Back to Asheville

Jeremy's schedule has been bad (to put it mildly) lately so Owen and I decided to fly to North Carolina to visit Kelly and her boys last week. Apparently, 1 is the breaking point at which your baby won't just nurse and sleep the entire plane trip and wants to get down/fuss/head butt you the entire flight. I tried not to flash the person sitting (oh so close) next to us and on the way back there were two men behind us who graciously played peek-a-boo with Owen whenever he started to fuss. It wasn't the worst trip ever - but definitely the worst so far for us in terms of plane rides.

We had a really fun trip, low-key but it was just nice to having someone to chat with while going about our day.

This trip was the first time I kind of saw Owen through someone else's eyes, mostly because his personality differed so much from Kelly's busy boys. O is very quiet and sweet - he is a thinker and is very reserved about his actions. He ALWAYS went to Kelly (or her Mom or her Dad) for hugs and snuggles and was content to sit in the same spot and play with a toy for an hour while her boys ran circles around him. Her 11 month old, Ben, took his first steps while we were there and Owen could have cared less. Ben spends his days trying to catch up to his older brother (~3) and Owen spends his days exploring stacking cups and petting our cat.  I watched Ben pick up an etch-a-sketch and draw on it with the correct end of the stylus. After he put it down, I watched Owen crawl over to it and EAT THE STYLUS. Ben put a pot on their play stove, Owen put the pot on his head. Having an older sibling is a huge motivator for a baby and it made me laugh to see Owen, unphased, moving along at his own pace.

Owen is very verbal and was able to teach Ben his monster sound and how to clap.  It warmed my heart when I saw him pressing his little nose up against their glass door pointing and saying, "teet! teet!" at the birds on the feeder. 

I also had a realization that I am "that mom" whose kid naps the day away allowing me free time to screw around on the internet make dinner, do laundry and save the planet. Poor Kelly, her boys never nap at the same time and Ben only takes 2, 30 minute naps. I gotta hand it to her - that girl takes one fast shower! Meanwhile, Owen woke up almost an hour after her boys and was taking a 3hr morning nap and a 1(+) hour afternoon nap that I had to waking him up from so we could have dinner. The three boys never slept or ate at the same time! It was like we were in a constant rotation and finally at the end of the week when we finally figured out when/how we could leave the house with all three kids in tow - it was time for us to leave :(

We took the kids to a bar (the horror! babies IN A BAR) early one evening to listen to Irish fiddle music. It was really fun and the boys all did great. Owen rode a bike for the first time and had his first taste of ice cream. If you asked him, he'd say it was a pretty good trip! And I agree!

 We actually made use of the kiddo-cart while in Walmart. We felt like the Duggars

My laid back boy

 Two strollers for our walks, a double for the littles and a jogger for Graham.

Ice cream face!

baby in a bar

Owen "rides" a bike

Riding a bike from Tam on Vimeo.

Kelly's husband is deployed right now but we can't wait until he's back safe and sound and Jeremy has time off so we can spend time together with both families. These boys are going to have so much fun together as they get older and Kelly and I have already started a list of embarrassing stories to tell their future girlfriends ;)