Thanksgiving Vacation: Beyond the Turkey

We fit about as much into three days as humanly possible last week. Here a few of the highlights from Jaden's perspective:Playing with Grandpa's computer. Note the Super Cool Dump Truck that was just living at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Awesome.

But not nearly as awesome as this gift they gave me: the Best Garbage Truck Ever. My parents even brought it back home with us so now it lives in our house. I.love.it.The trucks just kept getting bigger! Can you believe this little number that that Grandma and Grandpa pulled out of their garage? Seriously, who has this stuff on hand?

Okay, from here it was official. We are moving to Atlanta. Five minutes in the Aquarium and I had squealed more times than in my entire life up to this point.

Grandpa didn't rake his leaves because he wanted me to have the experience of a huge leaf pile. I guess he heard my parents live in a subdivision where the baby trees drop ~10 leaves each. Thanks Grandpa!

My cousins and I played in the leaves for a very long time. The big kids even threw coins in the middle of pile and used Grandpa's metal detectors (yup...plural) to find them. You can't see me here, but I'm with Katie and Nicholas in the middle of the tarp. I think this was the Most Fun, but it hard to judge.

Thanksgiving Vacation: Family

I envision a three-part installment dedicated to our vacation to Atlanta for Thanksgiving Vacation. We'll see what happens. That is why I started with "Family" first. In case the week gets the best of me and I don't get around to the other two I figured I should start with the most important piece.

Dustin's entire immediate family was together for this Thanksgiving. That's all of us above. The cute kids in the front row are Nick, Christopher and Katie. They are adorable. And energetic. And GREAT cousins. Jaden loved, loved, loved playing with them. It was so good to see them. We don't get to nearly enough.

In the backrow are Dustin, myself, Jaden, Heather (Dustin's sister) and Lee (Heather's husband.) They are the proud parents of the three cuties in the front. This Thanksgiving was especially meaningful to Heather's family as Lee was on leave from Afghanistan where he has been serving our country since June. We were all so thankful to have Lee safely home with us for this holiday.

In the middle are Dustin's parents, Ron and Cheryl. They made our vacation to Atlanta nothing short of fantastic. Jaden thought he had landed in toddler heaven at their home, and I'm sure is seriously questioning our judgment at ever leaving. We were so happy to be with them in their home for this holiday.

It sounds cliche, but there is nothing better than being with family for the holidays. We flew into the busiest airport in the world, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, with a child (ours) who screamed for half of our flight in a way that I have never heard before. And it was completely worth it.

Thumbs Up

This photo was taken two days before we flew across the ocean from Korea to America. That was almost a year ago. And Jaden had a cold. And I thanked all the powers that be that this little guy sucked his thumb.

This year we are flying to see Jaden's grandparents for Thanksgiving. And Jaden has a cold. And I am so thankful that he still sucks his thumb.

But. I would just like to throw something out there. His thumb has been loved a little too much since his has contracted this last cold. He has sucked so much that I believe he either has a huge blood blister on the end of this appendage OR he stuck it through the meat grinder when I wasn't looking. It is not pretty. But he still dutifully sticks it in his mouth.

Therefore, I am left to wonder exactly how strong is the skin on the end of one's thumb? Will he suck through all of the layers? Will he start bleeding spontaneously? Will it ever get so sore that he won't suck on it? Does anyone have legitimate answers to those questions?

I know I used up alot of good graces on our last airplane trip, but maybe I could still ask for one more thing? Please, please, please let Jaden's thumb be healthy for our Thanksgiving travels. All those within a quarter mile radius of us will probably want to issue the same plea.

And now, I will pack.

Gender Neutral?

As I checked in on Jaden last night before I went to bed, I had to untwist him from a book that has accompanied him to sleep since the day we bought it three weeks ago. The name of the book? "Trucks." That's it. And that is all he desires.

This morning he asked to have his new truck, a gift from a thoughtful neighbor, on the table with him during breakfast. I turned my back, and the next thing I knew the bed of the truck had become his new cereal bowl. (And, no, I don't feed my kid cat food. Those little kibbles are Cracklin' Oat Bran. Yum.)

Later this morning Jaden nearly jumped out of his skin because the garbage truck came by, and then the recycling truck made its rounds. The driver even honked at him and the neighbor boy we were playing with at the time. This = awesome.

We bought some sippy cups a few months back that have little trucks on them. We are lucky that Jaden takes in fluids the days he uses them, as he is so busy pointing to the vehicles making his amazing truck sounds.

