To make a long story short, our vacation was a no-go. We were headed down to Dallas to meet up with my parents, and then would have gone on to Lawton, Oklahoma to help celebrate my niece's first birthday with my sister and her husband. Sydney was on board...until we actually boarded. She was fine with bottle in hand, but once that was finished and she was not in her own bed, and instead in our arms, which is not her most favorite spot to be, she was not having it. It was past her normal bed time and she continued to scream, and then scream some more, and then decided, after practically hyperventilating, that she would just go ahead and continue screaming. During the first hour of her screaming (not crying mind you, screaming) the flight attendants came by and told us not to worry, that there are crying babies on flights every day and that she will calm down any minute. The second hour was upon us and they commented on her lungs, and overall stamina, but still said that she should be wearing herself out now any minute and not to worry. By the third hour, they just looked at Sydney and then back at us and said, "Well, usually they are out by now."
To say the least, the flight to Seattle was not the most pleasant experience we have ever had. We were fully aware it wouldn't be a "fun" ride, but kind of thought that since it was her bedtime, she would just settle herself down and sleep.
And no, it wasn't her ears.
As we were sitting in our seats, (the flight attendants were so nice and very accommodating and let us stand back in their area for much of the flight...granted, they had to put their earplugs in, but still...) we were both super stressed and miserable. I had tears rolling down my face. People were staring at us trying to figure out what exactly we were doing to harm our child and make her scream like that. The only thought we had was that after this flight, we had to get on another flight, an even longer flight, and then turn around in less than a week and do it all over again. We just were not up to it.
So, in Seattle, everything fell into place for us to grab our bags and get on the next flight back home. Yes, that flight was miserable as well, but with over half of the plane empty, we were able to actually spread out a little and Sydney FINALLY calmed down enough to get in about an hour of sleep.
After coming home and sleeping- all three of us, we didn't want the whole week to be a total bust, so we planned on driving down to Homer for a night. So, a couple days later, we headed down. The drive was rainy, and snowy in some parts, but beautiful all the same. Homer was nice and sunny...spring temperatures even! We stayed at The Land's End hotel with an ocean front view. It was so beautiful and a perfect little getaway. Sydney enjoyed getting in the backpack and walking along the rocky beach. Brian enjoyed skipping rocks. And, I spent most of my time looking down trying to find good rocks to make a nice picture frame for the entire experience. Once we were back in our room and Sydney down for a nap, Brian and I were trying to play cards, but kept getting interrupted by an otter right off the beach in front of our window just playing...and 5 bald eagles "fishing." It was really nice.
Then came bedtime... Sydney went down, and then was back up...for good. So, at 4 o'clock in the morning, we decided to just head back home. (Do you see a recurring theme here?)
All-in-all, we came to the conclusion that Sydney is the best baby you will ever come across...as long as she is at home in her own environment! Hard to blame her when her mom and dad are the same way I suppose. :) She is the perfect little sleeper and so happy when she has room to play...and doesn't have to be held and cuddled for 3+ hours at a time.
We were sorry to have missed out on seeing everyone down south and missing Dulce's first birthday...but, once back to normal, it was nice to have some time off and just be together at the house.
Maybe we will try again in another couple years???
Here are a few pics from Homer...
