Jay and Julie: Christmas!

On Tuesday, December 20 we drove to Phoenix, parked, took a shuttle, checked a giant suitcase, got through airport security, and then boarded a Delta flight to Salt Lake City.

It is Theo's first trip. We packed light, which has worked out well so far. I am not sure how you travel with a baby to a destination with no family there. My family borrowed a pack n play for Theo to sleep in, found a high chair, and in general let us borrow lots of things so we didn't need to pack a zillion things. This is good since packing with Theo was such a challenge. He kept getting excited about everything I was packing and would steal things from the suitcase. It really makes your anxiety go up when you carefully pack the favorite sippy cup and then see Theo wandering around with it. Umm, no, that has to come to Utah with us! Luckily he has not yet learned how to use zippers, so I closed the suitcase after adding each item. It was annoying but worked.

I added Little Foot to our tickets by phone (the only way) and was informed that for our dog to be a carry on, his carrier had to be no bigger than 15 in. wide, 13 in. long, and 9 in. high. Apparently we were flying on an aircraft with very small foot space (our flight back is on a plane that allows the carrier to be 19 inches long instead of 15). A month out I shopped online and went to stores and shoved Little Foot in carriers but I couldn't find one that was big enough for Little Foot but met the requirements. I only found one carrier that was small enough in the stores and it was so small it looked like it should carry a rabbit. I was really stressed, worrying that we would need to cancel our flight, pay high fees, and book on a different plane. Jay went and found a used carrier. It said Delta on it but was too big. He took it apart and completely remade it. It is small enough and even has an expandable section so on our flight back it can be bigger.

Everything on the travel day actually went smoothly. A sucker calmed Theo in the car and he slept most of the time on the plane. We had a direct flight. The worst part was that it was 70 F in Phoenix but we were wearing heavy coats, so there was little to complain about.

While going through airport security, I put my curious toddler down. That is when he made a break for it through a closed security line. I guess he wanted to skip the metal detectors. Luckily I caught him before he got more than a few feet under a stanchion. I am so glad he didn't get past the security line. I imagine the TSA would have been unhappy about even a kid bypassing security.

That night Theo was so excited to see all the things and stairs in Gabi and Tache's house (Gabi and Tache are what the grandkids call Jay's parents). He finally went to bed late. At his first night waking he fell back asleep in my arms but woke when I tried to put him down. The second time I got him to sleep, the same happened. Only this time when he woke, he looked around, realized he was not at home but at Gabi and Tache's, let out a shriek of glee, and then giggled excitedly for the next 1.5 hours, wanting to run and explore. Lullabyes, rocking, reading, nursing, and massage didn't calm him down. Finally, 2 hours after he had gotten hyper (and 3 hours since he had originally woken) he fell back asleep.

Wednesday we saw Liam, Seth, and Sakura in a school music program, which was fun. When your student body is mostly Mormon, there is a lot of talent. Theo fell asleep during it. We walked back to Natalie's house in the cold. I had taken Theo's coat off, and so he was kept warm only by my coat draped over him, and still he didn't wake. It's funny to me that if he hears me open the dishwasher in the next room, he immediately wakes, but twice this trip I have carried him asleep out into the cold and he hasn't cared a bit.

That night we went to see the Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point. By summer it is a botanical garden but in winter it is a display of over a million lights. We had a nice time. Theo had fallen asleep in the car though. We got him out, bundled him into an oversized puffy coat over his crocheted sweater, and put him in Gabi's lap -- she was riding in a wheelchair. Jay and I were both so bundled up, I am not certain that Theo recognized us. He practically couldn't move in his snow gear and here was an amazing light display and music playing. He kept a shocked, wide eyed expression the entire time. We thought he was just as entertaining -- or more -- than the lights.

One display was of giant candy canes and had, I think, Josh Groban singing a song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. We agreed that a Christmas light display of candy is probably the only place that combination really works. Somehow that area also was peppermint scented. How did they do that?

One of my favorite parts was actually a section with a sculpture display called The Light of the World. It depicted scenes from Jesus' life and was gorgeous. We didn't walk through all of this section because it got cold and we had small children with us.

There was another part where we could pet reindeer. Seth and Liam got out of the wagon and everyone went to go see. We ended our night in an enclosed area with poinsettas and Dad brought out cocoa he'd brought. We took about 1 hour 10 minutes in the display.

On Friday Jay, Theo, and I went to Bountiful and visited with Jay's best friend, Daniel. We met at his wife's parent's home. Daniel and Alicia have 2 kids and there were lots of other kids and adults at the house. Theo can be nervous in new situations, but he seemed pretty comfy there. We played Bang, which Daniel got as a gift for Jay. Jay lost first, and then Daniel, so only Alicia and I were still playing. We called a draw on account of our babies needing us. Jay was playing a Santa character in the game and Henry, who is 6, asked if it was the real Santa.

No, it is just a western guy who thinks he is Santa. The game is a western shoot out card game and we didn't want Henry thinking we shot Santa.

