Traveling with Jonathan to see dear friends in the D.C. area this weekend provided some memorable mommy moments. None so funny, nor so painful, as the Poo-Plosion, but traveling with an infant is never easy.
Not only did I have to remove my shoes in security (while disassembling a carseat and stroller, then lifting them and the diaper bag onto the scanner conveyor belt with baby tucked under one arm), but Jonathan had to remove and scan his little Robeez. Goodness Sake... explosives in baby shoes???
On arriving at our gate and finding the flight delayed, we paced the terminal for nearly 2 hours in the stroller, aiming to maintain that "how nice, what a fun walk we're on" mood as long as we could. Jonathan was a good airport tourist for quite a while, but his attention petered-out before sleepiness set in, so instead we eventually arrived at baby Boredom -- which ranks relatively Loud on the Baby Noisiness in Public Mood Scale. The solution was standing in front of the big windows and allowing baby to bang the heck out of them with enthusiasm for the trucks and airplanes driving around below. People looked at us like I was crazy as Jonathan shrieked with delight while pounding away, but if the integrity of windows at the airport is threatened by my 1 year old, the FAA has more pressing issues to focus on than scanning baby shoes.
After all the pacing and the window-pounding we thankfully had one Tuckered Tot, who slipped into a sweet little slumber just before take-off. I was not a little bit proud of my parenting finesse at the perfect timing, and quite grateful. For a least a little while, Jonathan was safe from the sideways glances coming from the passenger next to me, which said more or less, "You cry, baby, and I'll have you for lunch instead of the dry turkey sandwich."
The Pilot, however, apparently didn't get the "Shhhh, Baby Sleeping!" note I passed his way via the flight attendant. We were about 40 minutes into the flight when he proudly announced we'd reached cruising altitude and then started with the daily forecast -- LOUDLY. I have never understood the point of this announcement, which wakes babies and grown-ups alike from the naps they spend the first half hour working to attain. Are we all going to feel just a bit better knowing this is our pre-determined altitude of choice? Anyone planning on changing into something a little more appropriate for the incoming cloudy weather at our destination? I wasn't the only one disappointed to see my little one awake... Mr. Eat-You-For-My-Turkey-Sandwich let his annoyance be known with a loud Now-Look-What-We-Have-To-Put-Up-With sigh upon glancing over at Jonathan's adorable good-morning stretches. That left this Mom with approximately 120 minutes of baby entertainment to provide while aiming for a maximum of (quiet) enthusiasm and a minimum of panic.
Upon waking, Jonathan saw his sippy-straw-cup of water tucked into the seat-back-pocket and started to fuss and point. Quick to curb the fussing but evidently forgetting the freshman year physics stored somewhere behind the thirty books I've read on infant sleep-training in the past year, I grabbed said sippy-straw-cup (STRAW in the key word here, people) and flipped open the cover, thus 'opening' the straw. My position instantly slipped from Heroic Always Prepared Mom to Bumbling Dufus as the water began raining down on myself and Mr. Baby Hater. Quick to realize the association between the unexpected showers and Jonathan's cup, I quickly slid the cover back over the straw and looked up with my fellow passengers to see the water dripping from the 'ceiling' above. Oops. I got that this is somehow in the realm of "fizzy coke" problems, and covered the straw with a baby bib on re-opening, only to entirely soak the bib with an impressive spray from the straw. Quickly abortted the straw tactic and it sinks in... oh yeah, just unscrew the top and let the AIR out, not the water. Done. Baby gets water (well, what's left of it). We'd now achieved soaking wet jeans, wet baby, Less Than Friendly Kinda Wet Neighboring Passngers, and were down to 118 1/2 minutes of baby entertainment.
With 3 board books of about 5 pages each, even 7 readings of The Very Hungry Caterpillar left us needing another 98 activities, each of about 60 seconds duration at best, to fill the remaining flight. After Jonathan had his extent of fun making crunching noises with my little plastic "beverage service" cup, I stuffed Monkey's head into the cup on a whim. Wish I had a picture of Monkey's face all squished up looking out from the plastic cup. We both laughed. Truth be told, I think even Baby Eater was a bit amused. Jonathan messed with Monkey a while, eventually freeing his face from the plastic cup, and handed them back to me to have Monkey again subjected to Plastic Cup Jail. Repeat 35 times and you have a good 8 minutes of entertainment -- Golden.
We made it to DC without tears from either one of us and had a wonderful weekend catching up with Geebs, Audra, & Bryan. We enjoyed the National Mall and the Zoo, but had the most fun catching up with friends and, for Jonathan, turning their TV on and off a bajillion times. Bryan passed his weekend practice of Daddy Boot Camp with flying colors. Jonathan had a blast with him, and Bryan and Aud pulled of an impressive performance with silent disassembly, relocation, and reassembly of the Pack-N-Play, in the dark, without waking baby.
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Weekend with Nonnie & Grandpa
Here are some photos from Jonathan's fun weekend with his grandparents while Mom & Dad fried in Phoenix
2 comments:
Those straw cups are GREAT for beginning sippy cup use, but the squirting water is really a pain! Don't ever put anything but water in them - we learned that the hard way, and sticky juice everywhere is way more messy than just water.
Such a good story-teller. I love the "baby eater" thing.
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