Where the buffalo roam

J and my trip to the desert West for the 4th of July is nigh, and I am, well, freaking out just a little bit. It will be our first long journey alone together, and, though everyone keeps assuring me that traveling with kids at this age is a piece of cake, I'm still a tiny bit worried, mainly because I'm me and that's what I do. So, to combat the worry, I have generated and am constantly updating lists upon lists (which is the other thing I do). I have set aside the guest bed (at least the part of if I'm not sleeping on during J's sadly all to frequent lately bad nights) to collect supplies as I think about them and to organize all our stuff. I have imagined all kinds of packing scenarios in order to find one that is just right.

And, biggest preparation of all, today we gave J a test dose of baby Benadryl, which I plan to have on hand just in case. Yes, I am a horrible mommy: I drugged my child as an experiment! And I might do it again (the drugging, not the experimenting) if circumstances warrant! Boo! Hiss! But things are not as horrible as all that. The husband is, after all, a pharmacist at a children's hospital, and he decided on the appropriate dose after much research, administered it this morning, and then stayed home for a half day while I was teaching to monitor its effects. We had to do a dry run to make sure J isn't one of the 10% of people whom Benadryl makes hyper (since I am one half the time, sadly). Turns out, he's not, as evidenced by his taking not one, not two, but so far three naps today, the shortest of which was 30 minutes, the longest of which is still going on and is now longer than an hour and 15 minutes. And all this after he only got up once during the night to eat (huzzah!). And this last nap began 6 full hours after we gave him the medicine. So it has a lingering effect, it seems. Something in case he has a melt-down while traveling: Check!

We leave for Charlotte on Monday afternoon and then leave from the airport on Tuesday morning. Then we'll be back to Charleston (I did some fancy footwork with our tickets) on the next Monday afternoon. Fun fun fun! Expect tales of 4 (hopefully!) infant cousins and one beleaguered two year old and various of their parents all in one house. And wish us luck!