Since leaving home and moving out to Utah I have flown quite a bit. Usually at least one to two times a year for Christmas and occasionally for summer. Then there was Chile and Argentina as well. For the most part I really enjoy flying. The days can be long and slow but with my busy college life it was always a nice semi-relaxing time to read a book, close your eyes, listen to music, write in your journal, etc. I got excited thinking about our flight to Utah, the book I wanted to read and the music I wanted to put on our ipod...and then I remembered one tiny detail:
Oh yes, I have a toddler. Good bye semi-relaxing flight time. I'm really really grateful that Darin and I flew together, I don't know how so many parents fly solo with a toddler. The thought frightens me. With the two of us we seemed to be able to manage the boy without too much difficulty. He did have a hard time staying put for two and three hour periods on the plane and since his attention span is approximately 34.5 seconds we went through lots of books, snacks, toys and little clips of shows. He was busy but never threw a tantrum or got overly fussy so overall I'm really impressed with how well he did (the girl sitting next to me who had goldfish dropped on her leg every two minutes might have thought otherwise...).
The only thing that could have made it better was if he had slept a little bit more. He was really worked up with excitement the entire first flight and then right as we were landing he was so worn out that he just sat completely still on Darin's lap. That never happens follks. (We have a busy body boy). I started to think, "He is seriously going to fall asleep right now as we are landing." And sure enough:
This is somewhat of a phenomena. Shae never just falls asleep in our laps. He has to be in his bed or wrapped up in our arms with a little bouncy jig to woo him into Neverland. But of course he couldn't have picked a worst time to fall asleep, as soon as we land and everyone starts moving he wakes right up.
Then we had an hour and a half layover in Detroit which Shae loved because he got to run rampant up and down the escalators and back and forth on the floor escalators (do those have a name?) all the while drumming on all chairs and flirting with all the ladies in his path.
After wearing us down and getting a few dirty looks because the cute "little toddler walked in front of my fast paced walk to my next gate" we decided it was time for some calm Frozen apple eating, and so we did (Can you tell that Frozen is one of the few...only...Disney movies we own? Good thing Shae loves it).
A few minutes before we started to board Darin did the bounce jig and got the exhausted child to sleep pretty easily. Hoping he would sleep for the entire three and a half hour flight seemed like a long shot, especially after he woke right up about 15 minutes after take off.
Considering he only got about 30 minutes of nap in and that we didn't end up getting to Aunt Amelia's until well after midnight EST, we were SO happy with his performance. He was a real trooper through it all and has (thank goodness!) adjusted to MST quickly.
And now we are in Utah and loving the beautiful mountains, cool temperatures and dry air that keeps my hair tame. As well as our awesome family and friends!
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