The first flight I was alone so I was pretty nervous. If things didn't go as planned it was all me, no one to help. The start was a little rocky. Liam was asleep when we arrived to the airport so I left him in his carseat and attached it to the stroller. I pulled my checked bag behind me and dropped that off. Security had me take Liam out of the car seat so of course he woke up and was fussy and that made things a little less pleasant for a min while I settled him done. Imagine putting back on your shoes and packing things up after security so you don't cause a bottle neck and calming a baby. Luckily it was short lived and we were off to the gate. This is where things were out of my control, the gate agent was no where to be found for 30 mins prior to the flight so I was rushed to check the stroller and carseat and putting Liam in the baby carrier. There was a super nice passenger that happened to have the same baby gear as me so she was a pro at bagging it and was a huge help. It really helped since the flight was behind on boarding so they were rushing everyone so moving quick was vital. Once we got on the flight I was able to feed Liam and he went right to sleep.
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| apparently holding my headphones is a comfort when he is sleeping ;) |
Several of the blogs I read suggested being on the isle seat so this is what I chose. The one big negative for me is if you are seated first which we were you have to get up for the other 2 passengers which is a little hard while feeding a baby. So I actually think boarding later might have been easier. I would have loved dumping the stroller and carseat and then waiting to sit. But not a big deal.
Liam was such a good traveler. He got a wet diaper so woke from his nap but was pleasant and happy just to stand on my lap so he could look around. When we got off the plane I was pleasantly surprised to find the passenger that had helped us board already reassembling my stroller (what an incredibly kind person). She then followed me to the carousel so she could grab my bag for me. My dad was already there to help, but wow! Nicest woman ever.
On future flights I hope to not have the stroller and car seat. I plan on just having Liam in the baby carrier and then already having the car seat in its bag. This will help to speed things up and will make less work for me at the gate. Blogs I read said the stroller added more work and they were right. But this trip it really came in handy so the extra work was necessary.
My mom had already gotten a playpen and swing for us so we really had the comforts of home while traveling. We stayed at my Grandmas while we were there. Liam and I shared a room, which meant I didn't need a baby monitor for this trip.
Our trip to California was for 2 weddings of close family friends. While I attended the first ceremony my sister Courtney watched Liam. This was so helpful.
I had to work remotely this trip so that also added to the things I had to pack. My huge laptop didn't fit in my diaper bag and my suitcase was at the weight limit so I ended up using Brian's backpack as my diaper bag for the week. There were pros and cons with this. I like my diaper bag because everything has its place but the backpack was great because it carried so much. I think next trip I will bring a backpack and a diaper bag. That way I have the perks that both have to offer and can trade off if the trip is long enough. Working remotely also made it a very busy week.
Each morning we started our day by 7am. Breakfast for me, feeding and diaper change for Liam. I usually just stayed in PJs till 10 or 11 so that I could hammer out my work. Then I got Liam and myself ready for the day and headed over to my moms where I could continue working till she was done with school. I also had a few days where I helped prep for wedding things. Once my mom was home she was able to help with Liam so that I could get work done if needed. Then our days were filled with dinner with friends a visit with my in-laws and rehearsal dinner till 10 pm most nights. Liam adjusted to things well. He napped great even with all the noise (25+ people in the room most places we went) and stuck to a pretty good schedule. We learned what it is like to have older siblings a few times when kids would get too excited to see him and wake him but overall things went great and he was a happy baby. Brian finished finals and came down Thursday afternoon. He watched Liam while I went to the second wedding and was a great partner to have through the final flight home.
My feet don't touch the floor of airplanes unless I cross my legs. This is not super comfy for Liam so as soon as I passed him over to Brian he fell fast asleep. I will have to figure out a way to make him more comfortable on my lap since most of our flights this year will just be me and Liam. #shortpeopleproblems
The second flight home was also uneventful. I knew what to expect from security so that went better and Brian was there to help keep things moving. Liam was easy again on this flight and mostly slept. After this flight we opted to take the train home so that we didn't have to park a car at the airport. Liam LOVED it. Mamaroo seriously needs a train setting. Between the noise and the rythmic movement he was the happiest I have seen him. He smiled and laughed most of the hour trip.
Lessons learned: next trip I will wake Liam if he is asleep in the car and place him in the carrier. Since security will make me wake him anyways I figure this will be easier. Then he has the chance to calm down and get settled before we even enter the airport. This also will allow me to bag the baby carrier if I am bringing that and save me time at the gate. I will do a separate post on what and how I packed. Overall I didn't need much on the flight because he slept most of it. As he gets older or if we take longer flights I think snacks, entertainment and toys will be more important for us. I also would reconsider the seat I sit in, on a short flight the likelihood I will need to get up is small so I think being in the window seat would be nice so that I have a place to rest my head and then we can get settled early on and not worry about the other passengers in our row.
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| auntie co co giving liam a bath |
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| Jonathan has grown so much since I last saw him in January |
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| Mimi with Liam |
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| elli! last saw her in Oct so it was fun to her her walking now, she was just rolling over when we saw her last |
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| Brian with Jonathan, he was loving him at this age |
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