Post #10: Grandson Cooper's in the House!

Sorry to leave you hanging about Cooper’s first visit to Nana and Papa’s house while I provided blogs about earlier events. So in this blog I am returning to where I left off at the end of Blog # 6: Getting Ready for Grandson Cooper.

The beginning of November (2018) was filled with my last-minute preparations for the big visit, like buying pancake mix and borrowing from a grandmother friend a toddler seat for more manageable table eating. Stacy and Cooper’s journey from faraway Fiji to Nana and Papa’s house in the Boston area began on Thursday afternoon, November 8, Fiji time (which would have been Wednesday evening, Nov. 7, Boston time). On at least a three-hour taxi ride from their home in the Fiji capital of Suva to the Fiji International Airport in Nadi, on the opposite side of the largest Fijian island Viti Levu, Cooper was comfortably installed in his toddler seat that Stacy would eventually check all the way to Boston. Cooper loves riding in taxis and could be easily entertained watching the Fijian world of villages, livestock, beaches and tropical vegetation pass by from his toddler throne, or intermittently doze off to engine droning over the major island thoroughfare, the winding predominantly two-lane Queens Road.

A Fiji Airways frequent flyer, Stacy has a Tabua Club card, giving her access to the Fiji Airways airport lounge. The membership has become particularly advantageous when flying with a child as the lounge offers an entertaining children’s section and lots of yummy foods like French fries, which they call chips like they do in Australia. And I had already heard from Stacy that when Cooper is hungry, he asks for “yummy, yummy.”

Flying with a toddler can be challenging under any circumstances but Stacy and Cooper would be starting with an 11-hour overnight flight from Fiji to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Fortunately, Cooper adores airplanes. He loves watching them through the airport windows, whether they are landing, taking off fast, going up high, or just parked at the gates. And getting to board an airplane, have his own plane seat, traveling on a flying plane, and wearing earphones to watch movies were all parts of the excitement.

After crossing the International Date Line over the Pacific Ocean, Stacy and Cooper arrived at LAX, still on Thursday, November 8, in the early afternoon U.S. Pacific time. Next hurdle was to negotiate immigration, however, both Stacy and Cooper have U.S. passports which is helpful to some extent. Of note, they both have Fijian passports too, as Stacy, having lived and worked in Fiji for years, applied for and received Fiji citizenship when she was eligible. And after Cooper’s birth, Stacy could obtain his Fiji passport as the child of a Fiji citizen. At this point, I ought to add that Cooper also has an Australia passport, having been born in Australia of an Aussie dad. I commonly joke that Cooper is poised from a very young age to eventually become a CIA agent.

Back to their trip. Once through customs, they proceeded to their next terminal, where Stacy had a chance to FaceTime with me. I was very glad to hear that they had successfully arrived after the first long leg of their flying journey. Cooper had slept a lot on the overnight flight, even though Stacy did not sleep much as she was keeping an eye on her possibly awakening toddler. And luckily, Cooper was easily entertained on their several hour layover at LAX, either watching more planes or playing in the kids area.

After our FaceTime conversation which included viewing Cooper watching planes

through the terminal windows, I sent a follow-up email to Stacy:

“It will be pretty cold when you arrive in Boston tonite

I will bring coats for you & Cooper

xoxo mom”

That day I went to the market to buy all the fresh groceries for the visitors including Stacy’s request for whole milk for Cooper and salmon for my plans to grill for Friday dinner, respecting Stacy’s avoidance of meats. With their scheduled Boston arrival about midnight, I attempted go to bed earlier than usual, setting my phone alarm for 10:30 pm. Being a very early riser, Jesse always goes to sleep quite early anyway. And in honor of Stacy and Cooper’s Boston visit, Jesse had uncharacteristically decided to take Friday off from work

After my short sleep, I had little problem waking for the airport pick-up in anticipation of the family arrival. Jesse and I left in plenty of time to park our car at Boston’s Terminal B for their American Airlines arrival, check the updated arrivals board, and wait anxiously at the arrivals gate until we finally saw Stacy and Cooper emerging from the concourse. Nana and Papa were happily greeted by Cooper, toting his beloved monkey soother “Ee-ee.” Both Stacy and Cooper seemed fairly cheerful despite the long travel journey and late Boston arrival. Before leaving the airport, however, Stacy had to install the car seat that she had brought along.

