Up to Portsmouth

We got on the road early this morning and got going on the road up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where my brother lives. I was so excited to meet my new niece!

The drive was pretty unexciting, just long and boring, as we hit a lot of traffic. My dad got tired of driving somewhere in Massachusetts, so I took over, and got some practice driving on the right side of the road again. Finally at around 5 PM we got to Kittery, Maine, where we unloaded our stuff at the rental cottage where we would be staying, and then called my brother. He suggested we pick up some dinner at the local burrito joint (apparently no dairy for my sister-in-law, as it turns out to give my niece problems when she breast-feeds. I've heard of other people having this problem...)

When we arrived at the house, it turns out that they were going on a walk because my niece was feeling cranky. So I ended up taking the pram and going for a walk around the block chatting with my sister-in-law, and then once back at the house my brother offered to met me hold her.

Oh my gosh, she absolutely screamed bloody murder! You would have thought I was doing something horrible to the poor girl! My sister-in-law assured me that this was normal for this time of day, but nothing I did seemed to calm her. Finally her mom took her back, at which point she settled down a bit, but it was amazing how cranky she was all evening!

In between everyone taking a turn holding her, most folks got a chance to eat, and then we just hung out a bit, going through the diaper change, just talking about a few things, and finally I was just about to fall asleep right where I was standing. So we left, stopping to make a quick run through the grocery store so we'd have things for breakfast, and then got back to the cottage. Definitely time for bed for me!