Teeny tiny train vacation

Leave Tucson at approximately 10:30 pm by Amtrak. Animalia is overly interested in the train, asking if it's her train and if she's on the train. Also, she needed to go potty. Many times. Midnight lecture was necessary. I think I told her that she needed to go to sleep around midnight in my most exhausted threatening voice. Then she asked me if she could talk. I said no.

Arrive in Los Angeles at approximately 7:30 am. No sleep, or very little, since Animalia was hogging. Drop off luggage, eat breakfast at Olvera St, deal with unanticipated issues, take bus to museums where Animalia sees dinosaurs, animals, airplanes, roses, and other happy things. She keeps asking if we're in California.

Check into hotel, conveniently located near many delicious foods in Little Tokyo. Animalia loves the hotel. Eat an early dinner. Buy some pastries. Head back to the room. Animalia falls asleep early, before dessert.

Next morning, wake up, get dressed, get coffee and pastries, head to Santa Monica. The beach! The rides! This is Animalia's happiest part of the whole trip. Hotel, naps, wandering around, late dinner.

Next morning, wake up, eat breakfast, go to large Japanese supermarket, check out of hotel, head to train station. Train departs at 2:30pm. It's slightly delayed, then we're delayed en route. Animalia has good times. Spends time in the observation car which she correctly names unless she's calling it the raisin car. Home at 12:30pm (about an hour late). Asleep by 1am.

Spend the entire next day tired, though Animalia was missing the hotel, train, and Japanese food. Have I mentioned that she loves Japanese food? Miso soup, sushi, cucumbers only slightly pickled in vinegar, soba noodles. All of it.

Arizona Tour '09

Three days in a pickup truck. Four adults, one toddler. Jerome, using the wrong directions through Prescott, getting on the right path to Crown King and onto the cabin in Horsethief Basin, then through Sedona and Flagstaff to our ultimate destination, the Grand Canyon. Back through Valle, AZ to see Flintstones Bedrock City and the Chapel of the Holy Dove, through Flagstaff and Phoenix and HOME! If Google Maps is correct, we traveled over 1300 miles. That's true insanity.

Animalia was ok throughout the trip, sometimes complaining that she wanted to go home, asking for her big bed, wanting to see Nanitas, or asking if we were going to see Nina. We were loaded with distractions for the difficult times, having packed several books, some finger puppets from Cayman courtesy of Britta and probably best of all, a Melissa and Doug dry erase/magnetic chalk board that Nana bought her before we went on the trip. She loved the dry erase marker and then the "cleaning" but loved the letters equally.

Destination-wise, she liked Jerome and the wrap she borrowed from begrid to protect her against the chilly air, the lovely shop called House of Joy that used to be a brothel, where she said hi to a fake giraffe outside and told him to say hi to her, reminded herself not to touch anything inside, danced to Russian music and the lady working there (the owner maybe?) asked her name, insisting that we'd see it in lights one day. She loved the cabin in Horsethief as it gave her the opportunity to run around outside with baseball bats and "soccer baseballs" and play with her miniature cast iron skillet. She also seemed to like camping, once we finally settled in at the Grand Canyon Mather Campground. We'd prepared her with the book Maisy Goes Camping and she was pretty happy to be in the tent, just like Maisy. She was thrilled to see a raven the size of a cat in the campground, saying it was the Tata bird and asking where the Aya bird was. And when she saw the Canyon itself? Daht asked her what it was and she responded that it was "a painting."

Other highlights:
At one point she was totally frustrated with driving and started asking to go to the store to buy a bicycle, a toothbrush, and eventually just "stuff." Later, on the way home, she kept asking to stop at the "dancing store." When I asked her where it was she would look around, point at a random store and say "I found it!"
"Where's your mommy?" asked Daht. "Bad boy!" she replied, "Aya's mommy is right here!"
She really bonded with Britta although she called her Brenda for quite awhile til she finally started calling her Brin-ta.
Animalia eating fistfulls of hummus in the truck. She started with carrots and when those were gone decided that she had to use her hands.
Lots of hugs and kisses for me, telling everyone who would listen that "this is Aya's mommy."

Mostly it was a whirlwind, lots of stops, lots of driving, slightly disorganized, sometimes cold. She cried a few times in the car, frustrated at being trapped, but even then I think we were all tired and frustrated so it was understandable. We were thrilled to be home, capping the trip with a car/truck exchange at Nana's and Tata's where Animalia played in her sandbox for a few minutes, touched all her things and took a shower. Then home where she was more than thrilled to see Cooper and he was excited to see her too, nosing at her every time he'd run past her.

