As I said in one of my previous posts, we have been crazy busy lately due to my being in two weddings this month! The first was a 6 hour drive south and Bear did really well. We seem to have worked out a pretty good system for car travel which goes a little something like this:
-We keep him up a bit before we leave so that he naps for the first stretch.
-Once he wakes up I wait until he starts to fuss before I get in the back with him and dangle various toys in front of his face. This usually gets another 30 minutes or so out of him.
-He eventually makes it clear that he has had enough and we stop for gas/food/pee break.
On the way down we stopped to visit my sister (who I never get to see) for a night, so that was an added bonus. This was nice because the next day we only had an hour to go before we got to our destination.
The morning of the wedding M's parents met us at the hotel to watch Bear so that M and I could enjoy ourselves. The wedding and reception were tons of fun. The bridal party was made up of all my good college friends so there were lots of laughs (and drinks) throughout the day.
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| Bear hangin' in his auntie's back yard |
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| Me and a friend before the ceremony. The blue dresses were so flattering on everyone! |
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| Bubble blowin' |
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| That would be our party bus |
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| My friend and I on our way to the reception |
M and I both had a really good time. The whole pumping every couple hours thing kind of sucked, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I will say that events like these make me really excited for the day when I am done breastfeeding and no longer have to worry about how much Bear ate, when I should pump, how many drinks I can have, etc.
On to wedding #2..
This one was in Chicago, which was a breeze of a drive compared to the first one. The hotel was amazing and my parents met us there to watch Bear since both M and I were in the wedding party. Again, it was annoying to lug my pump around the whole time and worry about finding a place and time to pump, but everyone was really accommodating and understanding.
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| Bear getting comfy at the hotel |
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| All the girls getting ready. Notice the window washers... |
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| The bride and I headed to the reception |
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| M and I on the party bus |
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| I LOVED my hair! (I loved my hair for the other wedding as well, I had just never had anything like this done before.) |
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| My drunk-ass had a little difficulty figuring out the photo booth |
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| M and I |
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| Looking somewhat normal.. well, except for the fact that I couldn't figure out where the camera was |
I definitely got the hang of the photo booth because I have about 20 strips of those pictures. Apparently that is where I spent a good chunk of the night.
Everything about the wedding and reception was beautiful and perfectly
set up. The bride even told the chef ahead of time about Bear's food
sensitivities so they made a special dish for me, which was amazing. Those of us at the head table were asked what we would like to drink every 3 seconds and at one point I had 4 cocktails sitting in front of me. It was awesome.
So there you have it- 2 (out of town) weddings in 3 weeks. It was fun but I really hope I never have to do that again with an infant.
In other news, Bear recently had his first trip to the zoo! We met our mom/baby group there for an afternoon and Bear had a great time. He loved watching the polar bear and was a trooper even though he had a craptastic nap day.
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| Bear and I riding the carousel! |
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| Mr. Polar Bear |
Lastly, since today was opening day at our golf club's pool we obviously had to make an appearance;) The weather was crappy on and off and M was on call so he had to go in to work both this morning and then again this evening, but it was nice to get out of the house and spend a couple hours in the (partial) sun.
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| Bear and I |
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| M and Bear |
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| Takin' a break! |
Whew! May was a busy month! Let's hope June is a little more relaxing!
**Edited to add:
I meant to comment on Bear's sleeping habits during our travels. I'm not sure if it's because he is used to all the traveling we do, but the majority of the time he sleeps better when we are away than he does at home. We always take the Pack'n'Play and I will wear the crib sheet in my shirt for a couple hours before we leave and pack it with my things so that it smells like me (I do the same with his Aden&Anais lovie). It probably doesn't make much of a difference anymore, but it was just something I started doing when he was a newborn that seemed to help, so I stuck with it. We take my iPad as well so that we can play his white noise on it during naps and at night (and occasionally in the car if things get crazy). Lastly, I always make sure to request at least a queen-size bed if we are staying at a hotel, just in case he does have a bad night so that I can put him in bed with us without any issues.
When we are out of town and other people are watching him I let them do whatever they need to do to get him to sleep. When my parents were watching Bear last weekend the only way they could get him to nap was by driving him around. They didn't mind at all so it was completely fine with me. I don't let him cry himself to sleep when we are away. Being in a new place with new sounds and new smells can be scary shit for a 7-month-old, especially when their parents aren't around, so that just isn't an option for us.
Like I said though, as long as we bring a few comforting things from home he does pretty well, which is fantastic considering all the traveling we do.
