Ewan is a notorious car seat hater. The most stunning example of his hate was after our international flight from Japan.

We flew from Nagoya to Detroit, no problem. Ewan nursed and slept and played and slept and nursed and walked and made friends. Despite the fears of those around us, who groaned when they saw that they were seated next to an infant, he made hardly a peep the entire flight.

The layover in Detroit, no problem. He walked and slept and nursed some more.

The flight from Detroit to Chicago, almost no problem. He nursed on take-off, but then the flight was so short that he didn’t want to nurse as we descended, so his ears hurt him and he wanted to let us know.

Customs and baggage claim in Chicago, no problem. He hung out in his Beco and checked out his new country.

The car ride from Chicago O’Hare to my brother-in-law’s house, HUGE problem. Ewan screamed bloody murder for most of it. He paused, for awhile, when we finally pulled the car over and let him nurse for a bit. He seemed calm so we strapped him back to continue our way through the nightmare that is Chicago rush hour. Then he screamed some more.

Needless to say, we were glad that we had made the decision to live car-free, knowing that it would be a rare circumstance when we would have to put Ewan, and ourselves, through the torture of riding in a car.

Being that it is America, however, and public transport isn’t quite what we were used to, he has to be a car baby from time to time. When we have to travel in the car, I always sit next to him, ready to entertain or do some boob-batics (car seat nursing) to help him stay calm during the ride. Ewan being calm is really important for everyone in the car. Him, since he has little tolerance for being buckled up. Me, since I have very little tolerance for his screams and cries (and my boobs have an even lower tolerance). And the driver, who is able to be safer without a screaming infant in the back. For the most part, this worked.

Imagine my surprise last week when for the first time Ewan had to ride in the backseat solo. We got back to the apartment, I parked the car, looked in the backseat window and found this . . .

Even more amazing, I was able to pick him up out of his seat, carry him up to our second floor apartment, lay him down in bed, and he kept on sleeping!

Is this the end of the hatred?! I suppose only time will tell.