Saturday, Christmas Eve, I was up at 8 a.m. with Theo but no one else was around -- Jay and Mom were asleep and Dad was maybe at the store. I decided to go visit Steve. We had plans to visit them later, but it was fun to see them then. Clara was so good with Theo. I also was looking for his shoes at one point and Clara showed me that she had lined his shoes up neatly by the stairs because she likes to help.

For lunch we went to El Fountain for Nat's birthday. It is a Mexican restuarant. Mary, Chad's mom, watched our kids. I was worried, especially because he was tired and just fell asleep when we woke him buckling him in his car seat. But he was so thrilled to be with Sakura, Seth, and Liam, he just played happily. That afternoon I put him to sleep in Liam's bed (on the second floor) and then napped in the basement. Mom and Nat watched him when he got up and I continued sleeping.

That night we had curry Jay made and simmered all day. It's great to have a family that loves curry. Then we had a cake. Theo ate every bit I let him.

That night Natalie and her family stayed at Gabi and Tache's. We had decided that Theo slept better on a mattress on the floor than in a pack 'n play so Seth and Suki got beds and Liam, who is older than Theo, slept in the pack 'n play in the toy room. Liam is a good sport.

I said I was going to bed and Little Foot excitedly followed me to the bedroom. I stopped and removed my contacts first. When I got out of the bathroom, he was still waiting and so I boosted him on the bed and we went to sleep. Awhile later Jay came in and asked where Happy was. I said I didn't know where Nat's dog was. I only had Little Foot. Jay said, "No, I have Little Foot."

Apparently Little Foot got bored while I was in the bathroom but Happy decided to wait and impersonate him. Natalie was looking everywhere, including outside in the cold, dark, Utah night! Littermates doing the twin thing.

Christmas morning we all wore jammies. I wore Christmas jammies my in-laws got me a few years ago. So did Nat. Theo kept hugging Natalie's legs, Nat would pick him up, and then he would look confused. Our identicle pajamas really made him mix us up.

Amber got me fuzzy socks. I put these Rudolph socks on and Theo immediately started trying to play with my feet! It was cute.

On Monday we drove up to Uncle Howard's and saw Grandma C. I had planned to see Steve and his family there, but was surprised that Will and Amanda were in Utah and came too. Uncle Howard showed off his cool home with a secret panel and a pin ball machine. Aunt Kathy made us yummy dinner. We had ham, rolls, fruit salad, and a sweet Chex mix. For dessert we had really good pumpkin pie. Theo thought their dog, Jasper, was so much fun. Jonah did too. Clara and Jay played a lot on a giant pillow thing, both bouncing and then trying to shock each other with static. Theo thought touching fingers was a fun new game.

Uncle Howard and Aunt Kathy got Theo an old school phone toy with the rotary dialer and the eyes that go up and down when you pull the string. It is pretty cool, but Theo was more interested in playing with the dog toys and a wooden spoon. I hope Theo will like his present more when he gets a bit older.

He got another toy I remember from my childhood -- a ring stacking toy from his Gabi and Tache. He loves that toy! They also got him a toy broom, which he thinks is just great.

On Tuesday we went to Steve's and played with the kids and Stacy. We put together a big puzzle and Jonah and Theo watched Franklin. Then Steven came home for lunch and we had homemade pizza together and I ate a lot. We got back to my in-law's at 2. Theo had been asleep in the car and woke when I picked him up, but I convinced him to nap from 3-4:30 p.m. It was a time investment (an hour to get him back to sleep) but I got a long nap too, so it was completely worth it.

Tuesday night Theo and I drove to Provo and visited 2 of my old roommates, Ashley and Katrina. Unfortunately Sera was in Washington for the holiday.

It was great to catch up with them. It has been 7 years since we roomed together! Amazing that it has been that long. We talked a lot.

When I first came in, everyone was so excited, it scared Theo. I tried to set him down and he clung to me. By the end of the night he was having great fun with Katrina and Ashley. He approved of the soup and chocolate ice cream.

Wednesday was our last full day. We kept it simple, played Pie In the Face with Natalie's family, saw a movie, and ate homemade pizza. Theo ate some of my red sauce pizza and then seemed done. Then Jay gave him a whole slice of Alfredo sauce pizza and Theo ate most of it, really excited. 45 minutes later he managed to reach way, way up and get another slice, which he gleefully ate most of as well, crust first. I don't know that I have ever seen him eat that much before! I think he eats more when he gets the food himself. Once he ate almost half a banana that he found -- it was in a bag of groceries I had not put away yet. I helped him peel it, but he ate it better than food I put in front of him.

Thursday we came home. Theo wasn't easy, but we worked hard to keep him happy and he only had a short public crying spell. He slept a lot of the flight and also a lot of the very long drive from Phoenix to Tucson -- there was an accident or something and the freeway was closed and it took 3.5 hours to drive home instead of 2. Theo slept most of it.

He was so very excited to come home and play in his tiny backyard. He didn't seem to like the snow in Utah but he loved playing ball in the warm yard with Little Foot.

We are glad we went and also glad to be home.