There was some laying around for a couple hours, then a dead sleep was had by all and we're back to the routine this morning.

Schedule, schedule, schedule

So it took a few days but we're somewhat settled into our routine again. Animalia is much calmer and nicer and easier than she was on vacation. Routine is important to her, makes her a nicer kid to deal with.

The "somewhat" part of "somewhat settled" is really that she's been exceptionally clingy with me. She cried yesterday when I left Nana's post-lunch break. This morning, when I told her she'd be eating breakfast with Daddy, she said "No. With Mommy" and when I told her I had to go to work, she asked, "With Aya?" I think it's a little rough for her to go from spending all waking (and sleeping) hours with Mama for an entire week to having to spend big chunks of time without me. It's hard for me too. Going back to the regular schedule gives me a bit of guilt. Vacation just reminds me how many more important things there are than work, with Animalia, of course, being at the top of the list.

So. It's this week and the coming week of schedule, schedule, schedule. Then we'll throw it out of whack again when we head to the Grand Canyon with Daht and Britta over Labor Day weekend. Then it's back to schedule, schedule, schedule. Unless I win the lottery.

A visit to the Nina

Considering it would take me a month to have time to create a play-by-play posting of our vacation to the Nina and fabulous Washington, DC, I'll post a highlights/lowlights list instead.



Highlights:

-All of the flights! Animalia was fantastic, so good that she elicited compliments on ALL of the flights, both to and from. One man actually praised not only Animalia, but my very own parenting skills. Someone else, seated in front of us, also told me that my baby is very very smart as they could hear her counting to 20 during the flight.

-Animalia recognized Nina immediately and not only did she know her as Nina but she also knew her name and got it only slightly wrong, calling her Amarisa. It was very adorable.

-When we took her to Sesame Place, the very first time she saw the characters, she was so excited she shook!

-She was very lovey to Gloria and remembered her name.

-She saw the creepily taxidermied animals at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and was ecstatic, especially when she noticed the panda bear, repeating "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see?" over and over again. She also loved seeing the "dinosaurus" and the big elephant.

-She was thrilled at the Natural History Museum's special butterfly exhibit. It's a small structure inside the museum built specially for live butterflies with many lovely flowers planted in planters. We walked inside and there were butterflies everywhere. Animalia ooohed and aaahhed, especially when one landed on her. Very exciting.

-Happy as a clam on many rides including the carousel on the National Mall and the teacup-type ride and flying fish ride at Sesame Place.

-Happy as a clam in any water attraction at Sesame Place.

-She burst into song, singing "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow! You're only a day away!" as I was trying to put her to sleep. I guess this one is a highlight AND a low point because she was being very difficult at this point but it was so hilarious that we stifled laughter to maintain the serious environment that sleeping requires.

-Happy as a clam at H&M, totally thrilled about getting new clothes, especially the Hello Kitty tunic like thing.

-Loving the fried foods. It must've been crazy for her to eat french fries more than once during the week (I'm a terrible mother on vacation, a better one when we're home). She also LOVES dip. ANY dip. Ketchup, honey mustard, ranch. Dip! Yay!

-Her new Count Von Count that "Mama bought you" at Sesame Place. She calls him her "baby Count" and puts him to sleep tenderly.

-Italian ice on the National Mall.

-Buckling herself into her stroller all by herself.

-Most of the driving from DC to PA was fairly decent. She spent much of the time talking to herself if she wasn't asleep.

-She pooped in the potty for the very first time!!!

Lowlights:
-The National Zoo visit. Although the Animalia enjoyed seeing the first few animals very much, there were very few animals out by the time we got there. Then she was flopping around on the ground and at one point hoarded food in her mouth for about 20 minutes until she spit it all out near the horseys. This is her new and totally disgusting trick that I hope passes quickly.

-She spent a little time being defiant, a few times reduced to screeching. I think mostly she was tired and disoriented from not being at home and being totally out of her routine. Every car trip resulted in her asking to go see Daddy, or to go to Nana and Tata's house.

-Our visit to the Library of Congress to see Nina. When Nina took her stroller for brief storage, Animalia started screaming, "Aya's stroller!!!" and crying real tears. In a very quiet place. Where researching people could hear us. Because Nina stole her stroller.

-After she pooped in the potty, she finished it off by pooping in the diaper. Seriously. Yuck. Also, aside from the pooping, she wasn't too into using the potty, at least not as much as she was at home. I think the grown up potty was sort of weird for her, but also we were out so much and she was so distracted that she'd rarely mention it. On a more positive note, she seems to have readjusted quickly. Thank the lord.

