Samantha: 17 Months, Week 4

This week was a short one because Tuesday was election day and we had teacher in-service instead of school.  Also, we were planning on leaving for Waco, Texas on Thursday after school, so much of the week was spent preparing for our trip.

The time changed on Saturday night and Samantha had a lot harder of a time with it than we thought she would.  She was very tired at night, was getting hungry early, waking up earlier in the morning, basically acting like she was back on her normal schedule.  It took her several days to adjust.  It's funny how little things like that really mess with little kid's schedules.

Samantha also went to the dentist this week.  She was very excited to go back into the room, especially since all the rooms are painted in different themes.  She enjoyed seeing the animals painted on the walls and pushing the stool around the room.  However, once the doctor came in, she wasn't so sure.  After talking to us for a few minutes about her eating habits and how we brush her teeth, we had to lay her back with her head in his lap so he could take a look at her mouth and make some notes.  She was not a fan of that experience.  As soon as we started laying her back, she started crying, and she cried the whole time he was trying to look in her mouth.  The only comment he made to us was trying to brush her front top teeth a little better because she has the little connective tissue between her teeth that makes them more prone to collect plaque.  However, that tissue also makes it harder to brush because it seems to be a little more sensitive to her.  He also encouraged us to start flossing her teeth once a week or so.  The tears quickly subsided, and she was excited to get her own little goody bag with stickers and a new toothbrush shaped like a crayon.  She even learned how to say the word "dentis" while she was there.

In preparation for our first flight, we ran a few errands around town during the week.  We went to the dollar store, and I let Samantha pick out some coloring books and crayons for the plane ride.  She chose one with Elmo, one with Minnie Mouse, and even found Minnie Mouse two-sided crayons, which I thought were a brilliant idea because they were fatter, and it always seems like Samantha tries to color with the wrong side of the crayon.  I also had ordered a reusable sticker book from Melissa and Dog and a Magna-Doodle for her.  I tried to think of as many things as I could to occupy her little hands and mind while we were cooped up in the plane for a couple of hours.  

On Wednesday night, before we left for Waco, we made a family trip to Samantha's favorite restaurant, Chipotle (she loves the kids meal quesadilla with black beans and rice and chocolate milk).  After we ate, we walked over to the library to check out more books and pick up the Elmo DVD and Veggie Tales DVD that I requested.  Samantha loves the library.  We picked out several books that were big hits like Rap a Tap Tap and Choo, Choo.  Ben and I were both pretty nervous about how the plane rides were going to go because of course, being a toddler, she is very active.  Sitting still for a couple hours is not Samantha's idea of a good time.  We were also very nervous about how she would react to the pressure in her ears since she doesn't really know how to relieve the pressure yet.

Since we were planning on leaving as soon as I got out of school on Thursday, we tried it get ourselves packed up as much as we could on Wednesday night.  Samantha was very excited about our trip.  We even taught her how to say "yee-haw" and "Texas" before we left.  Samantha was so excited that she climbed in our suitcase the night we were trying to pack.

Our flight left at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, so we drove up to Indianapolis right after school.  We weren't sure how long everything would take since we have never traveled with a toddler before.  We ate sandwiches in the car and arrived there in plenty of time.  Samantha had a fun time playing in the airport before it was our turn to board.  She enjoyed going on the moving walkways, playing with the stuffed animals in the gift shops, and walking around saying hello to all the people waiting to board their planes.  I'm sure everyone was thinking, "Oh great, we get to ride on a plane for two hours with a toddler!"  Samantha got to ride on almost every form of public transportation available.  After we parked the car, we rode a bus to the airport (which she loved), then there was the plane, and at DFW we rode a train around to a different terminal for our flight to Waco.  Samantha's favorite was probably the bus.  I don't know why she loves buses so much, but after our ride on the bus, that was her favorite word to say.  She would just repeat it over and over again: "bus, bus, bus."

Ben and I were much more nervous about the plane ride than we should have been.  Samantha did great.  We were prepared with fruit pouches that she could suck on to relieve the pressure in her ears.  We had sippy cups and of course snacks for her to chew on.  The take off and landing didn't see to bother her one bit.  She enjoyed looking out the window at the people and cars driving around at the airport.  Her favorite activity was probably the Magna-Doodle.  She played with that for quite awhile.  We played with the sticker book, we colored, we read stories, and finally, when she was getting sleepy, we busted out the computer and played some of the Elmo DVD for her.  She really enjoyed that, and it allowed her to space out for a little while since she was very tired.  Samantha never did fall asleep though.  She is much too social to fall asleep in a plane full of people.

We had a short layover at DFW before our 20 minute flight to Waco.  It ended up being cheaper for us to fly all the way to Waco then to stop at DFW and rent a car.  We changed Samantha into her pajamas and got her ready for bed, and we had a very sleepy girl on her hands.  She kept walking around the airport, saying hello to people, but she kept saying "nigh, nigh" and tried laying on her blanket on the floor.  Luckily, the flight to Waco was short and not very full.  Samantha sat on Daddy's lap this time, mostly just looking out the window, eating some snacks, playing with her Magna-Doodle, and before we knew it, we landed again.  The family we were staying with were nice enough to pick us up at the airport, and even though it was 10 o'clock Waco time, 11 Indiana time, Samantha was still running around the airport and didn't even fall asleep in the car on our drive to their house.  We laid her down for bed right away, and she was very happy to see the pack and play.  We weren't too far behind her as we were very tired too.

