Last weekend Rachel and I made the trip up to New York to see my nephew make his first communion and we also took the opportunity to visit my Aunt, Uncle and Nana on Long Island (to my NY friends I'm sorry for not visiting with you but hope to be up in the area again). I was really excited that people that had not yet met Noah in person would be able to meet him (especially my 88 year old Nana). Rachel and I were sure to pack both the digital and video cameras for this one.
We had planned the trip up pretty well. After Noah had his dinner we changed him into his PJ's and loaded him into the car. Traveling with a child can be pretty interesting and although I do not EVER want a mini-van I can see why so many families use them. I would say roughly 90% of the car was Noah/Noah related and the other 10% was Parent/Parent related. I even packed some of my stuff under my seat! We traveled for about three hours and stopped in Pennsylvania to stay in a hotel. Thankfully Noah slept the whole way up and shortly after being fed and getting his bed set up he fell back asleep. It is quite the production getting his stuff set up. In 3 nights we stayed in 3 different placed. I imagine this is similar to how gypsies might have lived/felt. Unlike our previous hotel stay with Noah we were able to get him set up in the suite and we could have the bedroom (as opposed to the pull out, stab you in the back couch). The next morning after Noah woke the roosters up at 5 a.m. (I've stopped using alarms now) we fed him, clothed him, packed up our stuff and hit the road when Noah was ready to nap again. Driving while the child sleeps is great. Unfortunately during this leg of the trip there was some traffic that hindered our progress. Noah began crying on the Verrazano Bridge and we needed to find a place to stop and feed him. Thankfully by brother and his wife were home and let us drop in to feed him. Noah got a kick out of their little dog. At one point it was difficult to tell who was more excited about seeing the other. After he ate we began the last leg of our journey.
We arrived at my Aunt's house and Noah was alert and ready to get out of the car. I had the camera ready because I was so excited about Noah meeting the family. Instantly he was showered with "oohs" and "aahs" from his Aunt and Uncle and then my Nana came out to greet us. Now I know that my Nana loves me but I barely got a "hello" from her before she reached out to hold Noah (I'm getting used to playing second fiddle and I'm o.k. with it, he's a pretty awesome guy). Noah instantly hit it off with Nana and even gave her a big kiss. I can't really describe it but part of me was so excited that Noah could meet my Nana, even though it will be a long time before he meets his. My Aunt and Uncle gave Noah some cool toys to play with, one of which was a doll called Dapper Dan which came in handy on the longer ride home. Noah's Aunt Kerry and Uncle Chris and Granda all joined us for dinner and we had a great time. Also great was that for the second night in a row, in a place that was not his home, Noah slept through the night. Good times.
Saturday was the big communion. After contending again with traffic and the added bonus of rain we found ourselves sitting in the back of the church (close to the soundproof/crying baby room...just in case) watching my nephew make his first communion. Noah had a great time playing peak-a-boo with the little boy in the pew behind us and we never had to use the glass room. I had a great leg workout from standing and sitting repeatedly while holding Noah (all Catholics must have great leg muscles :) lots of praying). The rest of the day was spent setting ourselves up in another hotel and Noah getting passed around to family and friends of family (seriously I didn't know some of the people holding him but everyone seemed so taken back by his cuteness that they just need to hold him).
The road trip home was a rough one. Not only because we had to say goodbye to family but we also decided to drive straight home without making a hotel stop. The ease and relaxed atmosphere of the trip down was overcome by crying and baby anger on the trip up. We made several stops to change and feed him. I think in the future we will break up the trip on both ends.
All in all it was a great time with family and friends and even though Noah had a rough trip home he was really great the previous days. The picture below is one of my favorites from this trip.
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