Oh my g0d, we are finally home!  It only took us 8 hours in the car including a 2 hour stop for lunch and for Matthew to stretch his legs.  Ha!  EIGHT hours!  Had I realized it would take 8 hours (with a break) before we booked the trip, I may have found somewhere closer to visit.  The drive up was just fine (very little screaming from Matthew) but holy hell, poor Matthew did not enjoy the drive home.  Not.at.all.

I still stand by my assessment that 4 nights was perfect for traveling with a baby.  The problem we had was that Matthew got up an hour earlier each.and.every.morning.  By the last night, he got up at 2:00 AM and that is just insane.  The first night was 4:00, then 3:30, then 3:00, and then 2:00.  I did not sleep well on this trip, but I still had a good time.  We let him come into bed with us when he woke up because, quite honestly, that was easier than trying to coax him back to sleep – but he just does not sleep well with us so that means that I don’t sleep well.

We are re-thinking our trip out west in July.  The main issue that I see is that I would be bringing Matthew back with me by myself while B stays out in the Seattle area for a week of work.  I just cannot handle Matthew screaming in his car seat on a plane for 3-4 hours, which could realistically happen.  I also don’t think it’s fair to do that to anyone else on the plane.  Another reason we’re rethinking it is that it was really hard getting out and about with a baby because of his eating and napping schedule and I want us to relax on the trip and that’s hard to do when you’re living in 3 hour increments.  And finally, we would be in a hotel room instead of a house, like this last trip, and I just don’t see how that will work.  We’d put Matthew to sleep at 8:30 and then we’d go to bed too, or at least hang out with our laptops not making any noise because we have a sleeping baby 5 feet away.  It is just sounding like a bad idea.  Maybe the fact that we haven’t bought plane tickets yet is a sign to not go.

So this trip was a success, in my opinion, but I’m pretty good at making lemonade out of lemons.  I don’t need to be super busy on a trip to be happy.  B likes to be busy and going on adventures all the time.  You can see where there could be some incompatibility  😉  I enjoyed the views, the cottage, the pool, just being away from home.  It was nice!  We had some glitches (like the weather, the schedule, the sleeping), but all-in-all, I think it worked out well and would do it again – but somewhere closer.

We had a major glitch… and it is still not 100% resolved.  I mentioned the ER a couple posts ago.  Oh my, what I’m about to explain made for a terrible night (night 2 of the trip) and I think this ruined the entire trip for B.

As I’ve mentioned before, I am a VERY relaxed mother.  If Matthew wants to try something new, like walking, I just stand back and let him do it.  If he wants to play by the fireplace, I make sure it’s off and let him have at it.  I don’t hover.  B is not like me.  😉  On Monday night, Matthew was walking all over the cottage and I just let him do it because – hey – that’s what I do.  Yes, it was a tile floor, but so is the floor at home.  I let him explore and get content in his new surroundings in his own way.  B was very nervous about the tile floor and the new skill of walking and was right behind Matthew as he was checking things out.  At one point, Matthew started to run just a bit and B followed closely – too closely.  He tripped and landed his heavily-shod foot on Matthew’s left ankle.  He heard a pop.  Matthew screamed and screamed.  Nursing wouldn’t calm him, and he wouldn’t put weight on that leg.  So.. off the ER we went.  By the time we got there, Matthew was happy and putting some weight on his leg, but not walking on it.  The doctor didn’t do an X-ray because he believed he was fine and that they do too many X-rays these days (I agree – and it would have scared Matthew).   We headed home.

He hasn’t walked much since.  The most he can do is 4-5 steps, and he was walking almost 100% of the time  😦  We are getting an X-ray tomorrow afternoon.  Poor baby!  Poor Daddy!  B is just beside himself – and said that it’s all he has thought about since it happened.  He keeps saying he broke Matthew, and that he took walking away from him.  I know that Matthew is going to be just fine – and that he likely IS just fine – he’s just needing to learn how to trust his feet again.  But it is hard to watch when he was off and running just 3 days ago.

Even with all of this, I still consider our trip a success.  Maybe I’m just an eternal optimist – I don’t know.  But I really did have a great time!  I wish B had as well, but there’s nothing I could have done to change anything.  I do think Matthew had a great time (aside from the long car trips) – although he sure is happy to be home, with his kitty cats, and in his own bed!

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We’re on our way to the cottage on Lake Superior. Matthew handled the first 3.5 hours like a champ. We stopped at Whole Foods, bought some essentials, ate some lunch, tried to explain my t-shirt to a random guy (“guns don’t kill people. People from Texas kill people”)* and packed back up for the remaining 2.5 hour drive. At that point, Matthew had been out of the car for an hour and a half, chatting it up with everyone in site (and there was a festival going on in the parking lot so there was a lot of chatting to do!), and had no interest in getting back in the car.

Cue the screaming!

He was ready for a nap but was so upset about being back in the car, that he refused to sleep. It was deafening, and my heart ached for him. He was just so sad.

So we stopped to get gas and I made room for myself in the backseat with him. While making room, I found one of the pacifiers we’d tried when we were working on his sleep habits. I figured, “why the hell not? Try it!” And….

He took it and did what he was supposed to do with it (versus play with it and chew it like he’s always done before)! It calmed him instantly! I was stunned and didn’t expect it to last. But it did! And he fell asleep! I cannot believe this! And before you say it, yes I know that I may have caused a new habit to rid him of later, but I’ll deal with that later. I think I may use this when I start weaning Matthew later this month (cue the tears).

* So the shirt… I should not have worn it to Whole Foods, of all places. Bad decision. I wasn’t thinking. But I like the shirt. I like the message… Or what I thought the message was (I figured it was just making fun of Texans for wielding their guns all over the place). After pondering for about 5 minutes, the guy who asked about it piped up and said he thought it had to do with Texas killing so many people with their death penalty. Hmmm… Yes… That makes much more sense. And I now like this shirt even more!!!! I don’t find it as funny as I did, but I am totally against the death penalty so I’m perfectly comfortable making this statement.

There have been tears tonight. Matthew is no longer a baby – he is walking. Not taking steps… But walking. We’re in a hotel and he took to exploring the room via just his feet. I am really sad 😦

He is also clearly understanding, “no,” and that makes me happy! He now stops what he’s doing about 80% of the time when you tell him to stop. Oh, so very happy!!!! 🙂

And he also went bowling for the first time, which made him sad. Too noisy! He scored a 7… In just one frame. Not too bad. I scored 55 after 7 frames. I’m a bad bowler! 😦

And finally, tomorrow is our 5th anniversary. This makes me very, VERY happy 🙂