Chicago - Day 1

Dear Abigail,

My goodness, what a fantastic trip we had!!! On Thursday, Mommy, Mimi and you set off to the great windy city, Chicago, for a little girls getaway, and boy, was it a blast! And oh how everything just seemed to work out - I love those kind of vacations!!

Thursday morning, Daddy dropped the three of us off at the airport, along with all 5 of our bags, a stroller, a car seat and 3 carry on bags! Yes, we took a lot of bags, but in our defense, we knew we'd be coming home with a lot more, so we had to have lots of extra room!! Mommy was a little nervous about the whole plane flying thing with you and went back and forth on whether to take the car seat on the plane, but finally after much analysis (and an article from the FAA), I decided to take it on the plane and let you sit in that. When we got to the airport, we had a quick lunch and then you finally saw your first airplane! You had been so excited about flying on an airplane and told us numerous times "It won't hurt you" to which we assured that yes, indeed, it will not hurt you. So when you saw the plane up close and personal, boy did the excitement level accelerate!! Once lunch was over, Mimi took you for a quick diaper change just to be on the safe side and Mommy decided to head to the gate to double check if there was anything else I needed to do since this was my first time traveling with a toddler and all. Well thank goodness I asked!! The lady at the desk informed me, very nicely nonetheless, that your car seat needed to be FAA approved, otherwise it was not allowed on the plane. Hmmm, I do not recall that piece of information in that article aforementioned... SO, after a quick look over, we discovered your car seat was indeed NOT FAA approved. Oh bummer... At this point I got a little nervous, and a bit perturbed but I wasn't going to let it get this trip started on a bad foot. So, after checking the car seat, we headed down to board the plane. Well, as you may know, the airline is kind enough to take your stroller right when you are boarding the plane. I think that's a perfect idea, however, you were VERY concerned about your stroller. I'm pretty sure you asked "Where my stroller go?" at least 2 dozen times and that was just until we actually got to our seat. After we got to our seat, Mimi told you it was outside, being loaded, which didn't help matters because then you wanted to see it, which we couldn't make happen. To say the least, you asked over and over again about your poor stroller and all I could do was pray that stroller did not get lost or damaged between Nashville and Chicago!!!

So now we're on the plane, you are buckled up just like a big girl and so happy to be on a plane! It kind of made Mommy sad seeing you sit all by yourself, but at the same time, so proud. I was getting a little concerned about the whole ear popping thing and kept insisting you drink from your sippy cup as we were taking off, but you had no interest in that and just wanted to keep looking out the window at the clouds!! You did perfectly, not a single tear and I even heard a 'WEEEEE" a couple of times! As soon as they turned the seat belt sign off, we let you out of your seat in hopes of maybe taking a nap in Mimi's lap. Jokes on me! No way were you taking a nap on a plane! You were having a blast looking out the window, showing Lovey the clouds, and even playing peek-a-boo with the boy in the seat behind you. You kept saying "See, see little boy, see!" and pointing to the clouds or plane wing! When we were landing, Mimi had to even trade seats with you so you could sit by the window! Overall, you first solo flight (you flew when you were 9 months old in Mommy's lap) was a total success!

Well, we arrived in Chicago, and new we had to find some help with all those bags. Guess what - those sky cap guys that are ALWAYS right at your side when you don't need them, well, they were all in a meeting. All of them. I asked multiple people. SO, somehow, we lugged all those bags to the taxi line, along with you in the stroller, to which you fell immediately to sleep. You continued to sleep the whole ride to the hotel, but as soon as we pulled up, you were up and at them, and so happy to be in Ti-tago!

Once we got things situated in the hotel, and you jumped from one bed to the other about 2 dozen times, we decided we'd head straight to the store which rallied this trip in the first place - American Girl Store!!! Of course, we had to take in the big city life of the grand Magnificent Mile and got suckered in to the Disney store first!! One Ariel later, and we were back on the streets. Finally we made it to the store, and oh my, what a store it was!!! We were all in heaven, I'm positive on that. I couldn't tell who was more excited, you or Mimi! After asking the lady that works there 'Where do we even start' (yes, we totally asked!), we decided to look in 'your' section first - that's code for the Bitty Baby section. And look is what we did! While you were busy playing with the babies they had on display, Mommy and Mimi studied every last one of those babies and all their outfits and accessories, and even took a few notes!!

Of course, we walked all around that store, and there is no doubt in my mind we will be making multiple trips to Chicago in years to come for one reason and one reason alone, although I am sure I can come up with other excuses if your Daddy insist!!

After a tour of the hair salon and the hospital and the vet hospital and the snack shop and ALL the dolls and their stuff, we decided we'd better get something in our bellies. Well, there's one place you HAVE to eat at when in Chicago, and that's Gino's Pizza, and there is ONE thing you have to eat - Chicago style pizza. Thankfully we had perfect timing, and walked in right when a line was starting to form to be seated. We were lucky enough to not have to wait, and thank goodness because the second we sat down our waitress informed us that the pizza takes a full 45 minutes to cook! And she wasn't lying, at all. Thankfully Mimi was there to help pass the time because you and me both got a little inpatient (and hungry)...

But, at the end of the day, it was worth the wait! And I'm pretty sure you'd agree!

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and you just soaked up all the city-ness, loving every minute of it. Back at the hotel, I was a little concerned how it would work out with you going to sleep because, although I was pretty exhausted, I wasn't exactly ready to turn out the lights at 7:30. Of course you got to sleep with Mimi, and Mimi did a good job of acting like she was sleeping, while Mommy sat in the dark counting the seconds between each time you'd sing a song, hoping it was the last time. That's right missy, you are a singer. You sang a TON of songs, then did a little "One arm up. Two arms up. One arm down." routines and then you did it with lovey, but finally you put yourself to sleep and Mommy got to turn the TV on. I learned 2 lessons that day: 1) always ensure your car seat is FAA approved before lugging it around an airport. and 2) always get a suite!!!

So far, a perfect start to a girls weekend baby love!!! And it only gets better!!!!...