beach baby.

Our vacation to Florida was a little slice of heaven.

Our little peanut is such a bad traveler that I was dreading our trip for weeks ahead of time -- and you know what? She was just as terrible on the plane as I thought she'd be. Poor thing can't sleep on the go, so a 20 minute nap after falling asleep crying on my shoulder was all she had the day we left. But she's a resilient little trooper and bounced right back -- and she loved every minute that she was awake (which was most of the minutes in the day).

The beach -- how I've missed it! I haven't been to see my in-laws since before I was pregnant (they've been here lots of times, though), and it was wonderful to be back on that sunny, sandy shore and to share it with my daughter, who didn't seem to mind that the water lapping at her toes was pretty icy.

The free babysitting, homecooked meals prepared by someone other than me, and long afternoons by the pool with a good book in hand didn't hurt either.

We still haven't come any closer to accomplishing my goal of taking a trip, just the three of us, to somewhere other than our parents' homes, but the older L gets the more I feel like we can do it -- even if it involves air travel.

Did you ever read Joanna's post about traveling with a baby? She published it the day my water broke; I remember reading it that morning and bookmarking it, hoping that someday we'd be brave enough to leave the house with our precious, fragile newborn-to-be. :) We're hoping to try tip #5 (a home rental rather than a hotel) this summer, and #10 (shipping diapers to your destination) is such a great way to save space in your luggage! We haven't tried #4, but I think we might next time...

It was fun to get L out of her winter weather clothing and show off her chubby baby legs again. Plus, sunhats are awfully cute for framing pinchable cheeks.

As for me, I had to invest in something to cover my part now that my hair is short -- thank goodness for cheap finds at Target since I pretty much hate wearing hats, which is why I didn't own one to use in the first place. And breaking out my own summer gear made me feel like I had just gone shopping (which, as you know, I've sworn off doing for a while). In case you were wondering, Old Navy doesn't have that exact dress anymore, but you can find similar styles here and here.

Thank goodness for balmy weather when we returned -- it helped to ease the transition back to real life. But I'm longing for summer in a way I didn't think was possible when out of the classroom!