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| Our happy family. |
If you remember from one of my earlier posts, I was really nervous about making this 9 hour drive with Sophie. But, I'm happy to report that she did fantastic! We did as planned and left around her bedtime on that Saturday night. We loaded up the car, then put her in last while she was already groggy and ready to sleep. And she slept almost the entire way! She woke up only once when we were about half way there, stayed up for about an hour, then went right back to sleep. And the whole hour she was awake she sat quietly in her car seat, which if you know my daughter, that never happens! And on the way back she did just as well, sleeping again almost the entire way.
However, part of this may be attributed to the fact that we had to give her some Benadryl. Sophie mysteriously came down with hives on the Friday afternoon before we were set to leave, and I was freaking out. I got her in the Dr. and he gave us an oral steroid to give to her and recommended we use Benadryl for the itching. So before we left on Saturday we gave her a dose, and then again at the half way point. However, on the way back her hives were cleared up and she actually fell asleep on her own while in the car. She woke up only once when we stopped to get gas, and went right back to sleep. So I think even without the Benadryl she would have slept the whole way there on her own.
Needless to say, I strongly recommend to other parents who are embarking on their first long car trip with a child to leave at night! Hopefully, you'll have as easy of an experience as we did.
Not only did Sophie do remarkably well on the drive down and back, but she was also very pleasant for the majority of the trip. The only issue we really ran into was she fought her naps while we were gone. However, in her defense, she had to sleep in her pack-n-play in a noisy house full of people, when she's used to her crib and complete silence. But, with a little fight, we were able to get her down for a nap each afternoon and she went down pretty smoothly at night.
Going into this trip I didn't know what to expect, so naturally I expected the worst, and I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly most of it went. The only other little hiccup we had was Sophie was not a super big fan of the beach. She liked it the first two days we were there, then she was kind of over it. It was really windy the whole time we were there, which I think is what she didn't like. So we tried to do other things besides just go to the beach. We went to the little zoo they had there twice (it was a really neat zoo), and to a small amusement park that was just down the street from our house. She enjoyed both activities very much. At the amusement park I was shocked she actually rode some of the kiddie rides all by herself! I thought surely she wasn't big enough for that, and she'd want her momma or daddy with her, but we put her in it and she was happy as a clam! I'm not going to lie, this actually made me a little sad. My baby is growing up!
Also while we were gone, she picked up several new words! She is talking up a storm now, even more than before we left. I'd say this was due in part to the fact that she was stuck in a house full of loud talking people chatting constantly for a week. (My sisters and I like to talk.) But, I was so proud of her for learning so much in such a short time. While we were gone she learned to say: eat, 'side (her attempt to say outside), sleep, bed, night night, go, oh, nay (it's what horses say) and several other words.
Coming back from this trip, I realized that my baby is getting so big. Every day she learns something new and I swear the kid is getting taller all the time. I'm certain she'll be taller than momma one day. I stay in a constant state of amazement by this child of mine. I'm amazed that this beautiful, intelligent, charming little girl belongs to us. I'm so thankful for each day with her, and I feel that Chase and I truly lucked out when God gave her to us. She is tempered and a little stubborn, she loves to be the center of attention, and has the most contagious laugh. We're absolutely smitten. :-)
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| Of course I could never get a picture of her smiling. |
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| Riding on a ride all by herself. My big girl. :) |