-The mosquitos. Little bastards. Actually, they were rather large, the size of flies. And fat and slow off of my own blood and the blood of my teeny tiny toddler. We're still dealing with the itching and the total unprettiness. Here's hoping we don't get West Nile.

So there it is. A trip to see the Nina. All by ourselves. I'm exhausted but happy to see, after making a list, that there are more highlights than lowlights.

Bucket and shovel

So the last time we saw the Animalia's bucket and shovel was on the beach in Puerto Peñasco. We'd put it on the sand while she climbed all over the barcos. Then, for some reason, she wanted to go to the agua and we walked away from it. I think later we probably walked right by the poor little bucket and the tiny little shovel and didn't remember them on the way back into the condo. ANYHOW, the first thing she asked for at Nana's house was the bucket and shovel. And then she said, "Cupo stole Aya's bucket! Cupo lost Aya's shovel! No, no babao! No!"

That's it, baby. Blame the dog.

Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico

Animalia's second beach vacation. April 23-27, 2009. In attendance: The Animalia (of course!), Mama, Daht, Mahnda, and Deg. Animalia got to see the ocean for the second time in her short life. She loved the "big agua" and the "big sandbox" and the swimming pool and the water slide and chile mango. She loved the barcos, her own and the rental canoes parked outside. She loved her swimsuit that she kept calling a suitcase. She loved her new vestido and bailando in her new vestido, along with her new zapatos and her bracelets and necklace. She also loved the happy cake (strawberries and whipped cream) that we had for dessert the first night and the frijoles at the restaurant on the cliff. She was a happy girl most of the time, until she saw another kid on her slide ("No, no, baby! Aya's slide!") or until I held her too long in the pool ("Aya DO IT!! No, no, mama!"). And she seemed pretty sad when she was really tired, which wasn't hard between the beach and the pool. But otherwise, she was very very happy.

The Animalia in DC

The Animalia chasing pigeons on the Mall a few days after the Inauguration.

There were several spectators and other paparazzi.

Oh Inauguration!

The Animalia, she was, as per usual, excellent on the flights both to and from Washington, DC. Changing flights in Dallas, we even got the ultimate compliment-- "We didn't even know there was a baby on the flight!" "Thank you, thank you," I said, as if it were all my doing. I guess my baby, seasoned traveler that she is, just loves to fly. Thank the lord.

We got there in the middle of the night and once we got to the Nina's brand-spanking-new apartment, The Animalia spotted the air mattress and threw herself upon it. She was exhausted.

We woke up the next morning, and the Animalia, not getting nearly enough sleep, wailed like I was stabbing her with a hot poker. She wailed as I put on her many layers of clothing. She wailed when I put on her very-necessary-for-several-hours-in-20-degree-cold snowsuit. She screamed when I put on her warm cozy boots. It was a tight fit getting her in the sling, both of us layered, but we made it.

Then we waited in line. And the Animalia fell asleep. She was asleep through the wait, she was asleep through most of it. She was even asleep when the crowd cheered as President Obama took the oath of office. She was asleep. But the baby, she was there, something that we'll tell her when she's older and she reads about it in school. She was there.

Later, we ended up at Mr. Henry's for mmmmm papas! She ate turkey vegetable soup with gusto, my poor tired baby. Then we went to the Nina's old place, full of people, and the poor tired baby let the very energetic Peanut boss her around. "¡No en el piso! ¡Es sucio!" The Peanut told her as she slumped exhaustedly on the floor. She did, however, briefly energize when The Peanut brought a box, probably from the trash, and ordered her "Tiralo." And Animalia did. And she was happy.

Slightly nervous about the trip.

We're crazy. CRAZY. We're taking the baby to the Inauguration. LIKE MANIACS, WE'RE CRAZY.

We fly in the night before, actually early morning before, as our flight gets there at 12:30AM! BECAUSE WE'RE CRAZY. And not at all crazy like foxes, more like crazy like crazy people.

Can't wait to see the Animalia all dressed up for WINTER though. AND WHEN I SAY WINTER I MEAN THE KIND OF COLD THAT NORMAL PEOPLE DON'T TAKE THEIR SMALL CHILDREN TO. ONLY CRAZY PEOPLE DO THAT. JUST LIKE ONLY CRAZY PEOPLE WRITE ABOUT THEIR INSANITY IN THEIR BLOGS IN ALL CAPS LIKE YELLING. CRAZY PEOPLE!

