El Nino's Big Adventure

We spent Memorial Day weekend visiting family, Great Aunts and Great Uncles and even our five-week-old cousin, a sweet little girl who has brought a glow to her mother's cheeks. Our baby cousin has a big dog to watch over her (two actually, but we only met one of them). And he slept most of the time we were there. But at one point he walked past el as he played on the floor, gave him a sniff, and licked the side of his face with his long tongue. El was undeterred and continued playing. He likes dogs. I expect there will come a time when we will have to explain to him that he is not one of them. We also visited Grandpa in the nursing home, and he really seemed to enjoy el. Grandpa said he had beautiful "features". And el liked sitting with grandpop too through his wiggles and bursts of energy.

El and mom took a bus up to visit grandma, our first together. Normally, wherever I go with el, he brings a smile to people's faces. But there was a decided hush and a generalized glare when we boarded. I was a little taken aback with this reaction. A couple of hours into the trip, however, as el was screaming from being overtired, I understood what the passengers' lack of delight at seeing a baby join the party was all about. El settled down to sleep within about five minutes. So hopefully we didn't put people out that much. I was quite proud of him. He slept most of the way and ate and played and was content to be on mom's lap. We fly to Mexico in September; so I thought it would be a good idea to get our feet wet with a little bus ride together.

As always, it was a delight to visit grandma. We look forward to a time when we will be only a holler away.