Jet Set Baby

So we've been MIA for a few days. Well here's the deal. Lexi and I are home in Dominica. It wasn't a planned trip. My mom was ill and we flew home to be with her. We figured a little Lexi will go a long way to helping her Nona recover.

Traveling with a baby to a tiny Caribbean island with no international airport is no easy feat. Everything that could go wrong did. When we checked in at Memphis International, we realized our itinerary only showed the U.S. portion of the flight, which meant I had to claim our luggage in Puerto Rico and check in with the connecting airline before we could continue on to Dominica. As luck would have it, Delta left ATL 2 hours late and we missed our connection. So here I was, stuck at the Puerto Rico airport with a fussy baby, two 50-pound bags, a stroller and an overweight carry-on.

On our own dime, we checked into the Coqui Inn (a hotel recommended by the tourism folks at the airport) for the night. In our room, we were greeted by rat droppings, bed bugs and mold. My phone refused to work so I couldn't call for help. Thankfully, my friend Cecille was on line and recommended a little guest house that had clean rooms. She called them and they sent me a cab pronto. We abandoned efforts to get our money back from Coqui Inn and headed for Ocean Park. The staff were super friendly, the rooms were bug free and comfortable and we were a short walk from the beach and a divine pastry shop.

Tired, frustrated and a bit overwhelmed, we stopped to put things in perspective. We were in lovely Puerto Rico where the weather was beautiful and the beach was only steps away. I dressed Lexi in her cutest bathing suit, lathered on the sunscreen and headed for baby's first beach experience. Because Baby Daddy wanted to be present for her first dip, I kept her away from the surf but we did enjoy the cool white sand and warm sunshine.

That afternoon we left Puerto Rico on what I thought was a direct flight to Dominica, then the flight attendant mentioned something about a quick stop in Antigua for some passengers to deplane. Upon landing we were all ordered off the plane, through Antigua customs and airport security and into the in-transit area where we waited for an hour and a half for a new crew. This was particularly stressful as it was nearing nightfall and Dominica, which was a 30 minute flight away, has a sunset landing restriction -- no landing a night.

Small world, Lexi and I ran into my uncle, the great Dr. Irving Pascal at the Antigua airport.

Our flight from Antigua took off just in time for us to watch the Dominica sun dip behind a mountain and into the Atlantic. But our pilot landed anyway. And at that point, I was just happy to be home. I didn't care that my luggage hadn't arrived. Thankfully, My carry-on was packed with baby necessities.
My dad was there to greet us and take us down the winding mountain roads to the capital, Roseau, so Lexi could wish Nona good luck with her surgery the following morning. Mission accomplished.

Updates Coming Soon

Lexi and mommy are on an international adventure. Lots of updates coming this week.

Big girl -- VERY big girl

Lexi's been a busy girl so we've got lots of catching up to do. Yesterday she had her two-month checkup and her first set of vaccinations -- talk about painful to watch. She suffered all the classic symptoms -- fussiness, low-grade fever, pain. I can't image how I'm going to take her back for four more sets of shots. Here she is showing off her battle scars.
We knew she was getting a tad heavy, but never did we believe that our girl had doubled her birth weight. At 12 pounds 7 ounces, she's in the 95th percentile for her age. She's also grown 3 inches to 22", all on milk from Mamma's Cafe. She's quickly outgrown all her newborn clothes and fits comfortably in her 3-6 months outfits. Baby clothing should be made with adjustable Velcro and snaps.

I went back to work last week and the separation was brutal, maybe more for me than Lexi. I have a lot to say about the U.S. family leave policy but none of it is positive so I'll move on. Let's just say there's a happy medium somewhere between the year of paid maternity/paternity leave that parents get in Canada and the two to 16 weeks (most or all of it unpaid) that new parents get here. To help me get through the week, Lexi accompanied me to the office Friday afternoon. Of course, she got into some mischief.

Lexi at 8 weeks -- random cuteness

Here are some photos of Alexa's 7th and 8th week. We have so many photos of this girl, I'm afraid she'll grow up thinking that flashbulbs will follow her everywhere she goes.

Here she is with Mama Liz during a recent visit to the office. I'll do a longer post on her office visits later. Those are the eyes that just melt my heart.

She got all dressed up in her Bob Marley onesie and her first pair of jeans to pick up Baby Daddy at the airport on Sunday. That onesie was her very first baby gift, bought by my coworkers when I was just 3 months pregnant.

She looks well roasted in this pic. My little turkey, or froggy if you count the robe.

My lame attempt at an artistic photo using a point-&-shoot camera. I used to enjoy taking photographs and experimenting with depth of field, lines and shadows. I'm getting new inspiration to delve into photography once more. Those are the well manicured hands of the one and only Adrienne Timberlake (no relation to Justin).

Smiles, Real Smiles

We've seen lots of gassy smiles from our little lady, but this week she started smiling -- big toothless, dimpled smiles. We've captured a couple for your viewing pleasure.

Alexa enjoys catching up on girl talk with her Aunt Emily. Just like her daddy, she's got the right cheek dimple. She also has a little dimple on the left side of her upper lip. The dimple in her chin was the first one we noticed.

She's used to house guests of the four legged kind. She was all smiles when Fairy God Mother and Puff came to visit.