It was only a five hour flight, which seemed short. But with the Lyft ride at the beginning and long drive to Bangor at the ending, and three hours lost in the air, it was still a whole day of travel.
Carly woke him up around 7:30. Had some cereal with Kayla, then they got Thatcher up to say goodbye. We hung out on the front porch, waiting for the Lyft driver, and August wore Thatcher’s hat. The first time August has worn a ball cap that fit.
He was a little interested/confused that we were riding in a car driven by a stranger, but handled the ride just fine. We saw the Space Needle along the way. Got to the airport and were able to check our bags at the curb. Between online checkin, Lyft, and that it felt much different than our usual international flights. A long security line but not too bad.
We got food at a bagel place and took it down to a quiet corner in the D wing and ate. August and I shared a bagel with egg and cheese, and then a blueberry scone. Carly took him for a walk at one point, and he and I went to check to see if our plane was there at another point. He needed to go to the bathroom and I took him – it was his long bathroom time for the day, so it was nice it happened now and not when we were on the plane with a long line of people waiting.
As we taxied to the runway he was leaning against me. Every time a new noise started up he wanted to know what it was. He fell asleep as we took off at noon and leaned over and laid his head down on Carly’s lap. Carly woke him up just before 1:40. They read Oh, Daddy! a couple times and some Tellulah books before playing Dragonbox Numbers. He and I read the Puffin Rock book, Hello Little Egg, a couple times, and twice he sat on my lap and we looked out the window. But most of his time was spent with Carly, nursing or going to the bathroom again and again and again. And he watched a few episodes of Sarah and Duck, giggling with his headphones on. Meanwhile, I finished watching season 2 of Broadchurch and read some of Gaiman’s Norse Mythology and started a John Sandford novel that Peter sent me.
August got frustrated when we were landing because he wanted to look out the window. We found our bags right away at baggage claim, went to the bathroom, and Chuck found us. We got driving about 8:30. I sat in back with August so Carly could talk to her dad. August protested, telling me “Dada’s not as interesting.” We stopped at a convenience store on the drive with a Subway and got a veggie pattie sandwich. We ate some and got driving again. He barely ate any, but then heard the rustling of a bag up front and asked what it was. It was M&Ms. We did a five bites of sandwich, one M&M process and he wanted me to explain why five bites. I took a video of him and Carly having M&Ms. They both got red, and right after the video he said “Yeah, yeah, red!”
We got to the house at 11. Cherie met us, and August said “Hi Oma!” They helped haul our stuff in through the back door. There was a big catepillar balloon waiting for August, and Vivian had left a Q magnet for August under a pillow. Cherie hung out for awhile, then headed to bed. We went and explored the house and sat and had some tea. August had soy milk from a cup with a long twisty bendy straw and sat on the stool. But he also spent a lot of time just wandering around the first floor, getting a sense of everything. When I first walked out into the new kitchen area with him, he then asked how to get back to our bedroom.
Finally, we headed back to the bedroom and he fell asleep at 12:20.