First Day of Driving: Success

Yesterday we completed our first day of driving and it was very successful.  I'm actually sitting here still a little bit shocked about how successful it was.  My parents decided we would be on Carter time and not worry too much about how many miles we got in each day, stopping when Carter was getting antsy and taking our time.  That along with the timing of when we left and making sure to stop around Carter's bedtime was key.  The only awful car rides we've ever had with Carter were when we left after work and were driving before his bedtime and then through and after his bedtime.  I'd say that is the time of day to avoid if at all possible judging by how our 6 hours in the car went today.  But I know part of it is that Carter is getting better in the car.  He's gotten to be a bit of a backseat rock star.

We got up, exercised, played with Carter at the park, packed the car and left around 11:30.  Carter was awake for a little while playing with me and my mom and then conked out for a 2 hour nap.  My dad and Jeremy sat in the front and my mom and I were on either side of Carter in the back.  When Carter woke up we were all hungry because Carter was the only one who ate lunch so we stopped at Subway.  We ate and then walked around outside for a while which Carter really enjoyed.  He didn't even mind getting back in the car seat when we were done walking around.  Back on the road Carter started requesting a book so I pulled one out to read with him.  We read a few different books, his tractor book a total of, I don't know 6 or more times.  Then my mom pulled out a special travel desk she got special for the trip and he colored with markers.  I hadn't even thought to pack markers, I think mostly because Carter  likes to throw them right now.  He colored some stickers and enjoyed sticking them to himself and passing them out.  He started getting fussy after a little over 2 hours so I pulled out the tablet and he watched a few seconds of Sesame Street at a time before touching the screen and accidentally turning it off.  We were almost in St. Louis where we stopped to meet my grandparents for dinner so I put the tablet away and leaned forward so Carter could play with my hair.

Reading his tractor book.

Coloring stickers.

He got a little bit wild with the markers!

 

We met my grandparents at a Bob Evans right off the highway for dinner.  While we waited on our food Carter enjoyed walking around the restaurant waving and saying hi to all the other patrons.  He didn't eat much dinner and then was desperate to be held so he sat in my lap and ate dried cranberries out of my salad.  He enjoyed seeing his great grandparents, but was slowly wearing down and showing signs of being ready for bed.  Before we left I changed Carter in the bathroom and realized a very crucial part of traveling cross country with cloth diapers that I had not considered, putting my hand in a public toilet.  Eeww, ick, ick, ick!  I pulled his poopy diaper off and realized that my choices were cleaning it off in the restaurant's restroom or doing it at our hotel.  I decided to go ahead and do it there to save us the stench in the car, but man was it gross.  I don't mind touching Carter's poo.  It really doesn't bother me at all.  But sticking my hand down in that public toilet.  Man, that was nasty.  I wouldn't exactly say I regret my decision to travel with cloth diapers, but I think I'll stick to hotel toilets from now on.  I had thought ahead and packed plenty of Wal-Mart sacks for the wet diapers and even bought special Arm & Hammer diaper bags because no one wants to smell a dirty diaper sitting in the car for hours.  Now I'm just wishing I'd packed some rubber gloves.

Walking into the restaurant with Gramy and Uncie Jeremy.

Trying out stretches with Grampy while we waited on my grandparents.

After dinner we drove about an hour and started looking for a hotel.  The first town we stopped in was totally booked and the next town wasn't looking much better, but we did find a hotel with 2 rooms in the 2nd town.  Carter was really tired, but still doing great in the car.  I was very proud of him!  I immediately grabbed Carter's bag and took him straight to the room for a bath while we facetimed daddy.  Carter got to say night night to daddy and even got to see Harper and Skippy which he enjoyed.  Then it was off to bed.  He wanted to be rocked to sleep and I figured after the day he'd had, he deserved it!  We drove a total of 6 hours in the car with no problems or incidents.  I'm hoping todayw goes just as smoothly!

Playing with sunglasses while Grampy checked into the hotel.

 

Little mister was so tired!