Get ready for a lengthy post!
We travelled to the Oregon coast to celebrate Alma’s first Thanksgiving with my Dad and step-mom this year. They have made it up to visit us in Portland several times since Alma was born, so it was time to return the favor.
The Drive: Round 1
I’m always wary to go on road trips with Alma because she has such a strong need to be mobile, and has never napped well in the car. The drive down to the coast went fairly smoothly. We left Portland at Alma’s morning nap-time, but she only slept for about 40 minutes. I entertained her in the backseat for awhile, and eventually we stopped for lunch at the half-way point between Portland and Coos Bay.
When we got back on the road after lunch, Alma hit a rough patch. She played for awhile, then started to get tired, and had a hard time falling asleep in her car seat. I could tell she really wanted to nurse, since she is used to nursing to sleep at home. I moved over to the middle seat, buckled myself in, leaned over her seat and breastfed her (one of the many things I said I’d never do, but did anyway as a parent!).
She did fall asleep this way, but unfortunately, every time I tried to unlatch her, she woke up. Eventually she just had to cry herself to sleep. She spent about 30 minutes fussing and crying before she finally decided to suck on her thumb and fall asleep. She slept the rest of the drive, and we even drove around town for awhile letting her get a solid hour long nap (still short for her, but decent enough).
The Visit
We arrived at my parent’s house in the afternoon, so we had a few hours to visit before starting dinner and Alma’s bedtime routine.
Alma went to sleep easily since she was pretty tuckered out by all the travelling. We all slept in my parent’s guest bedroom, and ended up waking Alma up when we went to bed. She was very wakeful the first two nights, particularly the second night. On our last night, I laid a soft blanket down in her pack-n-play and she slept much better! I’ll have to remember that for our next trip away from home. (She napped fairly well during our visit. She took one long-ish nap each day, and a shorter one. She usually takes two long ones at home.)
On Thanksgiving, we spent the morning preparing and baking our gluten-free and vegan pumpkin pie (recipe here). Alma took her morning nap, then we headed over to visit with my sister and her family, as well as my mom. My nieces were all dressed up in holiday outfits and were very excited to see us. We don’t get to visit nearly as often as I’d like!
We went back to my parent’s house when it was time for Alma’s afternoon nap. We prepared our Thanksgiving meal while Alma snoozed, and when she woke up, we ate! Alma dove right into some delicata squash, and sampled some mashed potatoes.
After dinner, we drove out to Shore Acres to see this year’s holiday light display. I’ve seen the display countless times since I was a child, so it was special to take Alma there for the first time. She seemed to enjoy her surroundings, but I think she will have more fun in years to come.
The day after Thanksgiving, we took some family photos, courtesy of my step-mom Patricia. She was kind enough to lend her photography skills, even though her real passion is for landscape photography.
We also visited again with my nieces and nephew. My nephew is about 3 months older than Alma, and even though they’ve seen each other a few times, this was the first time they actually interacted. Alma loved pushing him around in his little toy!
photo by my sis
The Drive: Round 2
On Saturday morning, we packed up and said our good-byes so we could get on the road at Alma’s naptime. This time, she slept for 1.25 hours! Her head was bobbing around a bit, so I held her head in my hands while she snoozed, and that seemed to help her. She was in a great mood when she woke up. We stopped for a quick bathroom & nursing break, then continued on the road until lunchtime. We ate at the same restaurant, and Alma had a blast waving and talking to anyone who looked our way.
When we continued driving after lunch, Alma wasn’t quite ready for a nap yet, so we played in the back seat. We read books, played with toys, blew & popped bubbles, and listed to animal sounds on my Iphone.
this pic is from the drive down to the coast, but we did more of the same on the drive home!
When Alma got sleepy, I put my hand on her head, and she went right to sleep! She slept for about an hour, although her sleep was more fitful – it seemed like she couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep deeply. When she woke up, we were home!
A much more successful drive than the first.
Even though it takes a lot of work to pack everything up, keep an extremely mobile baby happy for a long car ride, and suffer through poor sleep away from home, it was definitely worth it to get to spend time with family. I wish we all lived closer, but for now, we’ll just have to get used to travelling with a little one in tow!
