Vacation is exhausting

We made it to New Hampshire on Friday without much fanfare.  Our flight left Atlanta about 30 minutes late which wasn’t so bad as it allowed us to eat our dinner while we waited to take off.  I attempted to strap Courtney into the toddler plane harness thingy* and she was having none of that. “Down! Down! Down!” she screamed and cried and carried on for the next 30 minutes, which is exactly how long it took us to get from the gate to the runway. So, I took her out of the damn harness and put her in my lap and she was fine and talked nonstop for the next 45 minutes. I’m not sure what our neighbors thought of us but I tried my best. And of course Courtney didn’t sleep on the flight and I had to resort to Elmo, who makes me want to stab a pencil in my eye, but it kept her entertained and out of my shrinking lap.

Anyway, we’re having a good time.  Saturday was really nice, Sunday was icky but either way it’s COOL and pleasant, some would say cold, and we were wearing pants and long sleeve shirts.  Our biiiig problem is that Courtney isn’t sleeping.  She won’t nap and she won’t sleep at night.  She’s screaming and carrying on and it’s exhausting.  It’s not relaxing for me and while she’s not really behaving all that badly or anything, it’s stressful.  I just want her to sleep!  Our first night she screamed for 90 minutes when I finally gave up and went to bed myself and put her in the bed with me.  And she crashed out.  Both days she wouldn’t nap so I ended up lying down with her and I fell asleep while she read a book.  This nap thing is working out and only briefly and kind of just for me for a minute here and there.  My hope is that this sleep thing improves before we leave here on Friday because mama needs to relax.

Oh, and ALL she wants to do is play outside.  Which would be PERFECT if it weren’t raining and cold.

So maybe when you get right down to it, there are things about this vacation that could be improved.  I do believe the weather for Monday is continued crap, as I’m sure the sleep schedule is.  For example, as I write this, Courtney has been in bed for 40 minutes and screaming that entire time.  My guess is that when I go in there to go to bed, she’ll still be screaming and in order for me to get any sleep, I’ll have to pull her in bed with me.  However, as of Monday night (tonight, I s’pose), we’re splitting into separate rooms and she’s completely on her own.  Or so I hope…

*If you click on that link and actually buy the harness thingy, I think I get six cents.  There, disclosure made.