I NEEDED a glass of wine

Last September, when Jack was about 4 months old, the three of us took a little weekend trip to Lake Chelan. Lake Chelan, for you un-local types, is east of the mountains. As in, you have to drive over the pass to get there, and somewhere in my Life Policy paperwork is something about "never ever visit Eastern Washington", so this little Lake Chelan trip was a Very Big Deal for me. We'd wanted to do some kind of summer vacationy thing, but we couldn't go too far or for too long. So we booked a few nights at a lakeside hotel and discovered that all you really do when you are vacationing with a 4-month-old is wait around while he naps. Seriously, we  could have watched all that television and surfed all that internet at HOME. Whatever.

We didn't attempt an overnight trip with Jack again until this weekend, when we drove over to the peninsula (the peninsula, for you un-local types, is WEST of Seattle, requiring a ferry ride and the Policy is ALL ABOUT ferry rides) for a wedding. (AT A WINERY. How awesome is THAT?) I have some family living over there so we talked my mom and dad into meeting us and providing free child care while we drank ourselves silly. I mean, stared longingly at everyone else's wine glasses. SIGH. We booked rooms at the wedding-approved hotel and packed up nearly everything Jack owns and off we went. Ferry rides! Sunshine! Calculating that my house could fit ninety-three times over in my cousin's backyard!

And you guys, this wedding, it was amaaaaaaazing. (Jess, it was all! purple!) Before I get married again I am totally talking my dad into buying a winery. It deserves a post of its own, with pictures, and some commentary on how horribly unfair it is to be invited to a wedding at a winery when you are pregnant.

So we went to the wedding and it was lovely and when we got back to the hotel my parents were taking a half-asleep Jack out of their car and we thought, "Perfect!" Stick him in some jammies and put him to bed. I know! It was like we hadn't MET our son, Jack "I Challenge Sleep To A Duel!" Cheung!

Since Phillip was ready to climb into bed as well, he got the pleasure of winding Jack down and putting him to bed in the portable crib in our room. My mom and I sat in her room and watched Olympic gymnastic trials while my dad fell asleep with a book on his face. Exciting times in my family, I tell you.

Eventually I thought I'd head back to my room because it was nearly NINE, which is WAAAAY past my bedtime, and I have no idea why I was SURPRISED to see that Phillip was rocking a very much not asleep baby.

Being the kind and supportive wife I am, I took over. But do you know, it is pretty difficult to duplicate the Bedtime Routine in a hotel room. No rocking chair. No familiar backdrop. Strange sounds. Strange crib. Sleeping in the same ROOM. It took me about a half hour in a pitch black room to get that kid to sleep, and by that time Phillip was out as well. We tried our best not to make any noise getting ready for bed and I jabbed Phillip in the ribs every time he started to snore and I thought we were doing well. Right?

Jack was up All. Night. Long. First Phillip would get up. Then I'd get up. Then Phillip would get up again. Then we'd wait to see if he'd go back to sleep on his own. Then one of us would get up because surely the rest of the hotel was not appreciating the little night music seeping out from under our door. One time I just bent over the pack 'n play patting him back to sleep, which worked great until I stood up and realized I now had the lower back of a 90-year-old woman. Later on when I had to sit with Jack in the arm chair for a half hour to get him back to sleep, I had to wake Phillip up so he could put Jack back in the crib.

I know what you're thinking- why didn't we just put him in bed with us? BECAUSE IT DOESN'T WORK. We tried. We really did. I was even kind happy about it, because my baby doesn't like to cuddle too often. Turns out he is especially uninterested in cuddling in the middle of the night. Putting him in bed with us was disastrous, and reminded me that it barely worked when he was a newborn. There were a few nights when Jack spent the night wedged under my chin, but other than that, the cosleeping thing didn't really work for any of us.

He woke up, bright and chipper, at 6:30 in the morning. I picked him up, walked next door to my parents' room and handed him over to my bleary eyed mother. (Who, I later found out, hadn't slept EITHER, why didn't we just leave Jack in HER room?)

So! No more trips with THIS kid. That's all I'm saying. The whole way home we were all, "New baby better sleep. NEW BABY BETTER SLEEP." Because New Baby is sleeping in our room until we have enough brain cells working to figure out how to get two kids sleeping in the same room. And I don't think we'll be taking them anywhere unless 1) the grandparents are tagging along and 2) we get them their own outfitted-with-baby-monitors suite. And since it is past nine which is way WAY past my bedtime and we finally got Jack down after TWO FREAKING HOURS of trying to get him down, Phillip and I are going to crash in bed and dream of babies who not only sleep through the night, but roll over and fall asleep as soon as you put them in the crib. Or, you know, sipping a glass of wine on the balcony of our rented Tuscan villa where we escaped after leaving the children on the grandparents' doorstep.

Comments

[HeatherK]

My second was a dream sleeper. After dealing with her sister, we deserved it! Travel is still horrid for sleep--may you have better luck!

[Tara]

We just got back from a 5-night trip, in which Shea slept in a pack 'n play in our room. Not fun. Thankfully she is doing better now that we are back home but it is definitely safe to say that while the trip was fun it was SO not relaxing.

You guys are brave to attempt two in the same room! We are giving up our office/guest room for the new baby out of fear that sharing would ruin any semblance of sleeping that Shea was doing. Eventually we'd like them to share, though.

[Jen]

Embassy Suites! You get two rooms. With a door in between!

Next time, give Jack the glass of wine. That ought to do it, right?

[Kate P]

Let's invent a portable rocking chair and get rich. Whaddya think?

[Becky]

My older sister swears by her sound machine (it plays white noise). My nephews are like Pavlov's dogs when that thing is turned on- it puts them right to sleep anywhere.

:) Becky
(http://www.stinkylemsky.typepad.com/)

[Lisa]

I hear ya! Yet we keep taking this child on trips. My husband is always like "yeah, she's older now and she'll do fine". And then we spend an awful night or two tortured in the same room with a restless, grumpy, and now mobile baby and we are both begging to be allowed to go home already! Overnight trips are infinitely better without baby. Better for her and for us. Because she doesn't sleep on trips either.

[Manda]

You needed to give JACK a glass of wine!! It always puts me right to sleep, hee hee.