Photos from Vegas!
The pics from Las Vegas are up! Check out the pics of Corey in an actual airplane cockpit. The pilot offered to let him come up and sit in his seat, and Corey loved it! You can check the photo gallery, or you can use this address:
Las Vegas Pictures
We still have Mason's birthday pics and our CA trip pics to put up. We're a little behind, but that will happen too.
And now for some fun Corey quotes:
Damian has a Buckeye beer bottle opener which plays the Ohio State fight song. Corey loves it. He's learned to set it off with a small metal spoon. Unfortunately, it broke. Corey and I had the following conversation:
J: "Would you like to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a new bottle opener?"
C (while enjoying a piece of chocolate, which he calls an ella): "Let me finish my ella, and then we can talk about it."
Damian and I laughed so hard I thought we'd fall off the sofa.
Later that day, we did get a new opener. When we came home, we showed Corey how to open a beer with it. He loved it! After about 5 minutes, he said, "Daddy, do you need another beer?" He now offers Damian beer at any time of the day. 10 AM Sunday morning sounds like a good time for a beer to Corey.
That night, at dinner, Corey ate just a few bites and then wanted to get down from the table. He and Damian had the following conversation.
Damian, "Corey, it's my job to buy the food for dinner. It's mommy's job to cook the food. It's your job to eat the food. Eat some more dinner."
Corey, "No I don't want that job."
Damian, "Then what job do you want?"
Corey, "I will be the bottle opener!"
Ha!
3 Drunk Men and a Poopy Diaper (our trip to Las Vegas)
We decided that things weren't quite hectic enough in our lives. So we asked ourselves, what can we do to make things just a little crazier? We then decided to pack up our kids, enough clothes and toys to clothe and entertain a small town, and fly to Las Vegas. Five hours on a plane with two children under three. There are many adjectives I can think of to describe this feat, but "calm" and "peaceful" do not fit the bill. When the pilot said, "Sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight", I considered sending a poopy diaper his way, compliments of Mason. If you want to approximate the fun we had on the plane, take two small children and lock yourselves in the smallest bathroom in your house for five hours.
But who are these three drunk men, you ask? As you may have guessed, during a five hour flight, diapers must be changed. Mason was the first to give us a present, and so I scooped him up and headed for the back of the plane, hoping to find a place to change him. When I got back there, although it was only about 10 AM, there were three men standing in the back of the plane who were clearly taking advantage of the cocktails available on board. They were all standing and attempting to flirt with the trapped flight attendant, and their seats were empty. They offered me their seats to change Mason, cracking jokes about how I should be sure and make a mess only on Bob's chair. Being able to lay Mason across the seats made it worlds easier to change him, though, so I thanked the drunkards, bagged up the diaper, and toddled back to our seats.
Approximately ten years later, we arrived in Vegas, and I was glad to find that I still had all my appendages and that my hair, if messy, was still actually on my head. "Grandpa Allan" greeted us at the airport and took us back to Allan & Monica's house, where "Momo" stuffed us full of good food and generally helped us settle in and recover. The boys took to both their grandparents in no time flat, and before long Corey was asking, "Where's Momo?" anytime she left his sight. It was awfully sweet.
While we were there, we mostly spent time playing with the boys, but we also had some fun shopping and eating excursions. Grandpa Allan and Momo offered to watch the boys one evening while Damian and I went to a fabulous dinner at N9NE in the Palms. The place was as modern as modern could be, with four hostesses in their early twenties all clad in black dresses and black boots, a bar that looked like a bit of modern art, and a ceiling resembling a cloudy gray sky. Damian and I chose an excellent bottle of wine, then we started with oysters and lobster bisque (heaven in a bowl). For our main courses, Damian had ahi tuna which was perfectly sliced and rare, and I had giant, meaty scallops served over root veggies with a semi-sweet glaze. Damian had a dessert that appeared to have been shipped in from the local art museum, and I had a small glass of ice wine. Being able to eat slowly and chat with my husband, while people watching and relaxing, was absolutely wonderful.
We also made a trip to Mon Ami Gabi, in Paris, for lunch. Again sans offspring. The atmosphere there was also terrific. There was an atrium which let in the sunlight and allowed for people watching on the strip, and a room next to it (where we sat), with ceilings that seemed to stretch up to the heavens, complete with gorgeous dark wood decor and large hanging lamps. The feel of the place was what I would picture as a cafe in Paris. We started with soups - I had the french onion and Damian had a yukon gold potato soup, which was served by pouring the liquid over a slice of brie at the table. Both were spectacular. For our main courses, Damian had a classic quiche, and I had a wonderful open-faced shrimp salad sandwich. We finished with some cups of coffee, served in petite white cups over white saucers. The whole experience was an A+.
After our week in Las Vegas, we decided to hop on a plane to Oakland and visit Dave, Jen, and baby Peyton. With a flight time of approximately one hour, it was really a snap. And cheap - $44 a ticket! Dave picked us up at the airport and took us back to his place, and as soon as I could get my hands on him, I grabbed my adorable nephew, Peyton, and kissed his face off. Oh the chubby cheeks! So cute! Peyton is five months old, so he isn't crawling, and he loves to cuddle. I miss that terribly now that Mason and Corey are constantly on the move, so I got in as much snuggle time with Peyton as I could. The sweetest thing he did for me, other than smiling his sweet innocent smile, was putting his little chubby arms around my neck and giving me little baby kisses on my face. I'm so glad we got to meet him, and I miss him already.
