Travel Advice, Please

So I'm heading to Cali in mid-October to pick up my man. Yay! Taking the chica 'cause it's about time she and her dad saw each other again.
The plan is to play with old friends for a few days until Todd gives me the word that he's headed to Sacramento (we may only have a few hours notice on this - who knows with that darn army). Then go meet up with the sexy demon and do some apartment hunting before we hop a flight back to Utah. All the timing is variable, so I only bought a one-way ticket out. We may be there a week, it may be two or more.

So the question is, how much baby gear do I pack? Todd and I are masters of carry-on only, but I'm pretty sure that went out the window last December first, due to the arrival of the cutest baby on the planet.

Aaw, so sweet!

My biggest quandries with this trip are the stroller and the carseat. Neither were an issue when we went to Italy because Hazel lived in the Baby Bjorn and we took trains everywhere we went. Not the case this time. She's too heavy to keep in the carrier for long periods of time. That is, not if I want to keep my shoulders.

I did not buy Hazel a seat on the plane. She'll be riding on my lap. But do I still bring her carseat (and consequently haul it all over the airport all by my lonesome, while juggling Haz and all our baggage) or do I shell out the $12 a day to get one with our rental car? I can just see me limping through the terminal, dropping things here, there, and everywhere, while Hazel cries and wants to get out and play.

Which brings me to the stroller. In my mind, it's a lifesaver. Hazel's got a spot to be other than my arms, there's a basket to help carry some of our hud. But it's no umbrella stroller. It's a chunky Graco.

This thing is enormous.

Which will take up an inordinate amount of trunk space in our rental car, begging the question - where will all of Todd's stuff go? I could get an umbrella stroller to take, but then it's no help with hauling our baggage in the airport. There goes my third and fourth hands.

But can I really live for two weeks without either of these items? Are they more than worth all the agony of lugging them around? I kind of suspect they are.

So would anyone with airport/baby travel experience please let me know how important these things are, and tell it to me straight: how much of a pain is that carseat in the airport?

Workin' Hard

My baby is hot stuff. Check out her hard work.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

Hazel's been mastering the art of babbling. There have been plenty of times I've wondered if she meant to say what she did, but yesterday she babbled three words at the perfect moment - THREE - and I think that's just too much to be a coincidence. Therefore, I hereby document that Hazel has said her first words.

After her nap, I changed her diaper and let her play on the floor while I threw away her diaper and washed my hands. When I came back in the room, she crawled over to my feet, then pulled up to standing at my legs and said, "mama, mama."

When I picked her up, she turned her body towards the door and leaned towards it while saying, "baba." (It was time for her afternoon bottle.)

And then, later she was playing in the living room and crawled over to me. When I picked her up, she angled and leaned her body until she was facing our family picture, which she reached a hand out to as she said, "dada, dada." I said, "Yes, look, there's handsome daddy," and she leaned down, touched Todd's face in the picture, and smiled.

The kid's a genius.

Voila!

If you follow your kid around with a camera long enough, eventually you'll get what you want.

I don't have an actual picture of it, but...

today this child -
- let go of me and stood up, holding nothing, for eleven seconds straight, before toppling gracefully to the ground and trying it all over again.

It was a thrilling moment in the Bonner front yard, complete with much cheering and clapping on my part, and a proud grin and excited shriek from Hazel.

I suspect Colonel Mustard, in the laundry room, with the brasierre

Hazel took an interest in the wet bra hanging on the door handle while I moved laundry from the washer to the dryer. Point two seconds later, her head was through the strap, turning a moment of innocent curiosity into an imminent death trap. Laundress-mothers beware.

My Kid is Crazy Funny

When you were a kid, did you have a flair for the dramatic? Did you love to laugh wickedly? I did. And I think Hazel's definitely got it in her. This week, she came up with her persona laugh. It is hilarious. And, the video also displays some of her other mad skills.

Midway Walks

While living in a small town is not my long-term ideal, it has been perfect for Hazel's first year. One of the very best parts about living in Midway has got to be the great things I can show Hazel while we go on a walk, especially the farm animals.

We take a stroll nearly every day. Yesterday I took the camera with us to document some of the fun things Hazel likes to see while we're out and about.
These sheep are very shy. Usually they hide in their barn. We've only seen them about four times ever. Having one walk all the way up to the fence was a special occasion. Who knew they'd be up for a photo shoot?
We always stop to see the geese and ducks. They are very territorial. Whenever we come, they squawk and honk and hiss and even jut their beaks out and tear at the fence, like they're trying their darndest to intimidate us. Hazel just leans back and sucks her thumb. She is very brave. Sprinklers are always a big hit. Hazel is fascinated by them. This makes me feel relieved, because at least I can still show her sprinklers on our neighborhood walks when we move back to California. She won't have lost everything she loves. ;)

We are not always lucky enough to see moving farm equipment, but yesterday was golden. This puppy crossed right in front of us on his way to the gas station, and then happened to head down the street we were strolling along five minutes later. Hazel's not that into them, though, and it makes me wonder if it's because she's too young, or because she's not a boy. And Hazel's absolute favorite part of our walk is seeing the horses. She is in love with them. She always sits forward, hits her hands on the tray in front of her, smiles and shrieks. The horses always come over to see us. They are very friendly animals. Sometimes I feed them grass and we listen to them chew so loudly.

Disclaimer: Usually I do not let the horses get quite this close to my baby. I was preoccupied with getting a picture and didn't notice until it was too late that the horse was close enough to lick Hazel's face! Luckily, my camera clicked and I slid her away just in time.

She's a Casual Eater

Hazel likes to put one foot up on the high chair tray near the end of her meal. It makes me think of how I put my feet on the dashboard on road trips. We're chillin' kind of ladies.
And she's so delighted that she can stand (while holding on to things) that she rarely sits still for an entire meal. She'll drink about half her bottle sitting in my lap, and then wiggles around like she wants to get down and play. However, as soon as her feet hit the pavement, so to speak, she crawls back over to the couch, props herself up, and begs for the rest of her milk. She'll only take it standing. It makes me feel like I'm feeding a little calf, the way she wobbles around on her sweet baby legs while I try to keep the bottle in her mouth.

Check Out Those Guns!

Current update: Todd weighs 15 pounds more than he did before leaving. I needed a picture because I couldn't believe it. Um, pretty sure he's packing five extra pounds in each arm. Can you say HOT! What a man!
Mid-October could not come soon enough.