I knew this day would come sooner or later, I was just kinda hoping more for the “later.” Today Simeon and I are taking Ana on her first airplane ride. God help us all.

Part of Simeon’s job, the job that allows me to stay home and raise our daughter, involves traveling, often for a week at a time. This early in the game (10 weeks yesterday! Can you believe it?) Sim can’t imagine being away for that long. Heck, he has trouble with an 8-hour work day (in which Ana and I often stop by and visit him) how can he be expected to go for days? And even more importantly, how can I take care of an infant 24/7 without ANY help or even the prospect of help?

Anticipating this problem, we always said we would just go with him. Hey, it could even be fun! Since the job reimburses all of Sim’s expenses (airfare, hotel, food, etc.) we would really only be out my airline ticket. We checked the rates and decided the cost of my ticket was totally worth it and clicked the “Book Now” button on two plane tickets to San Jose. We even upgraded to first class. Since one of us will be holding Ana, I wanted the extra room. Plus first class only has two seats in each section so I won’t have to worry about sitting next to some perv watching me feed Ana during the flight (highly recommended during take-off and landing to help their ears adjust to the change in altitude, by the way). A perv-free flight? It’s nothing but the best for my kiddo!

It was all coming together. We booked the flight. Reserved the room. Even made plans to meet up with some of our friends for dinner while we were in town. This was going to be like a nice little get-away. A luxurious travel experience that we don’t even splurge on for our own vacations. We even started to get excited and think about how fun it would be!

Well, now I don’t see any “fun” in sight. Particularly after last night watching my daughter projectile vomit for the first time in her life. She doesn’t even spit up for crying out loud! The only fluid that has ever come out of her mouth is the little bit of milk she has yet to swallow when she drifts off to sleep while nursing. So watching Ana empty the contents of her stomach with force rivaling Linda Blair in The Exorcist has put a little fear in me. How will I pack enough clothes? Do we even have enough clothes to handle an exorcist baby? Does the state of California?!

To be fair, we aren’t entirely sure if she is getting sick, or if she just gagged herself with the pacifier since moments before she did just that. But is that really something you want to have to be worrying about right before taking your daughter on an airplane for the first time? No. No, it is not.

Our bags are packed with extra, oh I’d say, everything. I have read just about all I can on how to travel with an infant. We even have a game plan. And I will totally tell you how it all plays out when we get back. Wish me luck!

Well, I did it. I finally left Ana with someone else while I went out. Granted, I only left her with her father, but I was away from her for a solid four hours. Sim was adamant that I needed to take a break from being “The Mom” and go have some fun. So last night I went out to dinner and a movie with some former co-workers while Simeon stayed home with Ana. Sure, I had left him with her for an hour here or there while I ran to the grocery store, but this was the longest stretch yet.

The big deal here was since Ana eats about every three hours during the day, this time frame was to include a feeding. I have been pumping here and there when Ana didn’t eat much or I was really engorged, so I have a stash of breast milk in the freezer (that way we don’t have to give her formula when mama is away) but she has never taken a bottle before. I didn’t know how she would react to the bottle, so I figured it was best to try it for the first time with daddy rather than a babysitter who wouldn’t know all of the little tricks to make Ana happy. Turns out it was a good thing it was Sim and not a babysitter or we may never have been able to go out again!

Sim said she was good for the first couple hours. They just hung out and cuddled on the couch, but then she started getting fussy and he couldn’t get her to calm down. He tried to feed her, but she did NOT like the bottle. I know it is probably an “acquired taste” and she just did not know what to make of it. But that just made her more angry. Sim said she pretty much screamed for an hour straight and he could not soothe her. The poor thing! (Simeon and Ana!)

I kept checking my phone for any text messages during the movie, but Sim sucked it up and didn’t complain or panic once. But he sure was relieved when I got home! Ana of course chose that exact moment to finally drift off to sleep. Girl just wanted her mama.

I have to admit I was quite proud of myself; I did not talk about anything baby related even once while I was out. And yes, it was really nice to get a little break. But you better believe I smothered her in hugs and kisses when I finally got home. I guess a mama needs her baby just as much.

Ana had her two-month doctors appointment today. Here are her stats from the appt:

Height: 23 1/4″ (75th percentile)
Weight: 11 lbs 8 oz (75th percentile)
Head: 39.4 cm (75th percentile)

Ana had several immunizatations, which neither she nor I were very happy about. The poor thing just looked at me, as her eyes filled up with tears, like she was thinking “Mama aren’t you going to stop that lady from hurting me?” Then the screaming started. It took a while to calm her down, but other than that she appears to be handling the shots well. We gave her Infant Tylenol 30 minutes before the shots and four hours after to help with the pain and soreness, which so far has really worked. I am crossing my fingers the rest of the day progresses as smoothly. Other than that, the doctor said she is looking really healthy, happy, and meeting all her milestones. Yea!

Today was a wonderful day. There was much rejoicing and enthusiastic cheering at our house. Was it the fancy footwork of the football players? No way. Was it the clever advertisements? Nope. Was it winning money in a Super Bowl Pool? Not even. It was the fact that my daughter finally pooped.

Ana’s bowels have been a little, shall we say, less than cooperative lately. She hasn’t had a “real” poop in almost two weeks. The last time she went, on Monday night, it was almost pure liquid. Sim keeps mentioning beef bullion. Yuck. So you can imagine we were very excited when her tummy rumbled and moments later I could feel the warmth on the lower part of her back. I instantly called to Sim and we whooped and hollered…and then promptly drew Ana a bath.

I don’t know if it was something I was eating, or if she is just trying to get settled into a routine, but we were really starting to get worried. There is nothing like simultaneously wishing for and dreading something so much. On one hand we really wanted her to poop so we would know she was ok (and so she would start feeling better, the poor kiddo), but on the other hand the thought of six days worth of collective poop is really terrifying. I was starting to wonder if she had evolved beyond us toilet-bound humans and found an alternate way to dispose of her waste. Like maybe she was absorbing it into her system and using it to develop her super powers. Hey, one starts to get thoughtful and creative after SIX DAYS WITHOUT POOP. Alas, she is sans super powers…but thankfully back to pooping like a champ! Wahoo!!