April 14: We just got home from a great weekend in Wichita visiting Bryan’s family. The whole weekend was a lot of fun, but our flight home was a little more exciting than I prefer my flights to be. First of all, I can no longer go around thinking that my children don’t cry during flights. Andrew has probably flown 20 or 30 times, and he’s never made much of a fuss. And the first three legs of our weekend trip, Sylvia was quiet as well. But the flight from Memphis to Madison was different. She was mad from the moment we got on the plane, and although she fell asleep (from utter screaming exhaustion) for a while, she was inconsolable nearly the entire time. She had zero interest in nursing, which Bryan noted makes me a little bit like Superman in the face of kryptonite. So, that was fun.
Then when our plane got to Madison, we started circling instead of landing. After a bit, the pilot got on the intercom and announced that we were maneuvering to Madison’s longest runway because the plane’s flaps weren’t going down. Therefore, the plane was going to be going a lot faster upon landing than usual, and they needed a long runway to give time to stop. Wow. That’s exciting.
The emergency row folks got extra briefings, we were told that the landing would be hard and fast, and we should really make sure all our belongings were tightly secured. In order to prevent Sylvia from becoming a projectile, I got out my coat and zipped her up in it. The pilot said he’d done this kind of landing before, and the flight attendant wasn’t seeming too phased, and the tenor of the passengers was calm, a little baffled, and probably slightly nervous. It wasn’t until we after landed (there was a big thump and a lot of breaks as we stopped) and saw all the fire trucks and ambulances with their lights flashing…waiting for us that I felt worried:)
Many of our fellow passengers took pictures of the plane surrounded by emergency vehicles. Sylvia stopped crying when we got off the plane. I think at this point, my brain has re-congealed after melting from an hour or so of having her cry on my lap:)
OK, off to Sylvia’s two-month doctor’s appointment!
April 7: Mom’s 56th birthday is today. It’s the first birthday she’s ever skipped in her whole life. And it feels weird. A real reminder that she’s not here with us anymore. Instead of feeling sad (which is pretty easy to do), I’ve been trying to think of using her birthday as an opportunity to celebrate Mom. So family members who are here in Madison are going out to dinner tonight at the Mariner’s Inn. I think I’ll order lobster. It’s Mom’s favorite. And mine:)
April 7: It’s a miracle! Both kids are asleep. I just snuck out of the bed after lying down next to Sylvia for almost an hour. She really only likes to nap either on my lap on next to me in bed. Occasionally over the last hour, her eyes would flicker open, and a brief smile would spread across her face as she noted that I was still next to her. What sweetness. But then she seemed more lax, more asleep, and I snuck away to have a few moments in a room by myself before the next round of parenting starts. Andrew is sleeping this afternoon too. After spending the morning at Alivia’s house, he came home quiet tired. And happily, today (as opposed to the last couple days) he took a nap.
April 2: I’m amazed that I’m having a moment to log on to the computer mid-morning. Sylvia went down for a nap almost an hour ago, and despite waking up and nursing briefly, she’s still sleeping. Alivia is spending the morning at our house, and she and Andrew built a cool fort made of blankets and chairs in the sun room. They have flashlights, and pillows, and they have informed me that Spooky (our cat) is a monster from whom they are hiding.