Awa! Awa! (San Diego)

The Animalia, the travelin' bean that she is, went to San Diego over the weekend. She was surprisingly good on the way there, learning to blow dramatic kisses (MMMMmmmm-muah!) and the answer to the question,"¿Como te llamas?" (ahh-YA!). She got fussy at the end of the drive, much later than we thought she would. She was tired of looking at her Tata and sitting in her chair and the boring toys she'd already seen 50 times. She was asking for her Nana. So we got to the place where we were staying, a beautiful two bedroom condo overlooking the ocean, with sliding glass doors out onto the balconies that had NO SCREENS, and a marble coffee table and a glass topped dining room table. Totally not for babies. The Animalia was thrilled though. The closets had mirrored doors and the beds were fit for rolling around. We changed our travelin' clothes and immediately headed out to eat with the Nana and the Tata and the Mama's Nina. We found a brewery. The food was great and the Animalia ate garlic mashed potatoes and yummed a bunch. We headed back to the place, pushing Animalia on the boardwalk and she was happy. Then the Tío Tío and April showed up and the Animalia was even happier. Not much else happened that first night but it was nice and the ocean was loud. We all slept soundly when we finally went to bed, around 11.

DAY TWO. Wake up early, the whole bunch dresses for breakfast at an incredible place called the Belgian Frie. Animalia has pieces of waffle with sour cream and strawberries. She is thrilled. Head back to the place and get the car and go to Sea World, the Animalia, the Mama, the Daht, Tío Tío and April. The Animalia dozes on the short drive there. She wakes up as soon as the car stops. She looks suspicious. We get into the park and immediately head to the dolphin show. She watches the dolphins with interest but still looks suspicious. We get splashed lightly. Animalia purses her lips. After that we head to the Sesame Street area. We get on this teacup type thing, Animalia's first ride. She hates it at first but cracks a smile at the very end. She's finally really awake. After that, she was happy. She loves the shark exhibit and the small aquarium. She stands at the manatee tank in awe. She waves at Elmo during the 4D Sesame Street movie. She woos appropriately at Shamu. We head home, not having done half of what we wanted to but still happy. Animalia falls asleep as soon as we hit the parking lot.

NIGHT TWO. Animalia. Napping. 2 hours. Wake up, get dressed in the most beautiful little dress, ruffle butt tights, black velvet slippers, cardigan. Animalia is going to be the ring bearer at the Tías Grandes wedding at a fancy restaurant overlooking the ocean. I was worried but it went OK. She was a little upset by the time the wedding started so I fed her cheese. She also got upset when the Tías walked down the tiny aisle without her. I think she thought they were all going for a walk. Then she seemed tired but quickly got a second wind. Photos, then dinner. The waitstaff brought her a miniature bottle of sparkling cider for the toasts. She drank it from a straw and made faces when the bubbles hit her mouth. During dinner she ate gourmet mac and cheese, pieces of fruit. Dessert was from my plate, some kind of berry icy thing that was delicious. After dinner, she kicked off her shoes and wandered around, stopping to grab different people to dance with her. She really made the rounds on the dance floor. Then around 11pm she was DONE. She was EXHAUSTED. She wanted to LEAVE. So we did and she fell asleep pretty quickly. She was great though, the entire night.


DAY THREE. She woke up early and walked down the hallway to bang on the Nana and Tata's bedroom door. She was banging on the door saying "Nana! Tata! Nanatata!" We immediately got ready and went to breakfast at this Irish pub where she ate her first teeny tiny bit of scrambled egg.
After breakfast we headed to the beach. At first, the Animalia stayed close, sitting on my towel and touching the sand cautiously. Hmmm. She was interested. After a few minutes, she realized she loved it and really threw herself into throwing sand into her little pail. One of her shovels looked more like a spoon than a shovel and she kept picking sand up with it and asking,"Papa?" We kept telling her "No es papa. No en la boca." I think she may have eaten a tiny bit anyway. After a bit we decided to take her down to the ocean. She wailed. How could we take her away from her precious sand?! We dragged her closer to the ocean. In a fit of pique she threw herself down on the sand. But this was wet sand. Oh my god. She looked at us with joy in her eyes but I could see there was a question. Why hadn't we done this sooner? Why didn't we let her play in the mud? She squished around a bit but I was determined to have her touch the water. I picked her up. Another wail. How could I show her mud and then take it away?! She was indignant. UNTIL... The water. I stood her up next to me and the water came rolling in. She laughed hysterically when it touched her tiny feet. We took her deeper. The water rolled in and peels of laughed rolled out of her as the coldish water hit her butt high. Then she acted indignant, like we'd been hiding this from her the entire time. Needless to say, the beach, the sand, the water, all hits. We will be taking her to the beach again as soon as possible.

