We spent the week before last in Philadelphia, for what was a series of firsts for Adam. His first time on a plane, out of the state, and visiting a whole slew of family and friends in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Thankfully, he was an absolute dream on the plane. Snuggled up in his car seat and enjoying the vibration and noise of the plane, he slept for most of the flights there and back, only waking up a couple times to eat.
Upon arrival my father-in-law picked us up at the airport to whisk us off to the townhouse. We were greeted with a pile of boxes which had arrived that day in anticipation of our visit, mostly products for Adam that we decided to wait on during our last pre-Adam visit, over Thanksgiving. The changing table and crib were all set though, and that was all we needed immediately. That evening we met family for dinner at Samarkand for some delicious Uzbeki food and baby passing around. When we got home we met with MJ’s cousin, who brought along her gift to us – a chair for Adam’s room! As someone who works in a furniture store, I had texted her in a panic the week before realizing we had no chair for his room, since I didn’t appreciate the importance of having one and just how much time we’d spend in it with him. She came through and brought the chair over that night, giving us a comfy spot to feed him while we’re there.
Our next family visit was a drive out to New Jersey on Sunday for dinner at Short Hills Restaurant & Deli, our favorite deli Cherry Hill. Much to our disappointment, a fire took out the restaurant a few years back, so it was a happy surprise for us that it has returned. And of course family joined us there as well to get their first chances to meet little Adam. Plus, I got my pastrami on rye.
We lucked out with nice weather while we were in town too, which temperatures reaching 70 one day and causing me to go out on my first long walk in the neighborhood.
A date night in Philadelphia was secured for MJ and me on Thursday when Adam’s grandfather and partner came over to watch him for a few hours. We went down to our Philadelphia favorite, The Continental, down by Penn’s Landing. It was nice to spend a bit of time together on our own and enjoy some martinis.
Adam also got to meet our friend Walt, and Matti came into town for the final weekend to finally get some one on one time with him, and afford me a bit of a break. One afternoon I even was able to step away long enough to see Captain Marvel in the theater!
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to California. We took an evening flight on Monday.
In all, the trip went very well. One of the reasons we bought the townhouse was so we could visit family and friends on the east coast often, especially once we had a child. I was a bit nervous about the logistics an whether it would be worth it long term to haul ourselves across the country with the kiddo, but it all worked well for this trip. We’ll probably go back again in the early summer, at which time I’ll also be back to work and we’ll have an au pair with us, but I’m hopeful that these things will even things out, even if it does make certain aspects of logistics a bit more challenging.