China Trip - December 24, 2004 (Christmas Eve)
We started the day by taking the red-eye flight from Vancouver to Toronto. The flight took about 4 hours, but it seemed longer. Elisa did pretty well, considering we had already been traveling for a long time without a night's sleep. When she got fussy, we took her to the back of the plane, where we paced laps around the little space between the lavatories and the flight attendant's galley. We were very excited to be getting close to being home, but Elisa was less happy. I sang all the lullabies and Christmas carols that I could think of to Elisa to distract her from her grief.
After a lot of pacing and singing, we were able to able to get Elisa to sleep for at least short periods of time.
Finally, we got to Toronto, with barely enough time to get to our connecting flight to Windsor. (We found out later that our baggage did not make the connecting flight, thereby keeping our family's unbroken record of luggage problems for all international trips.). Knowing that we would be meeting family at the airport in Windsor, we quickly changed Elisa to her red dress and white tights which we brought with us just for this occasion.
Thanks to the miracle of Cheerios (or, actually "Nutrios"), we were able to keep Elisa occupied throughout the hour-long flight from Toronto to Windsor. Elisa looked great. My black sweatshirt, which I had cleaned in Beijing so that I would look presentable for our homecoming, was at this point covered with dried formula and smeared rice meal. But I figured that was just a Daddy's badge of honor.
Elisa teething on one of her favorite toys -- a plastic cup.
At the airport in Windsor, we were greeted by a crowd of family, friends and some of Vicki's coworkers.
It was great to finally be done with all the flights and to see everyone.
Even Santa Claus joined in on the Welcome Home festivities, just before heading out on his very busy Christmas Eve.
After being delayed waiting unsuccessfully for our baggage, we went straight from the airport to Nonno and Nonna's house. Nonna called on my cell phone while we were in the car to see what was taking us so long. She was anxious to get a chance to finally hold Elisa. When we got to Nonno and Nonna's house, it was decorated with a Welcome Home sight made by Elisa's nephews.
At long last, Nonna and Nonno get to meet their first granddaughter. Do you think Nonna was happy?
Zia Linda holds the baby for the first time.
Zia Teresa helps feed Elisa her first bowl of Nonno's chicken soup, which she gobbled down.
After a short visit, we went to our home. We found a nice Welcome Home sign and some pink balloons from our neighbor, Annie. The house was already stocked with groceries from Zia Linda, so we had some deli sandwiches and took a nap.
After our nap, we went back to Nonno and Nonna's house for the traditional Christmas Eve seafood dinner.
Then we opened presents, including many presents for Elisa, who quickly got the hang of ripping the wrapping paper. (She had previously practiced on the airline in-flight magazines...)
Zio John holding Elisa for the first time.
With a tiny little bit of energy left, I went to sing in the choir at the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass at Assumption Church. The story of baby Jesus seemed particularly relevant this year.
