The Dreaded Drive Home

When we finally scheduled the trip back to WI I compromised with Andy on our travel arrangements. He wanted to drive with the dogs and I was completely against driving across country and back with two big dogs and a barely three month old. After much discussion I agreed to fly out first class with Maxim while Andy drove with the dogs and then I will drive back with them. After my little traveler was awesome on the flight I was soon regretting this deal. I REALLY DID NOT want to drive across country with Maxim as I had no idea how he was going to be. 

On Sunday morning we hit the road after Maxim's early morning feeding. Of course he slept during the first shift and only woke up in four hours when it was time to eat. After I fed him and Andy walked the dogs we hit the road and baby was fast asleep again. I started to think if this is how it's going to be maybe the car ride won't be so bad. Ahhh...thought too soon. Two hours into the second shift Maxm was wailing and I couldn't do much from the front seat. Andy and I figured one of us needs to sit in back with him to help entertain him, so after the next stop and feeding I got my butt in the back seat. He calmed down since he could see me and Hold my hand.

We were like this the rest of the first day. We stopped in Elk City, OK to try and get some sleep. It was planned that since I would be the one to get up and feed him in the middle of the night Andy would do most of the driving. I did not anticipate a "wide awake baby" all night. Since he slept all day he was wide awake when we got to the hotel and did not fall asleep until 3am and then got up at 5:30am to party. This made for one tired mommy the next day in the car. 

Izzy made sure she kept an eye on Maxim in the back and whenever he would make a noise she would check on him. He would just stare at Izzy with big eyes. 

Izzy decided that maybe she just needed to sleep there to make sure Maxim was safe at all times.

Once Maxim was completely over the car ride (just like mommy) I pulled out the rings. My girlfriend swears the rings are what do it for her little girl, so I was ready to give it a shot. So far a Maxim has not been interested in any rattles or toys, so this was a first with him. At first Maxim didn't know what to do with them. He just looked at me funny, but who wouldn't when a woman in her 30's shakes the crap out of plastic circles while making a ridiculous face? After many stares he finally grasped the rings and held on for dear life. He didn't do much else, but just gripping the rings entertained him for a couple hours and mommy was happy.

He also needed his paci here to make him happy.

We made it back to Arizona in good timing. I thought it would take us three days (yes, I was being dramatic) to get home, but we got a routine down at each stop and it made for a smooth process. A 24 hour road trip turned into 29 hours of travel time. The trip wasn't as bad as I thought, but I plan to never do it again!