Emily working on her noodle necklace for Grandma on the flight from Norfolk to Las Vegas.
Madeleine making Grandpa's noodle necklace on our flight to Las Vegas from Norfolk.If you are ever stuck in the Las Vegas airport and outnumbered by preschoolers who "want to be done riding airplanes", I highly recommend gate C18. Gate C18 affords a lovely view of the runway and should you be fortunate enough to snag chairs by the window, your traveling companion(s) can be distracted from whining, asking how many more hours, etc. by being told about every 90 seconds or so - "There goes another airplane!"
Emily and Madeleine handled our cross-country flight beautifully and are now in the process of trying to adjust to local time (we are in our second full day here). We have had "lunch" at 9:30 AM two days in a row, followed by a rather substantial nap. Thursday night (arrival night) they went through their standard procedure of happily going to sleep in their beds here, crashing for about an hour or so, then waking disoriented and hysterical. At this point parents are faced with the options of throwing the girls out the window, running back and forth to their room all night as they wake every two hours or so, or just putting them in our bed. We obviously go for the last option - one night only. I'm honestly suspicious Madeleine would have made it through the night in her own bed had her sister not sounded the alarm; once she was in my bed (barely awake walking across the hall to get there) Madeleine crashed, not be heard from again until about 5 AM, while Emily clung to me all night.
The portable DVD player bought about 30 minutes of peace on the plane (was hoping for more), but the dyed noodles with which we made necklaces and small notebooks in which we stuck stickers paid off dramatically. The girls were also intrigued by the picture of the people using the oxygen mask in "the airplane book" (the safety instruction card). In light of recent events with Qantas Airlines I told the girls that sometimes you need special airplane air if the pilot decides to go down really fast. I also told them that if Mommy, or any other grown-up, put the mask on them they are to leave it there until a grown-up takes it off and it covers your entire face so you will not be able to suck your thumb. I should have my head examined. We probably spent a total of an hour, over the course of the trip, discussing whether or not the masks were needed at this point, that they cover the entire face, are we going down too fast and need the mask, etc. etc. etc.
While the girls did a great job, it is a bit wearing to lug two kids, and all of their "accessories" across the country. While in the Vegas airport, I saw a man wearing a baseball cap with a message that appealed to me, and while it is not complimentary to my children it is tempting to have a T-shirt made with the same message for when we fly at Christmas - "I'm Grumpy and I'm with Dopey".... I won't as I usually don't wander around with writing on my chest, but the message has some validity.
Two days before we left Williamsburg Till and I had put the girls in their room (they like to play a bit "without grown-ups" before their baths) and were getting their bath ready, toothbrushes set-up, etc. Madeleine was ticked about some perceived injustice and was howling at the top of her lungs. There is that point in the evening when parents' patience is running low, couple that with the classic situation where nothing you can do is going to make the upset child happy and there is no point wasting your time. So, we told Madeleine we'd be right back, we had to get baths ready, she should play and feel better and we closed the door. Things quieted down just a bit and then there was a definite increase in both pitch and volume. I opened the bedroom door to find Emily sitting on Madeleine's back, she had pinned Madeleine to the floor, and "thumping" her with a shoe (it's a light weight sneaker). As I removed Emily from her sister I asked why in the world she was sitting on Madeleine and was told "she no stop crying". While I completely empathise with the inclination to sit on a screaming child who will not be consoled, it is not permissible and apparently not effective. Emily was removed to her bath and Madeleine was consoled. It was also pointed out to Miss Madeleine that Emily is heavier by only eight ounces and Madeleine is allowed to fight back a bit. It appears there are no hard feelings.
Yesterday we went to the playground at the park, picked dandelions and clover for a lovely centerpiece and discovered "fluffy" dandelions - they were left at the park and not brought to our grandparents' yard. This morning I heard a conversation in the girls room about 4:35 so I got up and took a shower. When I got out I heard flat-out caterwauling. I went in and told the girls it was early and while I had had a chance to shower, I'd like to dry my hair too. They said, "Sure, no problem, please excuse us. Take all the time you want, put on a little make-up!" No, really, I changed them out of diapers, flipped the wastebasket upside down, brought in the portable DVD player put it on the "wastebasket table", turned on Cinderella and enjoyed another hour of peace and quiet during which I finished getting ready and got to talk to Mom in peace. The DVD player pays off!! Just not on a Boeing 737, but pays off none the less.
