Trip to Indiana, Part 1

Adelaida and I recently traveled to Indiana, to give my family a chance to spend some time with their newest niece/granddaughter/great-granddaughter/cousin/etc. Although we've already had visits from Nonna and Poppa, Grandpa Steve and Grandma Mary Jo, and Auntie Rachel Murphy, several of Adelaida's relatives had never seen her before.

The trip began with several complete strangers going out of their way to help us through the airport, as I was traveling with Adelaida and all of her gear by myself. The TSA security guards in Albuquerque were particularly helpful, carrying Adelaida's carseat through the security line for me, collecting all of our belongings (carseat, shoes, laptop, diaper bag, liquids, and so much more!) off the x-ray conveyor, and letting me sit in a little room to get everything back together once we were through security. The kindness continued with the Southwest gate agents and flight crew, who were all extremely helpful in getting us and all of our gear on the plane and settled.

We had two flights to Indiana (through Denver); the first (shorter) flight was mostly empty and Adelaida sat in her carseat the entire flight. The only sounds she made on that flight were coos and a few laughs, and she made friends with everyone around us. The second (longer) flight was overbooked, so Adelaida rode on in a carrier on my chest. She did well on this flight as well, sleeping most of the trip, but woke up just before we landed and was not happy to be confined to one spot. Fortunately, she only cried for about fifteen minutes and was then her happy self again.

We arrived in Indiana on a Friday afternoon, and Adelaida's Auntie Rachel and Uncle BJ arrived from Ohio just a few hours later. We all went out to dinner with Grandpa Steve and Grandma Mary Jo, then talked and played with Adelaida late into the night.

The next morning was a time for Adelaida to spend with her Nonna while I help Mikel stain the deck--a surprisingly tiring process. We finished just in time for a quick shower before family began arriving for a "meet Adelaida" party. In attendance were my mom and Mikel, Michael and Sami, Rachel and BJ, Rob and Laura, Amanda, and Melanie. It was a beautiful Midwest spring day, so we spent most of the afternoon sitting out in the yard, where Adelaida had her first feet-on-grass experience. This was also the inspiration for Adelaida's first song, composed by Auntie Rachel Murphy (with help from Uncle BJ and cousins Melanie and Amanda). I've included the lyrics here, and it is sung to the tune of Alouette (a disturbing French song about plucking the feathers off a skylark in preparation for eating it!):

Adelaida, little Adelaida
Adelaida, your hair is so big!
You like to play in the grass
In sunny Indiana
Your mom should bring you back to us
So we can love you more!




As the day waned, so did Adelaida's energy. We migrated inside and sat around talking for hours. Adelaida spent most of the time (about two hours!) sleeping on her Uncle Michael's chest. She looked so comfortable on him, and he was completely at ease with her--it was quite a beautiful sight!








We had all had a long day and most of us slept well that night. Whether it was the long nap she had on Uncle Michael's chest just before bed, the time change, or the new environment, Adelaida was not one who slept well. She woke up crying once that night, which is not too unusual (she usually wakes up in the middle of the night about twice a week and sleeps through the night the rest of the time). I fed her, changed her, and she went right back to sleep. However, it turned out that this was a regression that continued throughout the Indiana trip, progressing to Adelaida waking up three to four times each of the last four nights we were there!