Look at Charlotte's eyes--I don't think she wanted her photo taken, but Mommy persevered.
Charlotte with her passport is now ready to go on a trip.Just shortly after 5 pm, we left on our first trip to Belleville since returning from China to visit Auntie Stacey (Daddy's sister) and Uncle Art. As expected, Charlotte was not a very good traveller, despite Mommy's many attempts to distract her from the obvious, being confined in her car seat; we really hope this changes in the near future, as we get closer to cottage season.
We arrived at Auntie Stacey’s and Uncle Art’s just after 7 pm; Max (the dog) went crazy with all the excitement of people visiting. Charlotte was quite scared of Max, partly because of his excitement, but mostly because he kept trying to jump up on her. Charlotte hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to visit with dogs, so she can be quite afraid of them—-the bigger the dog, the more afraid she is. She seems to settle down quicker when she’s around smaller dogs, and, of course, she doesn’t have any problems with cats, which makes Mommy very happy. It took Max quite some time to settle down, which meant that Charlotte always wanted to be up off the floor, either in a chair, on a table, or in someone's arms where she knew the dog couldn’t reach her.
With all the stuff we brought in from the van, you would have thought that we were staying for a week. There’s so much stuff for a toddler: playpen for sleeping, bottles, formula, snacks, diapers, clothing, shoes, boots, snowpants, stroller, booster chair, toys, books, blankets, towel, … the list goes on. So much more stuff than we have been used to travelling with; although, Mommy tends to overpack just for herself, so Daddy is quite used to being a pack mule when travelling with Mommy.
Charlotte checking out the bedroom she, Mommy, and Daddy will be sleeping in. Charlotte likes the big fluffy bed!
About 8 pm, Auntie Stacey’s and Uncle Art’s friends—-Lynn and John, Linda and Rob, Julie and Rick—-came over for a visit and to meet Charlotte. Charlotte took quite a fancy to Lynn and always wanted to be picked up by her, especially if Max was around. Charlotte was generally quite generous with her kisses, except with Linda-—Linda had to pretend to cry before Charlotte would give her a kiss, which she eventually did and then all was well.
Lynn and Julie wore the same sweatshirt jacket that had a hood. Charlotte noticed this right away and kept motioning for them to put them on their heads—-Charlotte likes wearing hoods on her outfits, so she feels others should wear theirs as well.
Close to 10 pm, when Mommy was sure that Charlotte was tired and would go to bed without any troubles, Charlotte said “bye bye” to everyone and gave kisses to all. Mommy got the playpen set up, blankets arranged, stuffed animals and musical toys positioned, Charlotte ready, and then placed her in the playpen with her bottle, just like she would at home in the crib. Following the usual routine, Mommy said good night to Charlotte, turned out the light, and then shut the door. Almost immediately, Charlotte started to fuss. Mommy checked Charlotte’s bottle and ensured that everything was as it should be, but Charlotte continued to fuss. With Uncle Art’s help, we set up a little table lamp to act as a night light on the dresser; however, it was a little bright, so Mommy placed the diaper bag in front of the light to soften the brightness. Mommy then tip-toed out of the room, but Charlotte began to fuss again even before Mommy’s hand was on the doorknob. This time, Mommy lied down on the bed to comfort and encourage Charlotte to fall asleep. After an hour or so, Mommy was finally able to join the rest of the group who had begun playing cards in the dining room. Just after midnight, everyone said their goodbyes and we all headed to bed for a much needed rest.
Congratulations on the passport. Sounds like she's enjoying her first trip.
ReplyDeleteRuby