All by myseeeelf...Don't wanna be...All by myseeeelf

My best friend, soulmate, and perpetual roommate (in my heart), Annie, was due to have Henry, her beautiful baby boy, in a just a few weeks.  I had 10 garbage bags full of Desmond's clothes and baby accoutrements that were just sitting in my scary basement.  It made no sense for me to keep them all to myself, so I thought that I would give them to her and save her from having to spend hundreds of dollars on baby crap just like my friends gave me for Desmond.  The problem was that mailing that much stuff would cost me a fortune and not to mention, be a huge heartache to pack everything in boxes and ship them off.  So, I decided to make the 10-hour trek from St. Louis to Youngstown, OH to deliver everything to my best friend.

Did I mention that the trek was 10 hours?  And that I would be doing it with Desmond all by myself?  (You can gasp now, or feel pity for me...but you'll be applauding me by the end of this post). 

I decided that 10 hours in one day would be overkill and split the trip up into 2 days, 5 hours each.  We started our trip off at night, leaving at around the time we would start putting Desmond to bed, 7pm.  We fed him, bathed him, and put him in his pajamas.

So excited to begin our trip.

Just kidding.  He had no idea what he was in for.

He only loved the little car our neighbors gave to him.  It plays Funky Town.

That first night, everything went as beautifully as I hoped it would.  I was a bit tired, but having satellite radio in our car was pretty helpful.  The next day, we woke up at around 8am, got ready, had breakfast, and were on our way by 11.  We stopped one more time for a later lunch and Desmond had a nap until we got to our destination.  Easy peasy.

So excited about the games at Cracker Barrel.  Honestly, they may not have the best (or healthiest) food, they do have great child-distraction devices, like the toy you see above.  Plus, they have a whole area filled with kids toys...I mean a ton of kids toys.  Some are old-fashioned and others are more current, but they all are out for the kids to play with.

This was Desmond's favorite toy at Cracker Barrel.  We ended up buying it for him he loved it that much, but only on our trip back, which was our fourth trip to the restaurant.

Desmond trying on Mr. Potato Head glasses.

Another picture where Desmond looks drunk.

The trip back was a mess.  I'm guessing it was because Desmond's nap and sleep schedule was all screwed up because we were visiting friends and family.  My recommendation is that you stick to the nap and sleeping schedule, even if you have to rearrange your schedule around it.  Unless you're ok with the ride back to wherever being a constant litany of pulling over to hold your baby because he or she is crying incessantly. 

When I told people that I did a 20-hour total road trip with my toddler by myself, they give me that wide-eyed "holy-shit-i-can't-believe-you-did-that-by-yourself-you-must-be-crazy" look.  But when I tell them that we came out of it alive and !gasp! happy to have done it, they smile, shake their heads, and tell me what a "brave" mom I am.  And I like it.  :)  Anyhow, after the trip, I felt that I had more confidence to spend long hours alone, away from home, with my son.  It was truly empowering.