Sam had her first travel of note yesterday. We went from Altoona to the Philadelphia area to start our holiday time with Mom-mom and Grand daddy. It’s about a 4 hour drive. It took us until about 3:30 PM to finish packing up. The timing of getting an infant packed up to travel is tough because we wanted to do so much for her last minute. Change the diaper just before we leave, feed her just before we leave, etc. But that means packing up the changing and feeding stuff after we’ve fed and changed her, which makes it later than “just before”. Add to that traveling with the cat because he needs 3 different medicines delivered twice per day, Christmas stuff, and regular travel accouterments, and it felt like we were a real traveling circus.
Still, we made the drive pretty much without incident. Mom sang songs until Sam slept, and she slept for the whole length of the PA turnpike — the only way I can think of to appreciate the turnpike is to be able to sleep through it. She awoke hungry maybe 15-20 minutes away from Mom-mom’s, so we mixed up some formula and fed her a couple of ounces. Bouncing around on the back roads of eastern PA with a half-full bottle of formula is hardly a satisfying meal, but it held her well enough.
Sam also got an early Christmas present from Mom-mom: Her very own Pack-‘n’-play! We’d had pack-n-play trouble. We borrowed one from a friend. Only he’d stored it in a dank former coal bin. The thing still smells enough that Mom won’t let us use it. We were given one by some friends from college, but it was missing a couple of the poles necessary to hold up the bassinet. Now Sam has a real, complete, non-stinky, pack-n-play to nap and hang out in (and eventually play in)! This was fortunate. We’d been counting on the one pack-n-play for a crib, so we jury-rigged her changing pad — strapping it to a toy chest and surrounding it with bookshelves — as a bed last night. Now, she has a “real” place to sleep tonight too!