John's First Airplane Trip

I'm hosting a gals craft day on Sunday and my house is a DISASTER. So what am I doing now that the baby is asleep? Blogging. Of course. What will I craft? Good question. Right now I have 3 interests: sewing one or more changing pad covers, sewing one or more quiet books (unfortunately, can't find a picture of them online - will post when done) or converting the last 2 years of Christmas Cards into an album or some other sort of collection so I can do the same thing every year.  Oh and of course feed and hold John the entire time if Zach has to study for finals. So I'll for sure get everything done.  I am secretly hoping some non-crafty girls will come and hold babies. :)

So reunion. We flew to Florida. John was pretty much a champ on the plane, except for pooping through his pants twice. (Word of advice: Using a blanket as a nursing cover? Same blanket for wrapping? Same blanket that gets pooped on? Uh-oh.)  He was a bit of a terror only for about 5 minutes twice (once was during boarding) but both times when he was very tired and over stimulated. In both cases we put the swaddle blanket over him and whichever of us was holding him to block out all the people and...sleep in 2 minutes. Awesome. Also, we travelled without any pump or bottles. It freaked me out a little. Next time I will at least travel with a bottle and some formula samples, just for emergencies. I'm a worrier. What if that quick trip to Walgreens became 3 hours because of traffic or an accident? etc. This was John's 3rd big trip but first by plane. I think this is the max age for easy traveling. They don't really need toys, sleep anywhere, etc. Even now in the car, John doesn't sleep if he isn't ready.  Before (early last month) he would just fall asleep every time we got on the road, very nice for 8 hours of driving in a day.  Now, its just screaming. Awesome.

At the reunion, John met his namesake, John Francis Doscher, a wonderful man, husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather. Also a great story teller, author, has a good sense of humor and a way with words.  At 83, he just quit jogging, running races, and I think toned down his softball team participation. I hope our John is a lot like him.  Poppi (thats what we call him) wrote a poem for John. I'm going to post it here in case I lose our copy.

JD

We will probably never get to know each other,

Too many years apart.

With your loving family around you,

Your life will have a good start.

Stay close to your family, have a good heart.

Invite the Lord into our life, 

He will see you through trouble, sorrow, and strife.

The world could get rough,

So you have to be tough.

Stand up for what's right and don't back down.

Be merciful and kind, a good guy all around.

So John Francis, my namesake you are,

I just know you'll be fine, I know you'll go far.

When you start playing ball and I hope that you do,

Play fair, play hard, just be you.

I'll gaze down from Heaven and I'll hear and I'l see,

Now coming to bat...JD.

By JFD

TEAR! I love it.  I think I will also put a copy in his album and maybe frame the poem and a picture of them for his room.

Poppi and John. John is wearing Yankee apparel (ouch, I know) because Poppi is a fan. (Anyone want a 3m yankee outfit now that this photo op is over?)

On Thanksgiving, Poppi cooked the whole gang his famous invented meal, Eggs and Noodles. Yum.

Everyone getting a well posed picture staring directly at the sun. Oh well.

Dressy John on Thanksgiving with his cousin Brady.

The rest of the reunion was great, our spoiled boy was held, I think, the entire time by someone or another. (NO WONDER WE HAVE SLEEP PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!)