First airplane ride

Today we took Dustin on an airplane for the first time! Many passengers in the airport asked us, "Is this his first flight?" Yes, it was. But more importantly, perhaps, it was OUR first flight with him! We did all the packing and planning, and he just came along for the ride.

He fell asleep in the car to the airport, and woke up just near the end of the security line. That was fortunate! Jeff relaxed at the boarding gate while Dustin and I went to get a hamburger for me to eat. When we returned, he had a poopy diaper, so I went to change it. Unfortunately, all of the "preferred boarding" occurred while we were in the lady's room, so we had to elbow our way on to the plane.

We had heard that it's great to breastfeed the baby on takeoff and landing, and that they typically sleep the rest of the flight. Of course Dustin doesn't make things quite so easy. He's a fast eater (typically 5-10 minutes), so we had to delay his eating until we were sure that we were taking off and landing. He took his typical naps on the plane: sleep for 45 minutes, then awake for 2 hours. He gave us another poopy diaper on the plane. Maybe the reduced air pressure makes it easier for babies to squeeze it out. Unfortunately, planes are not as entertaining as you might think. He got quite squirmy and bored, and we did what we could to keep him occupied.

We were the last ones off the planes, to the extent that the flight attendants were huddled around us, waiting for us to finally get the car seat and get off the ramp so they could go home. All in all, I would say it was a successful trip. But by no means easy.