This morning we went to Safeway (huge adventure as we don't have Safeway in Williamsburg and apparently it is startling different from our Virginia grocery stores) and this afternoon will probably go to see Uncle Kyle and Aunt Chessy's house and meet their kitties.
Emily and Madeleine handled our cross-country flight beautifully and are now in the process of trying to adjust to local time (we are in our second full day here). We have had "lunch" at 9:30 AM two days in a row, followed by a rather substantial nap. Thursday night (arrival night) they went through their standard procedure of happily going to sleep in their beds here, crashing for about an hour or so, then waking disoriented and hysterical. At this point parents are faced with the options of throwing the girls out the window, running back and forth to their room all night as they wake every two hours or so, or just putting them in our bed. We obviously go for the last option - one night only. I'm honestly suspicious Madeleine would have made it through the night in her own bed had her sister not sounded the alarm; once she was in my bed (barely awake walking across the hall to get there) Madeleine crashed, not be heard from again until about 5 AM, while Emily clung to me all night.
The portable DVD player bought about 30 minutes of peace on the plane (was hoping for more), but the dyed noodles with which we made necklaces and small notebooks in which we stuck stickers paid off dramatically. The girls were also intrigued by the picture of the people using the oxygen mask in "the airplane book" (the safety instruction card). In light of recent events with Qantas Airlines I told the girls that sometimes you need special airplane air if the pilot decides to go down really fast. I also told them that if Mommy, or any other grown-up, put the mask on them they are to leave it there until a grown-up takes it off and it covers your entire face so you will not be able to suck your thumb. I should have my head examined. We probably spent a total of an hour, over the course of the trip, discussing whether or not the masks were needed at this point, that they cover the entire face, are we going down too fast and need the mask, etc. etc. etc.
While the girls did a great job, it is a bit wearing to lug two kids, and all of their "accessories" across the country. While in the Vegas airport, I saw a man wearing a baseball cap with a message that appealed to me, and while it is not complimentary to my children it is tempting to have a T-shirt made with the same message for when we fly at Christmas - "I'm Grumpy and I'm with Dopey".... I won't as I usually don't wander around with writing on my chest, but the message has some validity.
Two days before we left Williamsburg Till and I had put the girls in their room (they like to play a bit "without grown-ups" before their baths) and were getting their bath ready, toothbrushes set-up, etc. Madeleine was ticked about some perceived injustice and was howling at the top of her lungs. There is that point in the evening when parents' patience is running low, couple that with the classic situation where nothing you can do is going to make the upset child happy and there is no point wasting your time. So, we told Madeleine we'd be right back, we had to get baths ready, she should play and feel better and we closed the door. Things quieted down just a bit and then there was a definite increase in both pitch and volume. I opened the bedroom door to find Emily sitting on Madeleine's back, she had pinned Madeleine to the floor, and "thumping" her with a shoe (it's a light weight sneaker). As I removed Emily from her sister I asked why in the world she was sitting on Madeleine and was told "she no stop crying". While I completely empathise with the inclination to sit on a screaming child who will not be consoled, it is not permissible and apparently not effective. Emily was removed to her bath and Madeleine was consoled. It was also pointed out to Miss Madeleine that Emily is heavier by only eight ounces and Madeleine is allowed to fight back a bit. It appears there are no hard feelings.
Yesterday we went to the playground at the park, picked dandelions and clover for a lovely centerpiece and discovered "fluffy" dandelions - they were left at the park and not brought to our grandparents' yard. This morning I heard a conversation in the girls room about 4:35 so I got up and took a shower. When I got out I heard flat-out caterwauling. I went in and told the girls it was early and while I had had a chance to shower, I'd like to dry my hair too. They said, "Sure, no problem, please excuse us. Take all the time you want, put on a little make-up!" No, really, I changed them out of diapers, flipped the wastebasket upside down, brought in the portable DVD player put it on the "wastebasket table", turned on Cinderella and enjoyed another hour of peace and quiet during which I finished getting ready and got to talk to Mom in peace. The DVD player pays off!! Just not on a Boeing 737, but pays off none the less.
This morning we went to Safeway (huge adventure as we don't have Safeway in Williamsburg and apparently it is startling different from our Virginia grocery stores) and this afternoon will probably go to see Uncle Kyle and Aunt Chessy's house and meet their kitties.
