Late this afternoon, Claudia and I went to the city to meet my friends, Linda and Ben. Both were in town for a conference. We had an early and delicious dinner at Eleven City Diner.
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| Mommy and baby. (If you know me well, you won't be surprised that C has a dress with black cats all over it.) |
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| Linda, Amy, Claudia and Ben. So glad to know that Ben hasn't changed a bit. |
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| Open-face reuben. Yum! |
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| Linda and Claudia. |
Today we took Claudia to her first homecoming and football game. We didn't stay for the entire game (nap time prevailed) but I think it was a success. She is a curious baby who loves to people watch.
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| Taking in all the sights before the game. |
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| Being held by a friend of Joe's. |
Some of my mom friends and I got together last night for a girls' night out. We had fun catching up and also made Christmas ornaments for our babies. Inside the ornament we placed a piece of the receiving blanket from the hospital along with the hospital id band on the other side.
Grandparents were here visiting this weekend and Claudia had a great time with them. She loved all the extra attention. Now it's back to our regular routine.
Our friends Marla & Tony are in town so we met them for a pizza date this afternoon. They also got to meet C for the very first time.
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| Believe it or not, my first time at Pizzeria Uno. |
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| Claudia wasn't sure what to think of Tony. |
While grandma was here, we enjoyed a rare date out for my birthday. For the record, I mentally think I am still in my 20s - when does that change?
I have been having some health issues and not feeling up to par so we called for reinforcement. Grandma came and spent the week with us and we loved having her here. We're hoping she comes back again soon.
Just about three weeks ago, my friend Carrie asked me if I wanted to join her in Scottsdale, AZ at a resort & spa. At first, I just dismissed the idea. After all, I had a baby. Then I told Joe and he encouraged me to go. Let's face it, a mom's job is 24-7 so a short vacation would be much needed and appreciated. I was only at the resort for about 48 hours and the first day was spent with a lot of anxiety about leaving Miss C but then I started to unwind a bit - great food, massage, pedicure, swimming, napping.
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| We spent about 8 hours on Sunday at the spa. After massages, we hung out at the mineral pool. The spa was rated one of the best in the world by Conde Nast and it was incredible! |
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| Loved the beautiful desert scenery. |
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| I got up early just in time to watch the sunrise. |
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| We took a gondola ride at the resort. Here we are with our gondolier. |
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| Claudia and I met friends at the mall today. How does she look with cat ears? |
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| She didn't mind them. |
Claudia and I went to Missouri for a few days. We got to catch up with family and friends.
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| Claudia with her cousins (Brylea 4; Claudia 8 months; Adyson 6 1/2) |
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| Claudia with her great grandma |
An old family friend had crocheted this dress for Claudia before she was born. She looks like a doll.
Today, Claudia and I went to see Vivian Maier: Exposed. I had wanted to see the local exhibit since it opened and I finally made it a couple days before it closed. You may remember that my friend, Laura and I went to see a Vivian Maier exhibit three years ago in Chicago. Her work is amazing and I highly encourage you to check it out and read her story. Also, there is a documentary out about her right now - I must see this as well.
I'm 8 months old today. I love to smile, laugh and make funny noises. I can scoot backwards. I have six teeth. I like veggies way more than fruit. My favorite place to nap is in my mommy's lap.
We met up with our baby friends today at a local forest preserve.
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| Wheel O' Babies |
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| Maddox is so cool. |
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| Stroller Brigade |
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| Besties |
My friend, Carrie and her daughter, Ginny came to visit us yesterday. Claudia has had lots of extra attention and fun this week! We went to the arboretum, played at home and then Carrie, Ginny and I went to Benihana for dinner.
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| Claudia loves her new friends. |
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| Ginny showing off a picture of the three of us at Benihana. |
My mom and niece, Adyson were here for a couple of days. We surprised Adyson with a trip to the American Girl store where we shopped and had lunch.
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| Happy grandma at American Girl Cafe. |
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| I think Adyson was pleased with her surprise. |
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| Claudia didn't know what American Girl was so we're off the hook...for now. |
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| Cousins! |
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| Adyson feeding the ducks at the petting zoo. |
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| Lunch at Two Toots watching the trains. |
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| Reading the Elmo puppet book from grandma. |
This morning we went to breakfast and then to the Garfield Park Conservatory. It's over 100 years old and quite a gem. I have long been curious and wanted to check it out. There was quite a bit of hail damage done about three years ago and they are still working on restoring sections of it so the entire conservatory is still not open to the public. Very glad to see this beautiful place.
Today we spent the day at the zoo with Claudia's friend, Rose and her mom.
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| Waiting for the dolphin show to start. Claudia seemed to be watching and kept squealing with delight. She was also bouncing to the music. |
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| Claudia with her friend. Claudia is only two months older but twice the size! |
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| Penguins! |
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| Not an exhibit but we stopped to watching these birds feeding their babies. So cute! |
Today is our six year anniversary. We celebrated by picking up take out from our favorite steakhouse and eating dinner at home after the baby was asleep. It wasn't our normal anniversary night but it was perfect. Our new normal.
Today was our last day at the library's storytime until the new session starts this fall.
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| Claudia with the new friend she made at storytime. (C is now sitting up like such a big girl these days.) |
After spending seven days traveling with a baby, I have all sorts of tips running through my head. Even though, admittedly, it may have been too early to do a real vacation, these are the things that worked for us and kept us sane.
1. Stay on baby's schedule as much as possible. Sounds like a no-brainer but we tried to spend afternoons in our hotel for quality nap time and always tried to get back again for an on-time bedtime routine. This often meant meals "to go" or eating dinner very early. Once we were in a different time zone, I still kept the baby on Central Time because I didn't want our week away to throw off our bedtime or wake up time once we were home.
2. Keep it simple. We only planned one or two things every day so that we weren't over doing it. This helped to keep Claudia from getting too worn out and too overstimulated.
3. Pack items to make life easier. Buy things that you wouldn't normally to simplify your trip. For example, we brought disposable plastic spoons and disposable paper bibs with us for meal time. I would never dream of using disposables at home but on the road, it was necessary to make things easier. Also, once we went to Mackinac Island and didn't have a car, we didn't want to pack around anything unnecessary so instead of bringing formula, bottled water and bottles, I brought pre-mixed "to go" bottles of formula to simplify life for those couple of days.
4. Have a weather plan. It rained several times while we were gone and since we were using our stroller so much, the rain canopy for the stroller was a life-saver. I remember thinking while I was pregnant that if it was raining, I probably wouldn't have the baby out in the stroller so why would the canopy be necessary? It was definitely necessary for us on this trip. One minute it was fine and the next minute raining. We never had to miss out because Claudia was always dry and happy.
What are your baby travel tips? Any recommendations or anything we are missing for next time?
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