Vacation round up

What a fab vacation. It was a little hard to leave, especially since it meant taking Grace so far from her extended family, especially her doting grandparents. Plus, Steve and I got a lot of rest and it was a treat to have ready arms for Grace whenever we wanted to do something simple like use the bathroom. Poor Gracie is going to be so bored now that it's back to spending long days just with me. It was also amazing to see how much she changed just during the time we were gone. She's crying less (maybe just because she rarely had the chance to get bored) and is showing a lot more interest in her toys, reaching for things, making lots of new sounds, and laughing more.

Also, Steve and I finally went on a date! It wasn't really on purpose that we waited so long, but mostly a function of his work schedule. It was kind of funny because we were seated at a table with babies on two sides of us (at what I wouldn't have considered an especially family-oriented restaurant). The baby across from us looked to be just about Grace's age and flipped a lid when his parents were about halfway through dinner. Dad kept walking the baby while Mom tried to finish eating, but eventually they packed up their food and left. Steve and I kept wondering if we should offer to hold the baby so they could finish their meal. But we had to remind ourselves that was why we were out sans Gracie - so we could just be us for two hours! It was fun! And we do remember how to have a conversation.

The trip back was mostly uneventful. Grace was once again a champion traveler. Even as we had a long trip home from the airport on the T at midnight, she was wide-eyed, but not hysterical as we had feared. She is adjusting to the time change... but I think it might take a few more days.

The only glitch traveling was when I picked Gracie up to carry her through security screening at SeaTac. Massive diaper leak... all over the carseat and her and our boarding passes, which we had smartly slipped in next to her. So I grabbed a plastic bag to hold around her and we marched through heads held high. Hurray for family restrooms. Can you imagine cleaning that up on a little table in a restroom where you can't leave the baby while you walk to the sink? Ugh. And fortunately I had the foresight to wash out the onesie she was in and let it airdry on the stroller because oh yes, it happened again on the plane. Not as dramatically, thank goodness, but we did have quite the tricky change while Gracie screamed because she was hungry. Oh the flight attendants had a good laugh and I hope you do too because someone should find all this funny (and yes, we have been working on what exactly the issue is with the diapers). The fun just never ends.

Now we are back and Steve is off to work and I need to figure out how to get some work done while Grace takes her periodic, brief naps because my contract started this week and daycare doesn't start till October. Yikes. Posting may be light... or not if procrastination takes hold.

The rest of our trip pix are here (using picassa because flickr is irritating me).