Grandma and Grandpa's House

On August 17th Sam and I set out on his first adventure: a trip to Ohio to visit Grandma and Grandpa and anyone else willing to come meet us there. Chris has already taken a lot of time off this year, so he wasn't able to come with us. We missed him a lot, but had a great time on our own. Here's a recap:

I was really nervous about attempting Sam's first plane trip without backup, so Chris took us all the way to security (and watched us go through). Thankfully my mom was able to borrow and stroller and carseat, so I just had the diaper bag and Sam (in a sling/wrap thing) to worry about. He did very well in the airport until we boarded the plane. He was both tired and hungry when we got on board our completely full regional jet (read: tiny) and decided he didn't like sitting in a non-moving plane. Can you blame him? Well he began to cry - louder and louder as I feel all the people around us getting worried - and of course nothing would appease him. He wouldn't eat, sleep, take a paci, nothing. Finally I put him up on my shoulder and the man sitting behind me leaned over and started talking to him and making faces at him. Low and behold Sam began to calm down. The man continued to talk to him for several minutes until his eyes were almost all the way closed. He fell asleep when we started moving, and continued to sleep or eat the rest of the flight - not another peep. And the woman next to me let me put my food and drink on her tray table. So all in all we had a successful first flight!

Tuesday I actually woke up with a bit of a fever. It was my first illness since becoming a mom, so it was great to have my mom as back-up. She got plenty of Sam time while I took a nap on the couch. She did report at the end of the day that she was surprisingly tired - apparently playing on the floor with a baby is easier at 28 than at 54 ;-)

Sam had very many people to meet while we were up there. He met my dear friend from high school, Heather, and was shown off to my mom's co-workers. He also met his Great-Grandparents, who came into town just for him on Thursday. How fun to have pictures with 4 generations! Uncle Matt and his girlfriend Kate came into town for the weekend, so he met Kate for the first time. And some of the Ferguson Family came in on Saturday. I think that Hayden and Sam will make a very cute couple some day!

To say that Sam was spoiled with attention while we were there would be a massive understatement. Funny how Uncle Matt didn't mind getting up in the morning when Sam was doing the waking. I had family members fighting over who would get Sam up from his nap (seriously - there was once where my mom and brother literally raced up the stairs pushing each other out of the way!). Grandma enjoyed the job of giving baths in the sink, while Grandpa relished in reading Sam his bedtime stories, just like he did for me so many years ago. I don't think that Sam had a waking moment when someone wasn't actively engaging him. Luckily for Sam's audience, he has just entered the stage where he LOVES to smile. You've never seen so many adults making such fools out of themselves to be rewarded with a huge gummy grin!

While we were there Sam did have quite and achievement: he slept for 11.5 straight hours without making a peep! I don't know if it was the fan providing white noise, or that he was in a vibrating pack 'n play all night, but it was impressive. We're still waiting for him to repeat.

The flight home went really well. Sam was much more awake, but the seat next to us was open this time which made for two VERY happy travelers. We had a wonderful week at Grandma's and can't wait to go back for Thanksgiving! We'll post more pictures from the trip in Sam's Web Album.