Road Trip!

All four of us drove to Virginia to visit our favorite "cousin-uncle" and "cousin-aunt" in the whole wide world! The drive down was a wild success......we left around 6. Amy fell right to sleep, as usual. Addy ate dinner then watched an Elmo movie on the DVD player built right into the van...GREATEST INVENTION EVER!!! The only crying episode we had was during the movie when Elmo lost his blanket. She did not like that very much! Then around 8:20, her normal bedtime, she fell asleep...and slept the whole way! It was GREAT!

The drive home....a different story.

We skipped her nap on purpose so that she'd take a long nap in the car, but never does she nap for 4.5 hours, so I expected her to be awake for about 1/2 of the ride. As planned, they both fell asleep right away. Then, as we approached Maryland, they BOTH woke up! They must have telepathically planned this. How wonderful! Even though Addy is potty-trained, we put a diaper on her just in case. So, as soon as she woke up, she needed to go potty. We pulled over at a rest stop to use the potty, and I was going to feed Amy, but she fell back to sleep. Perfect! Less time waiting around in the parking lot. Off we went....

15 minutes later, they both start screaming again. Addy saying she needed to pee. (Even though I figured she didn't have to, one can't assume this. Also, even though she was wearing a diaper, I can't really tell her to go in the diaper...what a mixed message!) Amy was saying "why didn't you feed me before, you idiot!"

Since there was a good distance until the next rest stop, I made a bottle for Amy and climbed back to feed her. (Seat belt laws don't apply to parents while driving long distances with babies, didn't you know?!??) The width of my body was about 3 inches wider than the space between the arm rests, so it was really comfy to sit back there and feed her. (Dear Amy: It'd be great if you could learn how to hold your bottle! Love, Mommy) Addy still was flipping out, and now she needed to "poop!" "POOP, NOWWWWW!" Another interesting fact: In a two-year old's mind, saying you have to poop means Mommy will get you down from your dreadful car seat much quicker!

So, we arrived at the rest stop... Amy was finished her bottle and was content, for now....Addy=nothing in the potty. I wasn't shocked. She's a tricky little girl! Off we went....until Addy had to "poop" for the 2nd time. Now, do we trust our adult minds in knowing she doesn't really have to poop and is only using this as a diversion tactic? OR, do we trust the toddler and believe she does have to poop (and avoid the possible belly dilemmas holding this in could cause.....) Hmmmm. We pulled over, again. And, by this time, Amy was freaking out, again. Thank you, Maryland, for having 3 rest stops rather close together.

Guess what: NO POOP! (from Addy... but LOTS from Amy. No wonder she was flipping out!) So, Amy was changed, and Addy was forced back into her seat, against much debate. Nothing would make her happy. No cookies. No Elmo. No funny voices. Finally, she was entertained by us singing "Jingle Bells"....so we sang...and sang...and sang....through most of Delaware.

So... our trip is over, and we are home. It got a bit hairy on the way home, but I certainly plan on doing it again, and again, and again. Call me crazy, but I really believe that twenty years from now when these girls are all grown up, I will look back to this and any future trips and think, "WOW, remember when they were little and we had to do crazy things like pull over every 5 seconds, etc, etc, etc.... That was so great. I miss it!"