Trip to Idaho

Against my better judgment I succombed to Nana and Grandpa's request and flew you across the country to Idaho. Alone. Without your dad. All by myself. Just me and you. You were actually great on the plane. For the most part you slept, and when you did get fussy it was relatively easy to calm you down. Regardless, I would probably never recommend that anyone fly a 2 month old across country solo. Let's just say that changing your diaper on an airplane bathroom WITHOUT a changing table is an experience that I don't need to relive.  It's like changing the diaper of a baby octopus on a toilet seat covered in Vaseline.

I was grateful for the opportunity to introduce you to so much family however. On this trip you got to meet your Uncle Daniel, Aunt Emilee, Uncle Austin, Aunt Taylor, Uncle Jack, Joy, Great Grandpa Allen, Great Grandpa Orme, and Great Great Grandma Blanche. You also got to meet a few friends of the family, a dog (who were not so sure about), a cat, and several sheep at the Southeast Idaho State Fair.

 Uncle Jack. This was right before you messed yourself on him.

 Aunt Emilee.

 Uncle Daniel.

 Uncle Austin.

 Aunt Taylor.

Unfortunately you used up all of your good behavior on the flight, because you were not ideally behaved during your big vacation. I have never really associated you with stranger anxiety before, but for the majority of our time in Idaho you wouldn't let anyone other than me hold you--not even Nana, which offended her greatly.

The one time you let Nana hold you.

I assume that the stimulus of all the new places, faces, sights and sounds was just a little too much for you to handle, so you stuck close to your mom for the most part. Sometimes we tried to trick you and covertly hand you off to someone else, but you always knew within seconds if I wasn't the one holding you. If this anxiety of yours was just due to everything being unfamiliar, that's fine. But we really can't have you rejecting family for the rest of your life. You need to realize that family buys presents, and if you aren't nice to them, you won't get presents.

Fortunately you were in a better mood the second half of the trip and were a little more amenable to letting people hang out with you. You let Grandpa walk you around the river and take you on a few adventures around the backyard. You also fell asleep on your Nana for about 3 hours, which she was grateful for because that was pretty much all the snuggle time she got.

As meaningful as this vacation was, it was the most intense parenting I've done since you've been born. Because you wouldn't really let me out of your sight, I was on duty 100% of the time. Other than when you were napping, there was never a time when I had a chance to take a break or a nap or eat food uninterrupted. It was really difficult to do it all without your dad, and I realized how much he helps us out when we're home.

I was worried that you would adjust to Idaho and then have to readjust to Boston on the return home, but fortunately you seemed to remember what your house was. And I felt so relieved that you didn't reject your dad when he first held you, because he had missed you so much. Granted, you still only tolerate him for about 15 minutes at a time until you want your mom back, but I will take those 15 minute intervals every chance I get. It's not that I don't think you're awesome...it's just that my arms are tired.

Your happy reunion with your dad.

You are quite the little jet setter these days. So far in your two months you've been all over Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Idaho. Before you know it you'll probably be feasting on baguettes in Paris and eating chocolate in Italy. 

We agreed that once we returned from Idaho we would begin the process of sleep training you. So far you are a little confused as to why we are putting you in your crib and leaving you there at night (and by "night" I mean a couple of hours), but I think you're doing okay. Actually, you are doing horrible, but we have to stick this out. I go back to work in three weeks and we can't have the present arrangement in place at that time. I know it works out great for you but...

Next up: Grammy comes to Boston in a few weeks to hang out for a long weekend and we can't wait. And then after that Nana and Grandpa come for another week. My goodness you have a full schedule for such a little guy who doesn't do much.