THAT AFTERNOON/EVENING. A serious bath that didn't take all the sand out of her as I saw grains in her tiny ears later. A nap. Later we ate Thai food. The Animalia enjoyed her lovely Thai vegetable soup. We stopped at the Tías Grandes hotel room and she showed off her pink crocs. We went back to the condo, dropped her off with the Nana and the Tata and took off for an hour or so of parent time. The Animalia was ready for bed when we got back and so were we.

We left the next day and the trip back wasn't so bad either, minus the short vomiting by the Animalia. Cleaned her up and got her back in the car. I think she was happy to be home but it took a couple of days to get used to the fact that her Nana and Tata weren't just down the hall. She was asking for them as soon as she woke up in the morning.

Her first sentence!

So the Animalia said her first sentence in lovely San Diego, California. It was "Mama papa yum yum!" And I didn't realize it was her first sentence til her Daht pointed it out to me. It's a complete thought. Isn't that a sentence? And I realized he was right. And I laughed because of course she said papa! in her first sentence.

She's a travelin' bean.

There was this song that we made up awhile ago, not sure when, but definitely around the Chicago trip. It's sort of a folkish, country kind of tune that goes "She's a travelin' bean (travelin' bean, travelin' bean)" and it's true. In her tiny life, the Animalia has been to Chicago, Washington, DC, and most recently, El Paso, TX. She'll go to San Diego in a few weeks and she may well end up on a beach in Mexico by the end of the year.

The Animalia, she likes traveling, she likes wandering around, she likes being outside and people watching. She likes to eat new things and play in suitcases. She loves her stroller and is happy in the side carry in any kind of sling. She loves to explore and she's a good traveler. Adaptable, not too picky, happy, though she does become a little clingy when she's unsure of her surroundings. She still sleeps, though not as well as she does at home, and she doesn't take too long to get back into her normal routine once she gets home. Traveling with the Animalia is highly recommended.

Judge me.

I'm leaving the Animalia overnight. I'm heading to a conference.

Initially I thought that I could take her, that other people would be going, that my mom would go, or that Jimmy could take time off of work. None of those things happened. Then I thought that I would have to leave her here for 3 nights (major panic) but we worked it out so that the Da would take the Animalia and meet me there for the second and third nights. So the overnight isn't really that bad, but it feels bad. She's not even a year old, not weaned yet, and I put her to bed every night of her tiny life, so I think she'll be upset and probably a little confused when I don't pick her up after work tomorrow. Or maybe it's just me giving myself an anxiety attack and she'll be fine and only miss me fleetingly.

So now, actually, I've changed my mind. Don't judge me. I'm already judging myself a-plenty.

We're back!

The Animalia and I are back from our whirlwind trip to Washington, DC to visit her Nina.



It was fantastic and all the anxiety that I had about flying back and forth with her was relatively unfounded. She slept and played on the flights and did adorable things that made people say she was adorable. She was actually fairly excellent on the trip overall. She had her teary moments but really, what teething baby who's been uprooted from their normal routine hasn't had teary moments?

The flight there was decent. We were sitting alone, just the two of us, in a solo seat to Houston. We laughed, we cried, we napped. The 5am flight was by design as I figured waking her at that early hour could only result in naptime on the plane. From Houston to Baltimore we lucked out too, although in a different way. We were seated directly behind first class so more leg room. Plus, the couple sharing our row loved the Animalia, wanted to play with her, chat with her and were very helpful and friendly and nice. They live in Albuquerque, though originally from India and they showed Animalia pictures of Hindu gods. She napped on that flight too, she made new friends, she ate. It was so much more pleasant than I had expected.

We got to Baltimore late Thursday afternoon and after a relatively short car ride and a quick stop for fast food, we reached our final destination. The nina's apartment, which is very nice. She made lots of space for us, giving us her bedroom for the duration of the visit. Animalia got to explore, we took a stroll to the Yes! Organic Market for Animalia groceries (organic baby food, organic peach, organic yam, organic avocado). We unpacked our many food gifts (chorizo, tortillas, carne seca). We relaxed. Animalia explored a little. Later Thursday night we, the Nina, Animalia, and myself, took a longish walk to the Washington Monument. Animalia got to touch it and we gazed down at the WWII monument and Lincoln lit up in the distance.

Metro back to the apartment.

Sleep, sleep.

The next morning (really early afternoon) the Animalia and I went exploring. We took the metro to a farmer's market where we bought bacon for Sunday breakfast, a watermelon italian ice, and a delicious sandwich made with incredible bread and filled with feta and spinach AND topped with cheddar cheese. The Animalia and I wandered over to a bench on the National Mall and shared the picnic while people watching. Animalia's first sip of the italian ice was confused. It was sweeter and colder than almost anything she's ever had and she let it melt and dribble out of her mouth, leaving a bright red stain on her white cotton tshirt. She was ready after that though, eating small scoops of italian ice like a pro. She loved the sandwich too, but she likes food, so I wasn't too shocked. We finished our meal and headed back to the metro, taking it downtown to H&M for tiny clothes. I bought Animalia a Hello Kitty dress and matching sweater and a couple of other clearance items.

