Phil and Kim's Little One: Wesley's First Road Trip

So Phil and I decided that having a new baby wasn't exciting enough, so we decided to go on a crazy road trip with him. Our first stop was for two nights in Syracuse to see Uncle Greg and Aunt Jan'Ann. From there we traveled to Detroit to see Uncle Brian and Aunt Cyndi. And then there was the (unplanned) stop in Pennsylvania.

Wesley enjoys sucking on many of his favorite toys--which gets really disgusting when you reach your hand into the toy bag and get slimed!

Our first night in Syracuse we went to dinner at a great Thai restaurant, where Wes enjoyed sucking on Jan'Ann's thumb. Hmmm, do you notice a sucking theme here?

Yes, we did load the swing in the car and it made 2 appearances--one at each house. Fortunately, we did not need the vacuum at either stop.

The next day we went to Syracuse's Zoo, which is about 1,000 times better than the zoo in Boston.

and Wes got to pet a Snow Leopard

The lions were off limits, though.

He soon fell asleep with all of the excitement! One second we were admiring sea horses, and the next time I looked down, he was like this!

Playing with Daddy--it's a good thing he's flexible!

Morning with Uncle Greg--do you notice that Wes is distracted? He's watching ESPN--he is a Liberman boy!

This is the town of Wesleyville, PA where Wesley rules from afar. He's passed legislation so that all babies get their diapers changed immediately upon filling them and no baby is allowed to spend more than an hour in a carseat.

We arrived at Brian and Cyndi's just about bedtime, so we got him to sleep, but then had to move him a few hours later. Phil was the brave one to attempt moving him, and I loved how Wes wrapped his little arms around him.

It was great to see Uncle Brian and Aunt Cyndi and meet their cat--Orion. They have another one, Tang, but he was scared of us...I can't imagine why...we do take over a place when we visit!

Tummy Time!

This was supposed to be our picnic before our walk, but we walked maybe a quarter mile and realized that it was way too hot!

Wesley was interested in their cat--funny because he seems to ignore our cats!

This was the best nap Wesley took the whole trip--he slept for 3 hours!

Wesley was great in the car. He liked to play with his toys, especially new ones!

When he'd start to get fussy, I'd bring out a new toy, so I was especially grateful for Brian and Cyndi's gifts, including this rattle.

Another one of his favorite things was staring at this Warning sign that's painted onto the car seat. It was hours of entertainment!

Wesley also likes to cuddle with a blanket, or suck on it, especially before going to sleep.

Sleep was his other favorite pasttime in the car!

So everything was going along well on the longest part of our trip--Michigan to Massachusetts--UNTIL Pennsylvania! In total, it took us about 10 hours to get through Pennsylvania, and about 5 of these were in Central Pennsylvania. Here we are, not moving AT ALL, doing a diaper and onesie change in the middle of the highway. We spent at least an hour like this, plus 2 other stop-and-go type traffic situations. Did I also mention that it was about 95 degrees and awfully humid? Ugh.

There were parked cars as far as the eye could see!

So much so that Phil and I decided that 11 hours in the car was enough and spent a night at a hotel. Doesn't Wes look so little in the king sized bed!?!? Not bad for his first hotel stay.

Wes, the next morning, expressing his enthusiasm for hotels!

The next day it took us about 8 hours or so to get back to Boston. It took me many tricks to entertain Wes. Do you see the number of toys hanging from his car seat? Plus a rattle in his hand, rattles on his feet, and a book to look at. I also promised him many times that we wouldn't spend any time in the car seat the next day. (and we didn't!)