The boy is back again

Hello all...so here's how my day went. Got up, sat at my computer for a little while, ate a bowl of cereal. Heard a crash outside and a car hit another car across the street, and then took off. I told the owner about the incident, and called the police...no good news there, just a hit and run, no one injured, minor fender bender...it was my neighbor's car across the street. After all that, I got in the shower, went to the airport...got on the plane...flew for two hours...the plane was late getting off the ground because of the weather down here...the planes were staggered 5 minutes apart. Landed just fine in St. Louis...left the 'secure' area of the airport, and saw them waiting for me. I saw my ex-step daughter...she didn't know what to think of seeing me, it's the first time in 8 months that I've set eyes on her...I gave her a big hug...after my boy ran up to me and gave me a great big hug, and just held me and wouldn't let go. I could see that he had tears welled up in his eyes, but they hadn't fallen yet...but then his eyes just cleared right up. He was ready to go, too. I had to tell him to say good-bye to her and his sister. We went towards security, and turned back to look at them again, and they were gone. Vanished. Just like in a movie. I sent her a text message later to ask about that, and she said, "It was just to make the transition easier." It seemed pretty easy to me, but whatever. I'm never going to look at her like she's someone I just kinda knew at one point. That may be why...so we go to get something to eat after going through security...$20 for a sandwich, a chef salad for the boy, and two drinks (one OJ, the other cran-grape).

Naturally, he doesn't want to eat a whole lot, though I did get some ham and a tomato in him, and a little bit of gold-juice. He ran around for a bit. Way full of energy. He did well waiting to get on the plane. I was sitting on the floor waiting for our turn with him, and I had my leg bent at an angle at the knee and he was going under it repeatedly (I didn't want to say he was going under it over and over, though. LOL :-). He was also doing somersaults until I told him to stop. He's very good about taking turns. When it was our turn...we got on the plane. He charmed everyone on the plane, because he talks to them, still not completely intelligibly, but enough once in a while. He's not like most kids who won't talk to people they don't know. He would tell people my name, not just "that's daddy." And his own, of course. When we got to our seats, he wanted to sit on my lap or stand next to the seat. He hated sitting in the seat when it was time, and he did not like the seat belt. That's okay, because take-off was worse. He didn't want to see the outside of the plane, so he shut the shade. Yeah, I put him next to the window for control purposes. He didn't like the plane powering up, or moving forward so quickly, or leaving the ground. He understands that we're flying, but I guess it's the old sausage analogy: you don't want to be a part of what goes into it. He especially hated the fact that it was a bumpy ride, and this caused much screaming. He said he was scared, and I would tell him his fine, and he'd say, "I'm NOT fine" or I'd say, "You're so brave" and he'd say, "I'm not brave, I'm scared!" And he cried a little bit, holding the armrest for dear life. My arm got sore from trying to hold him the right way. After a little while of being in the air, he fell asleep. It was a smooth 2 hour flight, for the most part, and he was awake for the worst of it. Poor kid.

There was a really nice guy that sat next to us who is going to interview at the Y in a neighboring town, and he was really good to me. I'm glad for nice people in this world. They are out there. And I'm glad for Southwest Airlines. They're the best. Anyway...David woke up for the descent ... and more bumpies, as we went through the clouds on our way down. He didn't scream as much, but it was still not so great. There was a point after we landed that he was talking about "touchdown" and some other landing terms. The lady behind us was impressed by his able descriptions of what was going on...Of course, it's just cute when a 3 year old says it. :-) When we were waiting to get off the plane, he looked up at the man in the seat in front of us and said hi, and introduced me (my kid is my wingman???), and he really charmed the guy in front of us. It was quite a thing.

Then we went to my sister's and hung out there for a couple of hours. He ran up to my mom and gave her a big hug, and to my sister, too. The boy and my niece and nephew played, and we all went swimming at my sister's and had an all around good time. He ate a full piece of pizza! I never did get him to eat any more of the food I bought...Oh well. Too much excitement at the airport, and on the plane, and then sleep. But he ate at my sister's house.

Funny thing about his being back is that it feels like he's just been born, all over again. Like I never had a kid, and now I've got one: what do I do? But already old routines are asserting themselves: reading a story for bedtime, some milk..."now I lay me down to sleep"...

Rusty