Max Takes Flight

We had plans to head to Wisconsin for our best friend's wedding and Andy thought it would be a good idea to drive and take the dogs. Uhm...I disagreed to that. After much deliberation we agreed that Max and I would fly there and drive back with Andy and the dogs. The agreement was made and at the last minute I went online and booked my one way ticket with a lap child to WI. This was not just a regular ticket, but instead it was First Class. I was stressed out about flying with the big man all by myself for the first time and just wanted to be comfortable, so what better way to go than First Class? It provided more room for the two of us. 

That morning I had such anxiety about my travels. First, I hate to fly and second, I am now one of those travelers that I would look at and hope that I did not sit anywhere near that baby toting mom. I got to the airport early and Andy is so nice that he wheeled my luggage in for me while I had Max strapped into the Baby Bjorn, carrying the Boppy in one hand and the diaper bag slung over the other shoulder. After check-in I approached security all nervous wondering how many regular travelers I was going to piss off as I moved through security at a snails pace. To my surprise I learned through the whole traveling with a baby process that there are more people who want to help (especially older men) than there are who want to judge. I must admit, I was once a judger of baby toting moms through the airport and now I feel REALLY BAD about it. As I approached the stack of bins to put my belongings in I let the older businessman behind me know that he can pass me at any time as I am more than ok with it. He proceeded to let me know that he was not in a hurry and he was there to help me if I needed it. He said he was in my shoes many years ago and knows how hard it is to travel by yourself with an infant. After I passed through the detector I had to step aside so thy could swab my hands since I did not take the Baby Bjorn off. They did not let me get my items off the conveyor belt so the nice businessman gathered them and brought my belongings to me. What a nice guy! As I gathered my items and put my shoes on, another older gentleman wanted to see Max and commented on how cute he is and then proceeded to give me helpful advice on traveling with a baby. I thought to myself "Wow, people are so friendly when it comes to babies and what's with the men?" 

I got to my seat in first class and really was hoping I did not get a regular traveling businessman sitting next to me because I don't want him/her to get annoyed that they have to sit next to a baby. Of course the man who sits next to me is all suited up traveling for work. He ended up being really nice and we talked almost the whole flight. He even offered to hold Max while I ate my airplane food breakfast. It kind of weirded me out so I told him it wasn't necessary. Then a half an hour later I had to use the bathroom and was fully prepared to take Max with me, but Mr. Suit offered to hold him again. I figured we were on a plane so there was nowhere for him to go and this is not a Hollywood movie so I let Mr. Suit hold Max. The suit stood in the aisle holding him and bouncing him. After that I realized there are more nice travelers out there who are willing to help over the judgers. 

For the three hour flight from Phoenix to Chicago Max did great as he slept the majority of the time. I was all prepared to nurse during takeoff and landing to help with his ears, but Max was not interested so I just let him sleep. Apparently his ears did not bother him as he never even moved because he slept the whole time.

My layovers have now changed as B.M. (Before Max) I would spend my layover in a bar/restaurant chatting with other travelers over a glass (or two) of wine. Things have changed now that it's A.M. (After Max) as I did not spend my three hour layover sipping on wine socializing. Instead I walked all over the Chicago airport to make Max happy as all he wanted to do was look around at everything and wanted me to keep walking. Throughout my walk i was stopped a dozen times by travelers oogling over my adorable son and asking questions. Of course I agreed with all of the travelers that Max is such a cute baby. Oh, I also got in some time to nurse him and change his diaper.

We then boarded another small plane to head to Madison. Again Max was a rockstar as he slept the whole flight. I was definitely a proud mommy that my baby boy did so well with traveling as he was so chill and just went with the flow. I had such a great experience with him and will never judge another parent traveling with an infant again as it is hard work.

My very tired self (only three hours of sleep here) with Max in First Class heading to Chicago as he slept.

When we arrived in Madison we were greeted by my parents who were super excited to see Max.