Montreal

On May 25, at 5:20am, I woke Aryn up from her deep slumber, got her dressed, put her in the carseat, and we raced to the airport for our very first trip together to Montreal to visit family!! I was nervous and afraid of how the trip would go. Would she cry the whole time? How would she sleep; she likes to sleep on her own, not cuddled with me - how would we do that? How would I feed her?

Cutest kid ever, right??

We got to the airport and I realized I forgot her breakfast and yoghurt in the fridge. Awesome. So now to top off my fears, I have to do this with a kid who likes her food and has none!!!

All of my fears were quickly set aside as we took off. I mean, the worst part of the trip was trying to collapse the damned stroller!! There are 4 buttons you have to press - in a certain order, no less - to make that thing collapse. Who thought that trick up!?!?! 1-button release is ALL it should be, people.

Big girl sitting in the airplane seat all by herself!

Aryn sat in the seat next to me as I grabbed some Cheerios and mushed up her banana. That was my makeshift breakfast. I nursed her as we took off, which was quite unsuccessful since she hates the nursing cover and was much more interested in looking around at all the people talking. I don't think it would be very polite of me to ask everyone to shut up for 5 minutes so I can nurse my kid, haha!

I had countless people come up to me to tell me how adorable my little girl is. The flight attendant even asked to hold her because she was so cute. That's right, lady 5 rows back with a not-as-cute-as-my-kid kid!! Aryn smiled at everyone. That big, 2-toothed smile. She even tried to stand on her tip toes to see behind me so I held her up by her gams- I mean, legs - and she smiled at everyone (with a soft "awwwwwwww" from everyone behind us). Thankfully the flight wasn't too booked so the 3-seater we were in allowed for an empty seat next to us to lay her down and have a nice hour-long nap.

She was an angel!

We got to Montreal and when she saw Grammy and Grampy, her feet and hands started shaking in excitement! We drove to my grandmother's house and again, I was nervous that Aryn would just cry because she tends to not like strangers.

Well.

Right when we got there; everyone talking about how Aryn rolls her feet and hands when she's happy.

This kid smiled and laughed and played for her great granny Bina! She was, again, amazing.

Who needs toys when you have Glad??

Even Granny got in on the Elmo fun!

Our trip was wonderful. Aryn got spoiled by everyone, she got huge cuddles and love from her wonderful Aunt Shirley, she got to meet her cousins Tim and Chris, she got to meet my mom's sisters Bella (Yvon), Maria and her brother Frank. We didn't get to meet any cousins on my mom's side, which is very unfortunate, but maybe next time.

Aryn meeting Auntie Maria

Aryn and Taunte Alida

Meeting Tim and Chris!

We went to the Jean Talon Market (my favourite place in Montreal, and I am still having a tough time buying fruit from No Frills after experiencing the Jean Talon Market!), we went to the cemetery to see my Grandpa Jack's and my granny Helen's grave.

Apparently photos of Maurice Richard's headstone is much more important than family.

It rained most of the time but we got to have long, beautiful walks with huge maple trees and gorgeous greenery.

Who needs to crawl when you can do the splits?!

Aryn was constipated (poor thing!) and got a bit grumpy sometimes, but she was always smiling when she was! She didn't get her normal naps and didn't sleep very well at night (away from home), but she was a real trooper. Even with sometimes 2 20-minute naps, she was still smiling and laughing and being a real sport. I mean, seriously - the poor kid barely slept the whole time we were gone!

Cuddles with Great Granny Bina!

Great Granny Bina LOVED her, and I am so grateful that she got to meet Aryn. It's a trip I'll never forget.

The flight back was a bit different. While the flight was an hour late, that meant that we were leaving right at supper time for Aryn (I worked really hard to keep her on the same Calgary schedule, and not mess her up with the 2-hour time difference). I fed her on the plane and then she was soooo tired and soooo wired that her eyes were red but she was jumping and trying to play. Thank God for Grammy and Grampy to help out! We finally got her to sleep and she slept most of the flight, but she went down with a real fight hahaha!!

Learning to walk...

Aryn, you were a wonderful little traveller and it made me realize that even though I have you on a pretty good schedule, you are very easy to manoeuvre and I feel like I can start doing a lot more things without worrying about your sleep!! And since we've gotten back, you have been an awesome sleeper!! Mommy and daddy love you soooo much and we're so proud of you!! I know you won't remember this trip, but the rest of us will and we're so glad that you are a part of our lives. We love you!!

Everyone singing "Skinamarinkidinkidink". It was a big hit.