Caleb, Megan, Nadine and I had nice and relaxing Christmas and New Years’ holidays. Some of our time was spent in Connecticut with my family, but for the remainder of the holidays, we enjoyed hanging out in Boston.

Aside from the usual holiday hubbub, the most important event of note is that we transitioned Caleb from diapers to underwear! We chose a weekend, went to the store, picked out some cool undies with him (he chose a Cars pack and a Superman pack) and then simply had him wear them around the house. We had tried other methods off and on over the previous weeks so he was aware of the concept of “no diaper” but had yet to really experience the reality of lighter undergarments. If you have any doubts about the cold turkey method, it worked like a charm! He was a bit put off the first few times (okay, uncomfortable, mad and sad that he wet his new undies, to be fair) but he started using the toilet more (we lavished him with praise every time) and now even uses the toilet at daycare. Yay! No more diapers!

Sweet! Enter the, “Whoops! We should have stopped the car sooner!” moments…

Enough of that — below are a few photos from the past few weeks.

Nadine hanging out in the Prado during our first real snowfall of the winter. You can’t see it in the photo but she had clumps of snow forming on her whiskers. It was quite cute.

Caleb was not feeling great that afternoon and was somewhat grumpy. That’s okay. I was grumpy too. (Well, I wasn’t, but if it makes him feel better that I was, so be it.)

A shot of the Prado and the Financial District taken from our roof deck that night.

Caleb and I had an awesome lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Central Square. We were running around the city looking for a jewelery store to get Megan a Christmas present (we finally found a perfect one in Harvard Square) and stopped here to get some grub. We barely cracked the door to go inside when Caleb announced that he wanted a quesadilla. I was somewhat taken aback since I hadn’t said anything about what kind of a restaurant it was so either he wanted one as a coincidence, or he recognized the smell of awesome Mexican food when we walked in and connected it with his favorite cheese-laden food (I’m convinced it was the latter).

The Red Line pulling into Central Square.

Caleb on my lap while we rode the Red Line back to Boston.

Nadine and her boyfriend (says she) Clyde. Whenever we visit my parents, she follows him around and tries to give him kisses (or puffs her chest out and tries to act cool). They are very cute together when they aren’t trying to show who has more feist than the other.

Nadine in the snow at my parent’s house. Check out how far apart her toes are — it’s hilarious when she does that (usually when she is getting wild and running around in circles with her ears back… or trying to maintain grip on ice…).

Caleb claiming his horde of cars and trucks on Christmas Day.

Caleb driving his girlfriend (Lydia) around our second bedroom…in a sugar snap peas box…

I mentioned this briefly before, but will repeat it for posterity: my grandfather, Caleb’s only living great grandparent on my side of the family, passed away a few weeks ago, on November 6. We had only just recently reconnected after an embarrassingly long time since my last visit with him. Regardless, I feel blessed to have suddenly felt the urge to visit him a few months ago, despite having not seen him for many years, and hope that Caleb retains the few but happy memories he was able to form in the few hours we spent at his great grandfather’s side.

I am sure Caleb will remember a few things about the two times he met his great grandfather though I hope he remembers most how attentive my grandfather seemed when Caleb, Megan and I sang a few songs to him. We, of course, sang Caleb’s favorites such as ABCs, Twinkle-Twinkle, and Baa-Baa Black Sheep, so that he could sing along as well. It is hard to say how much my grandfather enjoyed the songs as he had lacked the ability to communicate or control most of his motor functions for many years prior to our visit, and seemed almost completely unresponsive when we were there, but it was clear that he was mustering every piece of energy he had to keep his eyes on us. …and I do believe I saw a bit of a twinkle.

I’ll never forget when we suggested that we take him outside in his wheel chair so he could feel some of the late autumn sunlight on his skin, and Caleb looked up at him with all sincerity and innocence and gently asked, “Do you want to go outside Great Grandpa?” You are such a sweet and compassionate person, Caleb. I love you dearly and know that you made my grandfather’s heart melt when you asked him that question.

