On Friday morning, Sage and I headed to the Denver International Airport for Sage's first airplane adventure. We were on our way to Kansas City to see my parents. I was incredibly nervous about the flight and spent nearly 4 hours the night before packing. There was a lot of gear to be prepared!
The flight was incredibly affordable. Sage was a "lap infant," so his ride was free. All of his baby equipment flew free too. I was able to check a car seat and stroller. He was also allowed a diaper bag. All of this was in addition to my own carry-on luggage. I couldn't believe it! Sage and his gear had to have added nearly 500 pounds to the aircraft, but we didn't dish out a dime! I only paid for my own ticket.
Here's a self portrait of Sage and I on the flight!
Sage put his tray in the upright position.
But while the flight was easy on the pocket, it was not easy on the body. Lugging around a giant baby and all of the above-mentioned carry-on items was quite a challenge! I probably looked ridiculous. Several folks in the airport commented on my bravery. I shrugged off their comments until the next day, when I could no longer shrug..... (Get it?!? Because my muscles didn't work anymore!!) The next morning I felt like I had run a marathon. And in all reality, probably did cover several miles. After parking in the Z lot (literally, the z lot - you couldn't get any farther away), and then checking in, and then going through security where you are required to dismantle everything for the xray machine (stroller included), and then taking the train to the terminal, and then locating a family restroom to clean up the blowout my son had somewhere in route, and then walking to the gate, and then boarding the airplane.....mama was tired!!!!
Sage was a fabulous flier! He didn't fuss at all. He slept only briefly, and then for the rest of the flight he flirted with all the passengers around us. His new skill is pointing, so he spent a good amount of time pointing at people. He laughed, he smiled, he bounced, he read books, he ate cheerios. And before we knew it the 1.5 hour flight was over! Easy as pie!
A surprise was waiting for me in Kansas... Uncle Sam!! I was told several times that Sam was unable to make the trip. I was stunned to see him sitting on my parents' couch when I finally arrived at their house. This was Sage and Sam's second visit together.
We celebrated my birthday (May 10th) with a huge feast at the Cheesecake Factory. Here is a picture of a strawberry pina colada. Delish!! I needed alcohol after the obstacle course we navigated earlier in the day.
The day up to this point was going smoothly. Sage and I were surrounded by loved ones celebrating my 29th birthday. But after dinner, things went south very quickly. Back at my parents house, I started to feel extremely nauseous, light-headed, and close to passing out. I was convinced I had food poisoning, but would later discover that I had some sort of virus (that I most likely brought with me from Colorado.) My symptoms would unfortunately continue throughout the rest of the weekend.
Sage woke up the next morning well rested.
The "fresh out of bed" look.
Here is Sage enjoying banana for breakfast in the same high char that I used as a child. Bet that tray isn't BPA free! :) Uncle Jack enjoyed having a baby in the house.
About this point in the day, I began to see some unpleasant symptoms surfacing in Sage. For the past two weeks, Sage had four upper front teeth slowly working their way down into his mouth. The teeth finally erupted on Tuesday, the day after we returned to Colorado. And so the weekend leading up to Tuesday was exceptionally painful for my little boy. He suffered from gum pain, earaches, and..... lots of explosive diarrhea. The blowout he had in the airport was the first of many, many blowouts over the course of our trip.
Despite the four incoming teeth, Sage wasn't miserable the whole time. He actually had lots of fun playing with all the toys grandma had scored at her neighborhood garage sales. Sage was a great sport given the circumstances. I, on the other hand was not as strong as Sage.
My mother, Sam, Sage and I tried to take a walk around the neighborhood. Just a block or two into the walk, I began to feel lightheaded. I sat down on the curb and couldn't go any further. Sam had to run and get the car to pick me up. I was that weak! I spent the majority of Saturday in bed napping, but felt good enough later that evening to attend a BBQ in celebration of my dad's birthday.
Sage and his Grandad playing with a super fun activity table.
On Sunday, after the 53rd blowout, I decided Sage needed a bath.
Baths in the kitchen sink are a classic "grandma's house" activity. Sage had so much fun!
Sunday was my favorite day of all. My first Mother's Day! My mother, Sage, and I drove to the Plaza to do some dining and shopping. My appetite and energy were starting to slowly come back by this day. And the weather was incredibly gorgeous!
Happy as a clam during the day.... but extremely irritable at night. Those teeth were still working their way down. Too bad Matt missed out on this fun and excitement!
Sage with his Mama Susan and Uncle Jack
On Monday, Sage and I flew back home. I was terrified of the flight home, given Sage's escalating fussiness. But to my surprise...it wasn't that bad!
On Monday evening I had no energy left to unpack or prepare for work the next day. I still was not feeling 100% back to health and needed one more day to recuperate. And so I called in sick to work on Tuesday.
Sage and I spent a small portion of Tuesday resting in the backyard, getting some fresh air, and enjoying the 85 degree day.
Even though our trip to Kansas did not go as planned, we still accomplished our main goal. Sage bonded with his grandparents and his uncles, and that was the biggest priority. We will most certainly make the trip to "grandma's house" again. But next time, none of us better be sick or teething!
I will end this week's post with two updates.
1) Sage is crawling in the "traditional" style on all fours. He has been doing that for a long time, but somehow it never made the blog. Tuesday, April 23rd was the first evening I noticed it. Sage spent about a week intermixing the traditional and army style crawling. But now he is exclusively using the hand-and-knee method. And boy is he fast!
2) In addition to pointing at EVERYTHING, Sage's new trick is to say "uh oh." And he says it at all the right times. For example, if he knocks something over... "uh oh!"
