Milestones (Lyla's first trip)

Tomorrow kicks off a long series of firsts for Lyla:

• Her first trip to Detroit
• Her first long car ride (>1 hr)
• Her first time spending the night away from home
• Her first time in an airport
• Her first time on an airplane
• Her first time out of state
• Her first time in Texas
  
• Her first time riding in a car other than our Subaru
  
• Her first time meeting Grandpa Jeff
• Her first Easter!!! (she has a very pretty dress all picked out)
  
• Her first time meeting Uncle Stephen (is the best!)
  
• Her first time meeting Uncle Dave
• Her first time meeting Aunt Faith
• Her first time meeting cousins Emily and Allison
• Her first time meeting Fei
• Her first time meeting Uncle Matthew and Aunt Anna
• Her first second time on an airplane

I'm sure there are going to be a ton more but those are the ones that come to mind. (BTW, the picture is of another recent first: Lyla's first time holding a banana.)

We leave tomorrow, spend the night with my cousin before flying out of Detroit Saturday. We'll spend the next 9 days in Dallas, hanging out with family and seeing friends (I'll have to do some work things in there somewhere), and then return a week from Monday.

Katherine and I are both really excited for the trip. This is our substitute Christmas with the Weir clan (since Lyla was born so close to Christmas, we chose not to try and go down to Texas then). We haven't seen my dad since January, Katherine's mom since December, Katherine's dad and brother Stephen since November, David/Faith/Emily/Allison/Fei/Matthew/Anna since September. And we're really excited for them all to get to spend time with Lyla (especially now that she's so alert and has developed a personality). I'm excited about the work conference. Needless to say, we've been looking forward to this for a long time and are grateful to all the family who is making the effort to come into town to see us.

We're also a little apprehensive. We've never loved traveling and have never traveled with a baby before. So if you don't mind, please pray that the trip goes well.

I think Lyla's excited but a little cautious at the same time. That list of firsts covers a lot of new territory. She's always been willing to try new things and I think she'll do great. I was able to take some pictures of her "getting ready" for the trip (I'm not sure what she's expecting Texas to be like... but somehow the bowl and spoon seem appropriate):