More Grandparent Time?

Dear John Patrick,

From Houston to Georgetown, you have been surrounded by grandparents this visit and you have loved it!

 

They have read to you, played with you, indulged you and loved on you.  They have gone with you to special places and sat around with you in familiar places.

Grandpa and Nana came back from Houston with us for another day and a half and you loved having grandparents in your own home, with your own things.

Your dad and uncle enjoyed having Grandpa here to do fun things with them like cook and shoot -- things your dad and uncle think every man should do equally well.

 

I enjoyed having your Nana here to go Black Friday shopping with me.

You and your sister enjoyed it all.  I am so glad you got that little bit of extra time with your grandparents.

Love,
Mom

Staying at Nana's House

Dear John Patrick,

You had to warm up to many, many people this visit.  But I don't think you warmed up to anyone as quickly as you did to Nana Roberts.

From our first day at her house, you were by her side more often than not.  Somehow she got you and you got her.  I loved it.

And I was glad for it because we stayed at her house for almost a week.

Your dad and your Gram cooked.  This was far more impressive to everyone else than it was to you.  But no worries, sweet boy.  Nana has cheerios.

 

 

In fact, one evening, you and your cousin Jamie sat and watched your daddy cook a delicious three course meal while eating cheerios.

You also loved playing at Nana's house.  It's not so much the toys -- although she does have that awesome garage (shhh, it's a secret, but we got you one for Christmas) -- it's more the family to play with you.

But I so loved seeing you and Uncle Jon playing with this toy.  Your sister used to play with it with Uncle James.  It's why I got you one for Christmas.  If I thought I could get away with it, I would trade out the one at Nana's for the one I got just so that I had the one your uncles have played with.  Only I think that makes it pretty special to Nana, too.  So my real plan is to simply mention often and loudly that the one you will get for Christmas was bought because of the picture I have of Uncle James and Sydney.  Because it was.

I also love the contrast between your uncles.  Uncle James showed Sydney how to work the ramp and then took a step back so that she could do it all by herself, without an adult influencing her.  Uncle Jonathan got his own car and played with you, side by side, so that you could do your thing, but he was doing his, too.  They are so alike, those two men, that sometimes those subtle differences get lost.  Uncle James was a great uncle.  So is Uncle Jonathan.  I wish you had them both.  I'm glad you at least have Uncle Jon.

So another holiday gone by and new memories made at Nana's house.  I love that we were finally able to stay there again after an almost three year hiatus to preserve Nana's health in the face of baby and toddler germs and immunosuppressant drugs.

I'm glad that you had the chance to make your own memories with your Nana, your Gram, Uncle Jon and Aunt Rachel, too.

Because that's what Thanksgiving is really about... the time with family.  And you had so much of that this week, at Nana's house, at Gram's house, at Grandma's house, at the Lang's and at The Great Aunt Peggy's.

And I suspect it will be very important for you to always remember that Thanksgiving isn't really about the food... you were just going to have goldfish and cheerios anyway... and you will come to resent this turkey and cranberry based holiday like I used to if you ever tell yourself that it is about the food.  It's not.

It's about the family.

Love,
Mom

Thanksgiving 2011

Dear John Patrick,

We spent Thanksgiving day with the Nolens, at The Great Aunt Peggy's house.

You enjoyed playing in the yard with your dad and sister and cousins.

Inside, you made a handprint turkey with the rest of us while the real turkey was cooking outside.

 

At dinner time, you sat with your sister and cousins at the kids' table.

You insisted on eating the "orange" you picked from The Great Aunt Peggy's tree.  Jessica had mentioned that The Great Aunt Peggy's lemon tree grew ridiculously large lemons and that she always thought they were oranges, too.  I guess you were in good company, at least.

Not an orange!  Not an orange!

After a nice roll and many rides on the Great Grandpa horse, you were fully recovered.

It was such a lovely Thanksgiving.  I enjoyed the food and the company so much.

