Recap

Trip recap

We had a great trip.  Avery had no travel adjustment issues.  She slept and napped well the whole time.  In fact, she was a stellar traveler all around.  We had nothing but easy on both flights.  Getting through the airport was not only easy, but a lot of fun, too.  She was so good about following instructions and didn't throw a single fit.  Now I know what it must be like to be in the group of parents whose kids didn't go through the terrible twos!  Awesome. [chant to myself: I can make it through the terrible 2's, I can make it through the terrible two's.]

We saw Uncle Collin, Aunt Denise, and Cousin Dylan one day up in Cheyenne.  We went to a park nearby where there is a science themed area that is very cool.  It is right next to the Air Force base, so there were supply planes taking off every ten minutes or so.  The planes were very large and very close, so Avery got quite excited each time we saw them.  Avery and Dylan had a good time playing together, though I don't think a few hours is enough time for either of them to truly warm up and play together as they would if they saw each other more often. It takes Avery a while to drop her guard (so to speak), and I think Dylan is the same way.  Nonetheless, it was great to see everyone!

This trip originated because of a planned reunion of our coworkers from Tactica Denver.  Many of us have moved away and/or had children, so we all met up in Denver for a weekend to catch up and meet offspring.  The BBQ, hosted by Vic and Mike, was a lot of fun.  I hadn't seen one couple since our wedding over seven years ago!  In fact, the husband of this couple is somewhat responsible for D and I meeting since he was the one who encouraged me to apply with Tactica where I met D just a few days after starting there.  I worked with Brett at Andersen/Accenture, then with his wife, Catherine, at Tactica.

I think those at the reunion who don't yet have kids were a bit overwhelmed by the chaos.  Interestingly, I didn't really notice the chaos.  It was only afterwards when I asked how they enjoyed the BBQ that I realized all the children and babies were a bit overwhelming (food everywhere, screaming around running, the constant movement, etc).

D and I, predictably, stayed at Vic & Mike's house.  Avery loved hanging out with Uncle Mike and Aunt Vic.  Every time Mike left the room, she would inquire as to his whereabouts.  Victoria gave Avery a stuffed bunny that Avery fell in love with.  She even took it to bed with her!  Avery has never, since she's been able to physically chuck the stuffed animals away from her, slept with a doll or a stuffed animal.  She typically surrounds herself with bibs, but never with dolls or stuffed animals.  This time, she slept all curled up with the bunny.  We'll see if she has the same affinity for it when I show it to her tonight.

Avery and Elise played so amazingly well together for the entire BBQ.  Being on neutral ground seemed to remove most of the territory battles that come up when we have Elise at our house or Avery at the G's house.  Avery brought her ladybug bag on the trip.  Elise and Avery spent a good two hours walking around the yard taking turns wearing or pulling the bag.  They would help the other put the bag on and ask each other nicely for a turn.  I was bursting from pride for both Avery and Elise.  I think there was a cracker incident at some point, but aside from that, those two were just perfect with each other. 

Travel Highlights

1. We ate at McDonald's before boarding our flight home due to time constraints.  Avery doesn't like anything from McDonald's other than the fries (we once tried a Happy Meal for her, as a special treat, but she rejected it; we also haven't encouraged her to try things there for obvious reasons).  So we put her container of snacks in front of her and let her eat that for lunch.  We ate McD's and she ate broccoli, strawberries, carrots, crackers, and some fries.  Best part: when we were leaving McD's, she wanted to sit in the car seat and be pulled along in the car seat stroller, but also requested broccoli as her snack in the stroller.  A couple of tougher-looking guys were sitting at a nearby table.  They watched this and then said, "Awesome!"  I was so proud of her for choosing the broccoli, especially since she had fries sitting in front of her at the time.
2. Avery had some energy to burn before we boarded the flight.  D was sitting in his chair and I sat on the ground a fair distance away.  Avery would run between us, leaping into my arms to give me a huge hug each time she ran to me.  Best feeling ever. 
3. Not one bit of issue getting Avery into the car seat on the flights or anytime surrounding the flights. Woot!

Sleep

For the most part, Avery slept in her bed, but some mornings, she'd come up into our bed to sleep for a couple of hours.  One morning, we woke up slowly and without talking.  I opened my eyes and saw Avery staring at me with her eyes opened.  I smiled and she smiled back.  Then she turned to D and they did the same thing.  Then she turned back and we did the same thing.  If I could bottle up the sweetness of that moment ...

At Mom's house, Avery slept on an air mattress on the floor next to the bed in which I was sleeping.  This worked perfectly.  At Vic & Mike's house, Avery slept on a futon mattress on the floor next to our bed.  That also worked perfectly, except for the first night.  She went right to sleep, but woke up shortly after D and I were in bed and starting to nod off.  Normally, if she wakes up a bit, she just rolls over and goes back to sleep.  However, she hadn't seen D for several days, so she started asking for her daddy.  I didn't have the desire to convince her to go back to sleep in her bed, but I also didn't want to share our full size bed with both her and D.  So I pulled her up to sleep with D and I got down and slept on the futon.  I slept quite well!  She slept on the futon all other nights, but joined us in bed for the last hour or two of sleep in the mornings. 

Shift?

It feels as if there has been a shift in Avery's tantrums in the last week or so.  It might have been because we were traveling, but I'm hopeful they might be subsiding a bit.  She did have one car seat tantrum on the way to brunch on Sunday morning, but relative to others she's had, it was minor.  She's also been really, really sweet lately.  This morning she was very cooperative getting ready and we negotiated well on the elements she is less fond of (namely, putting socks on with her Crocs and letting me comb her hair and put it up for school).  

Trips

We also booked a couple of vacations with Vic and Mike.  They've wanted to join us in Mexico a number of times, but timing or cost of flights hasn't worked out.  D & I had been pondering a trip in October (in lieu of a Christmas trip), however, that's usually when we go to Vegas with Vic and Mike.  So we decided to do a Vegas trip in July (sans Avery) and a Mexico trip in October.  Yes, Vegas in July will be hot, but we are indoors almost the entire time while in Vegas, so what's the difference if it's really hot?  

Onward With Today!

And now, I must clean the house, get our bags unpacked, do laundry, and figure out meals for the week.  I feel like the house is just a pit of dog hair.  Perhaps I feel this way because it is a pit of dog hair.  Oh puppies, why must you be so hairy?