In the past six weeks, Bumby has been on six planes, in four states and three countries.
It all started while I was pregnant, with a trip to Michigan to visit an aunt that I was particularly close with in college. The rest of my extended family lives there as well, so it made sense to take Bumby for a week while I was on maternity leave so everyone could meet him. We planned this for June. The big kids were still in school, so my wife stayed home with them and I planned a visit to my aunt’s farm.
Then we got the opportunity to take our family to France at a huge cost savings (we worked it out with the big kids’ dad — we brought them over with us and spent 10 days in France, and then he had some time in Europe and flew them home, saving both of us three international airfares. He’s from England so he wanted the opportunity to take them to see his family). So we planned five days in Paris and four in Antibes a few weeks after I was to return from Michigan. Bumby will be nearly six months, we figured. He’ll probably be sleeping great by then! (haha)
Then we got the invite for a friend’s wedding on the Cape, only a few days after we returned from France. Okay, we thought. We will make it a little weekend getaway of it. No problem.
And then, finally, a couple of weeks before the Michigan trip, my wife’s aunt’s sister passed away in California. Of course we had to go to the funeral.
And so it went — a flight to California and a long weekend in the Bay Area, and a flight home. One night of “sleep” at home, and a flight to Michigan. A week in Michigan, and a flight home. A week and a half at home in New York, and a flight to France (with a day trip to Monaco!). Ten days later, a flight back to the US. Two days after that, a road trip up to Cape Cod.
I am happy to report that we are home, at last, for good. Bumby was a trooper through the whole thing. He really is a happy, easygoing baby. He has seen more of the world in the first 24 weeks of his life than I saw in the first 24 years of mine. There were a few times when the tour de France got to be a bit much for him, but we had rented an apartment and a house through Airbnb for our trip, so at those times I just stayed home with him and let him play and relax a little. In the midst of all this travel, he got his first two teeth, at the same time, on the fourth of July.
We had a lot of adventures on our trip to France. La poussette (the stroller) got nicked from the Eiffel Tower, so we had no stroller for the second half of our trip. We almost missed our overnight train to Antibes, and when we were about to board, we discovered we were out of diapers. The train station drugstore didn’t sell them, so Bumby spent the night with maxi pads stuck inside his diaper cover. Bumby had an explosive poop in the middle of dinner at a nice restaurant, which squirted out the leg of his diaper and onto my shirt, so I just held him in front of the stain for the rest of the night. He also threw a cup of coffee on the floor of the cafe at Versailles, and was quite pleased with the commotion he caused. All in all though, I am proud of our family for all we were able to do with a baby in tow, and I am proud of Bumby for his adaptability and good nature through it all.
I have, however, promised Bumby that he does not have to go in his car seat for four days.
GAYBY MAKES SIX 