Back to Kyiv

Our flight out of Billings was a bright an early 6 am flight, which meant we had to be there way to early in the morning to even be awake. I was a bit skeptical that we would actually make it all the way to Kyiv that day as both of our layovers were really short. As soon as one flight landed we boarded the next and amazingly our flights were on-time and we made it back to Kyiv.

Thankfully we were able to get upgraded again to Business class on the New York to Kyiv flight. It makes such a difference to be able to stretch out completely plus you can order ice cream, which Keenan loved. The flight went well, Keenan did pretty good and we arrived in Kyiv around 10 am Kyiv time (1 am Mountain time). We were all pretty tired. Eric went to work a few hours after arriving home while Keenan and I vegged out.

It took Keenan and I about a week to recover from the jet lag. He woke up every night around 1am, we played, we ate then I pleaded with him to go back to sleep only to be wide awake until 5am every night for almost a week!

Keenan never falls asleep on the floor, he usually will only nap in his crib or stroller so I was very surprised to find him conked out while watching cartoons one night.
Now almost 2 weeks later were back on our regular schedule and spending most of our time at the various parks around Kyiv. We come home covered in sand and recently what looks like sand flea bites all over his ankles and legs.

Keenan seems to have an endless supply of enery, just when I think he should be getting worn out he'll start jumping everywhere and he does nothing quietly. Call me sometime and it sounds like a whole herd of toddlers in my apartment but no, it's just Keenan.

Strawberries are in season here, we eat lots of them, consequently Keenan's hair always smells like them. I love this.

All objects are now possesive, Keenan will point at something and say "Mamma's, Dadda's, Keenan's or Sierra's" I find this cute.

Keenan tried putting me in time out today, uhmm...NO!

Back to Kyiv

Due to extreme jet lag on Keenan's part, and him taking me down with him by staying up all night long for the past few days I haven't updated the blog in a while.

Our trip to Montana went by quickly! It was so good to see my two new nephews and very fun to watch all the cousins play together. While I was sad to say my goodbye's to my family I was very ready to see my husband again although he didn't get back from his trip until last night. I was very sad that we were apart for our 2 year wedding anniversary but hopefully there will be many many more!

All six of the cousins together.

Keenan was really excited to see his Daddy and couldn't stop smiling and giggling whenever Eric would look at him. It was pretty cute!

Last Wednesday I loaded up all of me and Keenan's stuff and surprisingly even though I had already mailed two big boxes back to us not everything fit into our luggage. I didn't think that would even be an issue since I packed so lightly but I guess my credit card got more of a workout than I thought! So, it was one more trip to the post office.

Aside from toting a carseat, a carry-on full of toys and other things to keep Keenan happy and entertained, keeping track of passports ect... and Keenan, hands down the hardest part of traveling with a one year old solo is navigating the bathrooms. First since nobody is there to watch all the above mentioned you have to pack it all into the bathroom stall with you and the kid. Then while your trying to do your business you also have to try and keep the kid from touching anything in the stall. That's all just in the airport, the bathrooms in the planes are even trickier due to absolutely no space. Changing Keenan's diaper is also tricky since the changing table in the airplane bathroom is designed to hold a baby the size of a newborn so half of him hangs off the table.

The trip back went fairly smoothly. Keenan spent the first flight kicking the seat in front of him, God bless the lady as she claimed to have slept through most of it. Yes, I did try and stop him. Another lady in front of us gave Keenan a cute stuffed lion that he took one look at and tossed aside... one more thing to shove into our already overflowing carry-on bag.

I bought a kid leash to prevent me from trying to chase Keenan down in the airports while toting all of the above mentioned stuff. Apparently we should have taken an obediance class as he doesn't heel and spent most of the time on the leash straining to get away then falling down while crying very loudly. In Minniopolis I found a little arcade with a small spaceship ride which entertained my little man greatly while keeping him in one spot. Yup, I spent every single quarter in my purse on that ride.

