A 3 Hour Nap = A Planned Vacation

Finally Jack has done the unthinkable.  Yesterday, for the first time in probably a year, Jack napped for over three consecutive hours.  He didn't take a morning nap, despite being (like Ben and I) horribly sleep deprived yesterday during our late night journey; we didn't get to Napa until 2 a.m. PST (4 a.m. home time), and Jack only slept for maybe 3 hours while we were traveling.  Poor guy was so exhausted that on the second flight he fell asleep during takeoff!  Nonetheless, it's encouraging to me to know that a one nap a day routine could still leave me with enough time to myself without going crazy.

Other than our lack of sleep, the trip here was great.  It was actually really interesting to see how Jack reacted to flying.  Although he's flown every few months since he was six weeks old, his last flight was just before his first birthday, so this was the first time he was interested in what was going on.  He giggled with delight as we took off the first time, and he made sure to point out the

 "fie-fies" (fireflies, or city lights to us unimaginative grown ups).  He also pointed out his "noo soos" (new shoes) to anyone who smiled at him for more than 2 seconds.  We had a brief layover in Denver, during which Jack learned the joys of moving sidewalks and escalators.  

Above is my attempt to capture Jack exploring the people movers with Ben.  Unfortunately I couldn't get very close, because as soon as Jack sees the camera now, he rushes toward me, begging me to show him the pictures I've taken.  For the past few weeks I've rarely been able to snap many good pictures before he starts backing toward me, rump pushed out in anticipation of sitting on my lap to look at pictures.  Thus, the lack of pictures on the blog lately.

Yesterday the massive nap kept us from doing too much.  We went grocery shopping and drove in to the city of Napa, which is about 10 miles away.  We went out to the pool, since it was 85 degrees, but once there I realized it was unheated.  Fortunately I checked before getting Jack in, and my big toe was the only frostbite casualty.  We ended up doing our swimming in the bathtub and called it a night early.

But his long nap did give me a chance to plan out the rest of our trip.  As soon as he wakes up from his morning nap, Jack is in for a great surprise.  We're headed into Napa to go to the Firefighter's Museum.  I harbor a personal somewhat debilitating fear/hatred of all automobiles, so before he was even born, I issued a no-vehicle rule on toys and especially clothing for Jack, with airplanes as a slight, occasional exception.  And I detest the machismo so rampant in police and firefighters.  So I never expected to be excitedly anticipating a trip to a fire fighter's museum. 

But we live about 2 blocks from our cute little Brentwood fire station (like everything else in our tiny semi-suburb, semi-town, it really is cute, with its two engines and picturesque city hall structure, but more about that in another post), and Jack has developed a fascination with fire trucks.  Since the fire trucks go by several times a day (I assume to rescue kittens or help other fire departments), he has learned to do a fairly impressive imitation of a siren.  He frequently runs to our front windows, does his siren noise, and looks at me expectantly, beseechingly, as if to say, "Please, Mama, can I see the fire engine?"  He doesn't seem to understand that I can't make it appear at will.  Last week I heard Jack's siren impression about twenty times an hour every single day.  Last week I took a significant amount of Tylenol.  The two are not unrelated.  While it's very endearing at first, Jack's siren is a very high pitched squeal, almost like a baby fire engine.  It can get a little grating after several hours.

So I know what I'm getting myself into today.  I'm almost guaranteeing a constant siren noise not only for the rest of the day, but for the rest of the trip.  But it will make him so happy.  And that's worth it to me.  Just have to remember to pick up some Tylenol before we go.

A few pictures to add:

Jack making cookies.

Jack on his first day of "school"--we went to a drop in parent and child Parents as Teachers play time at the high school last Friday.  He walked all three blocks there holding my hand!

On his 18 month birthday.  Can you believe how grown up he looks!?  

Also on tap for today:  A trip to the park.  A downtown Napa trolley ride across the Napa River.  And Jack's first haircut, at this adorable place down the street called Pigtails & Crewcuts.  They have a fire engine chair.