My solo flight with Maddie went well. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:10am on the 6th. Our wonderful neighbor gave us a ride to the airport just before 8am. When I got to the departure gate, I saw the small twin-propeller plane and had to say a little prayer. I hadn't flown on something that small since the Barbados-Mustique flight. Then the pilots came in while the plane was being serviced and he muttered something to the gate attendant after looking at me. He then turned to me and said, "Ma'am, the heat on the plane isn't working. I wouldn't take a baby on that plane, it's cold enough down here on the ground, imagine how much colder it is up there." The gate attendant said she'd reschedule us for a later flight on a plane that had working heat, but the flight wouldn't depart for another FOUR HOURS.
I didn't want to expose Maddie to the cold (yet another case for the snowsuit in Florida), so we took the later flight. I also didn't want to bother our neighbor to come back and get us only to turn around and have to drop us off again. So we hung out at the USO in the airport. It was nice, they had a little blanket I laid out for Maddie to play on, but mostly I had her strapped to me in the Ergo baby carrier (my Christmas present from Aaron - I love that thing!). The airline also gave me a lunch voucher, which I used at one of the airport cafes just before we boarded. Maddie munched on pieces of my croissant while I ate my sandwich:
The carbs or butter in the croissant must've hit the spot, because as soon as I put her back in the Ergo and went to the departure gate, she fell asleep. And she stayed asleep! Even as I walked the 20-some yards outside to get to the plane in the cold air, she slept. The loud propellers were no problem. Fortunately, the plane steward didn't make me take off the Ergo (infant carriers aren't approved for takeoff and landing), so I didn't disrupt her when I got seated and belted. She slept the entire 1.5 hour flight, and woke up as we started to descend into Tampa. I'm sure somebody on that flight thought I drugged her for the trip!
Here's Maddie looking out our bedroom window at Mimi and Papa's condo, with the view of Clearwater Beach. It was so cold there, though it was 10 degrees warmer than Pensacola! When I got up that morning at around 5:30, the Pensacola weather channel said it was 21 degrees with a wind chill of 9! Needless to say, we kept Maddie indoors for the entire trip.
Maddie loved this mirrored plant stand. It was also a favorite of her cousin Thomas when he was a baby. She would enthusiastically crawl toward it and start talking to "the baby in the mirror"...
Instead of hauling the high chair to Clearwater, I brought this really cool thing called the Wriggle Wrapper. It turned this stool into a high chair. When Maddie wanted to watch Mimi or Daddy cook at the breakfast counter, we'd turn her around and secure her in it so she could hold onto the back of the chair and stand. It was great. She didn't mind playing in it after mealtime, either.
We had a good time in Clearwater. Aaron and I went out on a date to see Avatar in 3D. Pretty cool flick. Aaron saw it on a regular movie screen a couple days before I arrived, and he said he liked the 3D version better. We also went out to dinner with some family friends, Don & NormaJean, who we hadn't seen since our wedding 5 years ago! It was really good to see them again and have them meet Madelyn.
I was thankful we didn't have to fly back to Pensacola. We loaded up the van Sunday morning and hit the road. We made it back in about 7 hours, including the two stops to feed and change the baby. Great trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment