Thanksgiving Recap

Before jumping into this post, I would first like to give thanks....
Thanks to Mr. Steve Jobs, may he rest in peace.  Without him and his iPad, our trip would have been completely different.  haha!

Being "calm and quiet"

As you can see, we are home.  We survived travel, plane rides, dinners, etc.  Jonathan was a superstar.  AND, still is rocking the potty training like a champ. Not all days and moments were sparkling and gleaming...but I think we all learned from the good and the bad and the bad and the good.

HIGHLIGHTS:
- Every time Jonathan saw one of his uncles, he would say their names and point to them with such delight.  "Uncle Jake!" "Uncle Bob!"  "Uncle Tom!"  At one point, as we were leaving dinner, he turns to Jake and says, "Come on, Uncle Jake. We go to Grandpa's house!"
- When saying hello and good-bye to people, he looked at them directly in the eyes.
- A hilarious moment...my father-in-law has a lovely woman who cleans his apartment named Rosa.  We crossed paths at one point with her.  I told Jonathan to say hola to Rosa.  And he says, "Hola, Mayor Rosa."  Mayor Rosa is a character on Handy Manny. So of course, this Rosa must be a Mayor too!  And when I told him to say adios, he said, "Good-bye, Mayor Rosa."  She got a kick out of it too.

Showing off his iPad skills to Uncle Bob, Daddy and Aunt "Kaffy"

MOMENTS OF CHALLENGE:
- Don't take your child to a loud, hot and cramped Chinese restaurant for a 3-hour meal at 7pm.  It didn't work for us.  Jonathan and I had to leave dinner early...he was tired, fussy, and we could sense a temper-tantrum coming, like a storm tracker smells a storm.  So we left, while Mike and his family enjoyed dinner.  And it really was OK.  I realized that Mike and I do know Jonathan's limitations, and need to speak up when it is time to say so.  Also, it helped prep us for the meal times and day events for the rest of the trip.  Each day, I would write out the steps of the things we were going to do, and review them with Jonathan...very similar to what I do at home every morning during the week.  And it worked!  He knew what to expect ahead, and didn't fuss later.
- Don't sit in the last seat on an airplane...second to last row is ok, but not the very last.  There is no window.  You can't see jack.

Honestly, I am so glad we did the trip.  Jonathan got to spend time with family, knows his Aunt, Uncles, cousin and Grandpa better.  And they were able to see him and know him too.  I think the prep work ahead helped, with the book, and later, the daily schedules.  So really, I should be thankful for the time we had together.  And for Steve Jobs too.  (have I mentioned Jonathan loves his iPad?)

I feel like I have so much more to say about the trip, and may add more later.  For now, I'm going to sit.  Oh, and enjoy the Thanksgiving meal Mike is making.  After all, we still have to have our Thanksgiving at home. 

Too cute not to add.  Pepper tried to be our stow-away.  She was happy when we got home, and her boy was happy to see her too.