Plane Fun

Over Easter weekend, I got to fly solo with a toddler to Kansas City.  Jealous, right?  Actually, it wasn't as bad as you may have imagined or may have witnessed with other toddlers on planes.  With Abby being a pretty laid back girl and with a relatively short plane ride, I knew I had to expect the best, but be prepared for the worst.  I prepared myself with several things.  I then responded in red in how successful the items were for Abby and myself. 

1. New books that Abby hadn't seen before - thank you Target dollar bin!  These books came in handy - she loved having me read them and label all the pictures and words. 

2. An empty water bottle with several pipe cleaners in it. This wasn't as entertaining to Abby as I thought it would be.  It did entertain her for a short time, however.   

3. A travel sized magna doodle.  She has seen one of these before, but we don't have one, so it was still somewhat novel.  Again, not the winner I thought it was going to be, but it did entertain her.  However, she didn't care for the drawing so much as taking the writing utensil in and out (and in and out...) of it's holder. 

4. A phone full of photos of videos of herself and other familiar people, so when she requests "mo-mo" (movies), I can keep a toddler happy.  This helped while at the gate. 

5. Dental floss.  I read on a blog somewhere that their toddler was entertained with dental floss.  It's small enough to pack, so why not throw it into the mix?  Didn't even get this out.  I think the folks around me would have thought I was a looney toon if I purposely searched my bag for dental floss for my child to play with.  I did have it if I got desperate. 

6. Lots of snacks.  Don't want a hungry toddler on your hands. Fo shizzzle!  She was a snack queen!  Yogurt melts, granola bar, airline cookies, cheerios, goldfish, teddy grahams, you name it, I had it!

7. 2 sippy cup filled with water and milk.  The TSA folk had to check the sippy cup of milk to be sure it wasn't tainted with any illegal substance, but it came in handy!  Of course!  Don't go anywhere without a sippy cup! 

8.  Don't tell Abby this, but I packed a pacifier too.  She hasn't used one during the day in many many months, but again, if I got desperate...  Didn't use at all.  (Thank goodness!)

The flight to KC was full, so we spent the flight in constantly changing positions on my lap (without kicking my neighbor!), standing akwardly in between my legs (she could only face me, if she turned away, she had to lean back), or standing/sitting in the aisle.  There was a younger baby across the aisle, so Abby was slightly entertained in the "baby" across the way. 

Nothing beats a good ol' airport McDonalds breakfast!

 

A repititious game of put monkey in stroller, take monkey out of stroller, put monkey in stroller, take monkey out of stroller....repeat...



At the end of the first leg - a happy (and quiet) toddler!

After a quick nap in the car, we joined Grandma's friends for a girls' lunch!  Abby was a delight!

On the way home, I was equally as prepared with activities.  As I was boarding, the flight attendant even saw that I had a child and automatically changed my seat to an empty row (score!).  I was excited for Abby to have her own area to play in and not be worried about kicking our neighbor.  I was surprised, however, that unexpectedly, she fell asleep on my chest before we even took off!  She conked out for the entire flight and woke up right when we began to descend.  I wasn't expecting it, but I'll take it! 

Overall, Abby was an EXCELLENT traveler and honestly, I knew she'd be great.  Can I say that?  Does that sound conceited if I do?  Well, I said it.  Our next plane ride will be later this summer when we fly to Boston for our Davis family reunion!  Hopefully, I can say the same for that trip.  Plus, I won't be solo, I'll have extra hands and extra entertainment!