Our Trip to "Aye-Yo" (Ohio)

I'm feeling kind of like a super-SMC right now. :)

I managed to travel alone with 17-month-old Jordyn, including a plane ride to Cincinnati, staying a night at my (currently) childless friends' non-babyproofed house for a night (two days before their wedding, no less), driving from Cincinnati to Columbus, staying there two nights, attending a wedding ceremony and reception, driving back to Cincinnati, staying another night at my friends' house (this time alone as they were on their honeymoon), and another plane ride back to Boston. Whew.

And it actually went really well.

There were, of course, times that it didn't go so well, but overall I'd call it a success.

One thing that was really, really, really helpful was that I managed to have a seat next to me on the plane for Jordyn both directions. I hadn't bought her a seat, so there was no guarantee of this, but it just happened to work out. On the way there, we were in a plane with two seats on each side, so we had the aisle and the window, and that was really nice. On the way back, we had the aisle and the middle, and there was a really nice guy at the window (who mentioned he has a 2.5 year old daughter). I used the cares harness, which my cousins gave me since their son grew out of it, and it was awesome. I highly recommend it! While it likely wouldn't be so helpful in the event of a crash, it could be useful with significant turbulence (we didn't have any), but more than anything else, it helped Jordyn realize that she had to stay sitting down - I was able to tell her that she had to have her seatbelt on in the plane, just like she does in the car. As it's a five-point harness, it likely felt similar to her carseat belt, even though I didn't have it nearly as tight.

Jordyn was great on the plane rides! Turns out, she really likes stickers. We did lots of those. She does still try to eat them, but mostly she understood that she was supposed to put them onto the pages in the sticker book. She also watched videos (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street, and some of herself), looked at pictures (of herself and our family members), and played a coloring game on the ipad, and with her Minnie Mouse lovey, and a few other things. Oh, and food. She ate her way to Cincinnati and back! I made sure she did a lot of walking/running around in the airports before we boarded, and we boarded early to get situated.

Playing in the kids' playspace in Boston's Logan Airport prior to boarding.

Clifford sticker book - with over 500 stickers, we weren't going to run out!

Reading SkyMiles magazine.

Towards the end - it was nap time, and she was exhausted.

We arrived on Thursday right at Jordyn's naptime, and she was clearly tired. It was cold and snowing, and I had to install the borrowed carseat into C's car. Her car has LATCH, but I couldn't find anywhere to attach the anchor on the floor of the backseat, and I just couldn't get it to feel secure enough. Jordyn was getting more and more upset, we were all cold, and I didn't know what to do. Finally, we decided it was better for the carseat to be installed correctly and well forward-facing instead of not installed right or well enough rear-facing, so Jordyn was forward-facing all weekend. It wasn't ideal, but I didn't know what else to do. C is a pediatrician, so when she said it would be better this way, I went with it. The weather wasn't great as it snowed a lot (not a lot of snow, but a lot of the time) and was slippery and icy, and her car is an old Corolla without 4WD and with 98K+ miles on it, so I was nervous, but all's well that end's well... right?! This is one thing I'll *never* tell my parents, especially my dad, since I don't want to hear about how you have to be flexible, blah, blah, blah. I didn't like the situation, but there didn't seem to be any other or better solution.

It quickly became apparent that hanging out at my friends' (C, my good friend and the bride, and her fiance/husband S) un-babyproofed house with a rambunctious toddler, especially right before their wedding when they had wedding stuff lying around everywhere (i.e. centerpieces, breakable wedding gifts etc.) was not going to be much fun. I invited ourselves over to another good friend's (J) house who has a 2.5 year old son. We played over there for awhile, and Jordyn had dinner there. J lent me a bag of toys for Jordyn, which ended up being very helpful throughout the weekend. I'd only brought very small things for the plane (like Little People), so having (more and) some bigger things was great.

On Friday, we went out for a quick lunch at a local fast food place I really like called Gold Star and then drove up to Columbus. I'd timed the trip to be at Jordyn's nap time, and it worked out really well. She not only slept the whole almost 2-hour drive, but then kept sleeping for almost another hour! She never sleeps for three hours, but she'd only napped for 45 minutes the day before, so I think she was making up some sleep. When we got to the hotel in Columbus, we sat in the car in front until she woke up, because I certainly didn't want to mess with an obviously much-needed long nap! The hotel was great - it was motel-like where you walked directly into your room, and it was a two-room suite with a whole kitchen. I slept in the king-size bed in the bedroom, and Jordyn slept in a pack and play in the other (den-like) room. Well, most of the time - she joined me in my bed for short periods in the early mornings, and she took a nap in my bed on Saturday after really fighting going to sleep in the p-n-p. We had a ground-floor room, which I was grateful for, but on the inside of the building (it was built sort of courtyard-like), which felt safer than being on the outside.

