Over the holidays, we drove all over the place. From Indy to Atlanta to Tampa to Jacksonville, back to Atlanta, then back home to Indy. It was a lot of driving, but any normal person would pass a good portion of the time by sleeping. Unless, of course, you were the driver. Luke, however, has NEVER been a good car sleeper. It was even worse when he was a baby. He would not sleep in his car seat (while in the car or out of the car) without first throwing a HUGE screaming/crying fit, and then would only sleep for about 15 minutes, tops. Now that he is older, his norm is 30 minutes and many times it comes only after a freak-out fit that can last anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes. So you can imagine how much we love road trips in the Tatum family. Nevertheless, when it comes to holiday travel, we don't have much of a choice. This year's travel was not much better, but it did have its moments of hilarity, which are pictured below. These happened the last 2 days of our travel and were, I guess, a little comic relief to give us the strength we needed to make it all the way home with some of our sanity still intact.
Here are this year's stats:
Indy to Atlanta (10 hour trip): Screaming fit - at least 25 mins. Sleep - 35 mins.
Atlanta to Tampa (7 hour trip): Screaming fit- 20 mins. Sleep - a measly 16 mins.
Tampa to Jacksonville (3.5 hour trip): short trip, so no sleep.
This is where it got interesting. From Jacksonville to Atlanta (5-ish hour trip), this is how he slept:
During this day's screaming fit, he was slinging Eddy (his beloved elephant blanket) around in rage. When Eddy got stuck on his head, it was kind of like Luke's batteries just slowly died. His hands fell in slow motion from holding onto Eddy above his head to resting gently at his sides. It was hilarious to watch. I was sitting next to him, so I got to see it all transpire before me.
The amazing part is that he broke his car-sleeping record. He stayed asleep for 50 glorious minutes!!! Of course once he woke up, his entire head was drenched in sweat, but it was worth it.
A close-up. So angelic. And deceiving.
We spent the night in Atlanta that night and got up bright and early the next morning to make the trek back to Indy. This was perhaps Luke's best travel day ever in his life. He entertained himself so much, mostly reading books. I got to spend a lot of time riding (sleeping) in the front seat next to Phil instead of playing entertainer in the back next to the Stinker. He fell asleep WITHOUT a screaming fit and slept for 40 minutes. At 40 minutes, he stirred, woke up, put Eddy over his face, and slept for 10 more minutes like this:
From the front.
From the side.
I was a little concerned about his breathing, but didn't dare risk waking him up by moving Eddy. Considering that with Eddy's help Luke slept for 50 minutes both days, I might be tempted to cover Luke's head from now on!
Indy to Atlanta (10 hour trip): Screaming fit - at least 25 mins. Sleep - 35 mins.
Atlanta to Tampa (7 hour trip): Screaming fit- 20 mins. Sleep - a measly 16 mins.
Tampa to Jacksonville (3.5 hour trip): short trip, so no sleep.
This is where it got interesting. From Jacksonville to Atlanta (5-ish hour trip), this is how he slept:
During this day's screaming fit, he was slinging Eddy (his beloved elephant blanket) around in rage. When Eddy got stuck on his head, it was kind of like Luke's batteries just slowly died. His hands fell in slow motion from holding onto Eddy above his head to resting gently at his sides. It was hilarious to watch. I was sitting next to him, so I got to see it all transpire before me.
The amazing part is that he broke his car-sleeping record. He stayed asleep for 50 glorious minutes!!! Of course once he woke up, his entire head was drenched in sweat, but it was worth it.
A close-up. So angelic. And deceiving.
We spent the night in Atlanta that night and got up bright and early the next morning to make the trek back to Indy. This was perhaps Luke's best travel day ever in his life. He entertained himself so much, mostly reading books. I got to spend a lot of time riding (sleeping) in the front seat next to Phil instead of playing entertainer in the back next to the Stinker. He fell asleep WITHOUT a screaming fit and slept for 40 minutes. At 40 minutes, he stirred, woke up, put Eddy over his face, and slept for 10 more minutes like this:
From the front.
From the side.
I was a little concerned about his breathing, but didn't dare risk waking him up by moving Eddy. Considering that with Eddy's help Luke slept for 50 minutes both days, I might be tempted to cover Luke's head from now on!
oh my gosh...yall are amazing. the car is our last resort for stinker behavior for BOTH kids, and i would be a shut-in if they werent so good in the car. maybe luke is just looking for some privacy though. hilarious!
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