Elsie was born on New Year's Eve, so depending on how you look at it, she's either getting a great deal on her birthday parties, on she's getting the shaft. This year she fell asleep before the cake came out, but we gave her a little bit in the morning, and she didn't seem to mind.
From this:
To this:
All in one short year...
The Holidays were a time of travel in the Diaper Bandit family. First Maggie and Elsie flew east to meet me in NYC on the red-eye. I picked them up at the airport after their flight was delayed two and a half hours. The flight was full so Elsie spent the night flopping about on poor Maggie's lap.
"Next time we're buying Elsie her own ticket," said Maggie, a little cranky after puling that all nighter. Would you pay an extra $300 to assure your baby got her own seat? Maybe over the holidays it's not such a bad idea. Elsie seemed dazed upon arrival but she snapped to it in short order.
From NYC we traveled first to New Jersey, then Washington DC, and then after xmas Maggie had to go back to Portland for work, so my sister and I packed our kids in the car and prepared for a long haul north to see Grandpa in Vermont. We decided that this trip would be done best at night so that our two kids, Elsie and her cousin Thomas, could sleep the whole way.
So we left at 8pm and three hours later, when I pulled over for coffee, Laura said, "Don't stop the car. Thomas will wake up."
"But I need coffee," I said.
"Drive slowly," she said, "and then jump out of the car. I'll grab the wheel and circle the lot."
We seriously considered this stuntman tactic as I circled around, but then Thomas woke up during our discussion, so I just stopped the car and got out. Two hours later, in upstate New York, Elsie peed through her diaper and I had to change her in a cold rest area bathroom under flickering lights. Laura was outside keeping the car in motion lest Thomas reawaken from his slumber. After a few more such pit stops we arrived at Grandpa's at 3AM.
Up in Vermont there was lot of glorious snow and my sister and I got to watch our little offspring shiver together as they built a snowman.
On New Year's Eve Elsie put on a pretty dress, but the longs days had been so exciting that she finally conked out in the middle of her own party, as mentioned earlier. It was an exhausting time, that Holiday rush, but it was very rewarding. We're all home now safe and sound. Oh truly, is there any hardship too great to brave in order to see your children happy in the arms of their grandparents? I'd say no, there really isn't. Now that I've had a little time to rest.
Apologies for the gap in postings. No internet access "on the road"...
