The smile before the storm

This weekend was the surprise birthday party for my great grandmother (Lily's great great grandmother (for those of you keeping track at home, that's 5 living generations)). This meant that we were going to take Lily for her first night away from home.

Generally speaking, the weekened was a success. The trip down to louisville was uneventful (she slept all the way). The party was great, even though she slept most of the time. On Sunday, we hung out at my parents house, as they opened the pool for the summer, and although I felt that Lily would certainly have enjoyed a quick dip, as she now likes bathtime, apparently pool chemicals and a baby complexions do not mix.

We headed home on Sunday evening in a carefully coordinated plan of a last minute feeding before jumping in the car and speeding away, so that she would go to sleep again on full tummies. The plan was executed flawlessly.

Things were going so well, in fact that as we drove through a small town about 45 minutes into the trip, we decided to stop at Sonic for fancy fruity drinks, and maybe a snack. Lily was sleeping, we were making good time, all was right with the world.

What I do not quite give my daughter credit for is her awareness of her surroundings, and apparently sense of velocity. While she seems to love sleeping in the carseat as we travel down the highway at 60 mph, if we slow down, or stop, the game is over. Driving with her is a lot like being in a real-life version of the classic feature film SPEED (starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock). The only difference is that instead of our car exploding in a fiery ball, if we slow down, Lily explodes...emotionally....all over us. We quickly learned that stopping for a little indulgence, would end up costing us. Big time.

Carrie quickly jumped into action to soothe our upset child with both food, song, and facial ticks, but nothing worked. As each mile clicked by, Lily ratcheted up the volume, turning herself into a near cranberry shade (coincidentally, the mounting tension caused by an inconsolable child, initiated a lighthearted debate on what cranberries actually tasted like, and when someone had actually had a cranberry, and why this person should stop waxing intelligently on the issue.)

Eventually, she tired herself out and passed out, whimpering in five minute intervals. This still required a lot of placating via Carrie, but at least she was slowly turning into some sort of leafless mandrake (for HP fans).

While we are garuanteed to make the 100 mile trip to Louisville on a frequent basis, that might be the last time we take a detour for a while. However, the Lime Cream Slushie was really good....

I have also posted some new pics. These are some of my favorite yet.