped when it was over and asked to go again. Plus, it was hot enough for him to run around in the water garden for a bit.  By Sunday night, the antibiotics had kicked in and Lisa was ready for the big trip. AND we were already packed! 

Uncle Mark picked us up for SFO on Monday morning and we made it through security with plenty of time. sweet J was a perfect little baby and slept most of the time. E had fun talking to all the other passengers about his upcoming trip...and they'd bust up when he'd stop himself mid-sentence and say, "Oop, I burped. 'Scuse me." The flights were great and the baby continued to be darling while we kept E entertained with some new books and little toys. The only hiccup was transferring planes in San Diego where we had to repeat security to get to our gate. I almost died. If you've ever traveled with a 2-year-old and a 2.5-month-old, this is as intense as any P90X Insanity or whatever workout. Strollers and diaper bags and hand sanitizers flying into bins while trying to keep the kids from rushing the TSA officers, all while ignoring the glares of the late businessman behind you in line. BUT we made it only to get trapped in a standing room only terminal with long lunch lines. Needless to say, we were happy to get on the plane and more than overjoyed to see Nana & Papa waiting for us in Albuquerque. Some of us were so excited, in fact, that we decided to skip nap entirely.

We took a quick stopover to GG's house for her to meet sweet baby J and give E a hug. My family couldn't believe how big baby J was...she moved from that infant stage to that real-baby stage so quickly, it's alarming. Getting to the mountains was wonderful and we all played / drank a cold beer before having a nice dinner. Since baby J got the pack'n'play, Nana & Papa bought him his very own toddler aerobed with construction vehicle themed sheets. We were a bit worried since it was his first time sleeping in something other than a crib, but he took to it like a champ (and the exhaustion and beer probably helped...KIDDING on the beer). He slept all night without an issue.

We had a lazy Tuesday morning, spent chatting, playing, and cooing at babies.  We finally made it into town and stopped by the John Deere store as a consolation prize since E missed all the Arkansas farm fun.  He loved it, though J was less enthralled, sleeping like an angel. We ate with Uncle Steve at my parent's favorite brew pub. The waitress, an "infant massage instructor," (I didn't ask, so neither should you) told me that baby J had great eye sight. With stuffed bellies, we visited GG again and this time GG held her. We made it home for nap and some more needed relaxation. Nana and Papa made us cedar-planked Salmon, which was a hit. E kept saying, "more cedar salmon". The big guy and I got in the "hot swimming pool" (aka: Hot tub) while baby J used her keen eye sight to just watch us and absorb everything. 

The next morning we headed to the Albuquerque zoo, which I have so many fond memories of growing up -- it was neat to make some memories with my own kids. E loved the zebras, ducks, and gorillas, though he loved pushing the strollers more. Baby J must have liked it too because she was a great little gal, taking a nice long stroller nap and then patiently watching all of us strange people oooing over all the stranger animals. At GG's house on the way home, E recreated his dance moves from last year and busted everyone up. The afternoon was relaxing as Lisa did a self-mani Jamberry-style and we got the jeep ready for E's first 4x4 adventure. Once the kiddos were asleep, Lisa and I got in the hot tub too, and it was so strange to relax together. And wonderful.

The girls decided to opt out of the 4x4 adventure (ok, I guess 2.5 months is a little young for baby J to go jeeping) and went shoe shopping instead. Papa, E, and I met up with Uncle Steve and took the non-highway route to the Rio Puerco. We enjoyed the long (90 minute) drive out there with our coffee (those > 3) or apple juice (those < 3). Once we hit the dirt roads, the real fun began. We all laughed and said, "bump bump bump." Though at some point, E had too much fun and completely zonked out...even though we were bouncing around like jumping beans. Once we even hit a teeth-clacking bounce and E's eyes popped opened. "Big bump!" he said and then he went right back to sleep. As his dad, I'm exercising my right to say it was the cutest thing ever. Shortly after, we made it back to civilization, though E napped until the moment we arrived at lunch for my dad's favorite pastrami sandwiches (the cashier even greeted him by name as he opened the door). E thought the meat was "tasty"...his new favorite food term. 

