In an unexpected turn of events a couple weeks ago, I had to cancel my planned trip to California (to do research) this month. There was a conflict with the archives I needed to visit, so I'll have to reschedule for sometime next year. While I was a bit disappointed, there was a significant upside - I could transfer my plane ticket to Minnesota, so Ronan and I went back up there to celebrate an early Christmas with my family. I'd been sad that I wouldn't get to see them (I'm now officially in my third trimester, so no more flying around for me), probably until at least March and maybe not until even later. So even though it felt a bit wrong to cancel a California trip to go to Minnesota in December, I was very excited and grateful for the opportunity.
Ronan was a stellar traveler, as usual, though of course, he's still a toddler. He insisted on "helping" push all the stuff through the x-ray machine at the security line, while I frantically tried to get my coat and shoes off, the computer out of my bag, all our stuff on the belt, and collapse and put up the stroller. Thankfully, the security agents were fairly laid-back, so it didn't cause a problem, but I always get nervous about how things are going to go. At least I no longer have to take off Ronan's shoes! The main downside of our flight out there was the fact that Ronan fell asleep literally about five minutes before we touched down in Chicago, so he was good and cranky for our layover, which lasted longer than scheduled because of the torrential downpour going on there. He was happy to watch Toy Story 2, which I brought with us, but unfortunately, it wasn't over by the time we needed to get ready for our next flight. Ronan was NOT pleased when I turned it off and told him it was potty time. He screamed and cried the whole way to the bathroom, then continued screaming once we got into the stall (which was quite crowded with him, me, the stroller, and our carry-on bags, plus his stuffed animals). He didn't want to pee, but he also didn't want to let me go either. So he just stood in front of the toilet, pants down, crying and begging for his daddy. The only thing that kept me from losing it was the mom in the stall next to me, who was apparently dealing with the same thing from her daughter. At one point, I heard yell in exasperation, "Sit on the damn potty and pee!" While I can honestly say I didn't swear or yell at Ronan, I could fully sympathize with her. Finally, though, I got him calmed down enough to go and we were able to get back to the gate without too much issue.
While waiting for our turn to board, Ronan started playing with another little boy, climbing over those baggage carts you can rent. The other boy's mom came over and asked me how old Ronan was, guessing that he was either four or five (he was about the same height as her son). When I said he'd be three next month, she said, "Oh no! I knew my son was short, but I didn't realize he was that short!" I quickly told her that Ronan was very tall for his age, that my brother was part-giant, etc. It was kind of funny though.
Ronan got to play a lot with other kids while we were up there. On Thursday night, some friends of the family came over, including a woman who has a three year old son as well (he's almost exactly one month older than Ronan). His name's Max and he and Ronan really hit it off. They played great all night. At one point, though, they found a pencil and the two of them started drawing on the kitchen wall. The next morning, my mom looked at it and asked Ronan what happened. His immediate response: "Max did it." Eventually, he did admit that he "helped," but made sure we knew Max was also responsible. To his credit, though, Ronan did help clean up.
The next day, my dad took Ronan and me downtown St. Paul, where Ronan had a blast running around and climbing on various statues (including one of Herb Brooks and another of Peanuts characters). He also had fun chasing after pigeons in Rice Park. It was odd that there was no snow, but we still had a good time. After that, we dropped my dad off at the bus stop and Ronan and I went over to my friend's house to see her and her daughter as well as our other friend and her daughter. It was wonderful to catch up with both of them, and really nice that the kids are at an age where they can (mostly) play without direct supervision by us. Of course, it was also sad, because there should have been a beautiful baby boy there for us to hold and fawn over. There's really not much I can say - everything sounds so hollow or trite. I was glad for the opportunity though to finally see my friend and talk with her in person. Ronan did fairly well, but after an hour or two you could tell that all excitement and running around had caught up to him. It only took about 2 minutes in the car for him to fall fast asleep.
On Sunday, we had family over (both sets of grandparents, my brother, and my cousin, his wife, and their two kids) to celebrate Christmas. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. Ronan had fun playing with the kids. He really loved climbing up into my old bed (it's a built-in loft with a little ladder) and wanted his cousins to join him up there. They had a lot of fun opening presents and then playing with Ronan's train set - it came with a battery-powered train, so they had a blast putting it on the track, then taking pieces out of the track and trying to get it back together before the train arrived.
So all in all, it was a great trip, even though too short in many ways. But I should be getting Ronan ready for daycare so I can try to get some more school work done. Oh, I forgot to mention that while we were gone, Tom got in a bit of a wreck driving home from work - he hit a patch of ice and slammed into the guard rail, flipping his car. It's totaled, so we'll be car shopping next week. But thankfully, he's completely ok, so that's all that matters.
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