As she sat down for an interview hours before performing live in her home city, Crystal Bowersox grinned and slammed something down on the table.

A baby bottle.

About a third of it was still full, and she'd had it in her pocket all afternoon.

When a media representative walked by and tried to pluck it out of the camera's view, Crystal grabbed it back.

"I think it's funny," she giggled.

With the bottle in plain sight, she took a few moments to chat with the Register about how she balances motherhood with the challenges of being on the road.

For the past two months, the 25-year-old Elliston native has been touring with the top 10 finalists from season nine of "American Idol," hitting about 40 cities across the country.

Though enjoying her time with the "Idol" cast, she'd been counting the days until Sunday night's show in the Glass City.

She knew she'd finally be able to see her family among the audience, including her father Bill Bowersox.

And not long before that show, while the tour stopped in Chicago, she'd been reunited with the one who inspired her "Idol" journey: Her 2-year-old son, Tony, whose growing vocabulary now includes "Mama" and "Elmo."

"He's so smart," Crystal said. "I can't believe I made him."

She wore capri pants and a bronze "sheriff" star pinned to a dark top, having just finished her sound check.

Meanwhile, about 100 fans gathered outside the Huntington Center that afternoon in hopes of catching an impromptu performance before the evening show. Many of them sung lyrics to "Holy Toledo," one of Crystal's original songs.

Another group called themselves the "Village Idiots" after a bar in Maumee where Mama Sox often performed before skyrocketing to fame.

The night before, they'd hosted a benefit to drum up enthusiasm for Crystal's hometown visit, featuring her musician friends Frankie and Bobby May.

"Village Idiots" leader Paul Hann said the evening raised close to $2,000 for juvenile diabetes research, a cause close to Crystal's heart.

Crystal and the other "Idols" have been on a tight schedule without much downtime during the tour.

But Crystal said if she were returning home without the crew, Put-in-Bay would top her list of places she'd like to visit.

She remembers singing outside the Roundhouse for tips as a teenager, before she could enter the island bars legally.

She'd also love to take Tony to Cedar Point and stop to ride her favorite coasters: Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force.

And she hasn't ruled out a sequel to Bowerstock, her homecoming performance at the Ottawa County Fairgrounds that drew thousands of local fans to cheer her on in the final weeks of the competition.

That may have to wait until next year, after she's finished the album already in the works. Producers are pushing for a release this fall, but Crystal said she's shooting for spring -- she'd rather make sure she gets it right than rush to put out a product, she said.

But in the meantime, as the tour winds down, Crystal told the Register it doesn't take much to keep her happy.

"I've lived so long without, there's not much that I need," she said. "Insulin, obviously, and my guitar and my son. That's been the hardest thing in the whole tour is going without him ... I don't need much in life -- just love, family and friends, and that's it."