Our Little Baby Blog

A little warmth

Anna and I scooted down to Florida to visit my Aunt Chelle last week. It was wonderful! 80 degree weather, the swimming pool, the beach, it was just what we needed. Chicago is a fantastic, wonderful, fabulous city, but about mid-February the winter starts to feel like it will never ever end. For the record, it's ZERO degrees now.

I guess we deserve it...

Because I was traveling alone with Anna, I couldn't do my usual carry-on suitcase routine. In fact, I had to completely rethink the packing situation. This trip took quite a bit of logistical plotting because traveling with a baby can be tricky. You have to have your hands free to feed/hold/push/carry everything, but also have all the junk you need in case the baby goes berserk on the plane and you need the cheerios/stuffed turtle/applesauce/mommy hugs book to calm her down.

After a couple of calls to American Airlines to figure out the baggage limits and what the heck a gate-check means, I plotted out my plan. I would check one suitcase and the car seat and then carry on my diaper bag and Anna, gate-checking the stroller. That all went according to plan and thankfully our seatmate was a pregnant woman who adored Anna and didn't mind that she kept trying to grab her magazine and tried to hand her the bright red airplane safety pamphlet about a billion times during the flight. Thank you, kind lady, for humoring us.

It would have been perfect except that for all my calls/reading to ensure that I wouldn't get dinged for having the stroller with me, I still misunderstood where I was supposed to pick it up after we landed. Apparently, items that get checked at the gate also arrive at the gate- not the baggage claim. I wasted about 30 minutes trying to track it down when we landed in Ft. Myers. The flight back went a bit smoother, Anna slept the first half of the plane ride (woo hoo) and we had an empty seat next to us so I put Anna in it and let her squirm to her heart's delight. It was a great first flight experience and gave me a lot more confidence about traveling with Anna in the future.

We met up with my friend Elizabeth and her husband Matt and their little girl Lily Claire on our first day in Florida. Lily Claire and Anna are the same age and it's been great to grow closer with Elizabeth as we watch our little ones develop over the last 10 months. Fortuitously, Elizabeth and Matt scheduled a week vacation in Florida at the same time as our trip. We went to lunch and took the girls to the swimming pool at my aunt's condo. Lily is a pro because she's in the aqua baby class (she can even dunk under water!), but Anna had never been swimming before. It was a blast! Anna isn't at all afraid of the water, which is a tremendous relief. I was a little worried that she might freak out and that would have put a serious damper on the week, but Anna seemed right at home.

Anna and Lily Claire... deep thoughts.

Why does mom insist I stop eating the rocks??

My aunt was able to take a day off and go to the beach with us on Thursday. Anna didn't quite know what to make of the ocean and the sand at first, but then she got into it when she realized she could dig in the sand with her little orange shovel and sand pail. Well, digging may be too strong a word. She more mushed the sand with her little hands and then tried to bang on the pail with the shovel. Small steps, people, small steps. I was so paranoid about her getting a sunburn because she's so fair that coated her with 55 sunscreen and kept her in the shade. When Mike picked us up he said we were the only ones that could spend a week in Florida and return just as pasty white as when we left.

We better blow this popsicle stand.

Aunt Chelle and Anna get their feet wet!

Let's go!!

You people crack me up