My Infant Travel Tips

We made it! To Las Vegas and back with Miss Abigail and she did so, so good. She is a great traveler!

Our flight out to Vegas took off at 9:20 p.m. (it was delayed), so that was an easy one. Abby ate right before we took off and then slept the entire way. Our flight home was at 2:15 or so. She slept for about an hour and then woke up and stayed awake for the remainder of the flight.

The entire trip was a success. Here are my travel tips:

1. If you are staying in a hotel, check to see that they have a crib you can use that is up to safety code and a bathtub. We had to purchase a pack n play and a blow-up bathtub while we were there.
   
2. Have plenty of toys because baby will get restless fast. I do, however, use the term "toys" loosely. Abby's favorite "toy" of the trip was probably the Gate Claim Tag we had to put on her car seat.
   
3. If you are traveling with single friends, allow them to take baby out for a walk. I made more "friends" due to Abby's cuteness. Best quote of the trip? From a topless, drunk guy walking the Strip: "That baby has some nice-ass eyes!" Why, thank you.
   
4. If you are traveling alone, be prepared to kindly ask the people seated to either side of you if they wouldn't mind a baby foot or head in his or her lap. Unfortunately for them, though, whether they mind or not will ultimately be irrelevant.
   
5. Enjoy your airport privileges. Traveling with baby means you get to cut ahead in the security line and board the plane first. You feel like royalty.

 We had a great time with Miss Thang ... and I think she had a great time, too.

My Child's Nap-Avoidance Strategy

I've been home all week. My child has napped maybe two hours total over that span. She is wily.

She has quite the strategy.

• To avert me putting her in the crib to fall asleep, she will flip over onto her belly. When she is on her stomach, she then flails around "helplessly" until I come in to rescue her.
  
• When I sit in the glider in the hopes that she will fall asleep if I'm in the same room, she executes the flip-over strategy and then peers through the bars of the crib to grin at me. This results in me pretending to sleep (though I haven't been far from not pretending).
  
• When I attempt to feed her to put her to sleep, she "messes" her diaper, resulting in a need for a diaper change. In the midst of the change, she executes the grin strategy.

Abby seems to be managing sans naps ... I am struggling.

There has been a BABY SIGHTING

You'd think none of us had ever seen a baby before.

No sooner had we arrived at the party than people started gathering around.

Then there were TWO of them.

What is it about babies that brings people to utter ridiculousness?

Think about it. We coo ... we squeal ... we make ridiculous faces ... we sing and dance.

If only we could be so carefree in all facets of life.

Superhero Leia?

Apparently I am incapable of operating the volume control on the baby monitor because, despite checking that it was turned up enough to hear Abby, it wasn't. In my stubbornness, though, I actually checked the volume in the midst of seeing the lights go off for sound as no sound was coming out.

The reason I woke up to Abby wanting a 3:45 a.m. snack was Leia's prompting. I was proud of her for getting me up, though her train of thought for actually doing so has endless possibilities.

Scenario 1 (the superhero scenario): "Hmm. I hear the child crying, but there is no movement from Mom's bedroom. I'll alert her." ::begin mewing::

Scenario 2 (the random thought scenario): "Hmm. I hear the child crying. You know ... I'm hungry." ::begin mewing::

Scenario 3 (the sinister plot scenario): "Hmm. I hear the child crying. I don't understand why she's the only one who is fed at her beck and call. I'm going to cry, too." ::begin mewing::

However the process worked in Leia's kitty brain, all worked out in the end. My inability to use a baby monitor was overcome by one swell kitty.

Who taught her this?

We were cracking up.

What is going on in Abby Land

Trying to come up with current musings as far as Abby is concerned. Not sure I have any, so I figure I'll just write a general update.

Abby
She has currently learned to stick out her tongue after much prompting from Mommy (and now Daddy). She initially wowed us with her ability to mimick our obnoxious tongue movements and now can be seen sticking her tongue out nearly all of the time. Is there a "discovered tongue" field in the baby book?

Luke
His annoying factor has reached an all-time high since Tom has returned home from the Masters. It's amazing how jealous a cat can get. It's clear he now feels he is competing for my attention with Tom and follows me around the house meowing. When I sit down, he sticks his butt in my face. It's pleasant. He's still adorable, though. All he needs is love. He also needs to chill.

Leia
Going with the flow as usual. We had run out of wet cat food and had to order more. Once the food arrived, you'd think we just served her Kobe beef. She went nuts before, during and after eating. A reminder that this cat would eat 24 hours a day if we allowed her to.

As far as interaction between the three:

Abby --> Luke and Leia: She is entertained. She sees them and smiles.

Luke --> Abby: He is apprehensive. Gets somewhat close and sniffs. Then backtracks and runs away. Considering he has a fear of tissue paper and shopping bags, this is not surprising.

Leia --> Abby: She is neither intrigued nor afraid. Sometimes she will observe, but doesn't get too close. I'm interested to see how this relationship unfolds.

Luke --> Leia: Will randomly attack, but is currently preoccupied with gaining my attention.

Leia --> Luke: Not really paying much attention. Instead can be found "lamp bathing" or on my lap.

My Kid Ate DIrt

Seriously, Abby, you can't even crawl yet and you managed to get into dirt.

We were at my parents' house and I was getting ready to feed her solid food. I was getting them ready and she was in her Bumbo on the kitchen table.

I went to get the food and turned back around and she had lunged over the side of the chair and managed to grab a stem from a potted four-leaf clover. By the time I got to her, she had already put it in her mouth and had dirt in her mouth and on her face.

A small insight into what we have to look forward to once she is mobile! Baby-proofing, here we come. Well, here Tom comes.