See that cute little face? Well, that was taken two days ago. And that sweet little smiling girl was not-- I repeat NOT--the little girl who showed up for our 8 1/2 hour overnight flight from Chicago to Zurich. Let me just state it now that Tess is one of the worst travelers I've ever experienced. This other, not so likable Tess, screamed for the first say, hour or two. I became either the great target of hate, dread, or compassion by nearby passengers. And after much finagling, and what HAD to have been her sheer exhaustion, she finally gave in and fell asleep in her chair so that I could, in turn, finally fall asleep. I think I got 2 1/2 hours of sleep before she screamed out and woke herself enough to start being fussy again. She spent much of the rest of the trip in my arms.
So I'm no worse for the wear. Maybe a little achie from contorting myself--Cirque du Soleil style-- in my seat seeking a somewhat acceptably comfortable position with a snoozing babe in my arms. And sitting there in my seat I had flashbacks to traveling around the world with Dashel when he was 4 months old (which you can read all about if you scroll through old entries on this blog). And I had thought HE was a terrible traveler!
His sister has him topped at this point. But he's a terrific traveler now, so odds are in Tess' favor she'll improve. I just wish she would before our next flight!
Of course all this doesn't bode well for our upcoming flights--all of which are longer than this one. But I have to take one day at a time or I completely overwhelm myself.
So we stayed the night at our friends--the Suess family's home. The boys ran around and played with water balloons, picked raspberries by the shirt full (literally), and jumped on their trampoline till they were so hot they looked like little red lobsters.
The Suess' are a special, sweet family to us. Our families go way back to the gramdfathers who were first friends, and now Econ Man and the son Mr. Suess have become friends. We've seen him all over the world and it's been fun to let our kids play together. Their daughter Anya speaks almost no English, and Dashel talks to her without this knowledge and, I assume, thinks she understands everything he says. It's really funny. He's like a jabber box that won't be quiet. And she just laughs because she understands maybe one word every so often. But they have been having such fun playing together. Of course I think Dash can crack anyone up--even if they don't understand a word he says. The kid is just funny.
Tess eating pasta was priceless. I think she wore more of it than she actually ate!
And I missed her taking 7--yes, SEVEN!--steps by herself towards Econ Man on the grass. So I tried to get her to do it again, but to no avail. Alas. Soon enough I guess I'll want her to go back to crawling when she running away from at terminal speed.
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