A short hop to Canberra

While we were in Australia, we took a short (just one night) trip to Canberra.  This trip was mostly for a work meeting for me, however since I'm a nursing mom I really need to have Evan near me at all times and so John and Evan both came along.  This was Evan's second trip by airplane, and our first trip with Evan in which we packed very light.  We only took carry on bags, and one of those was mostly for my laptop.  Thus, we really had to decide what the most important baby items were, along with only packing what was absolutely necessary for us as well.  This meant that I packed just one change of clothes; a nice outfit to wear for my work meeting the next morning, while we packed four outfits for Evan (two per day), plus an extra onesie as a backup.  We also brought the Boppy nursing pillow, as we had determined on our flight overseas that the pillow helps make holding him on our lap much more comfortable.  We also brought an umbrella stroller, but we opted to not bring the car seat, as we figured we could just hire one with our taxi ride to and from the airport.

Our flight out was around 8am, so instead of going back to sleep after Evan's 4am feeding, we all stayed up and hit the road to the airport.  Evan did great in the car ride to the airport and on the flight.  He nursed on take off and on landing, and slept most of the way in between (just about a two hour flight).  The airplane was smaller, only having two seats on either side of the aisle, so we didn't have to sit too close to anyone else.  We even got upgraded to premium economy (thanks to John's velocity points, which got him a premium economy seat on the way there and so we asked for me to sit with him and they eventually agreed!).  This mostly meant we got free food and drink, which on Virgin Blue is good because you don't get any refreshments for free on that airline.

The only negative (but really quite funny) experience about the flight happened at the very end.  I was nursing Evan during the descent and heard him toot quite a bit.  I think I may have even joked at that time that he was depressurizing along with the cabin.  Little did I know until I had him in my arms to carry him off the plane that that was exactly what had happened!  He had his biggest blowout ever!  I realized it when I was carrying him off the plane by feeling something wet on my hand.  He had spit up earlier in the flight so I thought that maybe he had just spit up again, but I looked around his backside where my hand was and his outfit was yellow all the way up his back!  I wrapped a blanket around him to conceal this from all of the other passengers I passed on our frantic way to the nearest baby changing room (which, by the way, are an awesome amenity found in most every airport and shopping center in Australia that I greatly miss already).  As we made our way to the changing room, I also felt a bit wet on my tummy, which sure enough was poo that got on me from when he was laying against me nursing.  Now recall that I only packed one other outfit for this trip (my nice outfit for my work meeting) so I didn't have anything to change into!  John tried to tell me that this was all part of being a mom, and really, he was right.  I have to have at least one story where I get pooped on, don't I?  Anyway, I managed to wash the soiled part of my shirt in the bathroom sink and then even dry it with the Dyson air blade hand dryer.   In the end, it worked out fine, and I'm just glad it all happened at the end of the flight.

Catching a taxi to our hotel was also a new experience as we had to ask for one that specifically had an infant car seat.  The first cabbie we asked said we could just hold him in our lap!  Ha!  I don't think so!  It turns out that in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) they do allow you to hold your child in your lap in a taxi (at least so I was told again the next day by the hotel concierge!), but I was not about to put my 5-month-old baby in a taxi without appropriate restraints.  Heck, I even fear for my own life in some taxi rides even when I'm buckled in!  After the taxi company put out a message to their drivers, an appropriate cab arrived a short wait later.

After getting settled in our hotel room, we took a stroll down to the big lake (Lake Burley Griffin) in Canberra to take in some sights while we could.  We spent the whole afternoon walking all the way around lake, right up until our feet hurt! (This is where John would say, "I told you we shouldn't have walked all the way around it!")  It was the only sightseeing we did on the trip, as I had my work meeting the next day and then we flew back to the Sunshine Coast after that, so I wanted to make it count.  We saw (and heard) the Carillon (a tower along the lake that has an organ thing in it), marveled at the huge Captain Cook water jet, and we strolled through a bonsai garden.  Not too bad for just one afternoon with an infant in tow!

Along the north shore of Lake Burley Griffin, at the spot where you can see the new parliament house on the other side.

Our flight back wasn't nearly as eventful as the previous, although this was the first flight that Evan didn't sleep much on.  He was in between naps and so I just entertained him on my lap with some of his toys and he did great.