Last weekend, we went to Canada to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa’s fiftieth wedding anniversary!
Obviously, this after we told him we were going to see Grandma and Grandpa, but is before the car trip.
Peter Gwydion is still not even a little bit of a fan of the car. He screams blue murder (well, purple murder, because that’s what color his face has been known to turn.). It puts us into a really difficult situation, since a key part of our parenting is not letting Gwyn “cry it out.” It’s important to us to honor what he tells us, to respect him and his wishes the way we want him to respect us as he gets older. Family, though, is really important to Kevin and me. So, I sit in back with Gwyn to sing songs and play games- we let Gwyn know that we love his mad side, too, and that he’s not alone when he cries. Right now, that seems to be the best we can do, short of just not taking car trips anywhere. With our closest family members three and a half hours away, though, that’s not the ideal solution, either. Anyway, if your baby falls asleep in the car, you can trust that I’m jealous of you right now.
Once we get where we’re going, though, everything is usually pretty happy:
Snuggles from Grandma
Mr. Center of Attention
Grandma, cameras, and his crazy rattle that's made of cornstarch resin. Life's pretty good in this picture.
Note Gwyn's left hand, and Grandpa's futile efforts to minimize damage to his beard.
His intense concentration in this picture absolutely cracks me up.
Aww, look, he's so sweet and innocent...
...until he tries to pull your beard off!
Getting some cuddles from Nana Charlotte
Tired baby with Momma at the end of the party.
The next car trip we’re tackling is the one across Pennsylvania and then down to DC for American Thanksgiving. If you’ve got any good car tips for babies, now’s the time to share!
2 Responses to “Happy anniversary, Grandma and Grandpa!”
Try keeping him awake for as long as you can right before you start the trip. Also, get some new, interesting toys.
Teething tablets? Maybe some homeopathic motion sickness tablets if they have them for the under 2 set…even if he is not getting physically ill while traveling, the motion could be disorientating, or giving him headaches or earaches maybe?
Ella was not a great traveler all of the sudden at around 8 months or so and she still gets headaches and feels icky on car trips of any kind…although we are spared any teen-ralphing, we sure don’t get spared the teen-dramatics about it.
Is he at 20lbs and ready to be forward facing? I know that rear facing is always safest, but *legally* he could probably be turned if it meant he was more content and he was securely and properly fastened in (which I know you never forget to do). I feel dreadful for you, but this is a short period of time, relatively speaking, and you are doing your best to be respectful of him and his vocalization of his needs. I wish with all my heart that it gets resolved for all of your sakes.
And P.S. Gwyn is totally rocking that Jack Skellington shirt!