Seth was able to make 2 quick trips home before salmon started. He came home for about 4 days, then had to go back for a week and a half and was then back for a week. Now he's back in AK again with the salmon season underway. Let's hope its a good one, we've got a lot of irons in the fire right now and we'll need the moola. The first time we picked Seth up at the Seattle airport, we went inside to get him. Ryker loved the escalators, elevators, and baggage carousel but his reaction to Seth arriving was something I could never have guessed. He saw him coming down the escalator and ran to him just like I was hoping. It was a scene fit for a movie. Seth picked him up and they gave each other big hugs. After that though, Ryker looked away and wouldn’t make eye contact or talk to him. The kid is a complete chatterbox and I sometimes wish for just a moment of silence, but this day, I wanted him to talk to his Dad. I tried to coax some of his favorite words out of him, but he wouldn’t budge. He wouldn’t even give me a smile when I tickled him, just the hint of a smirk he tried hard to hide. He would turn his head in the opposite direction of Seth, but then look at him out of the corner of his eye. If Seth saw him looking, he would turn his head farther like he wasn’t looking at him. He wanted Seth to hold him, he was just giving him the cold shoulder for a while I guess. Who knows what was going through his head. We got to the car and Seth rode in the back with him. It didn’t take long before he was showing off for Seth. He was pointing out everything we passed on the road and showing off his big vocabulary, staring at Seth, and acting like a goof ball. He was overacting everything….clearly putting on a show. We stopped at Dick’s Drive in and Ryker enjoyed his second fast food meal ever….a hamburger. He loved it! Go figure. Ryker was Seth’s shadow the whole time he was home, never letting too far out of his sight. Then came the day to take him back to the airport. We didn’t really talk to Ryker about it before the time came. We were pulling into the airport and looked back to tell Ryker and his little lips were all pursed up and he was fighting back tears. Seth started to tell him that he had to go and Ryker started yelling “no.” Apparently, he is old enough to understand the airport situation now. He wouldn’t even give Seth a hug, because he was crying and yelling no. As we drove away, he was yelling at me “no Mom, git Dad, no go Dad” and pointing at the airport. I’ve wished Seth farewell many times, but this was by far the worst and it didn’t end there. He cried for about 10 minutes as I frantically tried every distraction in the book. Nothing worked. Then he went silent for about a half hour and just looked like he was in a daze. I stopped at a mall where I knew there were rides and a place to play because I felt so bad for him and needed him to snap out of it. That helped and the rest of our ride, we sang songs. It was a long couple days, but then he came around. About a week and half later, we picked Seth up again. This time I told him on the way there that we were going to pick up Dad at the airport. He kept saying plane, port, and Dad all the way there. We got there early so we waited in a parking lot and talked about how Dad was going to call then we were going to get him and where Dad should sit, ect. Ryker wanted him to sit in his car seat but I told him he had to pick a different seat for him. He chose for him to sit in the back, right by him. When the phone rang, he started yelling “Dad, git Dad.” He jumped back in his car seat faster than he ever does even when I bribe him. This time we pulled up front and Seth walked out to the car. Ryker started yelling and pointing to the seat beside him as soon as he saw Seth. Again, he put on a show all the way home and was Seth’s shadow for the week. This time we mentioned to Ryker throughout the week that Seth was going to have to leave again and when the day finally came Seth had to go to the airport by himself. He flew out of Bellingham and left our house at 4 in the morning. There was no way, I was going to wake the little man up to torture him at 4am and potentially have him have a rough day at day care. The night before, we told Ryker that Dad had to go and they said goodbye, then I put him to bed. The next day, he came out and didn’t look for Seth or say anything about him. Much better! The next day, he talked about Seth and made some jokes (Yes, Ryker makes jokes, they just have few words, lots of pointing and actions, and are usually inside jokes that you wouldn't be able to follow if you weren't with him a lot. It's a lot like playing Charades.) about how I was sitting in Dad’s chair and I needed to move to my spot, then he would laugh hysterically. He also did a similar thing with Seth’s blanket and pillow. Apparently, I give up my chair for one week so Seth can sit by him at dinner and I’m ousted for good and I’m not supposed to be using “Dad’s blanket.” Maybe it was because Seth came back two times quickly so he doesn’t think he’ll be gone so long this time, maybe it was because we gave him a heads up instead of just springing it on him or maybe it was because he got to wake up in the comfort of his own home and deal with it in a familiar setting…..whatever the reason, Seth will be taking the shuttle or getting his own ride from now on. I can’t watch his little heart break like that again. We’re always happy to pick him up!
Sometimes Seth needs to be reminded that when Ryker's up, everyone's up.
A little art project
"I love glitter glue!"
Ryker loves his new chair. Thanks Grandma Katha.
Ryker gives Seth a tour of "our farm." (Really the CSA we belong to. We pick up once a week and hang out with the animals, pick flowers, and produce, but Ryker knows it as the farm.
Seth shows him which strawberries are for picking.
Ryker's job was to put them in the container, but he kept straying toward picking and eating.
Teamwork
Yummy!
Chacon had some work done at the vet so we put him in the front of the pickup because he had to be put under and was still groggy. We wanted to be able to keep an eye on him. He was sleeping peacefully in the front seat when we left him, but apparently opted for a more comfy chair while we were at the farm. Ryker thought it was pretty funny. He still laughs every time I show him this picture. He says, "Chacon, chair, crazy dog."
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