We spent this Christmas and New Years with our family in San Marcos and Kyle. This area of the state is better known to us now as "Grandparent Triangle" as I like to call it. All three Grandparents and a Great Grandparent reside within 10 minutes of each other. It makes for a great way to see all of them in one weekend (as we often do), but also makes for a very exhausted mom and baby! We love how close in distance they all are to us (just an hour) and to each other, but trying to visit everybody every time is becoming a little overwhelming. However, the thought of spreading them all out and doing one each weekend would occupy a month and would leave us with no free weekends of our own, so we opt for one hectic swoop! We also were able to see Uncle Chris and Aunt Sonia, Aunt Anna, Uncle Ben and Aunt Kelly and Noah, Uncle Ted and Tanner and Thane (Chris' twin cousins). Lots of love to give and receive! However, I did come to realize that my smiley, giggly, silly, and general happy little boy who I see everyday disappears when we visit all of our family! At first I couldn't figure out what was wrong with Jude, why was he crying and so upset...teething, sleepy,sick? No No...as it turns out he is just the world's biggest Mama's Boy! At home, mom's group, and visits to the grocery store is where he spends his days. I am even complimented on what a cute and happy baby he is! But oh wait, it's because he is ALWAYS with me! The few times he is not, he spends with his Grandma Becky (my mom) and surprise surprise guess who is the other lady he does not cry with? Yep, with the exception of my mom and his Aunt Rikki, Jude does not go with anybody else but Mama! I can only blame myself as a stay at home mom this year (though I wouldn't have it any other way) and perhaps his father for his absence too. But really, I'll just blame the Army for sending him off to Afghanistan. Yes, the Army has caused my son to become a Mama's Boy:) It started at around 8 months as we visited Chris in Seattle. Now the clinging is at an all time high. I forget about it on a daily basis, but am reminded when anyone else tries to hold him. It make our visits a tad stressful because Jude is either crying the entire time or I am having to hold him in order for him not to cry. He won't even let me put him down to play. There were little moments when he did play and seemed OK to go with others (especially when I was out of sight and out of mind), but if he heard me or saw me he would start crying again. I'm not sure what to do about this except hope that he grows out of it, but I'm afraid it will only get worse. There will be a time when his Dad will come home and he will be in some sort of childcare setting, but until then, he will proudly wear his Mama's Boy t-shirt (given to him by his Nani)!
