Boston!

When the World Synchronized Skating Championships were announced to be held in Boston, I knew I wanted to go! I had to get a ticket before Josh was born, and we decided that we would plan to fly Southwest so that everything was refundable if we had to cancel our trip. After Josh was born, life was much more difficult that we expected so Julian and I rethought the plan of going--particularly since flight prices had been really expensive. Just when I had accepted the fact that we probably weren't going, flight prices dropped (finally!) and Josh's personality and eating improved dramatically (thank goodness!). We decided that it would be nice to get away and see what traveling with a baby was like :-)

Hanging out at the airport

We were not sure what we would need so we decided to bring everything.  Some nights Josh goes through several outfits so we didn't want to not have enough.  We ended up with a large bag for Josh, a small one for Julian and I, a portable crib (since we didn't trust the hotels) and the stroller/infant seat. Fortunately we found out our infant seat can be used without the base, so we didn't need to bring that! Even though we could check 4 bags with southwest, we didn't want to have more stuff than we could carry.

Josh studying up before the flight

Overall Josh did really well!! Many people advised me to nurse him on the takeoff to help his ears adjust. I carefully worked out a feeding schedule to make that happen, only to find out our flight was delayed. I got a text message about the delay and was able to delay his earlier feedings to make up for it a bit. It seems the middle of the day is "traveling with kids" hour, so there were lots of parents and kids and very few angry businessmen. By the time we got on the plane Josh was a bit cranky and hungry, but I didn't want to let him eat too soon. He was fussy until I let him eat, but then he slept for the rest of the flight.

After checking into our hotel, we got a recommendation for a nice dinner place (that wouldn't be too nice to bring a baby) and headed out to eat. Because we are super cool, we arrived at dinner at 4:45 before the kitchen was open :-P  We ended up getting a table at the bar and enjoyed some happy hour specials until we could order dinner. Josh was so well behaved at dinner that even the manager was telling us how cute he was. After dinner I headed out to the Skating Competition and Julian and Josh hung out at the hotel watching sports. Unfortunately Josh was less than pleased to be given a bottle, and he and Julian had a rough evening.

We had been worried that Josh wouldn't sleep in the portable crib at the hotel, since he will not nap in it at home. But we were wrong and Josh slept through the night the first night in the hotel :-)  Sadly he did not keep this up for night 2 in the hotel.

Josh is King of the bed!

Josh inside the footprint of a T-Rex

The next day we headed off to the Museum of Science. I had been to the museum on my 6th grade trip to Boston and have wanted to go back ever since. The museum was great!! While Josh is a bit on the young side for a science museum, he did enjoy looking around :-)  I would highly recommend the museum for others with kids (or without!). This was the first time Julian and I went to a "kid friendly" place since having Josh and we had a new appreciation for it. There were benches everywhere and the map of the museum said that nursing was welcome anywhere in the museum which made me feel much more comfortable.

Because Julian had such a hard time with Josh the day before, I decided to miss the first hour of day 2 of the skating competition. Sadly that meant missing Team Mexico, the team I hope to skate for in the future :-P. Julian and Josh had a better time this time, and since the competition started earlier that day I was home in time for bedtime for Josh. Although it seems he slept better when I wasn't there...

On Sunday we checked out and left our bags at the hotel to walk around Boston. We started on the Freedom Trail and met up with Rana. Rana found us a great brunch location and we got to hang out :-)  Rana met Josh when he was only 2 weeks old and was having trouble gaining weight, she was amazed at how big he has gotten. We then walked around a bit more until it was time to head to the airport.

The flight home went well too! This flight was full, so we were concerned for the person who ended up stuck sitting with us. Fortunately we ended up with a really nice resident at Hopkins in dermatology. Josh again slept for most of the flight and only started getting fussy when we were waiting to get off the plane because it was past his bedtime.

Overall it was really nice to get away! It also helped Julian and I feel more confident as parents having to be outside of our element and away from "all our stuff". I'm sure that traveling with Josh will change as he gets older and more mobile, but I'm glad we took the chance to go away before that stage!

Margaret,  Josh and Rana