First Christmas

Before Gavin was born, I was told that it's easiest to travel with kids when they're just a few months old. So we decided to take him home for Christmas, when he was just 2 months old, to introduce him to my extended family. The trip ended up being more of a whirlwind than it usually is, as we tried to cram in the entire family in very little time. But Gavin did great, and I'm so glad we were able to get out and introduce him to everyone.

I was worried about the flight, and had read a bunch of tips. We brought my nurxing pillow on the plane so he wouldn't just be sitting in my lap. We brought bottles of milk so he could be sucking on something during takeoff and landing. And then Gavin slept for almost the entire flight. It was magical, and I got to feel smug because the crying baby on that plane wasn't mine.

We went down to my aunt's house for her annual Christmas Eve party. Gavin was quickly overwhelmed by the noise and being the center of attention. But my aunt had set aside my cousin's old bedroom for us so we could escape to somewhere quiet. Kevin and I spent a lot of the first half of the party taking turns sitting with Gavin in there. But after dinner he calmed down enough to come out and meet people.

Christmas day at my mom's was a smaller crowd, and Gavin did much better. He got passed around to everyone who wanted to hold him, ate a ton, and got a bunch of clothes and books.

The next day we went down to my dad's for the third feast in a row and another side of the family. Gavin was a bit grumpier that day; I think all the traveling was getting to him. And he slept terribly that night. Which is to say that he only really slept from midnight to 2:30. But the next day was calmer and he caught up on sleep some.

That evening we flew to Phoenix on what was the longest flight of my life. Even though it's less than 2 hours. It was so bumpy that the fasten seatbelt sign never turned off and the flight attendants didn't even do a drink service. Then Gavin pooped about half an hour in, forcefully enough that it got all over his onesie and blanket and Boppy. Then when we finally landed we had to sit on the runway for a while before we could taxi to the gate. It was awful, and just about all I could do to keep Gavin from screaming the whole time.

Our time in Phoenix was pretty low-key. It helped that we stayed in a hotel there rather than with my family. We went over to my aunt's to visit in the mornings, then to my grandmother's in the evenings, and back to the hotel after dinner. We also managed to get dinner with one of Kevin's oldest friends who's lived there since college.

I was worried about flying home, but it ended up going very smoothly. On the first leg, the plane was empty enough that we were alowed to bring Gavin's carseat on and put him in his own seat, which made a huge difference. And on the second leg he once again slept almost the entire flight. He did get cranky during our layover, and I gave him a bottle in the airport. Which led to me having to pump on the plane. But at least we had carried the pump on so we could do that.

The trip was fast, but it was nice to have the opportunity to show Gavin off to everyone. And he did great on 3 of the 4 plane rides, which isn't too bad. Next up I get to take him on a much longer plane ride all by myself. But I think I can handle it.