Dallas or Bust

Our year of toddler travels continues. This weekend, we went to Dallas to visit with our family and friends. I rented a house for the weekend in Arlington, so we could have a central place to entertain everyone while still keeping Paxton on some sort of schedule. That was my hope, anyway. I found the house on Craigslist. The cost per day plus the fee for the pets was what we'd pay for a nice hotel. The benefit, however, was that Paxton had a quiet room where he could nap. Having a place to nap and actually napping are two very different things, as Paxton was quick to demonstrate. But we'll get to that later.

The house was fine, but curious. The owner told us that she lived there, but traveled often. However, she had no clothes in the house, no towels, expired groceries and a lack of furniture. There were three bedrooms with beds in each. There were lawn chairs for side tables. There was one couch with three reclining chairs in it. There were no dishes, silverware, cups or anything else to ease our stay. My mother-in-law told me that there were towels in the hall closet, but when I finally went to get one on Sunday morning, I saw a big sign in the closet that said, "Please do not use personal towels in this closet". Isabel apparently overlooked that sign. I don't blame her, though, since there were no other towels anywhere in the house. So strange.

We arrived on Friday evening after four hours of a drive where Paxton, again, refused to nap. Chris has taken over all road trip driving duties so that I can entertain our son. I do my best to keep him happy, but I'm not above mentally checking out when I really need to. I can only hear the whining "MMMMMMmmmmooooommmy" so many times before I go to my happy place to preserve my remaining mental well-being. By the time we got to Arlington, I was spent. We settled into the house with Chris' parents and then pushed our luck by loading Paxton up in the car one more time for a drive to search for a restaurant and then pick up some necessities for our stay. He was not happy.

We survived the night, and Paxton was fine sleeping on his now familiar airbed. I'm so glad we have introduced this sleeping arrangement to him on previous trips to Pennsylvania and Port Aransas. He seems to feel fairly comfortable on it and doesn't fight it when it's time to go to sleep. I usually sleep in the room with him when we're on the road, and he doesn't get distracted by my presence. If he wakes up crying in the middle of the night, I nurse him and then he lets me put him right back to bed. It's nice how adaptable kids are!

Chris' brother, Craig, came over on Saturday morning. The kids call him "Uncle Dog" and Paxton picked it up right away. "Uncadog", is how it's pronounced in Paxtonese. Paxton feels instantly comfortable with his Muskogee and Dallas family, no matter how long it's been since he saw them last. He adores Bob and Isabel, and the feeling is mutual. I just love to see how much love he has been blessed with in his life!

Our friend, Marissa, stopped by with her sister before Paxton's nap. It was great to see them. Now that our Dallas visits are more rare, I really find myself missing our friends and family in that area. We only get to see them once or twice a year, when in the past, I saw them three times as often. Having a toddler, we're definitely more centered at home. We need to lure our Dallas peeps down this way more often!

Paxton avoided napping, but did so in a way that I found kind of entertaining. After laying him down in his room, I returned to visit with our guests. While we sat, talking, we heard the door to his room creak open and closed again and again. If we made eye contact with him, he just stepped back inside and closed the door. It was funny. I tried going to the room to lay with him, hoping to be a positive influence. He couldn't have been less inspired. While I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, he got my shoes and leaned them up against my face. Then he found my flashlight and tried to wake me up by saying "Mommy, Cam-mer-ah, cam-mer-ah! C'mere! Cam-mer-ah!". He's never seen a flashlight before, but I'm not sure why he just assumed it was a camera. Perhaps it was the strap. Anyway, it was a losing endeavor. I finally gave up.

Maybe I shouldn't have. By the time my Aunt Carol and Uncle Toby arrived to visit a little after 6, Paxton was in rare form. That is to say, he was a nightmare. I was at the store picking up some more necessities, but when I got back, Paxton and Chris were nowhere to be found. I was told that Paxton had a meltdown and Chris took him outside to cool off. I went to greet Toby and told him that Paxton really was a nice little guy, and he told me that that wasn't the impression he got. Toby, already being no huge fan of toddlers, had made his mind up about my sleep-deprived terror. I ran off to find Paxton and lure him back inside to show just how sweet and smart he really is. Bad idea. All he wants to do these days is play outside. By bringing him in, I was only stoking his hellfires. He was worse than ever. Yikes.

Luckily, my friend Amy arrived with her girls. It astonishes me how kids can sniff out another kid a mile away. Amy's youngest daughter is 6, and Paxton took to her immediately. They played catch, tried out Paxton's cool new train toy from Carol and Toby and chased each other around a bit. By this time, the party was in full swing, but I got to enjoy very little of it. While everyone was talking and visiting like good adults, I was stuck trying to feed my overtired son and keep him from melting down. Not the ideal situation for good visiting. I settled in with Amy's daughters and just enjoyed catching up with them and hearing about life from a young person's perspective. I love those girls. I've known the two older daughters since one was four-years-old and the other was still in her mom's belly. Being able to know them as they've grown-up is such a blessing. We had a lot of fun.

Every single get-together that I've been to with my in-laws has resulted in playing "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board". I find this fascinating. My mother-in-law, Isabel, always initiates it. And it's always a big hit. I've resisted participating since the one occasion when they weren't able to lift me. I don't need that kind of humiliation. Since I've lost some weight this year, Isabel thought it was a good idea to shout out the size pants I now wear to anyone within earshot. I tried not to melt into the floor in embarrassment.

Paxton went right to sleep without any struggle. There was no question how exhausted he was. When the party wrapped up, I followed his lead. You wouldn't know that either of us had gotten any sleep at all the next morning when Paxton had yet another epic meltdown at the restaurant where we met for brunch. I got "The Look" from a neighboring diner and rushed him outside where I tried not to cry. We somehow made it through breakfast, but had to cancel our plans to stop and visit Carol and Toby on the way out of town. It's a good thing we did, as Paxton was asleep almost before we pulled out of the restaurant's parking lot. He slept for two hours, which would have gotten us halfway home if not for the hour of traffic we had to sit in in Waco.

All in all, it was a good trip. I'm always happy to see family and friends and I'm always happy to get back home. This might be the end of our travels for the year, but who knows. We're a family who is often up for an adventure. As long as our fellow adventurers can handle a little shrieking from time to time.