World Traveler

It has been another very busy month! We all flew to Palm Springs to spend Thanksgiving with my dad and Sabrina, and Carter and I flew to Chicago last week to visit Alanna and the twins. I was very anxious about flying with an infant. I assumed Carter would scream for the entire flight, and, on top of that, I was also afraid that he would contract the flu or H1N1 from someone at the airport or on the airplane. Luckily, neither happened. The flight to Palm Springs went pretty well. Carter never cried, but he fussed a little and refused to sleep. Of course, he also pooped about an hour into our flight; Jeff had to change his diaper in the world's smallest bathroom and could only salvage his jeans. The flight attendant said Carter was surprisingly well-behaved and that he made less noise than a cat sitting in first class! Although Carter was up several times every night, our week in California was wonderful. We spent as much time as possible outside, and I even have some very faint tan lines. The flight home was even better than the flight to Palm Springs. As instructed by my doctor, I fed Carter during takeoff, and he slept and didn't make a peep until we landed and I had to put him in his car seat. I couldn't believe our luck!

Since Carter did so well flying - and I hate driving to Chicago without Jeff - we decided to fly to visit Alanna, Lila, and Evan. Mike was in Florida for the week for work, and Alanna needed some company. Although I wasn't much help, I did keep her company! The twins have changed so much. They have grown and both weigh close to eight pounds now, but Carter still looks so much bigger; Mike actually nicknamed him "The Gentle Giant." Carter finally seemed to notice his cousins. He watched them constantly and didn't like when they cried. As you can see from one of the pictures, he also enjoyed stealing their pacifiers. He would take them out of their mouths and put them directly into his mouth! Alanna and I tried to stop him the first couple of times; then we just gave up. As always, it was very difficult to say "good-bye" to Mike, Alanna, and the twins. (Mike came home before we left and is responsible for Carter wearing a Bears jersey.) At least Christmas will be here soon...