Texas Trip Recap

Our trip to Texas went very well.

Peeper was a real trooper, and did as well as anyone could have asked, considering all the travelling, being in a strange place and being surrounded by strange (ahem) people, all of whom wanted to love on her.

As you noticed, I was too busy visiting to do much blogging while we were there, so let's see how much I can remember.

Tuesday
Our flight to Texas wasn't bad at all. The plane was only about half-full, so Peeper and I had a row to ourselves, which was great. I was able to keep the diaper bag on the seat beside me, where it was nice and handy, and she could stretch out comfortably while nursing.

When we arrived in Houston, a friend picked us up and we had a nice (though too short) visit on the way to BabyBro and HisLovelyWife's house. We visited with them, and played with the babies, all evening until LadyKay got out of class.

Peeper did really well with the babies, both that evening and on Sunday. She didn't seem to mind too much when I held them, and she was interested enough in them to be polite, but not enough to endanger them.

She did give their parents a little sneak preview of the baby-proofing that they'll be doing in a few months, though.

LadyKay arrived bearing baby gifts (a big bag of clothes for each of them), so we oohed and aahed over those and visited for a while longer, until Peeper made it pretty clear that she was done, so we hit the road. She was asleep before we made it onto the freeway.

When we got to Anonymama's house a couple of hours later, she woke up, and I was a little concerned, but she nursed right back to sleep, while Anonymama and I visited.

In addition to getting Peeper back to sleep and visiting, we had to sit up for a little while waiting for the cat to come back in, because I'd let him sneak out while bringing in my bags.

Whoops!

Wednesday
This was our recover-from-the-trip day, and we just hung out at the house. I'm not sure I even put real clothes on. Frappa stopped by to visit for a while, and Peeper and I had dinner with the Anonyparents.

Peeper very much enjoyed getting to know the toys that Grandma bought for her (and the twins, of course), and spent the first day showing us all the things in the house that had not yet been baby-proofed.

Somethings, like this stone hearth and their terrazzo floor, are pretty much baby-proof-proof, though, so I just had to hold my breath the whole time.

Anonymama reminded me more than once that both BabyBro and I learned to walk in that house, and we survived.

Amazingly - despite one very, very close call - she managed to make it through the week without any head injuries!

That evening, Grandma read Peeper her night-night books, while Peeper tried to steal her glasses, and pull her hair.

One of the toys that Grandma has gotten since our last visit was this cool sitting/standing/walking toy. Peeper preferred Grandma's walker, though, and could really travel with it.

For some reaon, Grandma wasn't interested in trading.

Thursday
On Thursday morning, Anonymama and I took Peeper up to Anonydaddy's office to visit and show her off. Then Peeper and I had dinner with Frappa, and hit a couple of stores to buy decorations and other supplies for the "sip and see" shower that we're hosting for the twins during our next visit, at New Year's.

Friday
Friday morning, Peeper and I dropped Anonymama off at the beauty shop, zipped over to the grocery store for a few things, and then went back to visit the beauty shop ladies.

That evening, she and I went to dinner with Frappa and LadyKay, at our favorite TexMex restaurant. Peeper was the belle of the ball, with multiple waitresses goo-gooing over her. Just a typical day for us, really.

Saturday
This was another mostly lazy day, spent hanging out and visiting. Frappa came over in the evening to prep the turkey for dinner the next day, and stayed for fajitas.

Sunday
This was The Big Day. Everyone (except Shrike) was over for Thanksgiving dinner, which Frappa cooked pretty much single-handedly.

Frappa and Kiddo1 finally got to meet the twins, and there were babies everywhere!

Well, two babies and a big girl. I tell you, nothing makes a one-year-old seem mature like having a couple of newborns around.

Monday
This was the recover-from-dinner and gear-up-for-the-trip-home day. We just hung out most of the day, and then a couple of different friends stopped by to visit in the evening. We had (not surprisingly) leftovers for dinner, and I tried to do a little packing.

For Peeper, I think the big excitement for the day was this ride in Grandma's laundry cart, with the dirty clothes.

Tuesday
On Tuesday, Frappa took us back to the airport for our trip home. The flight was full this time, so we had a seatmate, but he seemed to take us in stride, and Peeper did really well again.

Our plane had Direct TV for just $6, which I thought was well worth the price, when I saw that there was a baby channel. I watched a bit of Julie and Julia while Peeper slept, and I really enjoyed the part I saw. I might have to watch the rest some day. Peeper watched baby cartoons with no sound (can't stick earbuds in her ears, and she wasn't keen on letting them hang on her neck - there was chewing involved) which kept her much more entertained that I did on the flight down.

Shrike was waiting for us when we landed, and Peeper was very excited to see her. That was a big difference from her sort of confused reaction when we came home from our previous trip, four months ago.

Unfortunately, Shrike had to go to work, so we dropped her off and came on home by ourselves.
Which pretty much brings us up to date, I think.

All in all, it was a very good trip. I just can't say enough how proud I am of Peeper. She warmed up to my family more quickly than last time (although she still didn't want to let me out of her sight) and she mostly took it all in stride.

We certainly had a few grumpy times, but that was pretty much only when she was sleepy (or a bit overstimulated and sleepy on Sunday), and that happens when we're at home with nothing special going on.

Of course, it is still stressful and tiring travelling alone with her, and having to be "on" 24/7 so, as much fun as we had, I am glad to be home and back with Shrike.

As I said after our last trip, I missed my wife, but I missed Peeper's Mommy even more!