Metro, metro. Back the way we came to meet Nina and Celia for lunch at Good Stuff Eatery (also known as Spike's restaurant, of Top Chef fame). It was really incredible. I ate a burger topped with a fried egg, some pretty damn good greasy fries and a delicious toasted marshmallow milk shake. I was full. We walked back to the apartment for resting and waiting for the Nina to get off of work.

The Nina arrived and we headed out to a Nationals game. This made a grand total of two Major League ballparks for the Animalia in her first year of life. She was happy, we were happy, she clapped, we clapped, she stuck her hand in my chili dog. She squirmed at other kids. It rained for awhile but we were under an overhang and didn't get wet. We left in the 8th inning. We were all tired. Animalia was done. It was ok though, it was the Nats v Rockies with pitchers who had over 4 ERAs so, well, it wasn't the best game ever.

Waiting for the incredibly packed train on the way home was a bit sweaty and claustrophobic. A drunk sissy became fascinated with Animalia and chatted with her drunkenly. We managed to avoid standing next to him once we got on the train. Animalia tried to pinch the woman next to us. That was one of her major things on the trip, pinching. She'd done it to Annabelle before but she hadn't been really pinching me or anyone else. No more. She wanted to pinch everyone.

Back to the apartment. Sleeping, sleeping.

The next morning we headed to Georgetown with the Nina and Celia to get our eyebrows threaded. Not Animalia, her brows, as the Nina said, are perfect. On the bus ride there the Animalia was chewing on a cold pack to relieve the teething pain. She broke through the plastic and we experience momentary panic when she looked up and her little mouth was blue. I am a terrible mother. Thank god it's non toxic. Cleaned her mouth out, got to the threading place, Animalia ate food while we got threaded. After that we got breakfast and the Animalia ate some papas and pan.

After breakfast, we got some fantastic gelato. The Animalia slept while I ate basil and lime cilantro gelato. It was truly incredible. Then we shopped, first at Piccolo Piggies, a very fancy shop where I scored some great sale items for Animalia. If they hadn't been on such a good sale I wouldn't have been able to afford them. Seriously. Then to Sephora and another H&M where I bought clothes for myself. Jeans that fit! Oh my goodness!

Back to the apartment. Napping, napping.

We took a cab to dinner at Sticky Rice, a sushi place that serves PBR sake bombers and tater tots. The cabbie gave Animalia a tiny teddy bear and chatted with us about his family. At the restaurant, they were very good to Animalia, offering to turn down the music and one server even creatively made her a cup to drink from, using a plastic container and cutting a hole in it for the straw. The food was great, I ate some sushi, the Animalia ate some tater tots and some teriyaki tofu bites. Oh, and then she pooped. At a restaurant with no changing tables in the bathroom. Gross. And then she pooped on the cab ride home. "Amalia, you've been rockin' that diaper for awhile," said Celia. She got a bath too, because it was disgusting.

Back to the apartment. Sleeping, sleeping.

Sunday morning, the Animalia slept in, rolling around in her Nina's bed while we got ready for brunch guests. She did wake up eventually, guests arrived, she played and wandered. We talked about how she's an attractive baby and maybe she needs something to protect her from the mal de ojo, you know, just in case. Celia watched her while I played Bananas, the best word game ever, next to Scrabble. After breakfast, we went with the Nina and the Animalia's new friend Gloria to the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit. She liked the Muppets in their cases. It wasn't all Muppets though, it was a small retrospective type exhibition, dealing with the range of his work, lots of illustrations and stuff relating to unrealized projects. Nice. Animalia got an Elmo puppet that she loves. Gloria went home and the Animalia, the Nina, and I took the metro, went to the International Spy Museum gift shop for gifts for Da, and hit a lovely tea house. There, the Animalia ate, nursed and took a nap while the Nina and I had cocktails and snacks.

When the Animalia woke up, we hit the International Museum of Crime and Punishment. The Animalia was happy there with all the ominous music and references to death and murder. It was good times.

Back to the apartment. Animalia slept while we stayed up late watching DVRd things. The Nina made me a sandwich.

Sleeping, sleeping.

