October 4, 2002

We woke up when Evan did. We spent the morning eating breakfast in the restaurant and getting our luggage in order for our flights. Evan was well-behaved, and he took a nap while we worked.

We took the hotel shuttle to the airport, and arrived quite early. It was a good thing, since we discovered at the check-in counter that while Evan had a ticket for the flights and we had reservations (the travel agency had updated ours), we still needed to get our tickets reissued with the new date. We checked our luggage, and Kristin went to the Lufthansa office to get the tickets reissued while Lee and Evan waited near the check-in counter. After what seemed like ages, Kristin returned with the tickets and we got our boarding passes. The check-in agent wasn't able to guarantee that we could get a bassinet for the flight from Frankfurt to Chicago, and instructed us to talk to the agents in Frankfurt.

We changed as much currency as we could at the airport bank, and had some snacks while we waited for the plane to take us to Frankfurt. After a while, we went to the gate and waited there. Evan was quite patient, soaking in all the new places and things (and people) that he was seeing. The plane was on time, and we boarded without any problems. Evan was a bit cranky when we got on the plane and got settled, but then he went to sleep and slept through the rest of the two-hour flight. As we approached Frankfurt, the gentleman sitting next to Lee commented on how quiet Evan had been, and how nice it was that he'd slept during so much of the flight. (It was gratifying, even though we hadn't had much control over it!)

When we got off the plane, we found that our flight to Chicago was already boarding. We took the skyway to the right terminal and found our gate. Kristin went to the bathroom to change Evan's diaper while Lee spoke with the Lufthansa agent to try to make sure that we could get a bassinet. Still, the agents weren't able to guarantee us anything. They told us to talk to the flight attendants when we boarded. We were getting worried at this point that we might have to hold Evan for the whole eight-hour flight.

We boarded the plane and found our row. We were seated the bulkhead row in the center section, so they assured us that we could have a bassinet once the plane was in the air. We breathed a collective sigh of relief, and settled in for the long flight.

Evan stayed up for the first few hours of the flight. We had a dinner and took turns eating while the other one of us held Evan. Evan even ate a bit of Kristin's meal. After a couple of hours, Evan started getting quite squirmy, especially when the flight attendants set up the bassinet in front of our seats. Eventually, he started getting cranky and crying (probably because we wouldn't let him crawl up and down the aisles), so we took turns walking the aisles holding him. He seemed very sleepy, but refused to go to sleep. After about an hour of walking with him, he finally let us put him in the bassinet. He actually seemed to think it was pretty fun! Unfortunately, he still had enough energy in him to lift himself up a few times, knocking off the hood and waking himself up from the extra light that let in. We spent the next four hours or so watching him carefully to make sure that he didn't get so restless that he woke himself up. Neither of us got any sleep, though both of us tried for quite a long time.

Evan woke up about an hour and a half before the plane landed when the flight attendants came down the aisle loudly hawking duty-free gifts. We did our best to keep him occupied with toys and snacks (cookies and juice), and he did pretty well. (No loud crying, at least!) By the time we landed, we were pretty exhausted, but it was mainly due to being up so long without sleep.

When we arrived at immigration, the immigration officer took us over to a different station, where another officer took Evan's passport and immigration visa from the embassy in Warsaw and (after a brief wait) stamped Evan's passport with the INS stamp indicating that Evan is now a U.S. citizen. (We had made sure that Evan was wearing his red sweatshirt with the U.S. flag on it for the occasion.)

We picked up our luggage at baggage claim and went through customs without incident. When we passed through the doors into the public area of the terminal, there were Grandma and Grandpa Schultz, waiting with smiles, hugs, and balloons for Evan!

We got to the car, got Evan in the car seat (which he was not happy about at all), and Grandpa drove us home. Evan calmed down once the car started moving.

When we got home, Lee collapsed into bed while Kristin and Grandma and Grandpa played with Evan a little while before putting him to bed. Aunt Jodi and Uncle James had sent some musical instrument toys, and Evan found them quite fascinating. He seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by the house, his own room, and his new Grandparents.