Chase's First Red-Eye

Saturday, 4 October 2008

After going to the doctor on Thursday to get antibiotics, earplugs, Sudafed, and nasal spray so my head doesn't explode on the airplane, and working till 3 pm on Friday finishing my 1st quarter report cards for my 50 + students (cuz there's no way I'm looking at them during intercession), we finished packing and got safely to the airport last night.

Of course, because we were flying on a red-eye, Chase missed his 7:30 bedtime. I tried to keep him away from the action, but he was still too overstimulated by all the people and the lights of the plane and the lobby area. So, by the time we sat down in our seats and were ready to take off at 9:45 pm, he was overtired. He screamed and cried. I tried to put him on the boob, but he refused and just screamed and arched his back and tightened his legs like he does when he's frustrated. Chris and I looked at each other like "Uh oh". Thank goodness, Chase only screamed until we took off. By the time we were in the air, he was nursing and quickly fell asleep.

It's much harder to travel with him on our laps now that he's bigger and not an infant. He's SO wiggly! He tossed and turned in his sleep, crying a little bit each time until he found a comfortable position. But he managed to sleep all the way through the flight.

Of course, we arrived at the crazy hour of 5:30 San Francisco time (which is 3 hours ahead of Hawai'i time, so it was really 2:30 am for us.). Chase was up by the time we landed because of all the bright lights they turn on in the airplane. He wasn't too fussy though. He actually enjoyed running around the baggage area in his glow-in-the-dark skeleton pj's (Thanks, Thuy! They're so adorable (and make it so easy to find him)!). By the time my mom picked us up at 6:30 am, he was wired and full of energy. You'll be happy to know that my mom taught him a new trick (while standing outside the baggage claim) - how to stick your finger in your nose. Lovely. We're not even here for an hour, and now he knows how to pick boogers out of his nose. Hopefully that trick won't stick.

Got to my Popo's, ate breakfast, and Chase explored the house and the yard. Our sleep schedules were all messed up today, but once we took naps, we were energized enough to go out in the afternoon. By the afternoon, Chase had found a ball to play with in the backyard, had explored all the ant patterns and had seen his first squirrel, and he had already broken a magnet and a couple of things in Popo's living room. Turns out my grandmother's home is not that babyproof.

We went to the Los Altos Fall Festival, about ten minutes away. It was a little street fair where we ate food, saw Halloween games and crafts (that were too old for Chase), and we admired the classic cars. Chase loved seeing everyone with their dogs, and he loved the music - a band called Live Wire, who was singing covers from AC/DC to Michael Jackson. Chase clapped and bopped his head and knees to the music. One guy even commented that he has good rhythm. Must get that from his mother. It's definitely not from his father. Ha!

We found a new elephant and piggie book by Mo Williams to add to Chase's collection. We love those books. They're so simple, yet have so much voice and that bit of adult humor that just makes them hilarious. My mom treated us to dinner at Chili's (though Chris really was hoping we could go to Chevy's). Chase was so exhausted that he slept like a log on my lap the entire dinner. That's what you get for flying a red eye.