What A Trip!!

The recap...finally.  I just knew it would take a bit to type all this out so I wanted to be sure I had enough uninterrupted time.  I'm not sure that I will but this is a better time than any...and I just wasted 1 minute typing all that out!

Taking a three month old on their first trip across the country might make a lot of people reach for the bourbon - both for themselves and for the paci!  I won't lie.  I was a little nervous.  Now that I know H as well as I do (and now that we have her feeling great), I am pretty confident in my abilities to read her and know what each and every cry is...and they are pretty predictable and often occur when she is tired (whiny and huffy), when she has a wet or dirty diaper (a constant "ehhhh" sound) and when she is hungry (she goes German on us and repeats "nein" over and over in the midst of crocodile tears).  So I figured I would be ok.  I was just worried that there would be a new cry - ears popping, new place, etc. - that I would be unfamiliar with.  But there isn't much to do.  My entire family lives across the country from me and I really wanted everyone to meet my awesome little girl!

I am going to try and just brush on the highlights here so that I don't take all night and an entire server telling the story.  When we arrived at the PHX airport (so there was an hour and a half drive right there), we were directed into the smallest line at the ticket counter.  All because of H.  Yay H!  But, when we got up to the counter, the lady asked me for my ID and her proof of birth.  Ummm, here is my ID and, proof of birth?  She's right here!  Voila!  Proof!  But she needed proof of age...which I thought they only needed if there was a question that the kid could be 2 years old.  She is OBVIOUSLY not 2 years old...or even close...but they needed this proof nonetheless.  She asked if I had a birth certificate.  That question reminded me that I actually haven't received a birth certificate...when do we get that??  Anyway, my answer was no and her response was...well, we need something to prove her age.  She suggested that I ask my pedi for immunization records - that would have her age.  So that was the step we took.

I called the pedi office and the amazing staff faxed the records immediately.  Thank goodness they are so awesome!  We went back to the ticket counter and a new lady helped us out.  She was great!  She even offered to give T a pass to walk me to the gate!  That lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders.  Especially since security was my next hurdle.

T and I made it to security and, again, we had a separate line to enter.  When we got up to the machine, we started taking the travel system apart and collapsing the stroller - I held H.  H and I got through no problem but I left T behind with the stroller and car seat.  The car seat went through with no issue but the stroller was a different story.  Even collapsed, it wouldn't fit through the conveyor opening.  The security lady told T to push it real hard.  T tried to explain that the wheels were over the opening - it wasn't going through.  But the lady persisted and then told him to leave it.  She was going to have another TSA guy take care of it.  I guess she really felt like T couldn't possibly be smart enough to be telling her the truth...the wheels were ABOVE the opening.  No amount of pushing is going to help that challenge.  And, if they did anything to bend or break my stroller, someone was going to pay with all that loose change they collect!  Needless to say, the guy she sent over couldn't resolve the challenge of physics and decided that they would have to roll it through and wand it.  Watching him try to open the stroller back up was almost enough to make up for the irritation of the TSA lady!

Once through we headed to my gate.  We flew Southwest.  The way they do it is...they take A's first, then family, then B - C.  The challenge is that they take B's almost immediately after calling family!  So I am trying to juggle baby, car seat and stroller collapse with people on my ass trying to get on the plane.  Maybe not the best strategy.  Couldn't the gate agent just look down the jetway and see when the coast is clear?  I mean, what's the point of going on early (other than getting a seat) if you don't have the time to sufficiently (and safely) take care of all the baby equipment?

I sat at an aisle seat close to the center of the plane.  A lady sat next to me in the window seat and sat her stuff in the center seat.  Her brilliance paid off and we ended up not having anyone sit between us.  This really helped when H was tired of being held.  I was able to lay her down between us and let her stretch out. 

The plane ride went fantastic.  She ate, she slept, she smiled and played.  She was absolutely perfect!  Everyone around me complimented her and talked about how well behaved and sweet she was (I don't think it is necessarily good "behavior" - she is only 3 months - but I will admit she was awesome!).

The visit with the family was great!  She pretty much met everyone other than a few people who couldn't come in from surrounding cities.  She stayed on schedule perfectly - I knew that I was going to make every effort to make this happen but she did it on her own.  Her body's clock is just ON IT!  Her naps, when she was hungry, when she started her night time routine, when she fell asleep for the night and when she woke up...it was all RIGHT on schedule!!  I was so proud (and happy that she slept through the night in a new place)!!

She was passed around  like a basketball!  But she handled it just like her middle name implies - with grace!  She smiled, coo'd, played and acted like a real social butterfly.  She would eat and then nap and do it all over again.  Poor thing.  Every time she fell asleep in her car seat, she would wake up with another house full of people making goo goo sounds at her and trying to pick her up!  Let's just say, she is WELL loved!!

Highlights of the trip:
Her touching my Dad's beard and face lightly with her hand while she studied him.  She was, what I call, "in the zone" for bedtime and was so peaceful in his arms.  She just looked at him and lightly brushed his beard with her hand.  My heart melted and my eyes filled with tears.

I took a quick trip out to get more formula and liners and left H with my Dad.  She ended up having a tough time with my departure and started getting really upset.  Dad tried everything but ended up getting the guitar and playing for her.  It calmed her.  So much so, she fell asleep!

Watching my Mom walk her around the backyard of their house.  Some quality one on one time and great outdoor time!  Louisville was looking, smelling and feeling so awesome during our visit!

Sharing a room with H - our girl slumber party!  I loved waking up and hearing her "talk" to the little stuffed animals in her crib (don't flame me, they weren't large enough to suffocate her!).

Figuring out that H may not have my looks (this is a good thing) but she does have my personality!  She can work a room!

Having some real bonding time...we are together everyday at home but this bonded us even more!  We were both exhausted but we were both having fun so we kept up the pace.  I really felt like she was my girl after this trip!

After our visits, it was time to leave.  This is always a hard time for me and always results in tears.  My Mom was saying goodbye to H and I and looked pretty sad.  H looked at my Mom with the most concerned look I have ever seen on a baby so young.  She could tell that Grandma was sad and didn't understand why.  She will someday.  It is the worst part of visiting - leaving.

Dad was able to escort me to the gate.  The TSA staff in Louisville was much more experienced...or smarter...than those in PHX.  They scanned the stroller and we got through with no issues at all!  After gathering up our stuff and getting H back in her stroller, we headed to the gate.  Another sad moment watching H cry while with my Dad.  I felt the same way.  I hate leaving.  But she was really crying because she was hungry.  Obviously VERY hungry (she is starting to eat a lot more!) so she was screaming loudly!!  I was horrified and could feel my skin burning from all the looks I must have been getting.  But, once her bottle was in the right place, she was in good shape.  Great shape, actually!  She slept for the first two and a half hours and then was just a fun little joy for the remain hour and a half.  No drama!  Again the people around us complimented her and told me what a great baby I had - uhhh, DUH!!!  Of course I know this!!

So that was H's first trip in a nutshell.  I am so thrilled I was able to get home and enjoy watching my family with her - especially my grandparents (her great grandparents).  It was such a wonderful, yet exhausting, trip.  And one we will do many more times in the future!  At least I now know how she will do - she will be an experienced traveler by the time she is Tay's age!  She is one lucky little girl!  I bet she will be in first class by then...if her Daddy has anything to do with it!

If you want to see pics, I posted some on my Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1175577901

You will have to sign up if you don't have an account but it is free!  I'm just too tired (and operating on borrowed time) to post pics right now.

Thanks to my entire family for making our first visit the most awesome visit!!  We will be back the first week of July!  We can't wait!!