Travel log, 7.13.11

Yesterday I sent this text to a close friend: "Remind me to tell you about the time I accidentally called a sex hotline from a work phone."

To give background on how my standard Tuesday turned in to potentially disastrous chaos, I will tell you that I was checking in for a flight online. I was reviewing baggage policies, because when you travel with an infant, you basically bring half a condo's worth of stuff, and with baggage fees the way they are, there's no way I was going to get blind-sided with an unexpected fee.

The particular airline that we're flying made it harder than necessary to find the policy on baby gear, but finally I found information: Car seats and strollers checked free of charge, portable cribs and other gear treated like additional baggage.

Lamesauce.

But I wanted to call and make sure that was a current policy - I like to be silly and think that people can be nice sometimes and do things that you might not expect, like expand their baby gear policies when other airlines are raising their checked bags fees or are starting to charge for carry ons and such.

So I went in to our department's conference room and dialed the number I had found for AirTran.

It was sooooo not AirTran. I'll leave the rest to your imaginations, but the first words were, "Hey there, sexy man, hold on the line until one of our operators can answer ..."

Eek. Turns out the REAL AirTran phone number is just two digits off of the one I had originally found, but those digits are uber important, especially when you are trying to make a legitimate phone call from a work phone. Oopsie.

(And FYI, policy is up to date - portable cribs are treated like like an additional piece of checked baggage.)

* * *

I was talking to my mom yesterday about our travel plans and accommodations while we're in town. She was telling me about all of the clutter that apparently is driving her nuts in the rooms that my siblings and I occupied when we were living at home.

Essentially, she told me that while I was visiting home, I was going to have to clean my room.

* * *

Traveling by myself with Elle is exhausting. I honestly don't know if I'll do it again. 

We were over traveling before we even boarded for our second flight.
And I like to send Tim photos of our adventures when he can't be with us :)

She's a good traveler, but heck, I wasn't looking forward to the car ride to the airport, the flight, the layover, the other flight and final arrival at my parents' house. I can't imagine being wee little and full of energy and getting shuttled around during all of that when all you want is milk, your toys, your crib and your crawling space.

 I'm not above bribing her with food in situations like this, but thankfully, it didn't come to that. She slept for the entire first flight, was a bit impatient during our layover when I wouldn't let her crawl in to the crowds of people who barely look in front of them - never mind below them, and slept for 25 minutes of our last flight and then spent the remainder of the time charming our fellow travelers.

Eating lunch on our layover.

But it's the mere fact that I've got to be "on" the whole time - if I don't bring my 'A' game, we're sunk. When she woke up less than halfway in to our second flight, I had to devise ways to distract her and pace myself so I wouldn't run out of material before the plane landed. All this on three and a half hours of sleep and a temporary numbness on my left side from hauling all of our gear while pushing the stroller up and down the terminal for our three hour layover. (I thought lunch would take longer. It felt like it took longer. But apparently that was only 20 minutes of our layover. GAH.)

It's not any more fun, but it's such a relief to know there's shared responsibility and another option when Tim travels with us (like he will be on our return flight). You know, because then there's an extra lap to pass her off on instead of just my boring, tired one.

* * *

Watching Elle sleep during the first flight took me back to her newborn days. I wish I had been able to reach my phone or camera (or been traveling with someone, say, my husband, who could have done it for me) to take photos of her little lips pouted crookedly and smashed in to my shoulder. Or her "eating in her sleep" movements. Or to merely document how absolutely OUT she was - there was no noise and no movement that could wake her up until soon after we had arrived at our gate.

I tried to memorize the curves of her face, her peaceful expression and her chubby little cheeks, because Baby Girl is almost ONE. This kind of stuff doesn't happen every day anymore. 

* * *

I feel like I'm being scrutinized when I'm in situations with masses of people, like an airport. Am I engaging my child enough for people? Am I one of "those people" who is annoying because I talk to my kid constantly? ("What do you want for lunch, Elle?" or a strategic "Oh, you're so tired - you're going to conk out as soon as we get in the air, aren't you?" in front of worried-looking fellow passengers. P.S. She did.) Am I letting her crawl around on floors that no child should be caught crawling on? Am I encouraging her to play nice with other littles who are running around the airport and stop by to look at her toys? Do I practice proper diaper changing etiquette in the large restrooms that my child HATES?

And then I realize I don't care. It's my kid, my beliefs, my diaper changing routine, and I'll never see these people again. It's an airport, not an institution of child development and infant manners, and my child is pretty freaking happy considering she's been stuck around all of those judgmental people and her wacky, tired mama all day, and I'll take that over someone's approval any day.

* * *

The airport setting turned out to be Elle's worst nightmare. Hundreds of people, both big and small, scurrying around her, and yet ONLY A HANDFUL PAID ATTENTION TO HER. From what I could see behind the stroller, she was putting on quite a performance: Waves, coy smiles, flexibility demonstrations, nomming on toe tricks and general babbling. Yet even the people who gave her a return smile or remarked "look at that cute baby" were gone in a flash, swallowed up by their connecting flight or mission to baggage claim.

Poor baby. 

The day of travel finally ended and Elle got some much-deserved fresh air and space.
Tim responded to this photo with a "Get her inside!!! Mountain lion!!!" text, haha.