I woke up at 7 and got ready; Lauren woke up at 7:45 - by far the earliest she's been up in a while! We got all ready, packed, and Lauren and I ate - I had bought a yogurt/muesli thing at the grocery store as I knew I'd need something before all our travel!
We checked out at 8:30 and made the 5 minute walk to the train station ... and then sat around for half an hour for our train (it was on time, we were just really early). The train was pretty full, but we were some of the first on, so got seats and luggage stowed and all that. An older woman sat across from me and talked to Lauren and me in German a bit - I just nodded and smiled :) The train was supposed to go all the way to the airport, but instead they announced we needed to switch trains in the main Zurich train station. They were on tracks right next to each other, so not a big deal. The airport station is right below the airport itself, so just a quick escalator ride up and we were by the check in desks. I got in line to print tickets and baggage tags and then we hauled all our stuff up to the counter. All went smoothly.
Then thru security and to our gate. I made Jeff stop and buy Lauren a cow bell at the airport gift shop since I was feeling bad we didn't get her a souvenir (then later I saw a cute red and white wooden car that would have been a lot cooler, but alas ... that's what I get for deciding at the last minute that we needed something :)).
We waited at the gate for quite a while - L ate Cheerios and refused to sleep. Boarding was a total free-for-all; when we flew out of Chicago they pre-boarded families, but not so here. They had one line for business/first class and everyone else they just opened up the other line for. We sat in practically the same row as before (well, 48 instead of 47 ... waaaaaay in the back) and assumed our positions again (aka: Jeff got the isle).
We waited on the plane for 45 minutes for late-arriving passengers, which was really annoying. And the flight itself was an hour longer going this direction ... somehow it felt twice as long. The good news was it was daytime, so I didn't feel obliged to sleep and I figured any naps Lauren got in would be bonus. We had been telling her to poop all morning, but of course she waited until we were on the plane ;) Jeff went to see if the plane bathrooms had changing tables (they do!) and he offered to change her. Which he did a second time later in the flight. And then a third. So he gets full credit for changing not 1, not 2, but 3 poops during our flight (now, before you think he's too perfect, he did spend at least half the flight with his *noise cancelling* headphones on ignoring us ;) ). Can you even picture him fitting in an airplane bathroom to change a diaper?!
We landed in Chicago about 4pm, got through passport control quickly (omg, we used the automated machines, where you scan your passport and then it takes a picture of you. So Jeff did his first, then me, then I had to try to boost Lauren up in the Ergo to get her picture taken. As soon as she saw herself on the screen she had a huge smile - pretty funny). Then we waited for.ev.er. for our bags to come out. Quickly through customs and then one more train/tram to get to the parking lot. We threw Lauren in her car seat and I expected tears since she was so tired, but she happily settled in and was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot!
She slept the whole 2 hours home (with one wake up when we drove through Culver's for dinner - I think she got startled and started screaming ... I shared a fry with her and I think she took about 2 bites before falling back asleep). We thought she'd be so happy to see her room, but she was so exhausted she just cried. I quickly got her in her jammies and nursed her to sleep and she slept another 12 hours (woke up twice to eat).
We are all settling back into normal around here. Lauren took 2 2-hour naps on Thursday and I thought maybe we'd turned a corner on napping! But she's back to her 30-45 minute naps the last few days. She's sleeping well overnight, but waking up a couple of times to eat. I'm okay with it; hopefully that'll help get her weight up!
I will get the pictures off our Nikon and get those posted in the next couple of days.
We checked out at 8:30 and made the 5 minute walk to the train station ... and then sat around for half an hour for our train (it was on time, we were just really early). The train was pretty full, but we were some of the first on, so got seats and luggage stowed and all that. An older woman sat across from me and talked to Lauren and me in German a bit - I just nodded and smiled :) The train was supposed to go all the way to the airport, but instead they announced we needed to switch trains in the main Zurich train station. They were on tracks right next to each other, so not a big deal. The airport station is right below the airport itself, so just a quick escalator ride up and we were by the check in desks. I got in line to print tickets and baggage tags and then we hauled all our stuff up to the counter. All went smoothly.
Then thru security and to our gate. I made Jeff stop and buy Lauren a cow bell at the airport gift shop since I was feeling bad we didn't get her a souvenir (then later I saw a cute red and white wooden car that would have been a lot cooler, but alas ... that's what I get for deciding at the last minute that we needed something :)).
We waited at the gate for quite a while - L ate Cheerios and refused to sleep. Boarding was a total free-for-all; when we flew out of Chicago they pre-boarded families, but not so here. They had one line for business/first class and everyone else they just opened up the other line for. We sat in practically the same row as before (well, 48 instead of 47 ... waaaaaay in the back) and assumed our positions again (aka: Jeff got the isle).
We waited on the plane for 45 minutes for late-arriving passengers, which was really annoying. And the flight itself was an hour longer going this direction ... somehow it felt twice as long. The good news was it was daytime, so I didn't feel obliged to sleep and I figured any naps Lauren got in would be bonus. We had been telling her to poop all morning, but of course she waited until we were on the plane ;) Jeff went to see if the plane bathrooms had changing tables (they do!) and he offered to change her. Which he did a second time later in the flight. And then a third. So he gets full credit for changing not 1, not 2, but 3 poops during our flight (now, before you think he's too perfect, he did spend at least half the flight with his *noise cancelling* headphones on ignoring us ;) ). Can you even picture him fitting in an airplane bathroom to change a diaper?!
We landed in Chicago about 4pm, got through passport control quickly (omg, we used the automated machines, where you scan your passport and then it takes a picture of you. So Jeff did his first, then me, then I had to try to boost Lauren up in the Ergo to get her picture taken. As soon as she saw herself on the screen she had a huge smile - pretty funny). Then we waited for.ev.er. for our bags to come out. Quickly through customs and then one more train/tram to get to the parking lot. We threw Lauren in her car seat and I expected tears since she was so tired, but she happily settled in and was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot!
She slept the whole 2 hours home (with one wake up when we drove through Culver's for dinner - I think she got startled and started screaming ... I shared a fry with her and I think she took about 2 bites before falling back asleep). We thought she'd be so happy to see her room, but she was so exhausted she just cried. I quickly got her in her jammies and nursed her to sleep and she slept another 12 hours (woke up twice to eat).
We are all settling back into normal around here. Lauren took 2 2-hour naps on Thursday and I thought maybe we'd turned a corner on napping! But she's back to her 30-45 minute naps the last few days. She's sleeping well overnight, but waking up a couple of times to eat. I'm okay with it; hopefully that'll help get her weight up!
I will get the pictures off our Nikon and get those posted in the next couple of days.
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