We survived ... (I think), part one

Sorry for the long blog absence, amigos.  I opted to leave the laptop at home even though it pained me a little bit to be away from my computer for an entire week.  But, when you are traveling with a baby and all of the crap stuff associated with traveling with a baby, a laptop was the last thing I wanted to concern myself with.  With all of the gripes that are made about airlines, I do have to applaud them for flying baby items for free.  It's the little things, folks.

I was expecting the worst in terms of flying with G - last year he was only three months old and still addicted to the boob.  This year he is a squirmy, loud, and impatient sixteen month old that doesn't understand why he can't get his way all of the time.  I anticipated us having to take turns walking him down the narrow airplane aisle while he screamed and people shot us death looks.  Luckily, he proved me wrong and was as good as he could have been.  There were minimal outbursts and when there were, he was easily subdued with food (nothing changes).

Alright, I guess he fits...

We had a layover both ways but it worked out okay.  On the way to New York, we had a few hours to kill at the Detroit airport.  G was amused with the moving walkways and escalators and we were fortunate to have a kids' play area at our gate.  Bonus!  Oh the things you never notice pre-baby and the things you are so grateful for post-baby.  He was ever the social butterfly and made many admirers while happily walking up to complete strangers.  Yep, our kid has zero stranger danger.

My only quasi-celebrity sighting was at the Detroit airport - Carla from Top Chef!  Doesn't quite beat flying coach with Dan Rather a couple of months ago though...

The weather in New York was a-mazing and we were spoiled with elegant home cooked meals and wonderful company.  G was the center of attention, of course, and as one of his grandfathers so eloquently put it, "It was so nice of him to bring along his parents."  Ha!  One of the guests brought the yummiest whole cranberry sauce.  I'm usually not a big fan but I could not get enough - so good!  She graciously shared the recipe with me, and I'll post it soon in case you want to try it out for yourself.  I'm looking forward to keeping this one in the family for a long time.

Trying to snuggle with my toddler who doesn't like to sit still.... "No, you must stay with meeeee..."

The day after Thanksgiving we drove to Connecticut to visit with more of R's family.  They were all completely enamored and he won them over (like he hadn't already) with his infamous hugs and kisses.  The only unfortunate thing is that we do not see them more often.

G's first ice cream sundae, one of his many "travel treats" that he doesn't get at home!

We woke up at 4 a.m. to head home.  You should know by now that waking up early is not on my favorite list, but we were out the door in fifteen minutes and headed to drop off the rental car.  We drove up only to find Enterprise closed and R thought about leaving the car there and tossing the key (ummmm.. who does that?!?  and how would we get to the airport with all of our crap stuff?!?).  Haha... once we drove up to the their gate, upon further inspection we saw a sign that directed us to another parking lot not far that would take the car and take us to the airport.

What did we do before smart phones?  Write all of this down?!?

Whew... mission accomplished!  Until we actually got inside the airport and saw its crazy lines.  Here I was thinking that we were insane for getting up so early until to find the airport full of other insane people - who knew?  That morning, I made it a point to be thankful for R's priority access membership with American Airlines that got us up to the front of the check in line and also allowed us to be put on the list for upgrade to first class.  He got the membership with all of the traveling he used to do with his job, so I also made it a point to be thankful that he works from home now.

If you haven't seen any cranky/stressed out folks and ever have the urge to do so, I highly encourage you to go to the airport over any busy holiday.  The sun hadn't even come out yet and I saw one lady about to lose her s&*! at the airline counter, one lady crying on the phone talking to her mom because she may miss her flight, and one other lady about to go postal on a guy in the security lines.  Notice a theme here.. hehe.  Yes, I guess women are more susceptible to being emotionally driven.  There, I admitted it!

We made it through all of the lines unscathed (p.s. babies get to keep their shoes on - why aren't they suspected of being terrorists??) and to our gate only to find out that we had indeed been granted first class status.  And the baby angels sang hallelujah!  I made it a point then to be thankful for R's abundance of miles that gave us the bump to spacious seats and a free breakfast.  We were given the bulkhead seats which meant ample floor space for G to crawl around when the seatbelt sign was off.  Not so much of a bonus - two dirty diapers on the plane!  I am sure that all of the first class customers that actually paid for their seats were not very happy to be flying with a baby, but no one complained or shot us death looks.  At least not to my face.  Someone posted this link on FB and I thought it was relevant.

From Connecticut we had a layover in Dallas (so close yet so far...) for a few hours, and I was more than excited to see an advertisement for a *new* McDonald's children's play area.  Fail.  It was no more than a few video game consoles next to one of their restaurants.  Really, Mickey D's?!?

At this point, I was more than ready just to get on the plane and get home.  The last flight had R and I on two aisle seats, so I crossed my fingers that I would sit next to someone understanding and empathetic.  Imagine my surprise when it was a teacher from my school - with her three month old baby girl!  Her husband and son were sitting at the front of the plane and they were flying back from visiting her parents.  Such a small world and such a blessing to not only sit next to another mom, but someone that I actually knew!  It was great to catch up on school talk and it definitely made the flight home go by in a flash.

Our awesome pediatrician gave us his most important advice for new parents when G was just a wee little newborn.  He told us to remember that vacations aren't really vacations unless you travel without the kids.  So, with that being said, here is a list of things I learned about traveling with a toddler:

1. Changing poops on a plane is not fun.  At all.  
2. Traveling is exhausting enough but even more so when you have kids.  The days of relaxing and reading a magazine at the gate are non-existent until they are old enough to sit still.
3. It is really awkward when the couple next to you on the plane are asking the flight attendant before we even leave the terminal when they can get their free drink (at 6 a.m.!!!) and then proceed to make out for most of the flight.  
4. Bringing a pack-n-play is pretty much worthless when your toddler ends up sleeping in your bed anyway.  
5. I do not like sharing my bed with said toddler.  I am usually at the receiving end of his legs which are strong, aka I get kicked.  A lot.  
6. All I have to say is thank goodness for having a wonderful partner in crime who proved himself once again to be invaluable and helpful beyond measure.