The eve of Jasper's 2nd Birthday

It's been a whirlwind these past 2 weeks. I was sick with the flu for a week, then Jasper got a cough from me and his first ear infection just 2 days before flying out to New Mexico. But we made it to NM without a hitch. What a great vacation! We spent 3 days in Santa Fe, which is a beautiful small city with so much to offer. We kindof fell in love with it. Of course we spent a lot of time doing things that were kid-friendly - like playgrounds and the Children's Museum - which was so much fun- even for us. While we were there we ran into a family we knew from back east who now live in NM. We had a great time visiting with them and watching our kids play. The next day we ran into them again at the Folk Art Museum - which is also a museum not to miss. However, the best wing, the miniatures, was closed when we went - but still worth the admission.

We then drove 3 hours south to Truth or Consequences, where my mom is living in the winter working as a massage therapist in a beautiful spa. We took baths every day in the hot springs at La Paloma, where we were staying. Our last day we took an outdoor bath at mom's spa followed by a 2 hour massage from one of her colleagues. And that was after driving 2 hours south to White Sands National Park to see the phenomenon of miles and miles of white sands stretching out in the middle of the desert with a snow capped mountain in the distance. We went sledding on the dunes. Jasper loved it. It was fantastic. It was sad to leave. My mom said she would cry to see the Bushnuda (her pet name for Jasper) go, but she didn't, at least not that I know of. It made me think of all the summers I spent while growing up when I would fly out to visit her. I would cry every time I had to leave to go back to live with my dad and step-mom. I didn't want to leave my mommy. I felt so powerless and abandoned. It feels strange to not cry when she leaves or I leave her now that I am grown up. But tonight, I teared up when Jasper kept saying, "I want to see Nonny" as I was trying to put him to bed. He was doing everything to avoid bedtime: wanting oranges and apples to eat, wanting to read more books, wanting to go downstairs, wanting to see daddy, wanting to go to the playground and slide, but more than all of it, wanting Nonny.

We didn't really have much of a break from traveling back to a wet and rainy snow-covered upstate New York. We traveled all day and got home after midnight. We arrived to a huge box covered with with a picture of a basketball net with a kid poised to throw the basketball. Jasper knew it was for him. It was sent from his Aunt Cathy. He was so excited that all he could talk about was going downstairs and opening the box. We all finally got to bed by 1am, no easy feat. Jasper and I woke up at 10:30am and we all spent the day cleaning and unpacking since Yia Yia, Papou, Aunt Cathy and Cousin Luca were all going to arrive at noon the next day. Charlie the dog came too, much to Maatchka's dismay. We all went sledding on the big hill at the Beattie Powers house overlooking the hudson river. Some kids were already there sledding down the short steep part of the hill and over a ramp they built at the bottom. After a couple of hours, we all headed back for hot tea and cocoa. What seemed like a million wet boots were clustered around the heater by the front door and million gloves, hats, snow pants and coats were piled near and on heaters around the house. Toys and bags and other things were strewn about, total chaos in the blink of an eye. On Sunday, the next day, we all went into the backyard and made a snow child with olive eyes, a carrot nose, and a red pepper smile. We adorned him with a hat, scarf and mittens. Yia Yia made a little snow dog in the likeness of Charlie with the dried centers of black eyed susans for the nose and eyes - it is quite cute. Luca spent a good portion of this time crying and carrying on until his mom whispered a plan of snowball attack on Papou, who pretended to have no idea of their plans. Jasper watched the whole snow-throwing event while eating the rest of the kalamata olives from the jar still outside, each time saying they were eyes.

While Jasper napped, our family packed up to leave, but were still here when Alison and Violet showed up to wish Jasper a Happy Birthday and play for awhile. Jasper woke up shortly after their arrival and got to give another round of goodbyes to the Pappas clan after opening his presents from the Sinatras: 3 beautiful books. Another little friend, Elianna, arrived with her daddy for a short visit. Violet became very possessive of Jasper for a brief and hilarious moment. Elianna was happy to see them both, but terribly shy at the same time. While she stood in the doorway of the living room, Jasper sweetly approached her with a welcoming "Hi" and invited her to come in and play. Elianna soon left to go sledding for the first time, which we later found out that she did not like. Anton and Violet continued playing together right through dinner until Aunty Alison took her home to go to bed. And then we were all alone as 3 again with no motivation to clean up after all the company. Phew. What a weekend. What a week. What a week ahead: a 2nd birthday party to come! It's March! Spring is around the corner! The late afternoon light is beautiful once again! Let's Celebrate!