The next day the Animalia woke up cranky. She was clingy. She didn't want anyone else to touch her. I had to finish packing. So I did. She cried and complained. I finished up, we took a walk around the neighborhood. We took her to the fancy dog store where she made raspberries at the dog statue. We munched on things, went back to the apartment, packed up the car and headed to Baltimore. Animalia took a nap on the car ride and I was afraid, both because of the nap and her previous mood, that she'd be difficult on the flight home. She wasn't. Between Baltimore and Houston she was great, though her little foot did touch this woman's newspaper. The woman flinched. The flight from Houston home was great though, with us sitting in an entire row of older women who love babies. One woman actually spent a good bit of the flight gazing at Animalia. When the Animalia pointed at her, not sure at what, a bracelet, earrings, the woman actually asked what she wanted and said that she'd give her whatever it was. The Animalia also took to saying Hi to people in her breathy, Kathleen Turner or tiny drag queen way that she does. It was cute. She slept a bit on both legs of that trip too. Good girl.

The Hi thing... she'd said Hi before but not regularly. Now she's saying it all the time. Also, her Nina taught her to pat herself whenever someone asks "Who's a good girl?" It's freakin' adorable.

When we arrived in Tucson, it took 45 minutes to locate her checked carseat and that was a drag and I was mean to the customer service lady but she wasn't very helpful. I'll elaborate at a later date. We were happy to see Da though, driving up. He jumped out of the car and Animalia smiled. He lifted her out of her stroller and she laughed and gripped him for dear life. He put her in her carseat and she wailed sadly. I think she was wondering where he was the whole time.

Home.

DC tomorrow, next week the world!

Wish us luck. Tomorrow at 5am our journey begins to visit the Nina in Washington, DC. We're ready. Animalia's clothes are packed, the diaper bag is packed, the stroller is ready to go. I've checked us in for our flight and chosen seats. The Nina has secured use of a Pack and Play. Tonight, showers and baths, bottle prep and the last few odds and ends. Tomorrow morning, 3am wakeup and Da will drive us to the airport and lovingly say goodbye to us until Monday night. We'll check our suitcase and the carseat and board the plane and it'll be fun and games until Houston where we'll stretch our legs and board another plane and more fun and games and then we're there.

It'll be fine.

Countdown.

In less than two weeks, the Animalia and I, we're going on a short vacation to Washington, DC to visit her Nina Boymagnet. This is very exciting for all of us but I am a little concerned about traveling with an infant all by myself. People do it all the time, I know, but it's a long flight for someone who wants to be crawling and cruising all the time. We'll be fine.

The minute I bought the tickets, the Animalia started packing her tiny suitcase. She packed a bib, a piece of paper, one of those doughnut shaped things that goes on her stacker toy, and one diaper. I asked her if she was packing wipes and food for the trip. She said no, that she'd be fine. And then she crawled out to the curb, using one hand and two feet as her second hand was dragging the suitcase, and has been waiting there, sitting on the suitcase, ever since. I told her to come inside, what would the neighbors think, and she just shrugged her shoulders.

Baby poop on vacation.

Obvious title.

So while on vacation, the Animalia only pooped twice. I think it was because although she was getting some solids, she was mostly nursing since she was with me all the time. I also have to admit a teeny bit of laziness on my part. I'm already lugging nourishment around, attached to my person.

Anyhow.

One poop happened at Mars' Cheese Castle. This was actually fairly convenient. We were sitting in the bar (OH MY GOD, BABY IN THE BAR!) finishing our delicious beers and food from the deli and she was standing on my lap. She turned around to face me, stuck her butt out and started doing the baby pooping grunting red face thing. With her butt sticking out. It was pretty entertaining. So we paid up and I changed her in the back of the rental car. It was ugly.

The second time was so much more convenient, the mom said sarcastically. It was during takeoff. That's right. Headed back home, the airplane is leaving the ground, and the Animalia starts grunting. My daughter is both convenient and considerate to others, the mom said while rolling her eyes. So yeah. She pooped. And I couldn't do anything about it. She must have gotten all cozy though, right after, because I gave her a pacifier to suck on and she dozed off. She woke up a little after the seatbelt light went off. I started to head to the rear bathroom and a flight attendant told me that there was a changing table in the front. I headed there and wow. Airplane bathroom changing tables are SMALL. But it worked. And her baby poop had a couple of beans in it. From Frontera Grill, the Rick Bayless restaurant. Yum.

Diaper changes on vacation are no picnic. There are TONS of places that don't have changing tables. On the flight there, no one offered the "baby changing table in the front bathroom" advice either. So I balanced her in one arm and changed her standing up. It's really exhausting. I did that in a couple of bathrooms on the trip too, bathrooms where I wouldn't put her on the floor even with a changing pad underneath. I kind of felt like a badass when I changed her midair. Like a very tired badass.

