Your First Flight
Good morning Baby Girl,
You are sitting next to me in your bouncy chair at the breakfast table. I just finished eating a bowl of cereal (simply granola, oats, honey and almonds) and reading Steven Tyler’s book, “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?”
I wanted to tell you about your first airplane ride! It was on November 14, you were three months old, and we flew to Baltimore Washington International (BWI) to stay with Helen for a week. You handled the flight so well! You wore your little noise cancelling headphones (purple with butterflies), which I think really helped. You didn’t fuss at all! You seemed to figure out yawning helped your ears. I was so concerned about that! I was afraid takeoff and landing would make you uncomfortable and the best I could do was offer you a breast hoping that would do the trick. You didn’t seem fazed at all! I was so grateful!
On the way out of the plane, several people commented about how good you were on the plane. They were impressed! I was grateful once again!
We spent a week with Helen, who just loves you to pieces! I’d love to have you stay with her for a week or two on your own when you’re 11 years old. Of course, we’ll need to keep Helen a regular presence in your life if you are to feel comfortable enough to stay on your own with her. I wouldn’t ask you to stay with someone you didn’t know.
You also got to visit Katy with me. It was great to see her! You started developing a rash on your right cheek and chin while we were at Katy’s house. Katy has a cat – the first and only that you have ever been exposed to. Could you be allergic to cats?
You, me and Helen went to DC to walk from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument at night. It was pretty. The temperature was in the 50s, but I felt almost hot the whole time, so it was a relief to sit on a bench outside the WWII Memorial and feed you.
We got several molds of your feet and hands using a flour/salt/water mixture with plaster of Paris poured into that homemade clay mold. One foot was so perfect and beautiful! It’s also the only one that broke in half!
Some of the molds turned out really well, while others looked more like skeleton molds. You had a tendency to curl your toes when we put your feet in the molds. You would also ball your fists. We found the best time to get you relaxed and “cooperative” was right after you woke up. I’m not sure what I will do with the molds yet, but I do have them in a gift box on the kitchen counter right now. Papa and Teresa haven’t even seen them yet!
Your 2nd flight was home to Jacksonville from BWI on November 21, 2019. You did not do as well on this flight. You cried twice, thankfully not for long either time, and stayed on the breast for the last hour and 12 minutes of the flight (which is to say the majority). I didn’t mind. I wanted you to be as comfortable as possible and if it meant having you on the breast for the whole flight, I would have done so.
We’ve tried to give you a pacifier several times before so that you don’t accidentally overeat when you’re trying to soothe yourself with my nipple, but you just won’t take the pacifier. I no longer worry about you overfeeding – it’s not as though you are constantly sucking. Sometimes you just like to have the comfort of it in your mouth while you rest. And – in an airplane – all I want is to soothe you.
Well, my dove, I ought to stop writing now. I have been putting off updating my resume and it’s time I got to it.
I love you, Sweet Pea. I look forward to many more flights with you.
Love,
Mama
P.S. On 14Nov, a man gave us his seat – row 1 – while he took ours in row 17. He said he was a father of 3 and understood the challenge of traveling with a baby. He even held you while I broke down your stroller and stuffed your blankets in the diaper bag. It was very sweet of him – he gave up a lot of leg room (and he was tall!) for us!
On 21Nov, a flight attendant gave us a little keychain of a white dog with brown spots and a cone around his neck.