23 months

The highlight of month 23, as far as I can remember at this point, was our first trip east since moving back to California last summer, to visit my brother and his family in Connecticut. This was probably our most enjoyable travel experience with Elias thus far. The flights there and back were a mix. Despite the fact that Elias is a big and squirmy toddler, we wanted to take advantage of the soon-to-expire perk that he could, theoretically, sit in our laps and fly free one last time. And in the end it was fine, obviously: we made it there and back. But of the nearly 12 hours in-flight, there were about two to three hours (on the way there, when he literally did not stop moving the entire time before finally and suddenly - and quite literally - crashing for the rest of the flight) where I think we both thought we'd made a huge mistake. But 2 or 3 out of 12 ain't bad, right? That means the other nine or ten hours were only mildly miserable, and actually he did sleep for a couple of those so that was nice. I actually got to read my new Nook, an early Mother's Day gift. I'm now only about halfway through that same book, but that's neither here nor there...

Anyway, the visit itself was very relaxing. We didn't do much other than chill out inside and outside my brother's place and I think the lack of plans was probably key to our enjoyment.They have a large play structure in their back yard where Elias enjoyed his first non-bucket swing ride:

Elias hit it off immediately with my nine-year-old niece Adriana (he was holding her hand on the arm rest of the car seat on the drive home from the airport).  He reminds us of her at this age a lot, mostly in the way he fights sleep so perhaps they sensed some sort of kindred spirit in one another.

Following are some shots from one particularly photogenic outing to a nearby playground one afternoon we were there:

A playground with a steering wheel! Elias must've thought this was the coolest place. Ever.

Scheming, no doubt.

Aww. That's a keeper.  And here he is enjoying some quality, chilling out with Daddy time:

And some quality Uncle Brian time here.  When he says Uncle Brian it sounds like "Unk Buddy," which is pretty cute, don't you think?

Neither my brother nor my sister-in-law are particularly musical but it's something they've always encouraged their kids to do so they have a lot of musical instruments in their finished basement/most awesome play room ever. Elias got to try out the recorder here with Adriana:

And he played the drums a few times with Uncle Brian:

I try to play the part of laidback mama, I really do, but I have to admit, I was a little concerned for everyone's hearing.

As far as sleep goes, Elias did pretty well.  His schedule was way off, mainly due to the three hour time difference.  The first night, for example, he stayed up until about 10, and then slept in until about 8:30 the next morning.  Every day was different and we all rolled with it pretty well, I thought, considering how structured our routine at home sometimes feels.  He tended to sleep about ten hours at night regardless of when he went down and his naps, I think (I honestly don't remember), were hit or miss.  Here he is napping with Neal on the air mattress (oh the things you do after your kids reach a certain age that you'd never do when they're itty-bitty, like, for example, sleeping on an air mattress):

So yes, sleep was not bad. And there was some eating. Oh, boy, did we eat. Here's a shot of Elias, for the little bit of time he actually sat in the high chair, at a Puerto Rican restaurant about a half-hour away from where they live. Good, but not as good as Tia Marty's cooking.

My only request to my gracious hosts, other than a few doses of Dunkin' Donuts coffee (I'm a Peet's snob, don't get me wrong, but I do miss their iced coffee in the summer)...

 

...was a little Sweet Maria's. Elias enjoyed one of the buttcream cupcakes we brought home in addition to the whip cream frosted cake they had ordered in advance to celebrate Mother's Day while we were there.

The other highlight, thanks to the fact that my brother is a firefighter in the nearby town of Hamden, was a visit to the firehouse. Elias is a lot more interested in firetrucks since the trip, but what kid doesn't like big, red, shiny things with horns and lights?

And one last shot, on the short shuttle ride from the airport terminal to the parking lot, with trusty travel companion, Scout (or Puppy Pal, as we call him):