While we were in California, we managed to make a trip to Napa. Dave and Jen talked three of their friends, who are actually saints, into handling the triple threat so we could go sans kids. We brought them each a nice bottle of wine from Cakebread and thanked them, but really I feel like we owed them more than that. The three kids together are not exactly a walk in the park, but luckily they had man-on-man coverage for the duration of the day. Mason won the "most difficult child" award at the end of the day, and only E.B.'s beard seemed to calm him down. I'm considering buying a fake one to put on myself for emergencies.
Back to Napa. The day could not have been any nicer. Thank you to Dave & Jen for being fabulous hosts and tour guides. We started at Cakebread at 10:45 AM, and I thought, "It's well before noon, nobody is grabbing my pants leg and demanding my attention, and I'm drinking wine in this gorgeous place. AHHHHHHHHH." We had a quirky and fun tour guide for Cakebread, who gave us background and led us to the wine caskets for our tasting. He brought out and explained the nuances of a savignon blanc, a reserve chardonnay, and a second chardonnay. The first two really knocked our socks off. Then it was on to the reds. The cabernet savignon was shockingly bad, but the merlot actually really piqued my interest, and I don't normally like merlot.
We moved on to a couple more wineries, and at some point decided to have lunch. We stopped at V. Sattui, which was gorgeous - even the bathrooms were beautiful - and had some wonderful wine followed by a great lunch. It was deli style, so Damian and I ordered and split an Italian bologna sandwich, seafood salad, and red potato salad. Every bite was delectable, which must be why the place was totally mobbed. We finished our day with St. Supery and Merryvale, which turned out to be Damian's favorite. In total, we visited five wineries and bought six bottles of wine to carry home. One winery offered us a box to pack the wine in, and we were able to successfully check it with our luggage. All the wine made it home intact, I'm happy to report.
Back at the ranch, it was wonderful to have the boys together, and Corey was interested in "petting" Peyton. Both my boys were curious about him, but they really didn't bother him much. Corey had the most fun tossing the ball around with Uncle Dave, I think, and opening and closing the garage door, of course. You can tell Corey you're off to see anyone, as long as you tell him there's a garage door involved in the trip.
The four of us slept in Peyton's nursery, which had a bed in it for Damian and I, and also a palate for Corey. Corey loved this, as he could wake up and see me anytime during the night. One of my favorite moments of the trip was actually waking up on Sunday morning and seeing Corey right beside me. He was awake, just looking around and waiting for the "good morning light" to pop on. He caught my eye, and before I spoke a word, I just smiled at him. Instead of speaking, he also broke into a wide, sweet grin and reached out to hold my hand. It was a moment.
Finally, we sadly said goodbye to Peyton, Dave and Jen, (notice that Peyton gets top billing here) and headed back to Las Vegas for one more night. At this point, Corey was ready to "just drive home", but we had a lovely last night in Vegas before we powered through the long plane ride home. Thank you to Grandpa Allan and Momo for being fabulous hosts! The boys will be asking to call you, I'm sure.
It was a wonderful trip, but it is good to be home.
Mason visits Dr. McKay
This morning Mason had his one year "well baby" visit with Dr. McKay. Everything looks terrific! He is one healthy, happy kid, and he is right on track developmentally. Dr. McKay also complimented him on his lovely skin. All the credit goes to Damian for bathing him and giving him the lotion rub-down every night. This is not an easy task, as Mason works hard at flipping over and diving off the bed head-first during the entire diaper/lotion/jammas process.
Mason had four shots today, including the flu shot booster, MMR, Prevnar, one last one which I've forgotten. He was fine until the last shot, and then he let me and his nurse have it. Corey, however, was fascinated by the bandaids on his chubby thighs, so that was a bonus.
And now for his measurements (drum roll please): Mason is now off the charts. That's right! He has exceeded the hundredth percentile. Perhaps he is actually an ape. Here are the specifics:
Weight: 27.2 lbs
Height: 33 inches
Head Circumference: 20 inches
Mason turns one, despite his best efforts to avoid the day...
Mason has spent the past few weeks diligently trying to kill himself, so it is with great pride, relief, and joy that I announce his failure in this venture. Mason has banged his head on every piece of furniture in this house. Also, every time I turn around, he has something else in his mouth. When I'm lucky, it's a random Cheerio that has fallen on the floor. The worst, however, was when he managed to find a penny and pop that in his mouth. Thankfully Damian saw it shining away on Mason's tongue, whacked him on the back, and it flew out onto the floor. My heart was in my throat, and the flood of relief I felt when that penny came out was like a shot of adrenaline straight through the sternum.
The heart child didn't stick things in his mouth. Corey wanted nothing in his mouth, including food, for quite some time. Thus, I never had to worry about him choking on random items he might find on the floor. And so it is a whole new world with the healthy heart boy. Mason wants to eat everything. And I do mean everything. If you are in charge of his meal, and you don't get the food to him fast enough, prepare to suffer the consequences. Sometimes I just put him in his highchair and throw meat at him from across the room, like they feed the lions in the zoo. It's safer for everyone that way.
Of course I am kidding. Mason truly is as sweet as can be, and I feel blessed and amazed that my little baby boy is one today. His Aunt Amanda asked me if I feel like it's been a fast year, and the answer is yes and no. Time is funny in that way. Part of me feels that if he's already one, then in five minutes I'm going to be watching the back of his head as he walks out the door and heads off to college. But it also feels as though it's been five years since January 4, 2007, when the doctors said to me, "You have HELLP Syndrome. We're going to deliver your baby in the next 2 hours. Make your calls." The next thing we knew, Mason was here with us!
Happy First Birthday, Mason Thomas! I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful child than you. I love you.