I also loved the chance to take more family pictures.  It's been a while since I've had the four generation picture, so it was definitely time for a new one.

 

Since we had all of the Nolens there, we took many different family pictures.  I love them all.  But somehow the one that captures the day best is the one that was only barely posed.

Happy Thanksgiving, sweet boy.

Love,

Mom

Kemah Boardwalk

Dear John Patrick,

How much fun can we pack into a week?  I guess the real question is how many carousel rides can we pack into one week?  My current answer is four, although I am a little bitter that we missed the one at the Ren Fair.... it could have been five.

Wednesday we went to the Kemah boardwalk with Uncle Jonathan, Grandpa and Nana Nolen, Aunt Rachel Will and Jamie.

Your sister got to ride many, many, many rides with your dad and Uncle Jonathan and Will.  I know that you are very much looking forward to the trip that you are tall enough to ride with them.  This time, you had to settle for the two kiddie rides and the now familiar carousel.  At least your sister joined you for a few rides while Will was off with your dad and Uncle Jonathan on the one ride that even your sister wasn't tall enough to ride.

 

  

After spending over an hour riding all of the rides, we went to Landry's to eat some really good seafood.  This made your daddy very happy!

Your Nana played, very patiently, with you while we waited for the food to arrive.

I was amused by your Uncle Jon's dedication to suit preservation.

After lunch, we left the restaurant and headed to the Aquarium to see more fish.  This time the kind of fish you like to see, and not the kind your dad and uncle like to eat.

I loved watching you, once again, enamored by the rays.  These rays are the bigger ones (when they are smaller, they keep them at the Downtown Aquarium; when they get too big, they bring them to the Kemah Aquarium).

I was so happy that you got this time with your uncle, your aunt and your cousins.  All of you got to go to the Downtown Aquarium with your Gram and so it was nice to be able to share the Kemah experience with your Grandpa and Nana.

I know all of you had a wonderful time.

Love,
Mom

Novemeber 22, 2011

Dear John Patrick,

I wonder what you made of November 22nd.  What went through your mind that day?

We went to a place, a field with stones and your entire family stood in near silence.

The focus was on this stone in particular.  It was decorated and I know it drew your eye.  There were toys, guns, flowers and flags.  There was even a couple of Reeses' peanut butter cups that everyone told you were for Uncle James.   I told you he would share.

There were balloons which you always love to play with and yet the adults were keeping most of them to themselves.

We did give you and your sister one each.

And then we all stood around holding our balloons.

And then, after a prayer, we all let them go, for reasons I'm sure you didn't understand.

The mood lightened a bit as we then went out to eat.  It was Mexican food, which didn't mean much of anything to you other than that you aren't a big fan.  I don't think anyone bothered to explain to you that your Uncle James loved Mexican food.

From there, everyone seemed more or less normal as we all went out to a military surplus store.  I'm sure you were perplexed by the wares, but it was such an exciting place, and you were allowed to try on things like hats, and watched your big cousin try on a silly mask and I know you finally felt like it was play time.

From the store of things that included many, many new things you could touch and play with and many, many more that you were sharply told to leave alone, we went to a big, big, big, building that included a carousel (your third this trip) and an indoor playspace.

 

 

What did any of those activities have to do with the rest of the day?  Nothing at all.  I don't know that I even stopped to explain to you that we were just filling the time while your dad and uncle picked your Grandpa and Nana up from the airport.

I suppose you figured it out when they arrived at the mall to meet us and then we all went to dinner.

When I look back on it, I realize what a strange, strange day it was for you.  Such extreme emotions, from the somberness of the graveside to the whimsicality of the carousel.  So many different people to be around and so many changes of scenery.

No wonder you had such a range of emotions yourself, outbursts and upsets, giggles and just silliness.

Next year, I promise to do a better job of talking you through what we are doing at each step so that it isn't just a random flow from one unexpected event to another.  November 22nd is a hard enough day for the adults in your life; the least I can do is help it make a little easier on you.

Love,
Mom