Sunday, May 27, 2007

Back to normal & out of the river in Egypt
Memorial Day weekend family visits are over & I couldn't be happier. It wasn't absolutely horrible, but it wasn't that much fun either.

Friday morning Logan & I joined a few moms for a stroller walk on a nearby trail. We walked forever & I ended up losing track of time. My dad & his girlfriend were driving out that morning & were supposed to call me when they got into town. Well, he called...after they had been in town for a few hours. I was still on the trail & had too run back to the car so they didn't have to wait in out driveway. Logan lost a flip flop & I didn't have time to run back to find it. R.I.P cute flip flop.

I got home & they had only been waiting at the house for a minute. Logan was being really shy & clingy. We (or I, really) played with him for a while & we went out for lunch. It was good & Logan was cute & not too unruly. He had to go down for a nap & we decided to meet up again when he woke up.

Logan took a marathon nap for a few hours. He woke up super grumpy too. Dad & D came back to the house & Logan just wanted to sit on my lap. He didn't want to play with them at all. I actually had to turn on Classical Baby to cheer him up before we left to go to the park. When Bill came home from work, we all hung out at the park for a bit & then went out for dinner. Logan was a stinker & I had to take him outside for time out. After we were finished eating, we got up to leave & as we were walking out, I noticed Logan had a blowout. Lovely. However, he enjoyed riding in the car in just a clean diaper & t-shirt (because I forgot to pack extra clothes).

That night was a little rough because of the increasing anxiety of dealing with Bill's family the next day. Bill & I were able to vent about some things & clear our heads. It got us on the same page (or just confirmed to each other that we were already there).

Saturday morning we met up with my dad & D again for breakfast. It was short as they had to get back home soon. Logan was nice enough to let my dad hold him for a minute before they left. We went back home for a few hours when both Logan & Bill took really long naps. I couldn't sleep if my life depended on it.

When Logan woke up, we went to Aunt Ju-Ju's to meet up with Bill's family. Aunt Ju-Ju wasn't there, but Uncle J & Baby B were, as well as Bill's parents. Grandma L went about pretending like nothing ever happened. That really bothered me. Grandpa L just smoked & pouted. We hung out at the house for a while, while Logan continued to be shy & clingy. He didn't want to leave my side & if he wasn't on my lap, then he was squished in between me & Bill on the couch.

After a bit, we decided to head out to the farm. Uncle J & Baby B stayed home, so it was just us with the grandparents. When we got there, I let Logan out of his stroller & he just ran off having fun. He was so happy & so excited. He picked up rocks (& proceeded to carry them around the entire farm the whole time we were there) & threw sand. He pointed at all of the animals. He made a couple of friends while he was there too. He met another little boy by the sheep. They picked up rocks & pointed at sheep together. Then he met another little boy by the duck pond. They had fun showing each other where the ducks were.

After constant running, playing on the playground there & many trips & falls that resulted in a scraped up forehead & bloody knees, we were ready to go home & get Logan down for a nap. The farm was more fun than I anticipated, mostly because Logan was independent & wanted to do his own thing. He was also too fast for the grandparents to keep up with him.

Logan took another marathon nap (running around a farm wears a boy out!) & woke up right before dinner. I fed him dinner at home because they were making a meal that wasn't toddler friendly. We got there only to discover Baby B had a fever (gee, it would've been nice to let us know so Logan doesn't get sick). I gave Logan his cracker cup while the rest of us ate dinner. When Logan became comfortable there, he ran around exploring. Aunt Ju-Ju hasn't baby proofed the house yet, so it was a pain in the butt making sure Logan didn't stick his fingers the outlets, pull down the curtains from the rods & stick his fingers in the candle that was lit on the coffee table (that I promptly blew out, but he wanted to play with the hot wax).

One thing was for sure, Logan didn't want anything to do with the rest of the family. He would watch them from a distance, but wouldn't "perform" for them, or go within 10 feet of them either. That made it easy for me because I didn't have to deal with grabby grandma or enforce the hand washing/shirt changing rule for Grandpa L. Logan did hang out with Baby B for a little bit, but not much because he was sitting too close to the grandparents. It was quickly getting late & way passed Logan's bedtime, so we left.

We met up with the grandparents & the friends that they were staying with for breakfast. Their friends are grandparents too & this grandma is just as obnoxious about respecting people's comfort levels & personal space. She tried her best to lure Logan away, but he wasn't falling for it. After breakfast we got up to leave, but ended up hanging out in front of the restaurant (waiting for Grandpa L to finish another cigarette) , where Grandma L's friend tried to give Logan a hug while I was holding him. He promptly pushed her away. She laughed about it & I kept my mouth shut because Logan was doing a good job of holding his own & communicating about his comfort levels. We said our good bye's (including the most fake hug ever from Grandma L) & we left.

So nothing major happened, but Logan's independence was a huge relief for me. He was able to make known what he was comfortable with. I know Bill's parent's are a little pissed that Logan didn't want to go near them, but that's the way he wanted it. Bill & I tried to encourage him to go read books & play with them & stop clinging onto us. He wasn't going for it. I've known from the very beginning of his life what he is comfortable with (moms tend to know that about their kids), especially from how upset he got during his stranger anxiety phase. It was nice to hear it straight from the horses mouth.

5 comments:

Liz said...

Go Logan!

If Bill's parents were more involved in your lives as a family, I wonder how Logan would've reacted. I know that with my own mother living so far away from us, it takes a day for Henry to warm up to/figure out Grandma Lady. But, I guess their actions are what has brought this upon themselves, right?

Does that make sense?

Anyhoo, glad it was less stressful than you anticipated. And I hope you guys get to enjoy some nice family time, just the three of you!

Erin said...

Yay Logan! I'm so glad the weekend turned out ok, and Logan let them know what he was comfortable with (and that they didn't force the issue). Now you can breathe a sigh of relief that it's over with!

Anonymous said...

Liz was right. Logan only reacted the way he did because his Grandparents don't get to see him as often and when they do, aren't allowed to interact with him.-CS

Kristin said...

Oh please, anonymous.
They do get to interact with him. I feel that a grandparent's privilege & role is to have fun with grandchildren. Read books, sing songs, play games, etc. NOT attempt to be a surrogate parent. Grandma L blew it because she tried to be Logan's other "mommy", then messed it up even more because she tried to divide & destroy our family.

So, yes. Liz is right. Their actions are what brought this upon themselves.

Lisa said...

Great story, when will grandparents realize if they don't make the effort to play with their grandchildren, the kids won't want anything to do with them!

When we visited MIL for Easter, my son actually thought he was at a birthday party where he didn't know anyone. Classic.