Short story: For as long as we spent in the car this past weekend E was amazingly great, which was a relief since the roads were pretty bad and we needed to not be distracted by a crying baby. He had fun with his cousins but was unimpressed by snow or the pool. I thought we effed up his sleep training by letting him co-bed and nurse to sleep and all the naps in the car, but he went right down with almost no fuss when we got home last night.

We took a surprisingly successful trip into NH this past weekend. We were concerned because the longest E has ever been in the car is 2 hours, and he generally screams a lot. Thursday morning we left to Lake Placid, NY (ended up being an 8.5 hour drive). E slept for the first full 3 hours, napped pretty consistently throughout the rest of the day, really only cried when he was definitely hungry or needed to be changed, and the only time he really screamed was when we were about 20 minutes out from the hotel.

The hotel had indoor heated pool, so we took him swimming. Not a fan. He cried unless he was being held very close to one of us. And the chlorine gave him a rash. He was much happier when we took him back to the room and I got into a bath with him.

We had planned on spending most of Friday in Lake Placid, but we decided to leave super early to try to stay ahead of the blizzard. Again, he slept the first 3 or so hours. It's a 5 hour drive under normal conditions, but the roads were really bad, it was snowing hard, and we were going through the mountains (there were stretches up in the mountains that were so hairy I just didn't breathe). It took us about 8 hours to get there, and again, he only really cried when he was wet or hungry. We only made three short stops (one while he was asleep because DH and I both needed to use the bathroom--badly).

He had little interest in the snow but had a ball with two of his cousins (one of whom is totally in love with him). He tried green beans for the first time and wasn't a fan (I think there was lemon in them. He ate them, but made the most adorable distaste face. I'm waiting for pics from my SIL).

It was a 12 hour drive home yesterday (normally 9 hours). We hit a snowstorm, driving rain, and pea soup fog. E slept for t a full 4 hours at the beginning of the trip.

Side note: I was driving through the pea fog, literally can't see more than about 10 feet in front of the car, and some asshole with his brights on starts tailgating me. Like all up in my bumper business. I tried changing lanes so he could pass me, and he stayed all up in my business. I got so stressed out that I exited off at the next opportunity so DH could drive, and the guy (or girl, I have no idea) FOLLOWED us off the hwy (could have been a coincidence, but I'm doubtful). DH had me pull into an abandoned gas station so we could switch off, and told me later that he was going to find us a normal gas station, but saw a cop hiding out across the road from the abandoned one and figured if this guy was going to cause us trouble it would be better that there was a cop right there. The guy passed us and got right back onto the hwy.

Anyway, E was a little crankier, especially towards the end of the trip. His face totally lit up when we walked into the house, though. We could definitely tell he was thrilled to be home.

I'd been resigned that we probably effed up his sleep schedule. He didn't sleep very well at the cabin (it was cold and unfamiliar). He ended up sleeping in the bed with us most nights because we were concerned about the cold (his body was fine, but his little hands and ears kept getting cold) and I definitely nursed him to sleep when he did. He napped well one day (almost 3 hours) but for the most part his naps were stunted and his sleep short and broken. When we got home last night I held my breath when I put him in his crib. He cried for less than a minute, then rolled around and chewed on his toys for about 5 minutes, then STTN. Hopefully his naps go well today!