Home again

It has been a little bit since my last post so I thought I would throw together a quick "what's been up" post. We just returned last night from a 5-day, 4-night vacation up with Angela, Scott, and Tyler in Portland. Fun times, fun times! It is always good to have the two boys hang out, and this was no exception. The picture at left is post-bath one night---normally I would wait to have the naked pictures later in the post, but figured I would start big this time. Bath time was pretty funny (though, truth be told, it is more a mom thing than a dad thing...at least with the four parents involved). There was a bit of running around naked (well, crawling for Emmett, but same idea) post-bath each night which culminated in our final night with Tyler crawling into the crib to pee all over Emmett's sleep sack---true cousin love.

The days were filled with trips to the park, the children's museum, and an entertainment facility for kids called Pump it Up, which is a large building loaded with inflatable slides, bouncing castles, and mazes. The fam in Portland showed Emmett a good time. The children's museum was especially cool (though still a bit above Emmett's level) with really good interactive play areas. One area was a stage with costumes, a working curtain, and all kinds of props. Emmett was not so into the props, but the stage was filmed and played on a tv, so I did a little performance for Emmett which he thought was funny and kept reaching for me as shown in the picture to the left (he hasn't watched TV, really, but when his father is on the tube he gets to watch).

The hardest part of the trip was that the two boys were almost exactly out of sync with one another, nap wise. Tyler is 22 months and is down to one, two-hour nap at around 12:30 and Emmett is still at two naps at around 10 and 2:30. Emmett's naps are typically about an hour and change, but when he is around Tyler he seems to really get worn out and will sleep nearly two hours with most naps. The long naps are great, but getting the two boys out of the house to do something together basically could only take place from 9-10am or 5-6pm. The nice part is that we could all take turns doing the 'watching' of the one asleep while the other played so that no one had to be on all of the time.

The flights this time were a whole new level of enjoyment. We got flights that were right at his bed time as they were much cheaper, and we knew that the time could work really well or not well at all. It ended up that it was more the latter.

Emmett was so excited to be on the plane with all of its new sights and sounds that he wouldn't sit still. By peeking through the seats or across the aisle he could see people that would often smile at him (and leave us wondering how long we can allow him to smile and laugh at them before we are becoming annoying). The air from the vents, the seat belt light, the no smoking light, the shade for the window...these were all exciting, new objects and Emmett was not going to let sleep get in his way from enjoying them. On the way out he never slept until he was in the car on the way to their house (about 9:30ish, I believe). He went to bed easily and was a little sleepy the next day, but long naps and a longer night's sleep the following night got him back on schedule easier. On the return flight our plane left about an hour later which meant landing at 10:00ish and home around 10:30 or 11:00. This flight we were more hopeful for sleep on the plane, but it didn't happen. If we confined him he got whiney so we let him climb all over us, peer thorugh the seats, etc. I took the following video as we were getting ready to start the flight. It is not that exciting, but gives the general impression with him reaching for the lights above, peering over the seats behind, and generally refusing to sit still.

This whole process continued for nearly all of the flight. I say nearly all because with approximately 5 minutes remaining the flight Emmett suddenly decided that it was time for rest, curled up on his mother and had 5 minutes of restful slumber and gave us 5 minutes of peace of the flight. I have learned that it is pointless to carry any entertainment for Andrea or I as we will not get to touch a thing for the entire flight. Emmett woke up as we were leaving the plane, stayed awake for the trip home, and passed out in his bed with the monkey at eleven and change.

When we returned from our December Portland trip, Emmett brought with him the ability to actually crawl. This trip Emmett has returned with standing abilities, and both Andrea and I have spent a bit of time since our return getting him to just stand still in front of us. He is actually to the point where we have had 10-15 second spells where he is just standing with no support, until he realizes he is standing and loses his balance. And, in a new low for this blog, I am going to post a picture of him standing. Yep, it doesn't get any better than this. Not a long one, but it shows what he suffers through as Andrea and I force him to work on his standing all day long. Ah, the joys of being a near-toddler!