Andrea’s Weblog

The girls, Finley and I are up in Maryland for 3 weeks, providing some TLC for their grandma and keeping grandpa entertained. Uncle Christopher and Aunt Kirsten also seem to be enjoying our company.

Getting all of us up here in one piece was not the best 12 hours, but it certainly could have been a lot worse. We left the house at 3:15 am Monday morning and arrived in Bel Air, MD at 3 pm. Leaving so early was definitely worth it because it gave me several hours of quiet time to get some miles behind us before the stops began. Elizabeth was so excited about the trip that it took her a long time to go to sleep. She said “mommy, you can wake me up now to go to grandma and grandpas!”

Here’s a run-down of our trip:

Stop 1, 6:00 am, side of road in South Carolina
Took off Elizabeth’s night-night diaper. Andrea pees. Nursed Elena.

(Elizabeth gets carsick.)

Stop 2, 8:00 am, Bojangles, North Carolina
Put Elena in her sling, got Elizabeth out and walked inside to go to the bathroom and get some breakfast. Spread out picnic on grass near the car for Elizabeth and walked (paced?) with Finley while eating breakfast sausage biscuit and holding Elena in sling. Finley didn’t go. Nursed Elena. Elizabeth announces she needs to go “poo-poo.” Rather than take her back into a filthy bathroom, I whipped out her travel potty seat where you go into a bag. I pour Finley food and water, which he refuses. Clean up barf from Elizabeth’s car seat. Since it’s been almost an hour, I decide to go back inside to the bathroom before we take off. Nurse Elena again. Change Elena’s diaper. Decide to go through the Bojangle’s drive-through for a cup of coffee.

(Elizabeth gets carsick.)

Stop 3, 9:45, rest stop, Virginia (?)
Stopped to clean up after Elizabeth got carsick again. Tried to get Finley to pee.

Stop 4, 10:45, gas station/ Starbucks, Virginia
We hit the bathrooms first, then Starbucks. Nursed Elena. Changed Elena’s diaper. Filled up the tank. Nursed Elena.

Stop 5, noon-ish, Virginia Starbucks
I opted for a clean Starbuck’s bathroom for this potty and lunch stop. Elizabeth and I snacked on some tuna and crackers that we’d brought. Finley wows cars waiting at a light with a pee that lasted longer than the stoplight. Nursed Elena. Changed Elena’s diaper.

Elizabeth was a great traveler. She let me listen to my book on tape for most of the trip. It was a 6 hour book, but I kept turning it off when Elena was crying or Elizabeth was talking, so the book somehow lasted most of the trip. I put in a movie for her during the last hour. She basically dozed, threw up, ate and talked. Never once did she whine about anything–shocking as this has become a favorite sport of hers.

Elena was more difficult. She seemed to be tired and would start crying. Not the angry ticked off cry that she’s capable of–it was more of an unhappy-with-the-situation cry. When I would slow down to get off the interstate she would relax and stop crying. One time she calmed down so much as I was searching for a place to pee, that she fell asleep. Then I had to wake her to take her inside with us. She must have learned that when the car slows, nursies are near. It looks like she spent a lot of time nursing, but that’s misleading. She did spend a lot of time “at the boob,” but she was easily distracted by the lights and buttons on the dashboard or the new scenery out the windows.

So, here we are! Elizabeth spent the day swimming in the wading pool, getting books at the library and catching “Lightening Bug McPherson.” Elena enjoys cooing and smiling at everyone and showing that she is the good-natured baby we’ve bragged about. Finley is policing the bird feeder on the back deck, keeping the pesky squirrels away.