California

As some of you know we (Albert, Antonio and I) went to California to visit Albert's family for 7 days. We stayed with Albert's mom and she let us stay in her room with a bathroom attached which was nice for that middle of the night feeding he still wakes for. (ugh...) I was extremely nervous for the whole flying thing (and all that goes with it) and then being away from home and routine for so long. I hoped Antonio would adjust after a couple days; no such luck. The plane ride down went pretty well. Most people said that he would probably sleep all the way down; again, no such luck. He took his binky for the take off and only fussed a tiny bit; it was when we were in air about halfway there he got very squirmy and fussy. Luckily we were able to calm him and he fell asleep for the last 30-45 min, including the decent! For all the draging him around we did and being on the go he did good. There was absolutely no "schedule" for him while we were there (shame on us). Of course he caught a pretty rough cold while there and still has it; the runny nose, sneezing, coughing and congestion. The last day/evening/night we were there was rough and we were glad we were heading home the next day. It seemed as if everyone around us was sick though. Albert's mom got a pretty nasty cold while we were there too so we are praying we don't get sick as well.

The venture home was a little more rougher. When we took off he cried then fell asleep and I had hope but then after about an hour he was awake and wiggly. Luckily the plane was about half empty so we go the whole row (3 seats) to ourselves which gave us some room. Just before we started the decent down Antonio started screaming and crying; it continued for about 15 min. then he passed out. Those 15 min were terrible though and he wouldn't keep his binky in. We were all so happy to be home. His toys, bed, jumper, etc. It was all so familiar to him and he seemed so happy to be home.....until about 6 when he just fell apart. He started crying.....hard and couldn't stop. I felt so horrible. I am guessing it is a combination of traveling, having the cold and possibly teething. Poor little guy. Tomorrow is a recovery day. There will hopefully be a lot of cleaning and laundry doing on my part and a lot of playing and sleeping on his. Albert's sister Nelly flies in Saturday for 5 days and hopefully all will be back to normal by then.

I would say the trip, as a whole, went well; it could have gone smoother but it also could have been so much worse! It was so good to see Albert's family and to have Antonio finally meet his Aunt Kiana, Uncle Abel and cousins Elise and Angelina! However, I don't think we will be traveling again any time soon; it's been a rough week and I am sure we will sleep good tonight!