The next flight from Minniopolis to Amsterdam was bliss. Keenan slept mostly and I even got to watch a movie and sleep a little too. When the plane landed a few people asked if I drugged my baby. No, I replied the travel gods were just smiling down on me today. They however were not smiling down on another solo mother flying with her two kids. I met her in the baby changing room in the Airport as she was trying to clean vomit chunks off her only shirt with her while both kids were howling. Then I discovered when I went to check in for my next flight that they didn't have a record of my reservation. WHAT?! I thought I took care of that the day before when I discovered an email telling me that my flight into Kyiv was cancelled, apparently something got lost along the way. How could there be no record of me when my bags were checked all the way to Kyiv?? Luckily the flight was not full and the very nice lady behind the desk was able to fit us in!

It has taken Keenan until last night to sleep good. Since we had gotten back he would wake up after a few hours and be ready to play. Sleep usually didn't find him until around 4 in the morning. That makes for one sleepy me! I don't think we hardly left the apartment the first few days we were here let alone get out of our pajamas. Here's Keenan in the middle of the night wanting to go outside. When I wouldn't open the door he just sat down and cried for a little while. Being at Gramma's and Grampa's he got real used to playing on their big lawn whenever he wanted too... now it's at least a 10-15 minute walk to find a park.

Sierra came back the same night we arrived. She was excited to see us but kept looking past me trying to find Eric. In the apartment she kept looking around for him and started whining. I realize Eric's been her man for 10 years while I've only been in her life for a few so no hard feeling. Friday we went to the Embassy to pick up the mail and get a few groceries, I took Sierra as it kills two birds with one stone... she gets a walk while I get my errands done. When she realized where we were going she got all excited and couldn't get through the security area fast enough. Oh, she was so dissapointed when Eric was not on the other side waiting for us as usual. Only a few more days Sierra!

Here's Keenan entertaining himself with the dog dish holder.

Longest Day EVER!

Sunday morning at 9am Ukraine time Keenan and I made our way to the airport to start our 20 hour journey back to Montana. Yes, I was a little freaked out at the thought of traveling so far with just me and Keenan. I have always had good luck flying alone with Keenan. There has always been someone willing to help out the struggling mom trying to balance a kid on one hip, a carry-on bag flung over one shoulder and basically kicking Keenan's carseat down the plane isle. Usually its a guy and they confess they helped out because their wife has told them how hard it can be to travel solo with the kids so please when you see the struggling mom in the airport, Pay it Forward!

During our first layover in Amsterdam I discovered that Keenan and I's seats were not together for the next leg of the flight to Minniapolis. The first flight attentant I talked to about this as I was boarding, with a nice man in tow carrying all my stuff, told me to take the seat further back and then ask the other person if they would move forward, but I liked the other seat better. The first seat we were assigned to had the wall in front with a small hallway on the other side, there was lots of extra leg room and room for Keenan to walk around in. I immediately decided these were the seats that we really NEEDED, so I set up shop there and patiently waited for the person who had the other seat. When that person finally came to claim his seat with all the extra leg room I explained my situation... he didn't look too happy about moving to the back of the plane so I quietly suggested that I give him and his wife a bag of crackers to feed my son and I'd go sleep peacefully in the back. Apparently he liked that idea less so and he happily (maybe a little unhappily) moved to the back of the plane.

It was really nice to have the extra room for Keenan, we did a lot of pacing back and forth in the little hallway whenever he got restless. Maybe Keenan was nervous... maybe it was the billions of raisins he eaten the day before... the change in air pressure... who knows but the little guy had some majorly rank gas the ENTIRE flight.

Overall Keenan was a trooper and was pretty good for the 20 hours of travel time. He didn't sleep near enough and was immediately refreshed when we finally got to my parents house and he saw all the toys. It's taken him a few days to readjust to being 9 hours behind in a different time zone but overall not too bad. It feels good to be back on American soil and see my family. Since we left 6 months ago there has been two new members of the family born.