Hana has always been good during car rides. She sits in her car seat nicely and either sleeps or plays with her toys. This time was no different even though the driving time was much longer. She only fussed when she had pooped her diaper, which only happened once on the road, or when she was hungry.
On the way down we stopped at rest stop to use the bath room and I took Hana out to change her. As we were walking several birds flew over us and Hana practically jumped out of my arms, wiggling and squirming with delight. This was the first time Hana has noticed birds flying. I think the only other animal that she has noticed is Baby Cat at home. She usually doesn't even notice dogs on the street.
We drove all day Sunday and arrived at Aunt Fran's house in Charleston at 11pm. We had a little visit and then went to bed. We brought Hana's old bassinet for her to sleep in. It was a tight fit, but fine for a couple of nights. Monday morning we got up early and drove all day, arriving at Great Grandma & Grandpa's at 5:30pm. Aunty and Uncle were still there for one hour before they had to catch their flight, and then we hung around for a little while and then went to our hotel down in Boca.
Tuesday we spent all day with Great Grandma and Grandpa, and something very exciting happened during lunch. Whenever I feed Hana solid foods I use her little green spoon which she recognizes. She usually opens her mouth and eats the food very nicely but sometimes she has her mouth closed and I tell her "ahh" to try to get her to open up. Sometimes is works, sometimes not. This time I was feeding her bananas and I told her "ahh" and she opened her mouth and then ate, and then very clearly said "ah". I thought I was imaging it, so I once again offered food and said "ahh", and she replied "ah". I called over Daddy and he confirmed that Hana was indeed saying ah. It is thrilling to me. This is the first time that she has repeated something that I said. Of course now I am trying to get her to say mama, but that may take more time.
I realized that afternoon that Hana was very dirty, and so I washed out the kitchen sink and gave Hana a bath. She seemed to really enjoy it. She loves baths in general, but being in the sink was extra fun for her. Either that or she was just happy to be clean. All that traveling plus the sweaty hot weather in Florida really made her a mess. She liked the bath so much we gave her another on the next day.
Wednesday morning we went to visit cousin Earl on his boat. We got to take a tiny dingy out to the main boat. It was very scary, but we made it. The boat was pretty big and only rocked a little, but Hana noticed it when she was trying to eat. She stopped and looked around in a sort of confused way. As if she was trying to figure out what was going on. It was fun to go out on the boat, and it was an especially beautiful day. After the boating fun we went back to see the folks, and then met up with the Gusukuma's for dinner. It was a big day for visiting.
Great Grandma loved Hana's soft skin, and kept saying how beautiful and cute Hana was. Great Grandpa just kept getting Hana to "sing." For some reason when ever we are in Florida Hana squeaks and squeals all the time as if it were a special language she speaks only for the folks. It is very cute. Great Grandpa also just loved when Hana laughed for him. He was very sad when we had to go. He leaned over to Great Grandma and said, "I'm going to miss that kid."
Thursday we got up early and packed up. Then a short visit with the folks and we were back on the road by 2:30pm. I was worried that Hana would not be able to sleep through the night in her car seat, but she did pretty well, only waking when we stopped for gas, which worked out well because I could change her diapers. We drove all day and all night and got home to New York at 9am Friday. We were all exhausted, and Hana took three naps before Shabbos. I guess all that sleeping in the car wore her out.
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