Surprise Visit

John, Tommy and I made a surprise visit last weekend to Charleston, Illinois this past weekend for John's dad's 70th birthday. Opa Chris did not know we were coming, but everyone else did! We flew to Indianapolis on Friday, rented a car, and drove west for just under 2 hours. Here are the highlights of our trip!

Tommy slept the entire flight out, though is buddy Elmo did not.

On the flight home, Elmo slept, but Tommy did not

Tommy's first visit to a Denny's. He didn't like what he ordered, so he ate the pears I brought along.


SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY OPA!

Tommy's new thing - giving huggies

Look at those smiles - not sure whose is bigger!

When we arrived at Oma and Opa's house, we rang the doorbell and left Tommy at the door, which Opa answered. Aunt Maria and Uncle Bryan were there too, as they came down from Chicago the night before as a surprise. Uncle Craig and cousins Julia and Ethan arrived Friday night and met us for pizza a Pagliai's, my favorite place to go for pizza in the Midwest! Tommy was excited to see everyone and meet some new family members that had not had the opportunity to meet him since he joined the family 14 months ago!

Tommy had a blast on the table at Pagliai's with Aunt Maria, cousin Tim and his daughters, Emma and Alli.

Emma and Alli made Tommy laugh all night! They were excited to meet "Monkey John's son."

On Saturday, we had breakfast at What's Cookin?, another favorite spot in town. Afterwards, Oma, Aunt Maria, Tommy and I went to visit the Lozano family, who welcomed a new baby girl, Gabriella, in August. Tommy had fun playing with Gabby's older brothers, Dominic and Vincent, but it was not easy trying to get three boys to sit nice for a picture:

Vincent, Tommy and Dominic

Tommy loved Oscar!

Saturday afternoon, we went over to Uncle Hank's for the second part of Opa's surprise. Hank is one of Opa's brothers, and the other 2 brothers were also there with their families to surprise Opa for his 70th birthday. Everyone hung out for the afternoon and Tommy finally got to charm everyone in the family that he hadn't met yet.

Uncle Frank reacts to Tommy's hit. Nice first impression my son is making, huh?


Yes, one of Tommy's latest "actvities" or milestones? Hitting. He thinks he's funny too. The first time it might have been, and John and I may have even giggled, but it's definitely a stage/phase that he is in full force. When we got back to school this week, I asked about it, and they said yes, he was doing it, and yes, he thought he was funny after he did it. Sigh. He is also now giving hugs and kisses (open mouthed), which we try to encourage and praise him for so he does more of that than the hitting. I realize he thinks he's playing, but sometimes he can really give you a whack that makes your eyes tear up. Sometimes I'll cover my eyes and pretend to cry, and Tommy gets concerned and pulls my hands away and then gives me a hug. Other times, I am really firm with him and tell him to be "gentle" and show him how to rub my face softly. Sometimes it works, but eventually the hitting happens again.

I'd say this is better than biting, but he gave me my first bite last night right before bed. In his defense, I think it was unintentional and he didn't realize what he was doing, as his teeth have been really bothering him since last week, and even more this week, as he always seems to be gnawing on his hands, a toy, a shoe, etc., and waking up at night more often. He leaned into my shoulder and suddenly I felt his teeth dig in, which took me by surprise, and I reacted very quickly with a "No, we don't bite!" I think he was surprised by what happened - both what he did and my reaction, and the poor kid then cried for a solid 15 minutes before I could calm him down. And he did have his hand in his mouth quite a bit right after that, so I am convinced it was just a teething situation, not an intention, "let's bite Mommy" deal.

Opa decorated for his birthday

Saturday evening, we headed over to the Moose Lodge for the final surprise for Opa - a surprise party with friends and family. At this point, he knew something was coming, since it was suggested that we head over to the Moose for a celebratory drink, but he didn't know exactly what might be waiting there for him. John and I didn't know what to expect ourselves because Tommy had REFUSED to nap all afternoon so we didn't think he'd last too long at the party before crashing. My plan to have him take a nice long nap in the afternoon did not work out. But Tommy was a party animal, eating all of his dinner and having some cake, then running around and dancing with the kids on the stage. I took him back to Oma and Opa's to go to sleep, both of us skipping the post party bash back at Hank's - decided that would definitely be pushing it a bit too far!

Tommy ready to party like a rock star at Opa's surprise party

Tommy feeds Opa a puff while waiting for his dinner.

Awesome cake with birthday greeting in Dutch!

Tommy dressed and ready to go for breakfast on Sunday AM after his night of partying...he was crying about something, just not sure what!

Uncle Frank forgives Tommy for the previous day's smackdown

Sunday we had breakfast at What's Cookin? again, hung out at Oma and Opa's, and went out for some more delicious pizza again. Tommy even had a bite of the pizza, but spit out the crust somehow...still ate the cheese and sauce. Weird.

On Monday, we headed back to Indianapolis to fly home to NJ, and found out on the way that our flight was delayed about 2 hours. Tommy slept the entire 2 hour drive to the airport, and was very good at the airport for the most part. I was praying the delay would work to our advantage and he'd take a late nap on the plane, but no.such.luck. He fell asleep briefly while we waited on the runway to take off, but woke up and never shut his eyes until 10 minutes before we landed. He was frustrated not being able to be up and about, and we were squished because the flight was full and it was a smaller plane - 2 seats on one side, 1 on the other. For the most part, we kept him entertained reading 2 of the musical books from Baby Einstein, singing songs, and looking out the window. Near the end of the flight he was upset, antsy and overtired, but the flight was very noisy since it was a smaller plane so I don't think too many people were bothered by him. I did a lot of singing to him, though I admit it was to keep me focused too because my ears were KILLING me - same thing happened on the flight out, probably because I have this darn cold that won't go away (I'm still fighting it a week later!). Tommy finally fell asleep with about 10 minutes to go in the flight, and it turns out he was soaking wet AND had a dirty diaper, so part of me wonders if that was why he was so upset at the end. Once we landed, I had to change his entire outfit, but he was a little angel in the restroom, watching all the ladies going by. Normally he is not that cooperative getting changed these days!


Here is a picture to sum up the exhausting but fun-filled weekend Tommy had surprising Opa and seeing Oma, Aunt Maria and Uncle Craig, Uncle Bryan, Julia, Ethan, and even Bella the dog (though Bella was not too sure about Tommy!). And he had a grand old time with all of his grand-aunts and uncles and other cousins too!

Love that arm behind the head!!!