Laid Back Today and the Flight Down

She looks so small in the corner of the couch!

I ended up working from home today; recouping was necessary. Olivia and I had a great time hanging out. She is also learning that when she get swaddled that it is time to go to bed. I came home with Olivia from being out, gave her to Mike and said I was going to take a nap. He wanted me to put her down for a nap first but I told him he could do it, and he did! He swaddled her and laid her in her bed. He had to go in one time to put her binky in and she was laying there starring wide-eyed at him :D Then he went back in three minutes later and she was knocked out. At some point, we will have to phase out the swaddle blanket. As soon as she gets a hand free though, she wiggles and ends up waking herself up. Last night when I put her to bed, I put her closer to one end as opposed to right in the middle. When I went to get her this morning, she had wiggled herself half way across to the other side. HAHA! Talk about a mover :D

You may be wondering why I have a picture of a torn baby wipe. Well, if you aren't I am going to tell you why I am posting it anyways. :) This is a Huggies baby wipe and it sucks.... Today I had to open up another box of wipes. I had bought a travel size pouch of Huggies wipes when we went to Cali and it did the same thing. They are so hard to grab and pull out because they seem to be so soft and just crumble in your fingers. MOM TIP OF THE DAY: future moms, buy single packs of wipes to find out which brands you like before you stock up on them. Everyone has their preference. It is just like with binkies and bottles, buy one at a time until you know what you baby likes before buying multiple. Save yourself some money!

Baby giggles are the best :) I was chatting with Megan on Skype and had Olivia on the changing table. I have been trying to figure out how to work on her giggles as we have heard them a couple times before. I had her in only a diaper and proceeded to kiss her all over her abdomen. That did the trick! She was sustaining her giggles and it was TOO CUTE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flying with a Baby

Here are a few things that I have learned about flying with a baby:

1. Babies fly free until they are 2 years old

2. Bring a copy of the babies birth certificate (to prove that the child is under 2 years old. If you travel over your child's birthday, you have to pay for a seat for them during any part of the trip that they will be 2)

3. Travel with another person if at all possible for the help (Thank you mom and Megan! It as cheaper for me to drive to Seattle and then fly down)    

4. Buck up and pay the extra money to check a bag so that you have more free limbs (I wish I had done this)

5. Make sure that the baby is hungry and ready for a nap when you get on the plane

6. Make sure that your boobs are full or that you have a bottle for feeding

7. Bring extra clothes in your carry-on, or diaper bag because you will probably bring that too (I did not end up needing them)

8. Have your burp cloth and changing pad right on top

9. Do not let other peoples reactions to the fact that you have a baby bother you

10. Take advantage of boarding first

11. Bring toys to distract the baby

12. During take off and landing, make sure that the baby is either eating or sucking on a binky, it helps to pop their ears

13. Know that the baby may need some time to adjust after the flight (Olivia was spitting up more than normal. I am not sure if it was due to the pressure change and the flight or if she got sick for a few days)

14. Talk to your babies doctor before you give them any medicine for the flight

At the airport!

Wearing a safety vest that Taylor bought her!

She was knocked out before we were taxied to the runway. 

San Francisco!!

Knocked out for the whole flight

:D

Great-grandma Alice (my grandpa's wife) and Olivia!

Great-grandpa Al Lewis (my mom's dad) meeting Olivia!

My grandpa has not been doing well and so we decided to go and visit him because he cannot travel. I have not been down there since my senior year at Whitworth. It was so great to be back! We got in pretty late, went straight to grandpa's house, said hello, and went to bed. We knew that it was going to be a long day the next day because my grandpa's family was coming over to see us and to meet Olivia. It had been a long day and we learned a lot about traveling with a baby. Needless to say, we crashed! (Which is what I need to do now. I guess this will keep you coming back the next few a days to read the rest of trip). Olivia is such a mellow baby, it has been wonderful. I think that part of it is because I took her everywhere during my maternity leave and so she really does just go with the flow most of the time. They had a little travel bassinet for her and new swaddle blankets! It was wonderful before lengthwise, she was outgrowing her other ones. Thank you grandpa Al and grandma Alice! 

Okay, I really need to stop for the night and head to bed. I'll pick this up tomorrow. But I keep forgetting to post this video so here it is (I am working on getting a video of her giggles):