On the way home I warned Stacy that I was uncertain about how our dog Oliver would react to a visiting child, as Oliver had barked loud and long at other small visiting kids in the past. But being optimistic, I hoped that the lateness of the hour might minimize a canine outburst. And we knew that Cooper was comfortable with dogs since he has grown up with his dad’s old dog Ginger in their house. Fortuitously, those factors seemed to contribute favorably to Cooper’s entree into our home with minimal objection from Oliver.

I was excited to show Stacy and Cooper all the preparations I had organized for them but limited my “show and tell” due to the lateness of the night. Both Stacy and Cooper bedded down in the queen-size bed, now protected with underlying waterproof sheet, in Stacy’s minimally used bedroom. But for potential alternative Cooper use, I had also prepared the nearby smaller bedroom, making up the sleeping couch with marine motif sheets and comforter which I had actually kept from Stacy’s youth. Yes, I am an admitted saver of way too many old possessions, but only if in good condition and deemed worth saving for future use. And here was such an example. And I also topped the bedding off with the new shark sleeping bag that I had spontaneously purchased at Home Goods.

The next morning, Jesse and I both patiently awaited the awakening of our very long-distance, jetlagged guests. Eventually, Friday started out by getting acquainted with the set up of our house for Cooper. I had gated off access to my living room/dining room combo area full of fragiles. As other potentially-breakable items throughout the house attracted Cooper’s attention, we moved them as needed. Even though I started to let him play with a small decorative wooden duck that was displayed in my foyer, I soon realized that this duck was not a child’s toy and would not survive tough toddler tossing.

“Sorry Cooper, Nana’s duck will break. We have to put him away.”

The best plan was to use our family room with the large, Netflix-activated television as the main playroom for Cooper. All magazines and photo books were soon removed from the wooden cocktail table, leaving its flat surface for toys, kid books and Cooper play space. A “fake” remote control with batteries removed was left for Cooper use while the real control devices were safely sequestered beyond reach of sticky toddler fingers. I also placed the new child monkey chair for comfy TV viewing, although most of the time Cooper spread out on our oversized leather furniture. As the couch and swivel chair have been reasonably worn over the years, I was not especially concerned about possible damage from our temporary toddler guest.

We learned that getting Cooper outside to burn off boundless toddler energy was a priority. So despite the fairly chilly November weather, we all went out. I was especially happy with the cute and functional aviator jacket that I had purchased for him, which provided both warmth and padding when our exuberantly rushing toddler toppled his unbalanced body, while he insistently clutched potentially-impaling metal toys (airplane, fire truck or car) in each fist. And once Cooper gets outside, he mainly wants to “run, run, run.”

Grandson Cooper and springer spaniel Oliver love to "run, run, run" outdoors.

Outings are always optimal for springer spaniel Oliver too, who was also filled with unbridled youthful energy. As Stacy observed, I would be caring for two 2 year-olds, kid and dog, each a handful in their own right. When outside, Oliver would excitedly speed past Cooper, at first worrying us that our grandson would be canine tackled. But Oliver seemed to know how to rush exceedingly close but without tipping over his new toddler friend. Oliver’s outdoor antics delighted Cooper who ran either to or from Oliver, repeatedly chanting “Chase you, chase you!” We weren’t quite sure whether Cooper meant “Chase me” or “I chase you.” Either way, both toddler and dog were happily engaged in their lively tandem play.