The second of Caleb’s visits came a few weeks ago for the funeral, which was held in Hawthorne, NY two days after my grandfather’s death. There was a short viewing and then a respectful service and ceremony. I brought Caleb up to the casket once when we first arrived at the viewing, after explaining a few times on the car ride over that we would be visiting Great Grandpa, who would be sleeping. Caleb seemed to sense the weight of the moment as soon as we made our way up to the open casket, but didn’t appear to be disturbed or otherwise negatively impacted in any way. I found that tears didn’t come to me the first time I was by my grandfather’s side, which probably helped Caleb manage the experience as well.

The second time I brought him up was as the close family was paying their last respects. I was about to go up, having just followed my father, when I turned back and saw that Megan and Caleb were back in the room (they had taken a break). I was getting pretty emotional and decided that I had to give Caleb another opportunity to be with his Great Grandfather, if only for one more second. Also, I couldn’t think of anything more comforting in that moment than having my son in my arms, holding him as close and lovingly as I could.

This time, instead of reinforcing that Great Grandpa was sleeping, I told Caleb that he should say goodbye. Caleb whispered, “Goodbye Great Grandpa,” I touched my grandfather’s cheek a few times, told him that I loved him, said goodbye, and then held Caleb as close as I could manage as I walked away with tears finally starting to take me over.

I love you and miss you very much Grandpa, and I am so happy that you had a chance to meet your Great Grandson.

Megan took this shot while we were driving to the funeral. It was a quiet, beautiful day.

Megan also took this one. It was taken after the final ceremony ended as we were waiting to go inside a restaurant to have lunch with family. Caleb was sleeping in the back and I was more or less in a hazy state trying to parse everything that I had just experienced.

During our trip to Cape Cod, Caleb and I came across a Korean War memorial and from the depths of my memory, I suddenly remembered that I have a grandfather living somewhere. Rather than unleash a rather unpleasant stream of details, I’ll give you the high-level info. (Click on the photo for a slide show.)

My grandfather (my only living grandparent) has had Alzheimer’s Disease for a very long time. As a result, perhaps, as I was growing up, not only did my family not see him much (we were in California and despite a stint living with my family, he resided mainly on the East Coast) but we didn’t talk about him that much either. In short, little of my life for the past 15-20 years has involved the presence of my grandfather.

(As an aside, this definitely disturbs me. It is astonishing how someone as important as a grandparent can be forgotten over the years.)

After a few days of legwork contacting relatives as well as my parents, I finally found out where my grandfather is located. It turns out he is in a specialized home near White Plains, NY, about an hour from where we had been just weekends before. It took a few minutes to decide whether or not to book a room nearby for later that evening, or starting the next day. I opted for the former and after rounding up Caleb, Megan, and our dog Nadine, we were off to see my grandfather.

At the expense of being too vague, I’ll eliminate the bulk of the details of the trip. Quite frankly, though it might appear that I am comfortable laying out a full set of details about what my family and I experience, there are some things, quite a few perhaps, that are simply too personal to write about. A visit with a dying man I haven’t seen, spoken to, or heard much about since I was an adolescent, certainly falls into that camp.

I will say, however, that as hard as it was, I am very glad we made the trip. Caleb enjoyed meeting his great grandfather, Megan enjoyed meeting him as well, and I think he very much enjoyed having a fresh face stop by for a change.

And yes, we will be back soon.

I mentioned in an earlier post that we went to Connecticut to visit family this weekend. We saw my parents as well as my sister, her husband, and their son Alex. Alex is about four months younger than Caleb and I think they had a blast together. (Be sure to click on the photograph for a full slide show with images and descriptions.)

The highlight of the trip was definitely a few-hour stint at the Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk. In contrast to what Caleb and I experienced at the Boston Children’s Museum, this museum is awesome. To be clear, we only made it to three of the exhibits and the toddler play area and the kids still had a great time. Also in contrast to the Boston Children’s Museum, most of the kids were around Caleb’s age, and the exhibits were about 10 times better. There were materials for all of the kids to play with, and the exhibits were not only in great shape, but very educational and stimulating.

If you are within a 50 mile radius of the museum, I highly recommend that you take your tots for a visit.

Caleb, Megan, Nadine (our faithful dog) and I piled into our car and headed to Connecticut for the weekend. My parents as well as my sister, her husband, and their son, were all gathered in Stratford, so we decided to capitalize on the opportunity to see everyone at once.

What was Caleb’s first move once we arrived at our destination (almost 4 hours after leaving Boston…)? Bed jumping in his new diaper, of course!