Continuing the good food & relaxation trends, Lisa and I went on a date night while Nana & Papa watched the kiddos for a couple of hours. Tasty and a lot of fun. We made it home just in time to help with bed time, though they didn't need us at all. Both kids were fed (as were my parents) and in bed (or close). Not that we expected the house to be in ruins or anything, but my mom had even made a frittata while doing all the rest. And a new recipe to boot. One word: Showoffs. 

It was a good thing she'd made it though, since the next morning was an early one. After the "tasty" meal, we drove to downtown ABQ and caught the "rail runner" train. Both kids did great on the 90 minute ride up to Santa Fe...E looked out the windows, and loudly noted every time passengers got on/off the train, and played with his own travel trains. Something about the motion helped baby J secure one of her longest naps on record. All the while, we enjoyed the scenery, which was far, far prettier than the usual I-25 speedway up to New Mexico's capital, heading through farms, the bosque, and pueblos that we weren't even allowed to take photos of. In Santa Fe, we had time to eat a nice big Mexican lunch before catching the return train. And while on paper it seems silly to ride 3 hours for an hour lunch, it was all about the voyage, people, nothing about the destination. Though it was a rush to get home, take a nap, and make it back to Albuquerque to have pizza with GG. What do they call those? First world issues?

Jealous of the fun we had with Uncle Steve, Nana "twisted our arms" hard to get us to take her and E jeeping again. I wrestled the car seat back into Papa's jeep and we headed out into the mountain trails around their house. It had rained the day before, so the dirt trails were pretty muddy and without a roof, E and I did get a good spattering. It concerned E more than most little kids I've encountered and I had to wipe off each fleck of mud since he was "really, really dirty" and I needed to "maybe wash it." All that said, when things went "bump, bump, bump," E had a fantastic time. We rolled into the driveway just as the third raindrop splashed down...right before the downpour began. Uncle Steve and Aunt Donna came over for dinner and the opportunity to hold the smiley little baby J and have E convince them that we should all sing happy birthday to him (6 weeks after his birthday).

After three action-packed days, we had a much needed lazy morning. Nana made French toast. And Papa got out Uncle Shaun's old keyboard. E danced and played and watched cartoons. Later we went into town for a picnic and ending up having it at my alma mater, the Academy. If the zoo had some memories, the Academy campus was seething with them. It was pretty pushing my baby girl and watching my lil'guy sprint along memory lane like that. 

Since we were on a "eat every 2 hours" type trip, we met up with Uncle Gary and Aunt Carol for more New Mexican food for dinner. Right before we headed out, E was getting excessively whiny so we had this exchange with him as we loaded baby J into her car seat:

E: whine whine whine 
Me: "Shh...what's that noise?"
E goes quiet for a second then whine. 
Me: "That. Did you hear it?"
E quiet again. "That baby crying."
Me, surprised. "A baby crying? Where?"
E: "Baby ran away."
Nana, even more surprised / holding back a chuckle: "Where'd the baby go?"
E: "Baby ran away to white jeep."

And it might've been true too because the whining pretty much ended for the night right at that moment.

Memorial Day was a relaxing one. Auntie Barb came over to hold the kids as was amazed with how big baby J was and how well she held her head. We picked up lunch and had a nice visit at GG's house, in which E requested all of us to sing "We Want Gymbo" at the table and stopped us, stared at GG, and instructed "Everyone sing." And that's how GG learned "We Want Gymbo." After that we had to say a tearful goodbye to GG and then get home and packed for our travels the next day. 

After an even sadder goodbye to Nana/Papa we made it through security with plenty of time for a smoothie (for E) and a burrito (for me and Lisa) before flying back home. The kids were sure excited to see Opa, the dogs were sure excited to see us (and we, them), and it was sure nice to be home...though we missed all of our NM family / friends. 

Since our return we've been hanging out with family, playing, attended a circus-themed birthday party and getting ready for a new routine...since Lisa's maternity leave has come to an end and now both Opa and Oma are watching the kiddos. It's bittersweet, of course, but we count our lucky stars and moons to have them around and so enthusiastically willing to spend many, many hours of their hard-earned retirements with these two kiddos.