Animalia takes a trip.

So we took the Animalia to Chicago. It was more difficult than traveling alone or with the drunken adults that I'm used to traveling with but not so difficult that I wouldn't do it again. I was a little concerned for her tiny ears on the flights but she was fine, charming even. She chatted and smiled at flight attendants and other passengers, wiggled around, ate and napped. Nice. She was lovely.

There were more tears once we got there though. I think it was because she was in unfamiliar territory and not following her usual patterns of eating, sleeping and playing. That AND she's teething. That's right. No false alarms this time. There are two teeny tiny baby teeth peaking out of her bottom gums. They're cute to look at, interesting to touch and I'm sure they're incredibly painful for her. Pobresita.

She met her Aunt Barbara and cousin Cathy for the very first time. She bonded with Cathy. She also made friends with BL, smiling at her and trying to eat her watch every chance she got.


Other firsts on the trip:

Her first Cubs game. EVERYONE in the bleachers thought she was the most adorable baby ever in her Cubs cheerleader outfit and red legwarmers. There were even some drunk guys sitting behind us who were discussing the best way to smoke in the "no smoking" ballpark and they were trying to decide whether or not to light one up right there. They decided not to. Because of the Animalia.

Her first frijoles. She had her first taste of frijol at Frontera Grill, the Rick Bayless restaurant. What can I say? She's fancy. She liked the beans too.

Her first (brief) visit to a zoo. We took her to Lincoln Park Zoo. It was near closing time so she just got to see a tiger, monkeys, takin, and sea lions. She liked the monkeys and tiger, she chatted and smiled at them. Didn't even notice the takin. She liked the sea lions too, their big bodies swimming by surprised her I think. Now google "takin."

Her first museums. We took her to the Museum of Science and Industry. She was cranky. The Art Institute was better, though she split her time between cranky and chatting at the paintings. We got dirty looks from people either way, whether she laughed or cried, so we left earlier than we wanted to. At first I didn't care what everyone thought but after about 30 dirty looks it starts to get old so we left a little earlier than planned. She loved the Field Museum, I'm not sure why, maybe it was because there were things to touch, it wasn't as loud and insane as Science and Industry, and there were more animal type things. Or maybe it was because her teeth didn't hurt so much.

Her first aquarium. She LOVED this. She loved the turtles, brightly colored fish and dolphins.

Her first trains, both the CTA in Chicago and the small train on the Jelly Belly tour. Two completely different things, I know, but I thought I'd put them both under the same heading.

What else? She mostly just liked walking around, making her happy noises at passers by. She got some things, souvenirs for when she tells us we never take her anywhere and we tell her that she just can't remember when we did. She got to spend time with Tío Tío and crawl around on his floor. She also got to play with a stuffed puppy that he has and try to chew on his (dirty) carpeting.

I think we can do this again sometime too. I hope our future holds a trip to DC to visit the Nina, a potential jaunt to the Cayman Islands to visit begrid, and maybe a weekend in Puerto Peñasco. Now we just have to win the lottery.

See my next post for information on baby poop while on vacation.

High anxiety

We're taking the Animalia on her first plane trip in two days. Actually, her first trip. We're going to Chicago to visit her Da's family and her Tío Tío. I'm a little nervous about how she'll do on the plane but will do my best to convince myself that I'm not nervous so she doesn't get upset. I'm also nervous because our flight is VERY early in the morning and the Animalia usually sleeps til about 7am. She'll be cranky. AND I'm concerned about airport security letting me travel with frozen breastmilk. I'm planning on taking some with us, in case I can't always nurse when she's hungry. How will they react to frozen milk? I've asked my dad to wait at the airport til we get through security just in case. I just don't want to throw out the milk that I worked so hard to save.

Yesterday was spent packing. The Animalia's stuff fills up ONE WHOLE SUITCASE. Her Da and I are sharing a suitcase. How is this possible? We are big people, she is a little person. She has SO MUCH STUFF though. I guess this trip is a rehearsal in a way. Next trip we'll know what we used, what we didn't use, what was insane to pack.

We were able to take a nap though. A family nap. We slept with the Animalia between us and when she woke up she decided that everyone needed to wake up. I woke up first. She was grabbing my face. I sat up and she decided that Da needed to wake up. She wiggled toward him and started sticking her head in his armpit, trying to burrow under his arm. When that didn't work, she started grabbing his face and tugging on whatever hair she could reach. It was hilarious. She didn't stop when he mumbled "good morning" to her. His eyes actually had to be open. Then she stopped. She was satisfied that everyone was awake along with her.