Traveling with a One Year Old

The plane was the best part-no crying on take off or landing in either direction.  Containment was an issue as all Lily wants to do is roam, so we spent a lot of time walking up and down the aisle to the delighted oohs and ahhs of the passengers.  Who knew that a non-fussy baby would be beloved on an airplane flight?  As a childless single I cringed at the mere sight of a child on a plane.  The fact that Lily spit up all over herself just prior to the flight didn’t seem to deter anyone, either.

We did everything we could to make the trip successful.  Lily had her own seat on the plane and she traveled in her car seat.  She was buckled in for take off and landing and turbulence-the internet told me so.  I called the FAA multiple times to verify that we could bring Lily’s medication, over 3 ounces, on board, and that we could bring frozen freezer packs to keep the medication cold, a medical requirement.  I’m sure that my name is on a watchdog list now and the NSA is tapping my phone lines, but that’s okay. What are they going to hear? Me talking to my mother.

When I was young-I don’t know exactly how young but somewhere between 6 months and 2 years-my parents and I flew to California so I could meet my great grandfather.  I’ve seen the photos so I know my parents aren’t making this up.  On the flight my mother pre-loaded a bunch of Easter eggs with little surprises for me, so after I’d been good for a set amount of time, I was given an egg, and then another egg, etc...etc…and the bribery worked.  We tried the technique with Lily and it failed miserably; she didn’t care about the eggs, but she knew that the eggs contained yummy, snackable goodness, so she just whined until I gave her the container of snacks.  Sometimes she’s a little too smart for her own good.  The hubby was worried about the plane ride, about disturbing the other passengers.  I just rolled my eyes and repeated, “We are flying from Newark to Ft. Lauderdale; this is the ‘going to grandma’s house’ flight.  The plane will be filled with kids.”  It was!  And aside from a conference goer or a random vacationer, everyone was going to grandma’s.

Prior to traveling the hubby and I had a long conversation about the hotel-I explained and explained how it was necessary to have more than one room, to have a kitchen, to do whatever we could to make our lives a little bit easier.  He didn’t believe me at first.  Being the youngest and not traveling too much as a child, my hubby was a bit naïve when it came to the realities of traveling with a child.  He was very glad that I talked him into everything-so when she napped, which is still twice a day, we could shut the door, so when she cried herself to sleep at night, which she is still doing and it drives me insane, we could shut the door, so when she needed a play room and one of us needed a nap…so when she needed a quick meal I could just whip one up in the kitchen…the list is extensive.  The hotel staff and long stay guests fell in love with her as we walked up and down the halls or when we fed her Belgian waffles at the breakfast buffet.  Lily was having the time of her life.

On the way home we were delayed…so Lily spent all her good napping time in the airport, waiting to board the flight.  Once we finally boarded she woke up, but I didn’t blame her (she was already asleep for an hour at that point).  Lily loves turbulence and flight attendants and little bags of chocolate chip cookies Jet Blue gives you as a snack.  She also loves the video monitors in the headrests.  Her cuteness got me expedited through security and the TSA was crazy nice to us!  I may never travel without my daughter ever again.

The reason we went to Florida was so that Lily could meet her great-grandmother Doris, Warren's paternal grandmother.  And, so that Doris could meet Lily, too.  They enjoyed each other's company very much.