In a little over a week I will be doing THE scariest thing I have ever done in my whole life. You might expect it to be something from fear factor, and if I did have to eat larva and drink cow's blood that would definitely win out, but no, it's something that sounds so nice but for 6 hours it won't be. In less than 10 days Evelyn and I will be traveling home to California for 2 weeks. That's not the scary part, but rather the happy part! The scary part is getting there. Checking in through security, taking off my shoes while trying to keep Ev from running off, folding up the stroller and putting it on the belt all by my little mom self. Flying solo. For 6 hours. With a babe on my lap. Scrambling for toys out of my backpack. Unpacking snacks for a 13 month old and a pregnant self. Leaving at 6 in the morning. 3 hour time change. All of this sounds deathly scary to me. I'm not afraid of flying at all, it's just knowing Ev's personality all to well and knowing what a confined plane ride has in store for us both. Evelyn is a very spirited young lady and I love that about her. But
sometimes all the time that spirit results in tons of energy, a loud voice, doesn't sleep on the go, and all of this is just making my nerves fry. So all week I've been preparing for this excursion and making a list of necessary things to include in our travel bag. One of those things are headphones and the first time I put them on her, Ev freaked out. Slowly but surely this week we've watched videos of her on my phone while I would sneak the headphones on. Well today, I didn't have to sit with her and watch the videos! She totally let me put them on and they stayed on and I didn't have to sit by her.
Obviously all of this will have a good outcome because we will be with my family and I am so excited to see their faces and be back in California! I am so grateful for my parents extending this invitation to us! It's just the task of getting there seems daunting right now {and the fact that i'll be leaving Jared for 14 days. How crazy is it that we haven't spent one night apart in our whole 3+ years of marriage?! Yeah, so I've had my sobfests over that too}. And Ev had a sobfest when I took the headphones away.
But how adorable is that look of sorrow? I'm hopeful she'll woo the other passengers into liking her :)
oh girl! I can't imagine the fear you must be feeling...but you can do it and it sounds like you're more than prepared!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to take Matthew to CA to visit some friends, but the same fear that you're experiencing is the exact reason why I haven't done it yet. I can not even imagine traveling with my baby by myself across the country! But it sounds like you are slowing preparing Evelyn for the trip so she will be so prepared by travel time!
ReplyDeleteAnd with a face like that, she will surely win over the passengers!!
Ohhh I can sympathize. Not exactly with flying 6 hours with a little kid, but with trying to corral them, period. Especially in public. You can do it though! Its been done before! :D
ReplyDeleteyou can do it!!!! my sister in law bakes cookies for the row in front of and behind her when she travels with kids ans she says she never gets more help :) something to think about, haha. best of luck
ReplyDeleteeek have fun!! (: and have a safe trip!!
ReplyDeletep.s. she is adooorrable ;)
I totally understand...we haven't flown anywhere yet, but we have had our fair share of road trips to socal, which stress me out enough :) I'm sure she will be beautifully! I hope we can meet up while you're here! I'll shoot you an email:)
ReplyDeleteYour going to do great! We have flown from DC to San Fran, San Diego, Tampa ect with Judah and he did great. The sound of the plane will help her fall asleep. Judah was teething so I did give him some tylenol before the plane took off and made sure I had some hylands teething gel or tablets.
ReplyDeleteAlso I brought lots of snacks, drinks, two new toys he has never played with before (I took them out of the package when we got onto the plane). I brought my moby wrap/sling so I can stick Judah in it when I went through security. I mainly used his stroller to stroll everything over to the gate (they check the stroller/and car seat) for free at the gate. I also brought a diaper for every hour we were on the plane (which PS do not feed her prunes the day before....we did with Judah before our 5 hour flight to San Fran and he had so many diaper explosions he actually got poop all inside one of the bathrooms) but they do have changing tables on one of the airline bathrooms just ask them which one :-)
We are going back in June this time with Judah a little bit more mobile but I am going to still see if he can fly on my lap.
gosh and a flight that early? that does not sound fun! I thought we were talking about a trip to the lady doctor here! Haha! Good luck!! :)
ReplyDeleteDont worry Im sure you will do great!! thinking great thoughts your way
ReplyDeleteHaha, that face in the last picture!
