Jet Setter

On Wednesday, little Reese, who was not even three months old (she turns 12 weeks old today), took her first trip on an airplane!  Needless to say, her mother was incredibly anxious about taking a baby all the way to Montana on an airplane with no escape--what if she screams the whole time? what if while feeding her I expose myself to the entire plane? what if her ears pop? what if she wants to stand up and bounce and the seat belt light is on?  Pretty much, I was anticipating the worst.  For the few days before our trip, every time Reese would get fussy or become distracted while eating (I got a new nursing cover for the trip and Reese was not immediately a fan--she would throw her arm straight out, displacing my nursing cover), I would say to her, "Reese, you'd better not do this on Wednesday!"

On Wednesday morning I talked to Lindsey, who has taken Tyson on numerous trips across the country, and she gave me lots of tips for traveling with an infant.  V. helpful!  Finally, it was time to put the little mush in the car and be on our way.  When we got to the airport, who should be checking in to be on our same flight but the Wheatleys!  Michael's dad's cousin and his wife, and two of my favorite people from Michael's home ward, were also going to Salt Lake City and were going to be only two rows behind Reese and me!  I immediately felt more comfortable and confident to know that there would be at least two friendly faces, even if Reese did scream during the flight.

Reese fell asleep while I fed her during takeoff and I thought we were off to a great start!  When she woke up 30 minutes later, I knew it could be a very long flight...but it did go by faster than I anticipated.  Reese did have some fussy moments--and, luckily, the seat belt sign was not illuminated when she was getting really worked up, so I went to the back of the plane to rock her to sleep.  I don't think the flight attendants were thrilled to have me back there, but whatev.  Reese was just so excited to be on her first plane ride that she just didn't want to stay asleep or miss anything (she took three cat naps during the 4 1/2 hour flight, and that just isn't enough sleep for the little darling.)

Reese woke up as we landed in Salt Lake and stayed awake through our hour layover--which was now way past her bedtime, but as it was still light outside, she thought it was still playtime!  After we boarded the flight to Kalispell, we had to sit on the plane for a long time while Delta straightened out the paperwork, and Reese was very content to just be checking things out.  I fed her again during takeoff and this time she was very tired and fussy when she finished--I was dying, just knowing that on a fuller, smaller plane everyone was probably thinking horrible thoughts about me and why I couldn't keep my baby happy--but after a few minutes, Reese finally went to sleep and stayed asleep until we landed in Kalispell! (And, much to the dismay of my parents, Reese stayed asleep until the middle of the night, so they didn't get to play with her right away.)  When we got off the plane and waited for our bag (yes, only one for the two of us--probably the lightest I've ever packed in my life!), I noticed that I was a little shaky...I had to tell myself that I could finally relax because we made it!

All in all, Reese was a pretty good little traveler!  I learned that the middle of the week is a good time to fly with a baby because the flights weren't completely full, allowing us to have a whole row to ourselves on both flights.  Really, I should give Reese more credit--she was a champ all the way through the security line (which was unusually long for a Wednesday afternoon), and in both airports, even smiling at the Delta personal as I asked for favors, and she was perfectly calm and quite while we just sat on the airplane in Salt Lake for about thirty or forty minutes before takeoff.  There was a toddler sitting in the row in front of us on the way to Salt Lake and she was fussy for a lot longer than Reese, so I didn't feel so bad.  Hopefully we will have as good an experience on the way home!