Our Little Traveler

Charlotte took her first plane ride on Friday! She traveled on Continental (with us, of course) from Chicago-Midway to Newark. I was pretty stressed about traveling with her. My stomach hurt most of the morning and I was sure we'd forget something important.

Ultimately, as always, Charlotte was a dreamboat. We had to move her into the car about 10 minutes after she fell asleep for her nap. She never fell back to sleep and so missed her morning nap. At the airport she smiled and giggled and played. And ate several ounces of food.

We decided to feed only what she would take by mouth and not pump, hoping not to exacerbate any reflux.

Philippe wrangled the car seat into the window seat and I settled in next to Charlotte. I had to entertain her for a while, but she ate a little more, sucked her thumb and finally fell asleep. So did I.

My brother met us at the airport and we headed to his house. Charlotte spent the rest of the day playing with her cousins and being doted over (life's rough, kid). She refused to eat any dinner so we pumped a whole feed.

At bedtime, Charlotte thought the pack-and-play was her playpen (b/c we use it as such at home. big mistake). She wouldn't sleep. She screamed and cried for about 45 minutes. We stopped checking after a while because we figured that she just didn't want to sleep. Nope. We finally went back up to find that the poor thing had vomited and it was all over her face, stinging her eyes and making her skin all red. So, emergency bath, long cuddling by Daddy and FINALLY she went to sleep.

Saturday morning she napped like normal, about 2 hours. But, she still refused to eat and had a major reflux-vomit episode after lunch. I managed to recognize the cry, grab her from Brandi and get her to the kitchen sink just in time. Philippe, Hal and Taylor were with her in the afternoon (Sue, Brandi and I went to the mall. Yippee!! Tax-free clothing shopping.) They said she never napped at all.

Saturday night she also got to play with my sister and our niece Jamie. She really charmed the whole family and seemed to thrill at being with all of the big girls.

And...by Sunday morning little Charlotte was crawling. Really crawling. A little bit at a time and then "splat" because she's not doing great weight-bearing on her right side. But, she's crawling!!

Our flight home wasn't as smooth--Charlotte took a good morning nap but never got her afternoon nap. She also never got crabby. Go figure. But, she had a major episode of reflux as we took off. Philippe sat with her and spent an hour softly rubbing her chest and calming her. Miraculously, she never vomited. When we switched places, she played and giggle with me the rest of the ride home. I got the easy shift.

So...we were worried about her getting back on her schedule, but we should never underestimate our cutie. She was back on track immediately yesterday, including eating about as she did last week. She's currently on strike form solid food, but taking a few ounces at time from the bottle.

(With cousins Brandi, Jamie and Taylor)

Many, many thanks to Hal and Sue for their hospitality, to Laurie for driving alone on a highway (first time ever) to see us and to our lovely nieces Jamie, Taylor and Brandi for playing with our kiddo. And, to Mom for lending us her car and being not so bent out of shape that we visited while she was in China.