To Baltimore and Back Again

Brynn asleep on the plane in the Bjorn

This was a busy and momentous weekend for us. We flew to Baltimore for the wedding of Jen's college friend Jason ... and we took Brynn with us! This was a bit of a nervous experiment in how it would be to travel with her, and thankfully she did really well. She got in her first plane trip at 5 weeks, whereas I think I was in college before I had my first plane trip. On the trip out there, there were probably around 8 infants on the flight, and Brynn was among the well-behaved. If I were not a parent, I would have been frustrated by all the crying that happened on that flight. However, being a parent, I had sympathy for the families dealing with distraught babies. Good, good. Perspective is sinking in.

Some cool art in the Denver airport. Our girl is not a little beast, for which we are grateful.

I was curious how we'd juggle the Bug's needs. Diaper changing on a plane could be interesting, especially when the drink cart is blocking the route to the bathroom and the diaper is approaching blow out status. On the flight back we ended up folding down both our tray tables and doing a change right there. At the rental car facility, I ended up using my suitcase as a changing table for her.

What are you doing, Dad?

Other than us having to run through a downpour to get to the rehearsal dinner, and some pretty bad rush hour traffic, the first day went well. We were dreading the night, though. However, our minds were blown when rather than becoming extra difficult, Brynn slept for 8 hours straight! It was so wonderfully awesome. Of course, that didn't translate to 8 hours of sleep for us, because we kept on getting up to check if she was still breathing. The second night wasn't as good, but it was still a 4 hour block followed by a 3 hour block and a 2 hour block.

The wedding was great. The weather was perfect and everything went smoothly. We had our first non-family baby sitters while we were at the ceremony and during part of the reception. Brynn did well, and so did we. But I did spend a lot of the reception dancing with Brynn in the Baby Bjorn so Jen could have a chance to chat with her college friends. After the reception we went out for pizza and we had our first experience taking her out to a restaurant. She did splendidly since she was asleep the whole time.

On Sunday we met up with some more friends of Jen's and had brunch at a diner and then perused a flea market in the area. She did pretty well through that, finally getting the knack of keeping a pacifier in and being satisfied with it.

All in all, it was a great first trip with Brynn. She did great, and we felt good about it. On top of that she was a hit with everyone she met. Now we have to decide about some weddings in the Fall and if we'll want to attempt them with her in tow at 6 months instead of 5 weeks. Well, to avoid thinking too much about that, here's a video of her smiling in her sleep. Even when asleep, our little girl is so expressive!