I swear I have done nothing to encourage this stereotypical obsession. I don't care if Jaden plays with dolls, strollers, or tanks as long as he is enjoying himself and letting me drink my morning coffee. He has fallen in love with these four-wheeled monsters on his own, and I don't think there is a thing I can do about it.

I guess my collection of Hello Kitty paraphernalia will have to wait for our little girl.

Imperfection

The Hawkeyes lost on Saturday. This loss marks the end of their "perfect" season. Their quarterback got injured early in the game. Their back-up wasn't quite ready for the job. They lost 14-10.

I missed the first part of the game because I was at a conference for adoptive families. The keynote speaker was Dr. Steve Kahn. While he is an adoptive parent himself, and was speaking to a room full of adoptive parents, his message was fairly universal to all parents. He spoke about the power of parenting in moments of imperfection. He talked primarily about how we, as parents, might react to the mistakes our children will make and about the disappointments they will face. What I took away was that pre-adolescent kids make fairly predictable mistakes. What differs more greatly is how parents react.

He encouraged the use of discipline, but with compassion and perspective. This might sound like common sense. But, as I've already discovered, when your child repeatedly does something "wrong" (in Jaden's case like running into the street or playing with the stove knobs) it is sometimes very difficult to remain calm and loving.

One thing he said really stuck with me. It was a variation on the theme that life is "10% circumstance 90% what one does with those circumstances." He fit this into a spiel encouraging us to let our kids know that bad things can happen in a day without it having to ruin a day. Again, this sounds simple and maybe even cliche. But, I think it did me some good to hear it.

So, when the Hawkeyes lost later that day I told Jaden (and myself) it was okay. They are still a great team, and I am still one of their biggest fans. And when Jaden makes inevitable mistakes, I'll still think he is amazing and will always be his biggest fan.

Kissy Face

To date, this is by far the cutest thing Jaden has done. For the past few weeks he gives kisses all of the time. This is particularly interesting considering he really didn't start kissing until August. Now he is unstoppable.

For Jaden, right now, the kissing business is serious business. For example, when Dustin puts his coat on in the morning to leave for work Jaden chases him around the house with the same face as is photoed above. This face is always accompanied by "ooo-ooo" which translates into "kiss me now, now, now!".

Another funny thing is that one kiss is never enough. Our bedtime routine has gotten a little silly recently. Jaden puts approximately 35 toys and books in his crib before he feels his nest is ready for him. Finally I put him in his crib and tell him to "lie down and I'll cover you up." He dutifully puts himself into a horizontal position -- for a millisecond. Then he shoots up, grabs a hold of the side of the crib and puts on his best kissy face complete with sound effects. I kiss him, hold his cheeks and tell him I love him. And then we do it all over again. He would do this as many times as I would let him. And, I have to be honest, this is a hard habit of which not to take advantage. Eventually I tell him this is the "last one" and make my grand exit. He never cries, but sometimes I still hear him "ooo-ooo"-ing as I shut the door.

It is heartbreakingly adorable.

Trick-or-Treat

This past August I was talking with my sister. It was a few days before Dustin, Jaden and I were going to trek 9+ hours in a car to go and visit her family for a week. We were discussing things we could do during our visit (as if caring for 4 children wouldn't be enough.) At some point the conversation went like something like this:

Ali: "I think I'm going to make Jaden a lion costume for Halloween."

Teresa: "That sounds good, maybe I'll do the same for Caleb. Let me look up some patterns on-line."

We then had a web-conference (the stay-at-home-mom kind) and found the "perfect" costume. Within three days, Teresa had secured the patterns and all of the materials necessary for the creation of the costumes. She was prepared for my visit.

I would like to let everyone know that I used to be able to sew. When I was in 4-H. When I was twelve. Those skills are more than a little rusty at this point. But, thankfully, my sister and mother are pretty much professional seamstresses. With their assistance at every turn, the costume was constructed in August and September. The last month and a half have been spent making the lion's mane. It seemed an exercise in futility. As I glued each of the four thousand ribbons on the lion's hood, I knew he'd never wear it. Each time we had a trial run he ripped the head off within three seconds. Then, I had an idea.

We live in the frozen tundra. Since September, Jaden has had to wear a hat each time he goes outside for safety reasons. So, when we got ready to trick-or-treat last night I matter-of-factly told him that he had to wear a hat outside. I broke out the lion's hood, and promptly secured it under his chin. He didn't look back. He wore the blessed costume.

I question what Jaden's opinion of this costume will be when he is eighteen. But, I couldn't imagine anything more adorable at eighteen-months. Thank you, Teresa. Thank you, mom. Thank you, Jaden.

Happy Halloween.