Travel and Milestones

We flew to Hawai'i and back with Piper. It went quite well, actually.

You may have read my post about it elsewhere, but we spent around two hours on a plane between memphis and chicago, and then around eight and a half hours between chicago and honolulu. We had a few small meltdowns, mostly when she woke up from a nap, or was hungry, or just got super bored. All in all though, we felt like she weathered it very well.

She had a good time in hawai'i, as good a time as you can have when you're 11 months old. She enjoyed the sand and the ocean, and enjoyed riding around on daddy's back in the kelty backpack, and aside from that, mostly enjoyed her usual distractions and goofing around. Piper is generally a happy baby, and will often either play with toys on her own, or will want someone to be actively interacting with her, picking her up, tickling her, reading to her, etc.

The trip home was slightly more difficult. The flight there was during the day, so she was awake for a large portion of it. The flights back were in the evening and night, so we had a couple of major meltdowns when she got good and tired. Usually we would just put her down in her crib and let her spend a couple of minutes crying, which usually results in her soundly sleeping. On the airplane though, we could do little but hold her and shoosh her as she wailed until she passed out. During those moments, I swore to myself that I would never ever ever ever ever ever ever fly with a baby again. Later, when she was sound asleep in my arms, I was not so certain. Once asleep, she slept pretty well. She tossed and turned occasionally, and she sometimes wakes halfway up and yells a bit, but then falls right back asleep.

While in hawai'i, we perfected the art of sleeping in the bed for a bit with mommy and daddy. We haven't really slept with her since she was just weeks old. When we've tried it lately, either she's too distracted with stuff to go to sleep, or she tosses and turns too much for anyone to sleep around her. This time, we took a couple of naps all snuggled up together, or if she fussed too much in the night, we'd let her sleep for an hour or two in bed with us. Its kinda novel and awfully heartwarming.

She started saying 'fish' while in hawai'i, though she pronounces it more like 'ish', but I'll take that. We also think she might have used 'hello' and 'bye bye' in the last week. She picks up her toy phone, or other objects and holds them to her ear, miming us holding a cell phone. On the flight, we'd put a headset to her ear, and she'd listen for a moment and sometimes grin, and then she was off to the next distraction.

Piper and the Southaven Williams' babies are funny together. They're both bigger than she is, and a little more developed in their play and such, but they're a hoot to watch. Piper wants to eat anything that does not skitter away or bite her back. She's had just about everything that she can eat, minus allergy concern stuff - so no peanut butter or eggs, and no sugary stuff. But she loves fish and bread and chicken and grapes and pineapple and yogurt and bananas. Oh... bananas. Don't let Piper see you with a banana, or if she does, be prepared to defend yourself.

She's got four teeth, and uses them to great effect when attacking food. She's walking pretty well, and I think soon will be running. She's always interested in the dog's water bowl, which we pick up off the ground when she's on the loose, but once or twice, she's gotten to it before we could grab it or her. She's got run of a large portion of the house, which we've baby-proofed.

She thinks that the cat is cool, and occasionally chases her. Zoe (the cat) is largely nonplussed, and either avoids Piper, or simply, gracefully and efficiently extricates herself from the situation. Yazhi and Piper are great buddies, and can often be found begging for food from someone.

One of her somewhat recent developments, just within the last few weeks, is to be more cuddly. Before, she would not "cuddle", but often now, when she's tired, or sometimes just randomly while holding her, she'll stick her thumb in her mouth and lay her head down on your shoulder. Sometimes just for a few seconds, other times, she gets comfortable and might even take a short nap there.

She's mastered waving bye-bye, but doesn't quite get the wave for hello. She gives us the sign for "finished" or "all done", but we still haven't seen her use "hungry" or "food".

I told a few people that what I enjoyed the most about our week in Hawai'i, even more than the weather and the scenery, was spending an entire week with her. Even during sometimes-frustrating plane rides, and occasional fussiness, it was absolutely amazing to spend all day for a week with her. Returning to work on Monday morning, and saying goodbye to her was tough. I've commiserated with a number of coworkers, each time echoing that she's only a baby once, and that its important to make the most and the best of my time with her.