Lilly's First Overnight Trip

This past weekend we took our first overnight trip with Lilly to New Jersey to attend my cousin Kristine's (alleged) surprise 30th birthday party. We made a stop at my cousin Chris' house in Fanwood first to see him, Diane and their kids Nick and Alex since they live only an hour away from Kristine. Then we headed to Kristine's house in Pompton Lakes to meet her husband Dan to get ready and go to the party. Lilly thoroughly enjoyed her first birthday party (as did her parents!) and was greeted by many friendly guests who commented on how good she was. Of course there had to be at least one snag - Lilly saved up a "special diaper" all day until she was at the hotel, a few minutes before Kristine was due to arrive, and in her first dress and pair of tights! Fortunately I was on the lookout and caught it before things got too messy. Lilly especially loved Kristine's special birthday cake!



As far as sleeping over at Kristine and Dan's, she had a little bit of a hard time adjusting to a new place and different sleeping arrangements. (as did her father! She hasn't been in the same room with us since she left the bassinet at 1.5 weeks old!) I don't think she was very comfortable in her travel bed - she was very restless and got up twice during the night. The car ride home was quiet, but then when we got home she was very overtired and cried for an hour straight...our first serious meltdown when equally exhausted Mike and I looked at each other and said "What the heck do we do now?" I know it's normal for kids to do that, but this was our first time with it. (For all you parents whose kids do this alot and you're laughing at us - don't worry, we know we're lucky!) But with a little extra rocking and cuddling from me, she finally calmed down and went to sleep at 8:15pm. (and slept until 6:45am! YES!) She's still a bit cranky today - don't know if it's leftover from this weekend or she's going through something. She's been fussy every since she woke up. I guess time will tell...

Overall it was a great trip!