ReplyDeleteI have faith in you! It will be over before you know it! But, I would be deathly afraid if I were you too. Six hours and the time change... yuck. California is so beautiful and I'm happy you get to be with family!
♥Abbey
Along Abbey Road
I flew from Oregon to Florida with Gunner at about the same age as Evelyn. He loved those silver foil stickers because they unstick from things. Also take a small umbrella stroller if you can, it makes life a lot easier. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOMG, that last picture is priceless!!!!!!! I will say a little prayer for safe and sane lol travels. but really with her face you cant go wrong, the passengers are going to love her!!!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a fabulous visit with your family!!!
I know how you feel; traveling alone with a toddler is stressful. Tell yourself "it is what it is", and just go with the flow. You'll do great.
ReplyDeleteyou are a brave woman! i’m sure you guys will do great and she will make everyone around her melt with her cuteness. i’ve flown with blake about 5 times and each time airline employees and passengers are actually really nice and helpful when you’re alone with a baby. i remember on one flight a cup of ice kept her entertained for a solid hour.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh good luck!! Everything will be just fine! She is seriously the cutest child on earth so even if shes obnoxious I'm sure the people on the plane will still love her! haha Awww I cant believe yall havent spent a night apart! I would definitely be having sobfests too but this will be so good for yall! Think about how exciting it's going to be when you come back!
ReplyDeleteLast year I flew with my 2 and 3 year old.. Not a good experience because of a lady with a nasty attitude in front of us, but you know what? We made it to see our family and we will never have to see that lady again. :) The best advice I can give you is to NOT take a watch. You will stare at it the whole time and that makes the time go by slower! Best wishes.
ReplyDeleteOh golly, major prayers and good juju coming your way for a safe and uneventful flight! Do you ever read E Tells Tales? The gal Elizabeth who writes it has traveled solo a lot with her baby boy, I bet she'd be a good person to ask for tips!
ReplyDeletehow exciting that you & your little mini get to have a fun getaway to see family!! :) but oh yes, flying as a solo parent can be tricky...but it will all work out one way or another and then you'll be with your fam! The couple times I've flown just with my little Brooks (both times to see my family too:) there have been stressful moments, but mostly I was just so excited to get to washington, then on the way back i couldn't wait to see Adam! :) And it's wonderful how helpful and thoughtful people can be (not everyone, but a sweet select few) when they see a young mom & her little one :)
ReplyDeleteand I loved catching up on your recent posts...CONGRATS GIRL!!!!! Oh i'm so HAPPY for you and your GROWING family! :) hope you & the little bun in the oven are doing great :) What an adorable way to announce it...so, so sweet :)
Expect the worst, and you'll be pleasantly surprised! I've flown across the ocean twice with my little one - once at 4 months and once at 9 months, and she sounds like Ev in that she NEVER sleeps when we're somewhere new! Hopefully she'll be so distracted/interested in what's going through security, she won't be a problem - and they usually have a family lane for slow-movers anyway, and usually staff will help pop your stroller up on the belt for you! Books are great - loads of pictures to point to, and we just kept asking for odd junk from the plane staff - our Dot played with a water bottle, then an empty water bottle, then a straw, then a crinkly packet of peanuts (closed, of course), then the safety instructions (wet-wipes come in handy to clean off germs, fyi), and then finally we brought out a book for her to look at. Don't bring too many toys - she'll be happy just to watch what's going on for a while, and once your seatbelt signs go off you can take her for a "tour" of the plane! Our only trouble was take off and landing when we had to be belted in - snacks definitely come in handy then! Our little one hardly slept (and that's a NINE hour flight we took!), but she only got grumpy near the end of the flight, and once we landed she was wide awake wondering what she would see next. Seriously, you will be FINE, and Ev will surprise you, I'm sure!! Best of luck, let us know how it goes! xx
ReplyDeleteI have similar fears. I live overseas, but will be delivering my first baby in the states in a few months. I'm super dreading the close to 20 hour travel day when I take her home when she's 3 months. Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteWe are doing the same thing in FOUR days!!! EEK! I'm a little nervous too, but trying to prepare. I thought of the headphone thing too, but I think Molly might be a little young for it :(
ReplyDeleteEither way, we get to see our families, so hooray for that!! Hope you both have a blast :)
Good luck! The first time I did it about stressed me to death. By the time I made it to the gate, I looked like I had just run 10 miles. Everything went perfectly, but I was stressing out wayy to much about it. I'm sure you guys will have a blast!
