First Flight

On New Year's Eve, Todd drove Evie and me to the airport, kissed his girls goodbye, and sent us to spend a week in Idaho Falls with my family. He wasn't able to come because he just started his great new job a couple of weeks ago and has no time off saved up yet. Honestly, I was so scared to do this, because I've never been on a plane by myself before, let alone with a baby, and I was secretly terrified that I was going to get so lost that I was somehow going to end up in Argentina, getting kidnapped by Colombian drug dealers along the way, of course (it occurs to me that I may watch too many action movies). For the most part, though, Evie was great! We were in and out of security in about 10 minutes, thanks to the help of the very kind TSA officer; I had Evie strapped to my chest, so he helped put all of my things on the conveyor belt, watched as I walked through the metal detector, and met me on the other side to check my hands for explosives residue. After that, it was fairly easy to find our gate: just a quick trip on the train to concourse B, a ride up the elevator (there was no way I was risking riding on the escalator!), and a jaunt across the moving sidewalks.
Evie was impressed by all of the bright lights and lines of people. She smiled at everybody and tried her darndest to flirt with the gentleman sitting behind us, but her wiles were no match for the book he was reading. She managed to charm the gate lady, though, from 20 feet away! The lady kept coming over to smile at Evie and let her touch her long red fingernails, her curly weave, and her jeweled name lanyard. It was a good thing the lady was so nice and distracting, because after 2 hours of sitting at the gate, Evie started to get bored. She really needed her morning nap, but I couldn't take her out of the carrier until we were on the plane. Fortunately for me, that nice lady told me that since it was the holiday season and the plane was only half full, I could take Evie's car seat on with me instead of gate-checking it so that Evie could nap during the flight. She'd already moved me to the other side of the plane because my original side didn't have enough oxygen masks to accomodate an infant-in-lap, and I was now back one row so that I could have the empty seat next to me for Evie's car seat. I was so grateful for such a kind offer!
Our plane was a half hour late coming in because of the wind and when I finally got on the plane, I got moved again because my new seat was on the row in front of the emergency exit, and babies apparently aren't allowed to sit there. So I was moved from 5B to 6D (and C) and then to 4D (and C). We were seventh in line to take off, and Evie was not thrilled about just sitting there. What she really needed was a little bottle and a nap, but I wasn't allowed out of my seat to get the water for her bottle, so I fed her little puffs to keep her from screaming and annoying all of the other passengers. Take-off was a little scary. We hit turbulence as we ascended, and my stomach kept jolting. Evie started crying, and I could tell that her tummy wasn't happy either.
Just as we broke through the clouds and the flight evened out, Evie looked at me, blinked, opened her eyes halfway, and fell asleep. She stayed asleep for the entire flight. I drank 16 ounces of ginger ale, and finished just in time to land. Landing was much smoother than taking off, partly because I closed the window so I couldn't see when exactly we were about to touch down and psych myself out. Evie woke up while we were pulling up to the gate, and she stayed happy while we waited for all of the other passengers to deplane before getting all of our stuff together. One of the pilots herself came to help me, which was very nice of her, and I got into the terminal and saw my mom waiting on the other side of the doors. Evie was slipping out of my arm, so I hurried across the terminal and the doors opened just in time for my mom to catch Evie before she slipped out completely. There were hugs and kisses all around, and then we drove home to celebrate New Years Eve. My sister and brother both had parties to go to, but we've been having a good time ever since. My dad gets home late Tuesday night, so Wednesday is our family Christmas. We're going to exchange presents, eat a big dinner, and just enjoy each other's company. We're so excited to see my dad, and I know that he's very excited to see Evie; the last time he saw her was early in May when he helped bless her (see this post). We miss Todd, but Evie and I call him every night to tell him what we've been doing and that we love him. I told him that next year, whether he has official time off or not, he's coming with me because I'm not going through the airport alone with TWO babies! :) Other than missing the Daddy, though, Evie and I are sure enjoying this week!