The Treadway Chronicles: Our trip to Dallas

Last Friday, Connor, Maizey and I drove to Dallas for a quick visit. Jeff was out of town so we thought we'd take a trip. It worked out that my Mom was driving to Dallas that weekend too, so we met at a location that was on the way for both of us and we rode together the rest of the way. It was a big help.

We had to stop twice on the drive in, but we made it to my friend Erin Shea's new house with fiance Jeremy. The place is great and so is the neighborhood. That afternoon we hung out and caught up.

Erin and Jeremy have a dog, so her and Maizey played together. It had rained that day so the dogs had to be inside the whole time and they ended up being more challenging than Connor. They did OK together, but they had little scuffles from time to time and Erin's dog was really interested in licking Connor. She was sweet as she could be, but we tried to keep the dog kisses to a minimum.

Connor did great and let Erin hold him a lot. She even got him to giggle at her, which he rarely does for strangers. I was happy to see it. We hung out at the house and then took a stroll around this nice pond in her neighborhood. It was really pretty and Connor and the dogs were happy to get out of the house.

That evening, I was a little nervous, because we were kind of going to mess with Connor's bedtime a bit. Erin's parents were gracious enough to let us drop him off at their house, so we could attend our friend's birthday party. That was great, but that meant we needed to drive him over there (he fell asleep in the car), set up the pack and play, wake him up and put him in his sleep sack, and lay him back down to sleep hoping he'd stay asleep. Luckily, he did.

Then I was really nervous when we came back to pick him up at midnight. This time we needed to wake him up in a sound sleep, take apart the pack and play, take him out of his sleep sack so he could have his legs in the carseat, then drive to Erin's, set up the pack and play, wake him up again when we put him in the sleep sack, and lay him back down hoping he'd fall back asleep.

He did so well. When we got him at Erin's parent's house at midnight he opened his eyes, but he didn't cry. He was just quiet and a little dazed. He fell right back to sleep in the car seat on the drive back to her house, and when I put him to bed, he fell asleep again. It was a miracle and I'm really happy he did so well with the evening disruption. He slept until 6:50AM the next morning and seemed totally fine the next day. I guess it didn't mess with him too much.

The next day, we had a lovely breakfast and another nice walk. After Connor's first nap of the day, we packed up, picked up my Mom, and headed home. Connor seemed to have a good time and although it was a little intimidating traveling with Connor alone for the first time, I think we did OK. Thanks for being such a good sport buddy.

A completely packed car for just one night. Man, babies come with a lot of stuff.

Best friend Erin Shea holds Connor as we get the grand tour of her beautiful new home.

Connor shows Erin his sitting skills on his playgym.

The dogs were both vying for Erin's attention and she did her best rubbing both of their bellies at the same time.

Having fun on our evening stroll. It was a chilly November evening so we all bundled up.

Posing in front of one of the pretty fountains that are lit up in the pond near Erin's house.

Meredith, Valerie, Molly, Birthday-Girl-Lindsay, and Erin at Lindsay's birthday bowling party.

As you can see, the lights went down and everything glowed at night.

Yes, Connor is such a man, he is already growing a mustache. Ok, maybe not, but Jeff bought this fake mustache on his trip and just had to see what Connor would look like in it. Very funny.