Weekend at Home

It was a work weekend for Andi, who produced a local bike event in town. Tory and I originally planned to lay low around the house, maybe make a trip to Target or Trader Joe's. Nothing too eventful. On Tuesday, a last-minute flight deal from Minneapolis to Omaha popped up so Andi surprised me with a ticket home to see my family.

On Saturday, Andi dropped Tory and I off at the airport. Tory and I haven't flown by ourselves for a few months and this was the first time traveling with her convertible car seat, so I was a little worried how I'd manage all the extra baggage by myself. Surprisingly though, the entire trip went so smoothly. I'd venture to say this was the easiest time I've had traveling with Tory in tow. I checked both my suitcase and the car seat so I didn't have to worry about carrying them through the airport. Luckily, Tory still loves to ride along in her Baby Bjorn which gave me extra hands to maneuver if needed. I even stopped for Starbucks on the way to the gate - WATCH OUT. Traveling with a baby this age was perfect because I could've set Tory down in a chair if I needed to, but she isn't able to run around yet. (Also, it helps I've figured out how to use the restroom and hold her at the same time. Not ideal obviously, but sometimes you do what you've gotta do).

I was worried about my parents driving to the Omaha airport to pick me up because they're not always the most comfortable navigating in unfamiliar situations, but they also did great. They were in good spirits and not a bit stressed when they picked me up, so I felt better about making them drive two hours to get us. On the way back to their house, we stopped in Lincoln for lunch at Applebee's and met my brother there. Restaurant dining is also much easier with Tory these days and she happily sat in a high chair and ate her crackers. Girlfriend also loves herself some French fries as noted when she'd swipe them off my plate, suck on them and put them back all wet and soggy.

We spent the rest of Saturday lounging around my parent's house. My niece Brookie and Tory played for hours underneath my mom's sofa table. It was the cutest thing to see them interact together like little cousins do. I've venture to say this was the first of many, many games of playing "house" and babies together.

Tory Bean was thisclose to taking her first steps this weekend. She loved Brookie's stroller walker I bought her for on her first birthday (Brooke still uses it for her baby dolls). Tory walked behind the toy like it was no big deal and even took a few unassisted steps between my sister and I on Saturday night. Selfishly, I didn't push her too hard because I didn't want her to take her first real steps when Andi wasn't around. She was cruising furniture for the first time this weekend, too, so I bet it won't be long before we have a mobile baby on our hands!

Monday's trip back to the Twin Cities was a breeze. Many of the passengers around us commented what a good little traveler Tory was and that always makes me feel good (as I know they probably rolled their eyes when they saw me sit down next to them on the plane). Looking out the window and tearing pages out of the free magazines on the airplane entertained Tory for most of the ride. I'm not a big "plane talker," but I think the key to traveling alone with a baby is making friends with your seat neighbor. I politely introduced ourselves and apologized in advance for any toys or crackers that might fly through the air toward their seat. Once the ice is broken, it doesn't seem so awkward when a Gerber Pinwheel cracker literally does land on their TPS Report a few minutes later.

Andi had a successful event back at home and now we're both counting the days until anniversary trip to Vail this weekend. Every baby has their thing and Tory's no exception with her no-pacifier-taking, hated-her-car-seat-for-9-months ways, but I'm thankful she's so go-with-the-flow when it comes to change in surroundings. One weekend we're at the cabin, then in Nebraska, the next a weekend with Grandma. Tory's a good sport about changing places and people which makes things like flying back to Nebraska for the weekend worth it all the way.