A Lake of Tears

It is hard to tell what will freak out a baby. We spent the weekend at the cottage where it was sunny for a change. Emilie and I took Charlie down to the dock to introduce her to the water. Emilie sat with Charlie to watch me dive into the lake (a very rare event). As I entered the water Charlie convulsed and began to scream. She did not stop crying for 30 minutes. I am not sure why she was so upset. I can only guess that my half naked, ghostly white body caught her off guard.

There and Back Again

Summary

• 3,500 km
• 4 Provinces
• 3 States
• 2 New Teeth
• 1 Wedding

Day 1 or 200 km Down 3,300 To Go

We are the type to ease into things; Saturday mornings start with pyjamas, coffee and 2 newspapers. We applied the same philosophy to our road trip. It started with a 2 hours drive and a weekend at the cottage. It rained all weekend. Contrary to what you might expect, this was perfect for us. No pressure to go outside, no guilt about being lazy. We did manage to make it down to the dock and Charlie got to explore the forest. I have a feeling she will be a 'woodsy' girl.








Most importantly we did 5 loads of laundry. In typical Spratt/Taman style we had packed all dirty clothes. As you can see, Charlie even helped with the folding. After a great weekend we packed the car and headed to Quebec City. This was the second time I packed and unpacked the car, I would do this 10 more times.... Never Again.







Day 3 or the Vicarious Tooth Ache

In Q.C. we stayed with Fannie, Nat and their 2 year old daughter, Marina. Charlie enjoyed a chance to escape the car seat that would soon become her prison and we had a chance to eat well and relax. Life was good, then Charlie woke up at 2am screaming. It was not until the next morning that we realized she had acquired 2 new front teeth. When kids lose teeth they get money from the tooth fairy - there should be some sort of parental compensation when babies get their teeth. After a sleepless night we left for somewhere in New Brunswick.




Days 4 and 5 or Not Just For Driving Through

New Brunswick is sometimes referred to as 'the drive through Province'. We were guilty of driving though it many times on the way from Ontario to Dalhousie. This trip gave us the chance to see the sights as Charlie would only stand confinement in her rear facing car seat for a few hours at a time. We spend the first night in Fredericton where Charlie and I enjoyed a 3 am teething walk across the longest pedestrian bridge (in New Brunswick) - 581 meters. Thankfully this would be the last we would hear from those teeth; Charlie ended up quickly adapting to her new mouth.

The next day, after a drive through Fundy Park we stayed in a great bed and breakfast. The best thing about B&Bs is not the food or the room but the eccentric owners who invariably collect angels, glass figurines, ceramic frogs, dolls or other chachkis. Our hosts collected all of the above and had a hobby farm which included llamas and alpaca. Charlie loved the goats.


















We also stopped at the Bay of Fundy itself. I for one am glad that the Rhinoceros Party did not win the 1988 or 1980 election where one of their campaign promises was to pave over the Bay of Fundy to create more maritime parking. Charlie loves the bay at low tide and was very cute sitting on the ocean floor at the Hopewell Rocks although she was not so keen during high tide and refused to put her feet in the water.

Day 6 and 7 or How Charlie Mastered Catan

On day 6 we arrived in Halifax. Emilie and I were looking forward to spending time in our old haunting grounds. It was our first time back to the city where we first met. We spend two nights with Devon and Andrew where we all celebrated my birthday and more importantly our 5 year "Catan-iversery" (it was July 20th 2001 that I received Klaus Teuber's masterpiece The Settlers of Catan for my birthday). Devon won both games, with a little help from Charlie.





Day 8 and 9 or A Wonderful Rainy Wedding

On day 8 we finally arrived at White Point, a beautiful resort on Nova Scotia's south shore. They say rain on your wedding day is good luck. By 'they' I mean brides who have had weddings on rainy days. In this case I think the saying is definitely true. Meg and Jon's wedding was as fantastic as they are. Charlie was well behaved and while rocking her to sleep outside I heard a group of older guest say 'I think this will be one of the ones that stick' - of course they are right. We spent most of the time trying to convince Meg and Jon to move to Ottawa. It was such a pleasure to see them I can only hope they will take our advice.

Day 10, 11 and 12 or Are We There Yet?

We drove home through the States, spending a wonderful night at a cabin in Maine. A perfect way to end our longest road trip to date. The last day of driving was a bit of a chore; Charlie, finally fed up with her confinement, developed a high pitched scream of boredom. With the finish line in sight we tuned her out and 3,500 km after we began we arrived back in Ottawa.... where for the last time I unpacked the car.

The journey was truly the best part of the trip.

It Begins

In the beginning there was a car, neatly and efficiently packed. There had been no tears shed. The tank was full (well 3/4 full) of gas. The sun was shining. The question is: can it last?

Today we are embarking on our longest road trip with Squishy. We are driving to Meg and Jon's wedding in Nova Scotia (where we were promised there would be a baby sitter). The plan is to segment the trip by spending a night at the cottage, a night in Quebec City and a night in New Brunswick and ultimately to arrive in Nova Scotia sometime next week.