Jordyn and I went out to dinner on Friday night (there wasn't a rehearsal dinner). We ate at Max & Erma's, a family-friendly, TGI Friday's-like chain that's known for it's fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. We shared an appetizer and main course, and of course the chocolate chip cookies! It was so nice. I think it was the first time we went out to eat (to a real restaurant as opposed to something like Chipotle) just the two of us. During dinner, I kept thinking that I was really enjoying traveling with her. :) That was before the wedding, though...

On Saturday, we killed some time in the morning by going to the local library and hanging out in the kids section, and then wandering around Petco looking at the goldfish and pictures of dogs and cats. I wanted to go to the Columbus Zoo, which was very close to where we were, but it was way too cold (it was maybe in the 20s that day). We met a mom and almost-2-year-old at the library and chatted a bit. The kids were hugging within minutes; it was very cute. We ended up back at Max & Erma's for lunch, mostly because we were going to eat with another family I vaguely know (the mom and I were both bridesmaids in C's first wedding) who were there for the wedding as well, but they ended up coming late and sitting at a different table. No, we didn't get the chocolate chip cookies for a second time (we still had leftovers from the night before back in the hotel room)!

We headed back to the hotel so Jordyn could take a nap, and that was when she screamed and cried and flat-out refused to sleep in the pack and play. I don't know why - she'd slept fine in it the night before. We were running out of time, as I really wanted her to take a decent nap before the wedding, since I knew she'd be up late. I finally put her in my bed to sleep, which meant I had to be really quiet and couldn't get ready for the wedding as quickly and easily as I had been hoping to while she napped (the bathroom was attached to the bedroom). I had to wake her up to get her ready and get to the wedding on time, and of course she didn't wake up so happy.

The wedding ceremony... Let me give you a word of advice: If a friend who doesn't yet have a child tells you it's fine to bring your toddler to her wedding ceremony, don't do it. Regardless of how much she may assure you that it's fine, it's ok if she's not totally quiet, it's ok if you need to go in and out to the hallway with her, it's ok if (fill in the blank), DON'T DO IT. Especially if the ceremony will be an hour and a half long (this was an Indian wedding). It's not enough that "it's fine" in terms of no one will care - YOU WILL. You will be stressed that she's being too loud, you'll be stressed that other people will be annoyed that she's being disruptive, you'll be stressed that other people will be judging you, you'll be stressed that she's taking too much attention away from the bride and groom and from their special day. Oh, and you'll be sweating from all the stress, and from pulling crackers, water, and your ipad out of the backpack that you've schlepped along in efforts to keep your toddler both still and quiet, and from going in and out to the hallway several times throughout the wedding, and in the end, being in the hallway for at least half the time, chasing your toddler around in your nice shoes that are killing your feet. Just trust me - DON'T DO IT. Hire a babysitter, and you'll actually be able to see your friend get married, which is what you've traveled all the way there to do. And as a bonus, you'll get to actually see your first Indian wedding, which is really very fascinating, instead of just reading the handout that explains all the parts of it.

Randomly, while we were hanging out in the hall during the wedding, we saw the same mom and her daughter that we'd met earlier in the day at the library . The ceremony took place at a recreation center, and they were on their way out after swimming, I think. Jordyn also delighted in watching through a window into a room where two kids were playing with balloons during a birthday party.

Oh, and now let's talk about the reception. Don't take your toddler to this part, either. It's better, because no one cares if she runs around and is loud. But. You won't be able to relax and enjoy yourself. You won't be able to sit for long or at all, because you'll be too busy literally guarding the wedding cake and cupcakes that are sitting on a table right smack in the middle of the dance floor during the cocktail hour (since it's really not time for dancing yet although music is playing) while your toddler runs and dances in laps around it with a 4.5 year old named Maya that she absolutely adores (the daughter in the family that sort of joined us at Max & Erma's for lunch). You won't be able to talk to Maya's parents or the other couple at your table (who have a 10-month-old but smartly left her at home with a babysitter) very much because your toddler will be trying to run out of the room, down the hall, or even out of the restaurant when she's not continuously lapping the dance floor. You'll also be able to get food at the buffet using TWO hands, instead of just the one with which you're not holding your squirming toddler. And you'll actually be able to EAT said food once you arrive back at your table, because you won't be wrangling your toddler into her highchair and trying to get her to stay put while you shove a few forkfuls of food into your mouth.

