Two Peas in a Pod

Jared spent the past week with Grandma and on Thursday, I drove to Tampa to attend the first Bucs pre-season game and bring him home. I arrived to hear all about their very fun and busy week.

On Monday, they spent the afternoon with a visit from Pooka, Aunt Joan and Rebecca. Once their visit was over, Grandma and Jared headed over to Lakeland to have dinner with Uncle Lance and Aunt Kim. As they had visitors, Jared did not get his nap so on the drive to Uncle Lance's house, he fell asleep. Grandma had to wake him up when they arrived and this put him in a bad mood.... as it always does :-( Grandma said that he spent the entire dinner pouting on the couch and did not want to socialize (Sorry, Uncle Lance and Aunt Kim!). However, after dinner, Uncle Lance found the way to Jared's heart when he turned on their Kinect, bowling to be exact. Apparently, Jared perked right up and was ready to party! Jared l-o-v-e-s to play 'games on the TV.' He is also an expert virtual bowler.

I was back at home on this night and also perked right up when I saw Aunt Kim post this picture on facebook. The is Jared bowling a strike...

Here is some video of Jared showing off his bowling skills...

On Tuesday, their adventures continued as they met-up with Aunt Joan and Rebecca to see The Smurfs movie. In addition, they also had fun running some errands, taking care of one of Grandma's friends cat, Yoda, and just getting to know each other.

Jared is the most sensitive and the quietest of our crew. When they boys are all together, Jared is usually not clamoring for attention and it is hard to really get to know him in the group. These individual weeks with Grandma are probably the most beneficial for developing a relationship with Jared.

When I arrived on Thursday, we had to immediately get ready to go to the Bucs game once Jared woke up from his nap. However, on Friday morning, I had the honor if sitting back and observing the bond that had developed between Grandma and Jared. It brought a tear to my eye to see Jared finally opening up around Grandma and they were getting along like 'Two peas in a pod.' They had their own routines established such as how they get in and out of the garage. Jared would open the garage and Grandma would close it. It attempted to change this routine and I was quickly corrected by both Jared and Grandma. Jared was helping Grandma with her make-up and helping her get breakfast ready.

Once we had lunch on Friday, it was time to leave. Jared was not happy about having to leave Grandma's house. He flat out said he was 'not leaving.' He even started to take his shoes off. We he was convinced that he was leaving, he ran to give Grandma a hug. This was not your average hug. This was a full on bear hug with both arms wrapped tightly around Grandma and his body relaxed completely into Grandma. He gripped her tight and did not want to let go. Wow, what a hug! Jared finally got into the truck and cried for a while when we waved our final good-byes to Grandma as we drove away. Apparently, he had a good time :-)

As I mentioned, I also drove to Tampa to attend the first Bucs pre-season game against the New England Patriots. Here are the 'two peas in a pod' all ready to head to the game...

Big smooch for Grandma...
My turn for a picture with Jared...
The game was disappointing, to say the least. I don't want to talk too much about the game but Jared's face in this picture really says it all...
Good thing it is just pre-season! While the stadium emptied out due to the poor display by the Bucs and the rain, we stayed until almost the bitter end. Jared and Grandma are seen here showing off their die-hard spirit even in the rain...
While I miss each of the boys so much when they are spending time with Grandma, I love that each of them are having an opportunity to spend one on one time with Grandma.

Stay tuned for the adventures that follow this post! The terrible Bucs game was the beginning of a string of bad luck for the Darnell family.

Take care,