Taking the Scenic Route

For safety, I am going to go protected on the posts that show Zach being out of town.  If you comment on the posts about Zach, please be sure to comment on a protected post and not a public one.  (if you are like me and read several posts at once because you can’t get to everyone on your list every day and then might comment on several posts at once)

At the airport.  The check in (we just walked right up to the counter) and security (maybe third in line when we did go) were short, so we had well over an hour to kill.  Like “good little travelers” we showed up 90 minutes early.  I think we spent a TOTAL of 5-10 minutes in lines for everything we did, including waiting for gate passes for Zane, Robert and I so we could take Zane back to show him Zach getting on the plane and the plane taking off.

Zach’s self-portrait on the plane

By Wednesday night Zach finally had the internet and the webcam set up so we could talk ‘face to face’.  This is a moment from Thursday night…Zach was eating a banana and Zane went and grabbed one from the kitchen so they enjoyed their bananas together.

Overall, the transition is going well.  Zane was more sad today than he had been.  He hasn’t been sleeping well (getting up earlyafter only 6-7 hours of sleep) and keeps trying to go out the front door and looking out the window to see if Daddy is there.  Today I finally was able to print up a visual calendar I made that shows pictures of when his therapies and YMCA summer classes are, along with a countdown to when Daddy comes back.  The day he left and the day he returns have big pictures of Zach on them.  I think seeing the calendar he finally understood how long daddy was going to be gone and that is why it was a rougher day.

I did discover that I might have to re-do the calendar once again.  The project manager and his prof are going to try and get him a flight home for the holiday weekend so he can visit.  They are vacationing that weekend, so it would be a seriously long weekend of nothing.  So…I might get to see him before 10 weeks from now.  That would be SOOOOOOOOOO fabulous!

Zach is excited about the people he is working with and the project.  It is something about working on an automated landing system for space vehicles.  I don’t really know any more than that, but it all sounds so sci-fi.  lol.  He looks like he is really enjoying himself, which makes all of this very, very worth it. 

I think we will be doing much better next week, when the summer schedule picks up.  This week was just off…not only daddy, but one of his therapists was on vacation too and it really upset him.  I don’t want it to sound like it is terrible though, because for the most part, it is going pretty well.  We miss him, and there are moments when I feel overwhelmed, but they are just moments.  For the most part, we are doing just fine.