and happy to be. zade was a lovely traveler. she seemed to understand that i couldn't let her run around in the airport like she usually does when we have two people to mind bags and baby and sat happily in her car seat and seemed to genuinely enjoy herself. no vomit happened, no poop happened, and the only crying happened during the last 15 minutes of our final flight last night when her ears were popping and she just wanted to sleep (after all, it was midnight her time and she was ready for bed). she was a joy both days we traveled.
you all know i'm very honest about my mama capabilities on my blog - and most of the time i feel like there is just no way i would survive without the significant help of my sweet hubby. but this trip really boosted my mama confidence. we were great travel companions. and even though i was ready to be back home with the whole family together, i did a great job of being a solo mama for five days straight. this all with a sinus infection, too.
zade seemed to grow into a different child while hanging out with her cousins. and both she and her cousins enjoyed the visit immensely. she's stopped throwing massive fits during meal times (which has been helped, i think, by the fact that i realized that she's trying to exert her independence at the table). she wants nothing to do with me giving her pieces of food any longer. she now wants her own sandwich and her own fork and spoon so that she can do. it. herself. damn it. she learned to say 'hi' and 'bu bye' very clearly and does so now to everyone she sees. she repeats every word we ask her to repeat, can point to her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, cheeks, hair, knees and tootsies and says their name after we ask her to. her vocabulary, though still very limited, has exploded over the past few days. she also smooches more freely and is generally more affectionate.
the only hiccup happened when zade realized that daddy was not going to be around at bedtime. she had difficulty going to sleep and insisted that her opa (grandpa) hold her and snuggle on the couch (which made him so very happy, as did the fact that within five minutes of arriving she was repeating O-PA! over and over again for him - he was pretty depressed about his brother dying). she did not sleep well the first or second nights, and only pooped once on day one (which is rare - she's usually a five times a day pooper because of all of the vegetables she eats). but after day two she was pretty well-adjusted.
i have to agree whole heartedly with kateri's post about southwest airlines. i've felt this way since we first traveled with them, but after flying solo with zade, i am convinced they are the most family friendly airline in the u.s. they treated us so well and zade had a seat on every flight (thanks to that preboarding thing!). we must have had the same flight attendants - becuase they made the same funny comments and were generally good humoured on every flight. when we had a rough landing at midway, they joked about us attacking midway and midway winning.
on our last day there, my sister, nephew, zade and i got to meet the adorable jenna and nick of the chronicles of munchkin land. it was a spur of the moment kind of thing and we only had a little bit of time to chat over coffee, but we all really enjoyed ourselves. jenna is super cool and didn't mind my sailor's mouth and nick is an adorable, wise old man trapped in a four month old body. it made me wish i lived nearer so that we could hang out more often. as it was, we only got to scrape the surface of all the things i would have loved to talk about all day with jenna. this was the very first time i've gotten to meet one of the first mom bloggers and i was all nervous that she'd look at me and think, 'oh my god, this is the worst mother i've ever met', as my daughter climbed up and down and over me on the booth where i was sitting. but it was like chatting with an old friend and my nervousness dissapated quickly. and when i read her post about our meeting, i was happy to see she felt the same.
as i mentioned above, i have a sinus infection, and i think zade is getting the cold that caused it now. with so much activity lately, we're both feeling a little stir crazy today, but we're also both tired and feeling a little under the weather, too. so we can't decide whether we should get out and do something or just continue to veg out for the rest of the day.
anyhow... more soon.
Recent Comments