Whirlwind

Wow, so much has gone on in this past month! At the beginning of August, Jake was visited by two lovely ladies, Shelah and Heather. Shelah came for just a few days before heading off to visit some other friends in Europe. Heather came for just under 3 weeks the day after Shelah left! Needless to say, Jacob had a LOT of entertaining to do! Heather travelled with Jacob and me to Hamburg and Bad Oldesloe, Germany for our friend's wedding, where she ended up meeting Shelah (who is a mutual friend too) and hitting it off! Jacob got to go on his very first plane ride, where he was an ANGEL! The boy is a pro at flying already! He slept the entire way... good boy!

Germany was HOT and there was no AC in our hotel room... apparently they only need it for about a month every year so noone bothers to get it. Poor Jake was soaking the whole time. But he had a good time and was fawned over by everyone.

With Heather, Jake and I went quite a few places in Ireland, too... New Grange, Glendalough, Roscrea, to name a few. Upon Heather's departure, Rob, Jacob and I had to get ready for our trip to the states for Jake's baptism!

The flight from Dublin to JFK was easy peasy. Jake did great. Rob and I selected seats across the aisle from each other as we're both pretty wide people. This way we wouldn't squish anyone. But of course the flight attendants really wanted to be helpful and hounded us into using the bulkhead asile so we could use the bassinett.... which is a lovely thought if you're not pinching many inches. So we caved and ended up miserable squished next to each other for take off. BTW, the bulkhead armrests are NOT comfortable! After take off, I went and found myself another seat on an aisle close to the bulkhead. Rob stayed put to take advantage of the bassinett. Me, having still quite generous "birthing hips" needed a different seat.

Our flight out of JFK was another story. We ended up on the tarmac for a couple of hours... Jake was hungry and jetlagged so he screamed for a while and eventually fell asleep (5 mintues before we actually took off!).

The rest of the trip was fantastic. Jacob got to meet a ton of his great aunts and uncles, many second cousins, and finally got to meet Aunt Rebecca and cousins Ava and Joseph. He took a dip in the pond behind uncle Art's house and yelled for a while until he realized that it wasn't so bad, and joined us for a clambake on the beach!

Then on to Jacob's christening, which he was perfect for. No crying for MY son! He did give out a little bit when the water on his head started drying and cooling his head, but that was it. And Father Charlie did a brillant job on the christening, making it such a personal event. The christening was followed by a huge party where Jacob was given much "sugar" (as they say in Texas) and cuddles. He ended his vacation with a trip to Aunt Mary Beth and Uncle Gary's log cabin in the woods and a trip to the state fair!

So, needless to say, we're all a bit wrecked now. And while Rob and I are pretty much mostly over our jet lag, I can't say the same for the little guy who is currently passed out in his NEW BIG BOY CRIB. I suppose I should try to wake him soon.