Airplanes

{Warning, this post has no pictures of either Isaac or me.  If you are considering judging me, I'd like to remind you of what it would be like to try to get your phone out at the approved time to take a commemorative photo of a toddler who grabs your phone at every opportunity and then take it away without a melt down.  Just try it.}

I did it.  I actually took Isaac on a plane without Alex.  Three planes, actually.  I had a great plan to be ultimately prepared including how to haul Isaac's car seat on board since he had his own seat, several ways to combat the inevitable ear-popping for him, how to calm a crying baby quickly, etc.  I even knew to warn people who were in front of Isaac on each flight that there would be potential kicking.  EVERY person was great about this.  Person 1 slept, Person 2 wasn't bothered b/c Isaac slept, Person 3 took it in stride.Overall my plans worked, but it wasn't always smooth flying.

Flight experience: 
For the first flight I had Isaac in the carseat, which was attached to the rolling carry-on, so I could easily wheel him through the airport, down the bridge/ramp, onto the plane, and to our seat.  That way I could do everything myself: baby, carseat, carry-on, and diaper bag. Makes sense, right?  

No pictures, but this was the general idea:

Well, the terminal and bridge/ramp were fine, but I didn't take into account how narrow the airplanes aisles really were.  At the last second when boarding the plane, I looked at the captain, the flight attendant, and the aisle.  We all thought it: this would not work.  I had to unhook the carseat from the carry-on, get Isaac out, and figure out a way to get everyone & everything to two seats about 10 rows back.  The flight attendant took pity on me and grabbed the carseat.  I grabbed Isaac & the diaper bag.  I sat him in the seat next to me while I buckled the carseat and tried not to think about the extra suitcase, which waited by the captain's feet while everyone else boarded and was shoved into the back somewhere.  The only problem with this arrangement was that the iPad, one of Isaac's anti-crying devices was in the carry-on.  Half way through the flight I asked a grouchy flight attendant (not the one who helped me) if she could point me to the suitcase.  After telling me that she was busy and that she wasn't the one who placed it, she pointed me to where it was. This little "get the bag trip" was supposed to take 30 seconds.  It took no less than 5 minutes to get the attention of the flight attendant, the information I needed, and the bag back to my seat. Fortunately the guy were were sharing the row with had a son Isaac's age and wasn't annoyed.

Isaac was great during the flight.  He loved the take-off & landing.  He said "wow" more than once.  Declared that the window was a "WeeDoh". I didn't even have to break out the mini-marshmallows once during that flight, which were another one of my anti-crying devices.  He wasn't too into the toddler headphone with this iPad while watching a cartoon since the carseat headrest didn't really give him room to make it comfortable.  Oh well, he still was entertained by the video.  I put on the subtitles so he could read along at least... ha!

Departing the plane was okay.  We arrived early and I had time to wait.  I put Isaac in my Moby, which I was wearing just in case I needed it. 

Here's a Moby:

Flight attendants helped me (even though other's offered) off the plane and I assembled everything on the bridge/ramp and was on my way. Whew!

The second flight was delayed, so we ran around the airport and looked out the window, ate yogurt, spilled milk on the wheelchairs he attempted to play with, got tongue print and handprints on windows, and laughed as I cleaned them up. Since it was delayed, it was past his nap-time, so he wasn't too pleased by the time we boarded, but he was okay. He was in his backpack harness so I could keep him close.  It's like this:

This child is way too happy.

The second flight, I was more knowledgable.  I wheeled the contraption down the ramp and had Isaac in the Moby.  I deftly unhooked the carseat from the carry-on and two people swooped in to help without even being asked.  I even had the iPad in the diaper bag instead of the carry-on.  However, we didn't end up using it. Thank the Lord above, Isaac fell asleep even before we took off and stayed asleep during the all-flight sing-along for a passenger's 50's birthday.  He woke during our descent and popped a few Cheerios to pass the time.

Look at the next post for details of our visit. (Summary - we had a great time!)

The non-stop flight home was surprisingly the worst.  Isaac was older (three days) and wiser.  He knew what planes were & that he had to stay seated for an eternity and not get to play.  He also knew that I didn't like it when he kicked the seat in front of him. He took several opportunities to remind me of his dissatisfaction.  Fortunately he fell asleep just after take-off even though it wasn't even close to his nap time.  I'm assuming this was because of the excitement from the past several days and that we were at the airport early enough for him to run around in his harness.  Unfortunately about 40 minutes in he woke with a start & started crying... a lot.  I tried to calm him and even offered to hold him, but he wasn't having it.

We had two-cry sessions and one fit.  I know it comes as a surprise, but teething while traveling isn't fun.  Who knew?  The iPad, books, ALL THE SNACKS, my phone, and mini-marshmallows were out at some point to appease this kid.  Overall he did pretty well. However, my child showed his range of emotions by laughing and playing at the very end of the flight.  I was relieved to touch down.  Once again strangers and flight attendants helped.  As I buckled the contraption back together with Isaac in the Moby just outside the airplane, two female flight attendants said, "You're doing well, mama."  Apparently they thought I needed to hear that.  They were right.