ReplyDeleteMy girly and I had to fly together a few months ago, and I just about wanted to die with anxiety before we left. It was a bit stressful, I won't lie. But I do think that they're a whole lot better at this age. We're flying again in a couple of weeks, and this time around I'm having all kinds of snacks and videos she can watch ready :-) Good luck! You can do it!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome you'll be visiting CA. You'll have to tell me how the traveling goes. It's something I haven't done yet lol.
ReplyDelete- Sarah
http://agirlintransit.blogspot.com
You guys will do great. Just stay calm. Her cuteness will overwhelm any annoyances :)
ReplyDeleteWell, the good news is that those sinks in the airplane lavatory are just big enough to fully dunk and rinse off your shirt in the event that your toddler vomits all over you halfway through the flight from DC to CA. The bad news, of course, is that you may have occasion to learn these types of fun facts.
ReplyDeleteDon't be scared - I have just recently done it! Meadow was 14 months old and I got on a plane to go home by myself too, and seriously, it was fun! Everyone feels sorry for you being by yourself with a toddler and they go out of their way to help with the stroller etc....small piece of advice though, don't board first, as then you wait on the plane for ages and that adds to the 6 hours! Don't stress I promise you it is fine!
ReplyDeletexx
I totally know how you feel! I have never traveled with an older baby, just when my daughter was 3 months old and it was easy peasy, but I couldn't imagine doing it now. We are going to Canada in Mayish with two kiddos and driving and I am terrified. 13 hour drive!
ReplyDeleteso cute!!! Can imagine you are scared, but according to my friends who have travelled with their little ones, it turned out not te be to bad :-)
ReplyDeleteyou can do it! i don't know how many hours of airplane time i've logged with my two kiddos with three trips to japan to visit my parents and a few others to new york, hawaii, etc. you are a person that will make sure you are uber prepared... so i'm not worried for you!
ReplyDeleteone of my biggest words of advice would be pack one full outfit change for E (at least one) and a full outfit change for you too. i only brought a change of shirt for me on our recent trip to hawaii... and of course isaac threw up all over my pants... totally missing my shirt. i definitely wish i had new pants to change into instead of sitting in those pants for a few hours!
also... bring some plastic bags. you can do big ziplock ones or grocery store sacks. i like keeping one in the seat flap for garbage (since when you bring a lot of snacks for the kids the garbage tends to add up quickly and i didn't want it all over our seats and floor) and also in the case of there being a situation where you need to change your clothes, its nice to put your dirty ones in a sac so they dont get all over everything else.
not all planes will have changing tables in the bathrooms. just ask the flight attendants when they come by on the airplane... and if they dont then i just took the kiddos to the back of the plane and did it on the floor as out of the way as possible... then threw the diaper away in the bathroom.
have you flown with evelyn before? just know that little ones ears can hurt on the way up and way down on the flight. the last thing you want is evelyns ears hurting on the way up so she's fussy the whole flight. its pretty easy to avoid. just feed her snacks on both ends of the trip. chewy ones are usually good at really getting their jaws moving and swallowing. like fruit snacks... not that i'd necessarily recommend sugary snacks when kids need to be confined : ).
good call on the head phones... seriously those will be so helpful. you'll be great and it will have its stressful moments, but those will pass and you'll end up with your family and have a blast. i guess my last bit of info is even when its starting to get crazy on the airplane... keep chill. i know that can be hard but ive experienced kids totally feel the mood of the parent and i swear it affects them. so when i stay more calm in not ideal situations on the airplane everything turns out so much better (not that i'm expecting you to go on a crazy rampage on the flight... but we all have those 'im about to freak out moments' : )!
cant wait to hear about how it goes!!