arrived safely

We had a great trip here to Malaysia, which was a huge relief to John and I. This trip would be tiring even without a little guy, but Sam was such a little trooper. His love of action, people-watching, movement, and stuff to see and do, kept him cheerful even when he was tired. But he did a lot of sleeping on the planes too- perfect timing. He slept through half of the first flight, all of the two short ones, and 9 1/2 hours of the long one from Amsterdam to KL. There were no major meltdowns and no one gave us those classic "I hope they don't sit next to me" looks that sometimes accompany travel with a baby.

The airports were positively fun for Sam- the kids areas in Amsterdam and KL were much loved and he just had so much fun flirting with all the other passengers when we were waiting. There are enough grandmothers travelling to keep Sam feeling special.

And Sam seems to be doing really well with jetlag- so far, so good. He slept last night for 12 hours just getting up once to eat and we woke him up eventually. We've just put him down for a nap (he probably feels like it's the middle of the night, so we'll just let him sleep a few hours.)

It's great to be back here and with family. Ruthie and Lyddie came to the airport to get Sam and Lyddie (2 1/2) is especially sweet with him- patting his head and stuff.

John's parents were suitably impressed with how much Sam's grown and how he cheerfully goes to new people. He gave them goodnight kisses last night :-) And they have hit the spot with several new toys for him- a big plush soccer ball, and swimming floaties for his arms. We haven't tried them out yet, but we did just go swimming and Sam liked it pretty well. I think it will be his favorite thing here soon enough.

Seeing our neices and meeting Joshua (3 months old) has been incredible. The girls have grown up so much. I have to stop myself from being that aunt that's always saying "I remember when you..." because I can't get over how grown up they are. Ruthie can swim on her own and I remember when she was in the pool at 18months. Lyddie is already trying to swim on her own and she is just a little one still.

This post should probably have pics, but I'm going to take a nap so you'll just have to imagine for now what Sam's cousins look like these days and from our travel I'll post a picture of Sam in a slightly creepy giraffe high-chair in Amsterdam. Something to look forward to...