All complaining aside, Jordyn really was great at the reception... most of the time. She literally danced the night away. She and Maya were the only two people on the dance floor a lot of the time, sometimes joined by another child or two, maybe 4 or 5 years old. She alternated between dancing and running around the dance floor, chasing and being chased by Maya, until she started to run off the dance floor and try to run out of the room (over and over again). She laughed and smiled and was just so incredibly happy and adorable. She was the entertainment of the evening! Everyone watched her, and the wedding photographer was all over her. I asked if I'd potentially be able to buy a picture if he got a really good one, and he said he'd just sent any good ones to me. I have his card, so I need to remember to email him to ask about that. I made Jordyn stop dancing for the couple's first dance, and had to keep telling her that it wasn't her "turn" to dance, and that she had to wait. She kept trying to pull away from me to go back to the dance floor! When the song ended and the couple turned and invited everyone to join them, Jordyn was the first one out there! At one point, she'd run around and dance, and every so often run close to me and give me an "air kiss" or two, and then go back to running and dancing. She's been really into air kisses lately, and gives them to everyone, but this was so sweet - she was coming over specifically to give me air kisses, as if to check in with me, and then she'd go right back to dancing. I couldn't stop smiling while I was watching her. I think that will be something I'll always remember - watching her be so happy, running around and dancing, and coming to give me air kisses. An amazing happy childhood moment to treasure.

The bride's father caught this one. This woman wanted to dance with Jordyn, but Jordyn wasn't sure about it. I was trying to show her it was ok by dancing with her myself, but meanwhile Jordyn was distracted by Maya!

[I tried really hard to put a couple of really cute videos of Jordyn dancing at the reception here, but I couldn't figure it out and gave up. How do people go about including videos on their blog posts?? I took them on an iPhone 4 and put them onto iPhoto on my mac. They wouldn't upload directly from there to here, so I tried to put them on youtube and then link to them there, but youtube wouldn't accept them, even though they're supposedly on the list of approved formats... I'm stumped. Suggestions? If I can get it figured out, I'll come back and add them.]

I'd figured we'd leave around 8:00 or 8:30, which is the range of Jordyn's usual bedtime. But I knew if I tried to make her leave before the music stopped it would be kicking and screaming, and she was having so much fun, so I procrastinated for a while. At almost 9:30, I corralled Jordyn and took her to the bathroom to put on her pajamas, and she didn't even really resist. I was convinced she'd fall asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel, but of course she didn't. We started her bedtime routine (sans bath) around 10:00 - so late! - and I think she was finally asleep around 10:15 or 10:20. What a night!

We drove back to Cincinnati on Sunday. I was planning to grab lunch before getting on the road at Jordyn's nap time, but she fell asleep in the car on the way to the restaurant we were headed to, which was only about a mile away. She was obviously exhausted and needed to sleep, so we got on the road early. She woke up as soon as the car stopped in the driveway, but was happy to sit in the car while I made a few trips into the house with stuff before getting her out. We played for a while, then drove around my old stomping grounds (I lived in Cinci from '04 to '08) before meeting friends for dinner - my friend J (mentioned above) and her husband and son. We went to one of my favorite restaurants there, a great pizza place called Dewey's, and then to Graeter's ice cream for dessert. If you're ever in Ohio, I very highly recommend getting Graeter's, as it's truly the world's best ice cream!

On Monday morning, I got everything packed up to leave, and then we took a walk. It was the first day of nice weather - not freezing cold and snowy. That was one of the downsides of the trip - it was actually colder and snowier than it was in Boston at the same time! Then we met another friend of mine, N.O., for a quick lunch and to catch up, and then J picked us up back at the house to take us to the airport. I was worried Jordyn was going to have to actually be an "infant in arms" on this flight, as I was told it was oversold, but then the woman at the gate was awesome and managed to open up the seat next to me, so Jordyn had her own seat again.

Making sure she's up to date on all the safety procedures (I wish I could say
"before takeoff", but this was pretty far into the flight).

There were a few friends I really wished I could have seen, but who were out of town or otherwise unavailable during the time we were in Cincinnati. The weather could've been better, and in hindsight, I do wish I'd have found a babysitter for the wedding ceremony, although Jordyn had so much fun at the reception that I'd do it again even though it was a ton of work for me (watching her on the dance floor was one of the highlights of the trip). The whole trip was a lot of work, with all the unpacking and packing and driving and not having much break time at all... but you know what? I'm SO glad we went. I feel so accomplished. We did it, we had fun, and we made some awesome memories.