Friday afternoon was scheduled with their hair appointments with my longtime stylist Diane. Not trusting Fiji hair salons to manage her curly, once-blond hair, Stacy typically frequented established salons when traveling for her haircuts and highlights. While Diane began with Stacy, I whisked Cooper off to the Wellesley duck pond for a short activity and test case where Nana would be fully in charge of her grandson. I got my first inkling of how much energy it takes … to buckle a toddler in and out of his car seat, guide him safely outside the car without having to carry him constantly, monitor the whereabouts of handheld toys, and calm his fears when something like a large noisy lawn mower is too close for his comfort. No surprise that Cooper was happy to be reunited with mom at the salon, which may have contributed to his cooperation in the styling seat while Diane was able to manage a charming little boy’s haircut for his straight blond locks.

Awakening Cooper from a late afternoon nap, we ended the day with a home-cooked dinner for the jetlagged travelers, with my specialty salmon and additional frig forays from our past week’s meals, including some yummy chicken options for Cooper. Even Stacy tried some tasty-looking leftover chicken and mushrooms, Marsala-style. After dinner we retired to the family room to allow Cooper his choice of Netflix for Kids, of which he has definitive preferences, most commonly Moana, Nemo, Shrek or Puss-in-Boots. We were hopeful that relaxing by the TV would encourage Cooper’s winding down for the night. But no such luck where Cooper was concerned, although his grandparents were pretty much wound down by 9 pm. About then Stacy took Cooper upstairs to bed, accompanied by his constant companion Ee-ee, a selection of critically-important toy vehicles, and his usual soothing bedtime bottle of milk.

The morning report from Stacy, however, was that Cooper was awake for hours more. For a child who does not easily bed down anyway, certainly the jetlag added to the inability to fall asleep for the night. Nevertheless, Stacy had made Saturday morning plans to go the New England Aquarium at the Boston waterfront to meet her graduate school friend who resides in the area. Just the week before departure, Stacy had emailed me, “My friend Becky will be meeting us there with her 2 boys. She wants to get there early - like 9:30 am. I said we’d fight through jet lag and shoot for that.” And Stacy did, rousing sleepyhead Cooper and readying him in quick order. Getting out of the house was no problem for Jesse who is always the early riser. I am admittedly a slow starter these days but went along with the early schedule. Becky’s early visitation plan turned out to be a good one because the aquarium became very busy on that cold, damp November Saturday when families were likely seeking optimal indoor activities.

Our marine biologist daughter is always excited to teach her son about life in the sea, and the aquarium offered plenty to observe, from its central giant tank of large fish and turtles viewed by a spiral ascending ramp, wrap-around ground-floor pool of penguin colonies, barking playful sea lions, and a shallow petting tank of sting rays which was great fun for Cooper until two rays had an unexpected splashy spat right in front of him. Most of the time Cooper was haphazardly running throughout, as we tried to view the marine exhibits and not lose him among hordes of other families.

Cooper pets sting rays at the New England Aquarium

Concluding the aquarium visit, we all headed to an early lunch at nearby Legal Seafoods restaurant. By then Cooper had hit his jetlagged wall, was dissolving into toddler tantrums, and did not even respond positively to Becky’s sons’ well-intentioned attempts to entertain him. Stacy and I took turns strolling Cooper outside, despite the nasty weather, but with little success in getting him to sleep or improve his mood. Although eventually an order of always kid-friendly French fries helped soothe the tiny beast. It was not a relaxing lunch, but still gave Stacy a bit more catching-up time with Becky and her family.

Not surprisingly, Cooper fell asleep as soon as we began driving home. After napping,

Saturday continued with another chilly outing with the active two year-olds, in-house playtime exploring toys in our finished basement, dinner at home, and Netflix for kids. Once again Stacy took Cooper to bed with her, but that concluded my attended introduction to Cooper in my domain. Jesse would be taking Stacy to the airport very early Sunday morning for her Belize meeting departure. No more mommy in the house, just Nana and Papa. How would Cooper react to that? And was I ready for a week of 24/7 toddler care?

Of course, to be continued … please stay tuned.