In the Buff - April 9-13

Buffalo, New York that is. That is where these guys live:
Brandon's parents (this picture snagged from my MIL's blog - not the actual trip)

Brandon's brother and wife, Adrian and Natalie and their son Taylor
(Snagged this from their facebook because of course, I never take pictures...of anything it seems. So it is a little outdated...but I like to illustrate my posts with pictures of people)

It was actually a really short trip. We left on a Friday afternoon (meaning that we didn't actually get into Buffalo until late evening) and returned home on a Tuesday evening. So lose two days to travel and we were really only there from Saturday to Monday. And two days we spent in New York City.

Anyway, Lucy had flown twice before - to Boston around 3 months and to Japan about a month later. But it is a little different flying when your baby is much more mobile although Lucy wasn't quite walking at this point, but cruising proficiently. And although I was (and am) still nursing her, she doesn't nurse to sleep anymore unless we are lying in bed. But fortunately, she did some of this on the plane:
I had my Beco baby carrier (best carrier ever, if you ask me) and strapped her to my back when she was getting tired and fussy and just walked up and down the aisle of the plane until she fell asleep. As I was walking, I would get these comments from other passengers saying, "She's almost out," "Just a couple more laps," and thumbs up to accompany them. I think that they were just so grateful that they didn't have to deal with a screaming baby on the plane.

Second half of the plane ride and deep into what should have been her bedtime, she was a little less cooperative with sleeping...More interested in playing with the light, checking other passengers out, and playing with her dad's iPhone. After arriving late in the evening and getting into bed, Brandon and I left our little girl the next morning for two whole days while we took a quick flight to New York City. It was our first time leaving her overnight!

My mother-in-law was pretty sick (what we found out just a week or so later was the return of her cancer) but fortunately, it was the weekend so Brandon's dad was there to help as was Adrian and Natalie. Lucy's Saturday nap was spent crying herself to sleep in her grandfather's arms but he claimed that he loved it once she was asleep, just holding her while he watched television. She gravitated strongly towards her grandmother but once she met her Aunt Natalie, gravitated even more strongly towards her. Here she is with her Aunt and cousin on a Sunday afternoon walk:
For the overnight part, she woke up crying. I didn't pump much milk before I left, only bringing one bag since she was days away from being 12 months so I figured that she could just have cow's milk. But my mother-in-law was smart enough to have an extra bottle on hand (I only packed a sippy cup) and saved my breastmilk for what she anticipated might be a hard night. With mommy's milk in bottle in hand, she fell right back asleep.

When we arrived back from New York City, Lucy was already asleep but must have had a sixth sense that we had arrived cause she woke up crying. We later realized when we returned home to Salt Lake City that the reason she had been so fussy those few days in Buffalo was because a tooth had just broken through. It's nice to know that she missed us but also nice to know that she is capable of handling being without us for a few days. Hopefully, we can plan a real vacation without kids sometime close in the future.

Once back in Buffalo, we really only had one full day to spend with family. We visited Adrian and Natalie's house to play with Taylor (more blurry iPhone pictures - although I have to say, it can be hard to capture pictures of Taylor because he is such a ball of energy).
Then we went out to eat dinner with them and Brandon's dad (his mom being too sick to join us). I can't remember where we ate or what I ordered but I remember it was delish!

Lucy deals with traveling like a champ so hopefully, having a baby won't deter us from taking any trips. Brandon always claims that life hasn't changed that much - we just have a baby along for the ride.