Thankfully we were able to move her to her floor bed without much trouble. And just like in New York, it worked perfectly for her in Boston too. Although this hotel room definitely had plenty of space for a pack and play.
Friday morning we were up early to pack up and take the hotel shuttle to the airport. It was pretty straightforward and we quickly had our bags checked, Violet in the Ergo and our boarding passes in hand. In the security line Marc commented to me that he thought Violet may have pooped but his desire was to get through security and check it out after. So while I was having my expressed breast milk checked Marc headed off to the men's restroom.
I have to admit carrying breastmilk through security was pretty easy. I had it separate from my luggage in a lunch box with ice packs. I just notified security that I had liquid breast milk with me and after it went through the xray the TSA agents put the entire bottle inside a machine to test it. I didn't have to open it, I didn't have to taste it in front of them. I also packed an extra gallon ziploc bag to fill with ice once we were through security just to make sure things stayed cold.
After security I went to check on Marc. Thankfully the changing table was right at the entrance to the men's bathroom so I could see what was going on. As soon as I arrived Marc told me I was going to have to help him. Turns out Violet had pooped and it had soaked through both her long sleeve and short sleeve onesie. It went from the top of her diaper all the way up to her shoulder blades. It was her biggest blow out of all time. By the time we got her soiled clothes off her not only were Marc's hands covered but so was Violet's back, tummy and both her arms. We decided the best plan of attack was a wet wipe bath but honestly it might have been better to just put her in the sink, if only they were big enough!
After a thorough clean up and a change of clothes we headed off to our gate. Unfortunately it was here we found out that United no longer has a designated family boarding. I was disappointed because it would have been nice to have a few more minutes and not feel rushed to get all our stuff sorted out as everyone boarded the plane. On the plus side we found out that there would be an empty seat in our row of three, so Violet wouldn't have to stay in our laps the whole trip. As you can see everyone was excited to be up early to fly.
Despite having her own seat, Violet only managed to sleep for 1/2 hour of the 6 hour flight. Thankfully she was very pleasant the rest of the trip. As the plane took off I nursed her and on the way down she sucked on her pacifier. As far as we could tell neither the ascent or descent affected her ears. As a reward for being such a good traveler one of the flight attendants gave Violet her first set of wings. I was really touched by this gesture as I remember receiving wings when I used to fly as a kid.
Once we arrived in California we were greeted by my parents. They drove us from San Francisco to their house in Carmel Valley with a brief stop at In N Out burger on the way. We spent the rest of Friday with my parents, enjoying the beautiful California weather.
On Saturday Marc and I got all dressed up and headed off to the wedding. Night number two out on our own while my parents watched Violet. The wedding was at a local winery and was loads of fun. It was also a chance for me to spend time with most of my friends from high school.
On Sunday Marc and I went to my friend Allison's new house. We were hoping to help her with some projects in her house but instead all of our friends from high school headed over for a barbecue. We always have such a great time when we get together. I'm just grateful that we've all been able to stay in touch regardless of where we live these days. Violet thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone and didn't want to leave the fun for her afternoon nap.
Monday morning we had an early flight back to Boston. When we arrived at the airport we were told that the flight was completely booked. At this point Marc and I were pretty tired and we were dreading the cramped space of our row. But as luck would have it we ended up with an empty seat on our row again and Violet was able to stretch out. No problems with her ears this time either and she actually slept for a total of 2.5 hours on the flight.
The drive home from Boston was also uneventful and we were all home by 9:30. Unfortunately Violet had saved up a little bit of energy from the trip and didn't want to go to bed until 10:30. I've been sticking close to home this week to get her back on our normal schedule. She seems to be napping well during the day and pretty much back to her normal routine at night.
All in all I can say that our little girl is a pretty good traveler. It will be interesting to see how that changes as she gets older but for now I wouldn't hesitate to take her on another trip. I would probably just try to space our trips a little further apart from one another so Marc and I had more recovery time.
I just love all the pictures of the duck... ;-)
ReplyDelete