Traveling with a small child is a bitch. They need so much stuff. I had always wondered how my father learned to expertly pack the car before long trips. Packing a vehicle seems to be a man's job. This is sexist, but true. I now know my father was not born with the ability to efficiently and economically pack a car. It is a super power that develops over time. I think I have now acquired the skill.

And so we set off feeling confident that we will survive and reminding ourselves that the trip is half the fun.

Splish Splash

On Friday we offered to babysit Emma while her parents went to a FIFA soccer game. Emilie and I always welcome a chance to hang out with Emma. It is amazing that babies that were born on the same day can be so different. Emma possesses some sort of super strength. She can move into a sitting position from her back, she can almost stand on her own and she can crawl - a real baby crawl that is very unlike Charlie's worm-like wriggle. While Charlie may not be as active, she excels in other areas; she is very verbal. She also has a refined sense of humor, when ever Emma cried Charlie laughed.

The above was exemplified during bath time. Charlie needs a bath every night due to her smelly helmet head. Emma appeared clean to us but we could not resist a chance to see the babies play in the bath together. I bathed Charlie and Emilie looked after Emma. We documented this adventure and it is safe to say Emilie had the wetter experience.

Comic Charlie

It was late afternoon and Charlie was napping. She had been asleep for about an hour and I was dozing on the couch watching tennis. This is the part of Charlie's nap I hate the most, the last 1/3. Its not the worst part because Charlie will soon be awake, but because of the uncertainly of when she will wake. She could begin to stir at any minute or she could sleep for another hour. Its entirely random. It is hard to plan my nap when I can't anticipate hers.

On this day I was woken not by Charlie, but by my neighbour's children yelling into a loud speaker - 'COMICS FOR SALE, GET YOUR COMICS, ONLY 25 CENTS'. I was slightly annoyed at this interruption, but mostly I was intrigued. 25 cents for a comic is quite a deal. What if these comics were valuable first editions? Maybe they were selling their dad's old X-Men comics. Maybe I could make some money from the children's ignorance. Torn between supervising a sleeping baby and the seductive allure of cheap comics I ran outside.





The neighbour's kids (Liam - 7, Nicky - 4, and their friend Max) were not selling old comics, but were offering to draw comics. I had never seen their work before. I thought that the kids might be some sort of artistic prodigies; maybe one day their drawings would be priceless (like the old Bob Ross I have in the cellar). Without hesitation I dug a Loonie from my pocket (25 cents per page, plus a 25 cent tip) and commissioned a three page comic. I suggested that maybe Charlie's helmet could be worked into the story. That maybe her helmet was the source of her supper powers. Not wanting to interrupt the artistic process too much I left the kids to their work and returned home to make sure Charlie was still alive (she was).









An hour later the comic was delivered to my mail box. It may not be a Stan Lee original, but it is fantastic. I am thinking of sending it to a Hollywood movie studio; I hear movies based on comic books are big money these days.

Ohio Road Trip or How Charlie Spent 7 Hours in a Car Seat

I owe Charlie an apology. I may have recently accused her of playing sick. As it turns out she was sick; Charlie had a massive ear infection. After a trip to the doctor and 10 days of medication (oral injection 3 times a day) Charlie was as right as rain. This was a good thing as we were about to embark on road trip to Ohio to attend Katie and Jack's wedding.

Statistics

Provinces: 1
States: 3
MacDonald's Meals: 4
Hours in Car: 24
Antibiotics: Priceless (actual price $14)

We have discovered that a road trip with a small baby is less like an epic voyage and more like multiple short sprints. Pit stops are needed every 2-3 hours to feed the child and more importantly to deal with explosive car seat shits (please note that we hate baby talk - no sane adult calls feces CaCa, boo-boo, doo-doo, poo-poo, or shoo-shoo). We also stopped for the night in Hamilton on the way to Ohio and Toronto on the way back. It felt like we were driving for ever, although it was great to spend time in Hamilton with the family.

We finally rolled into Ohio on Friday and headed straight to the rehearsal dinner. This was a special wedding for Emilie as she went to camp with Katie and Jack. She has known Katie since they were 10 years old and Jack since around 17. Camp weddings are always fun and prove to be a convenient mini reunion (aka a giant bender).

On Saturday Charlie was herself reunited with her baby friend Kate (see Febuary 20th post). Kate is now 14 months old and is just learning to walk. Emilie and I love the preview of tricks that Charlie will someday learn.





The wedding itself was fantastic. I say this not because the setting was idyllic, the bride was beautiful, or because the food was dreamy, but because Katie arranged a baby sitter for the babies. This meant that mommy and daddy could drink and stay out late. By late I mean 11 pm and we only drank enough to get tipsy, not wanting to be hung over for the 6am wake up. We had a great time.

On the way home we stayed with Aunt Catherine in Toronto and paid a visit to a very pregnant Maggie, Bruno, and 2 year old Sidney.

Charlie did very well on her first road trip and now I feel slightly less intimidated by the thought of the drive to Nova Scotia in 2 weeks. On second thought the thought of driving across 4 provinces make me shoo-shoo my pants.