baby on board: Back in the Saddle Again

We just got back from a trip down to Georgia. This was Sophie's first time on an airplane. Genevieve, the seasoned traveler, was fully prepared for the flight. Of course this meant preconceived notions about everything. She asked why every little thing was different from the last flight she was on. At least until we realized that we were on a plane with a full set of children's television programming. We don't usually use TV to pacify G but in this case it allowed us to focus a bit more on the one that might cause difficulty. It turns out this didn't work entirely too well as the adult-sized airline headset kept falling off her pint-sized ears. I alternated between replacing ear pieces and rocking Sophie. Eventually I gave up on sitting and just spent most of the flight pacing in the galley with Sophie. The stewardesses didn't seem to mind since she wasn't crying.

The day before the trip we took Sophie to the doctor because she had a fever. The tests he ran took 24 hours which meant we didn't find out it was a bacterial infection until we arrived in Georgia. Our first few hours in town were spent finding a pharmacy and a doctor who could follow up with her to make sure her antibiotics were working. Since her follow-up was on Christmas Eve our only choice was the emergency room. Her infection is all better and she goes to the doctor tomorrow for her four month checkup. Everyone in Georgia loved Sophie and commented on how much she looked like her Grandpa. See if you can see the resemblance.

Genevieve had a great time but was even more timid around animals than last time. Anytime we had to go near a dog she would demand to be picked up. Since I knew each of these vicious dogs wanted nothing more than to lick her face I often ignored her request but taught her to say "g'wan git" when approached. She also was quite frightened around the cows and horses. After her first trip into the fields on the tractor to check on the cows, she asked me, "Do you like the mooing? I don't like the mooing." She then proceeded to ask about every one else's opinion on the mooing of the cows. On subsequent trips she requested to ride in the pickup truck instead of on the tractor. Seen below is Genevieve not enjoying the mooing.

Her grandpa let her drive the tractor and the pickup in the fields. He worked the pedals while she worked the wheel. Here is her first driving lesson.

Eventually she was brave enough to let me hold her in one arm while feeding a horse an apple or petting a donkey. She adamantly refused to touch anything larger than a cat. However, the cat is huge. Here is biscuit having a stare down with Sophie; he outweighs her by about five pounds.