This weekend we decided to head back home (for me) and visit my parents. We try and get there as often as possible since my mother isn't well enough to make the 4.5 hour drive to our place.
So Friday, like most times we plan this trip, I worked a half day and came home to pack the van quickly so we could get on the road in time for the munchkin's nap. This (we hoped) would allow for a portion of the trip to be spent basking in the quiet glow of a sleeping toddler. Thirty minutes later, she awoke from her "nap". Great, I thought to myself.
Fortunately, we had planned for such a situation. When we bought our van nearly four years ago, it came automatically with a VCR. The company was phasing out the old VHS systems for more modern DVD systems, and they were installing them as stock in all vans (otherwise we would never add such a feature). The added bonus for this package is that it has auxiliary RCA inputs. Couple that with the video iPod I got myself last year and the iPod A/V cable that turns the headphone output into (drumroll) RCA outputs, and you've got some adventure for a Mommy who isn't totally clueless in the electronics department and a Daddy who loves him some electronics integration and is a bit of a control freak when it comes to hooking things up (who also happens to be the one driving). It honestly wasn't all the painful. Once we sorted out the volume issues (having speaker volume controlled by the van and output volume controlled by the iPod made for some tweaking) we were able to listen to crystal clear mp3 audio (without the $500 direct car connection kit) and even more importantly (and more cool) watch videos (of the munchkin as an infant) from the iPod. I was pretty impressed with the battery, since I expected it to drain rather quickly. However, not using the backlit display for the video meant that the battery life was identical to music playback. That was exciting, at least for me. (OK, OK. Enough geekspeak for now.)
We stopped halfway to allow little legs to stretch and little bladders to empty. While we were there, MTM grabbed a coffee and some timbits for the second leg of our journey. As we were rolling out of the rest station parking lot, MTM exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, Munchkin, what are you doing?!? Chew, chew, honey." I turned around to see my daughter, my (usually) angelic faced daughter, attempting to grin with an entire timbit in her mouth, while gripping two others in her hand. Since I wasn't in the back seat, this was not my doing (although admittedly it had all the earmarks of a Daddy-guilt inspired fit of overindulgence). I'll leave it to MTM to clarify in the comments what the toddler was doing. I will say that the remainder of the trip passed reasonably well (not quite without incident, but nothing too horrific), until we got off the highway.
As we rolled off the exit ramp, I called my parents to give them the heads up that we were arriving. No sooner had I hung up the phone did I begin to feel the.mother.of.all.leg.cramps. This wasn't a normal "ow... that's mildly uncomfortable" cramp. This was a "suck in air through your teeth and speak in monosyllabic staccato sentences to your wife that you're not dying (at least you think you're not) but you're pulling over on the gravel" cramp. I swear to you, I have never had such a bizarre cramp. It started along my inner thigh and spread across my quad. I was limping back and forth on the side of the road for a good five minutes trying to rid myself of that thing.
We eventually did arrive at my parents' place, had dinner (pizza from my favourite local pizza place that we rarely have anymore) and settled in for the night. Well, it was a little easier said than done, as the munchkin decided to abandon the good sleeping habits she developed during our last visit and wail uncontrollably in her playpen. Given her history of puking we were more than a little fearful of letting her cry it out, and poor MTM got stuck in bed with her for over two hours. (In my defense I did try and take over, but that just resulted in more crying and a complete meltdown, so we let her have her way.)
Saturday morning, despite not getting down until well after her bedtime, our beautiful daughter awoke at 6am. At 6:20am, she tugged the heartstrings of her grandfather by calling out into the darkness (from the cozy confines of being between Mommy and Daddy), "Please come get me." My father, who apparently is attempting to run for sainthood, got out of bed and collected his pumpkin, closing our door behind him.
Nearly two hours later, MTM and I emerged from our room to discover that not only had she been fawned over by her grandfather (who plied her with cookies and raisins as well as banana) but Grandma had also arisen and had taken it upon herself to change a poopy diaper (something my mother rarely has the energy to do). Apparently, at one point during the process, my mother said to the munchkin, "OK Munchkin, Grandma has to go get you a diaper," and my daughter looked at her, smiled, and said, "No Grandma, there's a diaper right there," pointing to one on the sofa that MTM had left out.
Later that morning, while my mother slept, we took my father to Costco for the first time. The man did not know what to do with himself. Four bottles of Tums for $10? Two litres of olives for $5? (Uh, Dad, will you eat that many olives?) Tomato paste by the case? All that cheese? (Have I mentioned I'm Italian?) It was a blast. We also stopped at a grocery store next door so MTM could buy $4 boxes of fake plastic grass. When I tried to explain that I could buy a whole bag of, you know, real grass seed for less money, she didn't follow. Or I didn't follow her. Who knows.
Strangely, as we pulled out of the parking lot to head back home, I noticed MTM twitching in the backseat. (Oh, did I forget to mention that the area of town where the Costco is located is also where you can find a Homesense and other decorating stores?)
We spent the afternoon indoors, mainly because it was a very cold day. the munchkin caught up on her sleep with a nearly two hour nap while Mommy also caught up on lost sleep from the week, joining her. Meanwhile, I prepared a roast beef for dinner, thus ensuring that at least for one weekend my father didn't have to cook (he usually cooks for us when we visit).
After dinner, the munchkin had her bath and then somehow caught a second wind. After declaring that she needed to put on her winter coat (and then doing so in such a way that the coat was on upside down, thus making her hood look like a dinosaur tail) she began to play with a small butler's table my parents have. She would lift up the four sides, then applaud herself. Of course, this would prompt everyone else to cheer and applaud too. What was funny was, every time she would applaud, she would turn around the room to make sure that a) everyone was watching her and b) they were all clapping for her.
Unfortunately, all that praise and excitement did little to tire her, and she spent another evening alternating between wailing in her playpen and cuddling in Mommy's arms for a couple hours before drifting off into sleep while cradled by MTM.
Sunday morning she again awoke extremely early, and again my father took her and played with her while MTM and I slept. We eventually rose and showered, since we had planned to have lunch with my sister (who lives about halfway between our place and my parents).
We arrived and had a nice lunch. I really didn't visit with anyone except my brother-in-law because he had a problem with MS Excel that he needed my help with. So, I spent the visit the way I spend most days... fiddling with something on a computer. According to MTM, the munchkin had a blast hanging out with her cousins, while she and my sister had some nice heart to hearts about decorating (hopefully saving me from some discussions).
The drive home was tense, mostly because after another brief in-car nap, the munchkin was miserable. She wanted Curious George and nothing else. Of course, the Curious George DVD had not made it on to the iPod yet, so we were basically screwed. To add to the fun, when we arrived home we learned that she had peed through her diaper on to her carseat, and that to wash the carseat meant uninstalling it - a task MTM was unwilling to perform because the seat was so difficult to install initially.
When we finally got her changed, the munchkin just sat on the couch, basking in the phosphorescent glow of the television, watching her favourite monkey, while MTM and I attempted to unpack and restore our home to order.
One final little anecdote before I leave you for today: while feeding the munchkin dinner, MTM noticed that the kitchen table wobbled. So, I was sent into the basement to retrieve a wrench to tighten the screws. I brought up my ratchet set (mainly because I'm lazy and those things work better than wrenches) and opened it up. the munchkin was immediately drawn to the large shiny box and wanted up. We handed her a couple tools and let her "help" me tighten things. She was pretty cute there.