While I'm waiting on the slowest Facebook photo upload EVER, let me go ahead and tell you about our first summer beach trip with...the bambina!
Almost every year since I was about five years old, I've gone on a week-long family trip to Longboat Key Beach. My grandma had a time-share condo at the Four Winds, so at first it was grandma, my mom, and me, along with whatever other members of the family wanted to come down for a day or the week. When my grandma's health got too bad, we stopped coming for a few years, but renewed the tradition when I was 14, returning to Four Winds with my best friend Tara and her mom Theresa. Five or so years later, we began taking our summer sojourns with my Aunt Pam; we've tried several different places, but we keep coming back to Longboat Key. What can I say, I'm sentimental.
So here I am, more than 20 years since I first came to the Four Winds, with the fourth generation of "Knight Women" to grace its premises. We got here on Saturday after a prolonged lunch at the Cracker Barrel (in which Charlotte had carrots and mashed potatoes, in case you're interested), followed by a trip down I-75 in the pouring rain. We finally made it around 3 in the afternoon and realized that traveling with a baby requires two luggage carts, opposed to the previously sufficient single cart. Once we got her assorted paraphernalia into the room and set up, it was almost time for dinner--her dinner, anyway, as Mommy, Grandma and Aunt Pam were still full from our late lunch.
I had kind of assumed that we would go out for dinner, so I decided that I'd go ahead with her bath and change her into a non-sweaty outfit. I don't know if she was hungry, or objected to the change in her routine, or didn't like the different tub, or some combination thereof, but my usually splash-happy kid was NOT in the mood for cleanliness.
I just want to take a break to say you know, this would be a LOT freaking easier if I had an internet connection that didn't crap out every 30 seconds. Just sayin.
Anyway. So I put her in the tub (which is a little weird--it's very deep and rather narrow, and the water takes like 20 minutes to get above a temperature that could be considered anything other than lukewarm), and she looked up at me and her little face just melted down. She immediately started waving her arms up and down in her "Mommy Pick Me Up" gesture, and practically climbed up the sides of the tub when I reached down for her. After I had an armful of wet baby, I checked the water temperature, which was fine, and put her toys in, and tried again. No go. Got her out, calmed her down, tried one more time. Fail.
Finally I brought her into the kitchen and bathed her in the sink, which was only marginally more successful. After the bathtime debacle, we decided to forego a dinner out and just get subs from Publix, which is right across the street. A plan emerged: I would give Charlotte dinner, then my mom and I would go to Publix while Charlotte chillaxed with Aunt Pam and got ready for her sleeps. I quickly learned that she was indeed hungry, as she gulped down a Hearty Vegetable Stew and some Bananas/Stawberries with a side of amoxicillin without even batting an eyelash.
So Charlotte hung out in her swing for a bit, then Aunt Pam put her in the Pack & Play and she actually went to sleep while Mommy and Grandma were at Publix. Mommy, however, couldn't leave well enough alone, and much madness ensued upon our return. When I went in to check on Charlotte, I of course had to fix her blanket, which woke her up, which led her to begin crying when she discovered that she was in an unfamiliar place and Mommy wasn't there. Grandma rescued her from the evil baby jail, and we brought her out to the living room to sit for a minute and try to get her to take a bottle. No such luck...for oh, 3 hours or so. She played, she laughed, she cried, she fussed...what she would not do is go back to sleep. She was so tired too; she'd yawn and suck her thumb and cuddle up to whoever was holding her, until she saw or heard something that she needed to check out. It was like she was so afraid she'd miss something if she closed her eyes for just a second.
Finally, a little after 10, I took her into the bedroom and tried laying her in the PnP next to my bed, where she proceeded to roll around and play and laugh like...well, like she was drunk. I have no idea what her malfunction was! Finally she fell asleep close to 11, and slept till about 8 this morning. It's been quite eventful so far, and she hasn't even made it out of the room yet!
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