Flying With a One Year Old

I should point out, before getting started, that we were surrounded by such good people everywhere we went.  When I first realized I'd be flying with Millie all by myself, my number one fear is that I would be surrounded by grumpy, judgemental people.  I've heard horror stories, and that wasn't my case at all.

Let the fun begin.

We took two flights to get to Charlotte from Salt Lake.  Being the worry warts we are, Buck dropped us off in Salt Lake two hours before our flight.  I totally forgot you get to skip to the front of the security line when you have a baby.  By the time we actually boarded our first flight, I had been wrestling a very anxious-to-crawl-everywhere baby (that I didn't want trampled by wheeled suitcases) for almost two hours.  It felt like we had been traveling all day already.

The first flight was a tiny airplane.  I was squared away to sit in a row by myself (because it had just one seat), but it only had one oxygen mask so I had to switch.  We sat around a group of church women traveling from Alabama.  Aside from Millie trying to reach over the top of the seat to grab their hair, kicking their seats, grabbing the lady's shirt next to us while sleeping, and kicking the lady next to us, Millie did pretty good.  She took two naps on the first flight!  Both were nearly 10 minutes.  Yep.  You read that right.  It was a long three hours.  I literally felt like I was wrestling a slippery pig in a very confined space...all while keeping the isle clear!

By the time we started making our decent into Houston I started thinking this wasn't as bad as I anticipated.  Then it happened.  Millie started into a coughing fit (she's getting over a cold).  She had done this a few times before on the flight so I didn't worry, I was just wondering what disease everyone else was worried they were catching.  Then with out any warning, mid-cough, Millie threw up.  Then she waited a second and threw up again.  Then another break before she threw up again.  Three times people!  Three times.  She was covered, I was covered, our stuff was covered, the isle was covered, and she even managed to hit others.

I'll spare you the clean up story, but suffice it to say I now know what they do when someone gets sick on a flight.  Before this I had never seen it.  Now I have, and so have a few other folks.  I'm sure we made their day.

Houston.  The George Bush Airport is big.  I power walked for 45 minutes and finally made it to our gate where I was planning on cleaning us up.  I should have looked at a clock along the way.  Right as I walked up I noticed everyone was boarded already.  Millie and I were literally the last two on the plane.  Whew.  I sat in our seat next to a sweet lady.  I mentioned what had happened (hey, fair warning) and this lady touch Millie's head and said "sweet baby, in Jesus' name be healed."  I love the south.  I was very touched she didn't say "oh boy.  I hope she doesn't get sick again"!  Aside from wrestling the greasy pig (I've got cat-like scratches all over my neck and chest to prove it!) it was an easy flight.  We landed, reunited with our family, and found out our luggage didn't make it to Charlotte.

Such is life.

So in every respect this adventure was much more than I ever expected.  Throwing up never crossed my mind.  I thought I'd be around nice people, but people with your child's throw up on them still being nice?  That is more than I could ask for.

We're here.  We made it.  We don't step foot on a plane for nearly two weeks, and I couldn't be happier.  Feel sorry for me, please.  If you've had a worse experience though, I'd love to hear it.  Really I would.  Maybe it would prepare me for my flight home.