How long is a "spurt"??

Madelyn was suppose to have her 4 month check up yesterday, but due to a dead car battery, I had to reschedule for next Friday.  If I had been able to make the appointment I may have found out if Madelyn is in fact going through a growth spurt (I figure she's nearing 12 1/2 lbs)  She and I just returned from a trip to Colorado (more details momentarily) and while there she decided she needed to nurse about every 2.5 hrs (previously she was on a schedule of every 4 hours, and even longer at night usually).  And last night was a LOUSY night.  She was up 2 different times (around 1am and 4am) with nothing to console her but me finally giving in to nurse her.  I'm still learning how exactly to read her cues, especially at night when she had previously gone 6+ hours between feedings.  So my only conclusion is that she is hitting a growth spurt, feeling sick (like I am), or she's teething???  Okay, those are a lot of conclusions to be considered "my only conclusion" so really I guess I have no idea.  Seems to me she should be past this "spurt" if that's what it is, or show more signs that she is sick or teething.  She was sneezing and coughing more in Colorado, but not flemmy, and she's been drooling and sucking on everything she can for maybe a month now....so figure that one out.  (Let all us nursing mothers pray that she's not teething.....yet...<cringe>...)

Alas...the plights of a new mother...  Maybe I'll have things figured out by the time she's 9. 

So on to our adventures on Maddy's first plane trip!  I was overly anxious to say the least in preparing for the plane ride.  I just didn't know what to plan for, I figured if I had plenty of milk, diapers, and toys I was set.  (So it was only an hour and 45min flight...but still!!  I didn't know how Maddy would do...)  Well that's really all I needed...she did SO GREAT!  I brought a lot of milk for her to have a full feeding at take off, had back up for the landing, and nearly every toy she owns in the diaper bag.  The flight attendants were very helpful and were ga ga over Maddy, so that helped me feel at ease.  I also was lucky enough to get a bulkhead window seat with no one in the middle (Maddy was a great deterrent)  and a very nice woman sat in the aisle. 

All went well, she inhaled the bottle at take off and slept through the landing!  Same thing happened on the flight home, only this time her Grandma Debbie was with us which helped A LOT to have two sets of hands to maneuver everything.  Thanks Debbie!  I'm so glad we got to take the trip to see our friends in family, and it was well worth it, but it was pretty exhausting (and now I have the cold to prove it...).  I'd say it was more of a vacation for Dan, since he was able to come home every night and have no responsibilities but to feed himself and veg out.  He says he missed us, but how much he did is still in question... ;)

I'm glad I had the experience of doing it alone for at least one leg of the trip.  I feel like I have another notch in my "belt of motherhood."

Pictures to come...