To grandmother's house we go..

We're back from our first trip to Florida to visit Danny's parents.  Since Addison was only 7 weeks when we left, I tried to keep my expectations low for the car ride as well as the trip in general.  Even so, the trip was hard.  Actually the car ride was a breeze... she was totally happy the whole time.  However, thanks to lots of short catnaps and no real nap throughout the 10 hour drive, she totally lost it, pretty much on-cue with our arrival.  Bummer for those of us excited to show her off to her grandparents.

I spent the next 4 days self-banished to the back bedroom, trying to feed a baby who was too tired to eat, and sleep a baby who was waaayy overtired (and when this girl gets wired, it's really hard to break that cycle and get her to fall asleep).  I was also pondering who in the world this frantic girl was that I was holding, because it was certainly not our child.  It was really hard to watch her be so exhausted and unhappy, not to mention rough that I (selfishly) couldn't enjoy the sand and ocean on a few beautiful days.

This trip taught me that I have a lot to learn about self expectations as a mom.  I found myself not only sad for Addison as she struggled, but also nervous about how she was being perceived (do they even like her? they're not getting to see her personality!), and how I was being perceived (shouldn't I be able to soothe my own baby? what's wrong with me?).  

I also learned that there were things we could've done differently to make the transition to a new environment easier.  Addie simply gets overwhelmed.  New places, sounds, and sights are still a lot for her to take in.  I keep reminding myself that we still count her age in WEEKS.  Weeks!

After about 3 days, she finally settled in.  I was so grateful for even a couple days of our fun, sweet Addison to interact with her grandparents.  They even "watched" her one night (she slept the entire time) while Danny and I went out for our anniversary dinner (5 years! whoa!).  We also got to enjoy a couple of warm, sunny trips to the beach.

He'll have her surfing in no time!

Of course I'm glad we did it.  Maybe for baby #2 (Lord willing!) we'll wait a few more weeks before taking such a big trip, but visiting family is IMPORTANT, so we'd absolutely do it again in a heartbeat.  Just next time I'll pack my earplugs. :)