The next morning, Samantha was very excited to see the kids that lived in that house.  She loved playing with all the new toys, particularly the doll stroller.  After a little while we decided to make a trip to drive by our old house and then go over to Baylor to see the Baylor bears.  It was weird driving around these old streets that once seemed so familiar to us.  Samantha enjoyed the warm, sunny, breezy weather.  After that short trip, we decided to go to one of our favorite Texas restaurants: Rudy's, mmm...barbecue.  Indiana just does't have anything that compares.  Samantha was a fan of the sausage.  Ben really enjoyed his brisket.  After our good lunch, it was time for a nap for Samantha and some downtime/work time for Mommy and Daddy.

That evening we got together with some dear friends in Waco that were a part of our old small group.  One couple has a little girl several months younger than Samantha, so they really enjoyed playing with each other that night.  We had a yummy dinner, good conversations, and Blue Bell ice cream to top off the night.  We were setting up the pack and play for Samantha that night, and she was so sleepy that she was practically begging to get in it.  We put her in it and then Emily also wanted to get in it.  Emily was playing around in the pack and play, and Samantha kept trying to lie down in it, occasionally looking up at Emily like, "What are you doing?  I'm trying to sleep here!"  We put Samantha to sleep there for a little while so that the adults could have some time to catch up and talk.  It was so good for my soul to be around old friends and have good conversations, just like we never had left.  I really miss these Waco friends.  It would be wonderful to have Emily and Samantha grow up together.  They sure became fast friends!

This was my attempt at taking a picture of both the girls together. It didn't work so well! 

Saturday morning the kids had a great job playing together.  Samantha loved playing outside in their backyard, something you would never be able to do in Indiana this time of year.  Samantha loved the swing.  She would absolutely love having a swing set in our backyard.  Someday!  I went in the house to take a shower and get ready, and when I got done in the shower, she was still on the swing.

For lunch this day we went to Chuy's, our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant.  We had a very good lunch, and driving around the streets of Waco seemed so familiar, yet so strange.  Samantha had another good afternoon nap, and then it was time to go to Brandi's party, the whole reason we traveled to Waco for the weekend.  Our dear friend Brandi was diagnosed with a brain tumor about a year a half ago, right around when Samantha was born.  Ever since then, they have been trying various things to get rid of the cancer, to remove it, to heal Brandi.  Some things have made small improvements over the year, but they just recently did a brain scan and noticed that the tumor had grown right through the new chemo treatment.  They are now out of medical options that can kill the tumor and instead they are focusing on how to have quality time instead of quantity time.  Her husband, Stanton, planned this celebration party in her honor.  They took pictures of all the families that came and we wrote out cards for Brandi that they will match up and put in a book for her.  We had a great service of worship, testimony, and prayer.  We were all in tears, pouring our hearts out to God to heal this wonderful woman, wife, and mother of two little ones.  If you are a prayer warrior, please lift Brandi up in prayer when you think of her.  Samantha had time to play with the kids in the nursery and enjoyed meeting some new friends.

Sunday morning was time for church, lunch, and then a quick nap before we had to head to the airport for our flight home.  Our flight was at 4:00, so we got there just a little bit early to check in.  Samantha actually seemed really excited to get on the plane and had a hard time waiting in the waiting area.  She saw the ramp to the plane and wanted to run down it, even though it was not our turn to get on the plane yet.

Here is Samantha at the airport in Waco, showing of her new vocabulary:

Just like before, she did a great job on the plane, even though this was just the short one.  Once at DFW, our second flight was delayed for a little while, so we decided to go to a Tex-Mex restaurant for dinner and have a good meal, something that Samantha would really like.  Samantha enjoyed her rice, beans, taco, and the giant chocolate shake that we all shared.  We were a little worried about how this second plane ride would go because Samantha already had a very long, busy weekend, switching time zones, being in a different environment, and a lot of traveling around.  She was very, very tired, but of course is way too social to fall asleep on the plane.  The hardest part for her was the waiting to take off and taxiing part.  She was getting a little impatient and wanted to just take off into the air.  Samantha enjoyed looking at the lights below outside the plane window, eating snacks, playing with her Magna Doodle, and after a while, we busted out the computer and let her watch some of her Elmo DVD and then also videos and pictures of herself, which amused her for quite some time.  There was an older couple sitting in front of us on the plane, and I was worried the whole time about bothering them.  I tried my hardest to not allow Samantha to kick the seat or bang the tray table up and down.  After the flight and we were all waiting to get off, the older lady turned around and commented to us on how well behaved Samantha was, how they enjoyed hearing her talk and laugh throughout the flight.  Another couple behind us also commented on how well Samantha did on the flight, noting that she did not fuss on the flight even once.  We were so appreciative of the positive feedback because I know many people heave a deep sigh of dread when they see they will be aboard a plane with a baby or toddler.  Once in the airport, we took Samantha to the bathroom, changed her diaper, and put her pajamas on in preparation for bed.  We made our way out out the airport, back onto the bus, and to our car in the parking lot.  Samantha got tucked into her car seat (after all, it was around 10:30 when we left, way past this little girl's bedtime!).  She talked to herself quietly for awhile, repeating the words "Texas" and "bus" until she finally fell peacefully asleep, a perfect ending to our whirlwind of a weekend in Texas.