Our plan for Christmas travels was to fly out of Seattle around 7am on the morning of Christmas Eve, which would put us in Indianapolis around 4pm.  But the day before, we looked at our itinerary and noticed our second flight had been changed without any notification – to a much later flight that wouldn’t get us home to family until well after dinner time.

Our bags were not packed, our presents were not wrapped, and our dogs had not been taken to the kennel.  But even so, around 6pm on Friday night, we ended up switching to a 1am red-eye that would get us home much earlier than planned – 1oam the next day.  Even though I knew taking the red-eye would mean little sleep for me and Casey, I thought it might actually be the better choice for Cullen, since he sleeps so consistently at night these days. 

We quickly scurried to get ourselves ready for a week out of town, and headed to the airport at 11pm.  It was a struggle to stay awake that late!  Our little traveler snoozed all the way from the car to to airport security in my Ergo carrier. 

Traveling with an infant is definitely a lot more complicated than traveling as an adult.  We needed so many more things, and we had so few less hands to carry it all!  Getting through security was probably the trickiest part because I had to take Cullen out of the Ergo (while still sleeping), run all our stuff through the conveyor belt, and then re-strap him on while Casey managed all our bags and coats.  But we survived and headed to the gate with our still-snoozing baby. 

I definitely felt like we got a few dirty looks from surrounding passengers on the plane when they saw the baby, but Casey says I imagined them.  I was nervous Cullen would scream when his ears popped, but he stayed asleep through the whole thing!

Eventually I went to sleep too, and we slept together chest to chest.  It was very peaceful and cozy.  He only woke up once, and I could tell he was doing some pooping, so we took him out, changed him on the floor of the airplane (first time for everything!), and then popped him right back into the Ergo and back to sleep. 

We had a layover in Minneapolis, which gave us all a short break to wake up, do another diaper change, and grab some of our beloved Caribou Coffee.  (Would you believe that we live in the coffee capital of the US, and sadly there is not a single Caribou!?)  On our second flight, Cullen slept for a short bit, but woke up around 7am – his normal wake-up time.  Luckily he is happiest in the mornings, and he was a smiley happy guy.  Not a single tear!

The flight attendants were all totally in love with him, and kept checking on us so that they could make googly faces at him.  They also gave him his first tiny pair of wings!  I can’t believe they still do those!

He sat and smiled all through the rest of the flight and the landing, and we were really proud of our good little traveler. 

We finally landed in Indianapolis around 10am that morning, and were greeted by a very excited grandmother who hadn’t seen him since his first week.  Since then we’ve been visiting, eating, laughing, resting, and having a wonderful time back home. 

I’m so proud of Cullen for doing so well on his first airplane adventure.  We have a vacation to Hawaii (!) planned for February, and I’m glad to know he can travel so well.  Here’s hoping our return flight is just as successful!

This little man is 9 weeks old today!

This week has felt like it has flown past since we’ve been getting ready to go out of town.  Tomorrow is our first plane ride with Cullen, and I’ll admit I’m a little nervous.  I’m so excited about taking him to meet our family and friends, but at the same time, I’m worried about being in a new space, being off his schedule, and not having all our usual resources (like the swing!).  Let’s hope he’s a flexible guy.  I’m also finding that packing for a baby is an event in itself!  The boy does not travel light.

Casey is working from home today, which always makes the day more fun for me and Cullen.  At nine weeks, he is definitely recognizing faces and voices, and this boy absolutely loves his daddy.

His other love?  Blankets!  We have these really soft bamboo blankets from Aden + Anais that are one of our most used baby items to date.  Cullen’s new way of napping is to lay on either his pillow or in the swing, and then cover himself with a blanket that he rubs on his skin.  He loves getting his arms underneath and then rubbing the blanket all over his face.  I’m glad he likes it so much, but I find myself checking him every ten minutes to make sure he’s not suffocating under all that fabric!

We had is eight week doctor’s appointment yesterday where he got all his current weights and measures.  He’s up to a whopping 13lbs 3.5 oz!  I’ve been a little worried recently that his nursing time has gone down in both frequency and length, but he is clearly getting plenty of food.  I can’t believe that in two months he has gained 5 pounds!

I took a few pictures of him this week that resulted in some fun before and afters.  Here’s a picture from the day he was born…

And another at nine weeks.  He really doesn’t look that different, right?  He never really had any of the newborn swelling or wrinkles that you see so often.  His hair is definitely a lot longer now!

And here is another crazy before and after.  I took this picture of him playing the other day, and then realized it was the same profile shot as his ultrasound.  When I put the two side by side, I was shocked.  I tend to think that ultrasounds all pretty much look the same, but there is no mistaking that his really LOOKS like him!  (Of course that’s because it is him…)  You can click to make it bigger – check out the nose and chin!

I also recorded a short video this week to show Cullen in 3D!  It’s hard to really capture a baby in photos (even though I’ve taken 5,000), so I try to do a video with him every week so that we can look back on them when he’s big and all grown up!

I can’t believe that his first Christmas is coming up this weekend, and I already feel all weird and weepy about it.  I can’t believe how lucky I feel to have this little man in my life.

At two months postpartum, I’m feeling great.  Definitely not getting in as many workouts as I’d like to, but I’m also finding that my attitude toward them has changed too.  I need a swift kick in the pants to take my workouts more seriously, because I find myself much more inclined to stay home and snuggle than to go for a run out in the cold.  At least I’m still making sure to get in my 3 miles a day of walking!

We’re off to Indianapolis tomorrow, and we’ll be gone for a week!  I’ll be popping in here and there to share our holiday adventures, but I hope you will all be enjoying family and holidays yourselves.  Safe travels to all who are visiting, and have a wonderful weekend!