Family

A weekly visit from my parents has prompted me to think about how lucky Jeff and I are to have such amazing families that are invested in ensuring that Jack is surrounded by love and positive experiences. He's getting to the age where he can begin to recognize (and feel comfortable around) people aside from mama and papa. And, we're convinced that his comfort with strangers can be somewhat attributed to the fact that he's visited quite frequently by family and friends.

The visits with my parents usually begin with a direct dive for the baby, and - if I'm lucky - a quick hug for me. But I can't blame them - there's no denying that Jack is much more interesting than I am at this point. I'm touched by how much my parents adore Jack. They can sit for hours reading to him, playing with him, rocking him to sleep... they do say that grandparents get the best of the grandchildren. We've timed it fairly well, with them arriving after his morning nap, but leaving before his afternoon nap. So their visits are usually filled with giggles and smiles. Though they have run into a few bawling sessions during babysitting ventures, but are eventually able to get him to sleep. The one thing that both exasperates and thrills me is the amount of photos taken in any one visit. I don't think I'm that photogenic and I rarely like the photos I'm in, but I'm also grateful that there are so many photos of Jack and our families. The only way Jeff and I can really witness his ongoing transformation is to look back at old photos. My parents have the benefit of seeing him change week to week.

Jeff's father is able to visit every other weekend, as are his brother and his brother's wife. To them, the changes are even more noticable. We have yet to travel with Jack to visit others for any length of time. So, this weekend we will attempt to visit Granny and Grandaddy in Egremont from Saturday to Sunday. First and foremost, we're hoping he survives to two-hour long car rides!