a little tidbit

While I work on writing up our Kenyan adventures, here's something to keep you going:

On the flight from DC to London, I was sitting next to a Scottish girl. I was supposed to be in the middle seat between her and a little girl, but she traded with me so that I could lean against the window, since it was an overnight flight, and I looked like I could use some sleep. Very thoughtful of her. I was concerned I wouldn't be able to get out easily, but we only had to get up once or twice since Nate slept the whole way. That's not the story, though.

She told me at the beginning of the flight (before Nate's first meltdown), "Your baby is lovely!" The way she said "baby" immediately reminded me of Fat Bastard from Austin Powers. Suddenly I had a mental image of her standing in the aisle shouting, "You look like a baby! Get in my belly!" 'Twas quite amusing.

our trip! stories from England.

Wednesday
We left home before lunch. Mom dropped us off at the airport, and our adventure began!

Thursday
Our flight arrived late Thursday morning. Because of Nate I was allowed to go through the very short permanent resident line at immigration to get our visas, rather than the super long line I should have been in. Olly and Cat met us outside of customs.

After a pitstop for shower, coffee, changing Nate, etc. at Olly's parents' house, we drove out to Somerset. We drove right past Stonehenge. We didn't get out to look more closely because the view from the road is actually pretty good, and you can't get very close to the stones anyway. I didn't take a picture, but it would have looked something like this:

I tried on my dress for the wedding that afternoon. It was tight in the waist, even with my tummy sucking undergarments, but it fit surprisingly well. (Picture is from Saturday morning.)

Nate slept well until about 11 pm, when he started waking up every 10-15 minutes. I brought him to bed with me, and he slept until about 5 am.

Friday
Cat had some pampering scheduled in the morning in Wells. Bethany (maid of honour, BFF, sister weekends, former flatmate), Nate, and I went with her to Wells, and toured the cathedral while Cat was being pampered. We taught Nate that if he does something important enough in his life, his tomb will become a tourist attraction like the ones at the cathedral.

After Cat was done, we went to Cheddar. We sampled cheddar cheese from Cheddar, then I had to choose between cream tea and fish and chips for lunch. I chose cream tea, and it was an excellent choice.

The wedding rehearsal was that evening, followed by dinner of courgettes (zucchini) at home. Emma and Ruth had arrived for the wedding, so they hung out with us. It was very good times!

Nate was back on his schedule for the most part Friday, but still had trouble staying asleep around midnight, so he slept with me again.

Saturday
Wedding day!

The wedding was beautiful. Nate did well sitting with Mother and Father Weekends during the ceremony. The reception was lovely as well. It was a very long day, though.

The toasts were particularly entertaining. Father Weekends, the best man, and Olly all gave little speeches and made toasts. My favorite part was when Olly started getting sappy talking about Cat. Right at the climax of sappiness, Nate spit up a massive amount, as if in response to the gross amount of romantic sentiment. That's my boy! Olly noticed which made it all the more awesome.

The bride and groom went off on their honeymoon, and Olly's parents took Nate and me home with them, so that his mom could drop us off at the airport Sunday morning.

Nate spent the whole night in the pack and play. I don't know whether it was from being super tired or if he was getting used to the new time zone and not being in his own bed. Whatever it was, I was so thankful for a full night's sleep.

Sunday
Airport, flying, arrival in Kenya!

Next: our trip! stories from Kenya.

our trip! the flights.

On the way out, Nate and I had 2 flights on Wednesday night/Thursday morning and 2 flights on Sunday.

Flying short distances (4 hours or less) with an infant is actually not so bad. The worst is probably maneuvering through the airport.

Long haul international flights with an infant are hard. Nate slept during our overnight flights. The daytime ones were harder. It really is best to have an extra seat even though the baby can't sit by his/herself. If it weren't so expensive, I would almost wish that we had bought a seat for Nate for the long flights. We lucked out a few times with an empty seat. On the overnight flight that Rodgers was with us, we had an empty seat, put Nate on it between us, and he slept almost the entire flight. When I had an empty seat next to me on flights by myself, I used it for easier access to my carryon.

We sometimes got water from a flight attendant for bottles, but it was really best if I bought a liter of water in the terminal before boarding, then I could make bottles without waiting for someone to help me. I took extra formula in case he slept less than usual and wanted to eat more, which he did. I took just enough formula, there was none leftover at the end of the flights.

During his awake times, Nate occupied himself playing with the airsick bag and/or a plastic cup rather than any of the toys and teethers I took for him.

All in all, it wasn't too bad, but I wouldn't want to make that trip with a 6 month old again.

Next: our trip! stories from England.

night before

It's the night before we leave. We are going down to my parents' house tomorrow after work. I'm hoping that after I stop to get myself some dinner and feed Nate, he'll sleep the rest of the trip. Last time we went down there, I had to get in the backseat with him for the last 45 minutes or so because he was DONE. But I can't do that so much when I'm the one driving.

I loaded up the car tonight. I'm kind of worried that I'm forgetting something. I made the lists, adjusted them, packed by them, added a few things, and checked everything off. We would appear to be ready.

I will see you all again when we return from our whirlwind vacation!

Nate and socks

Nate loves playing with his socks, whether on or off. If he sees one on the floor, he gets excited, scoots over to it, grabs it, and shoves it in his mouth. He also chews on them while they are on his feet:

This afternoon, he was carrying a sock in his mouth as he was scooting around on the floor. I failed to get a good, in-focus picture, so I give you: The Film Strip.