Flashback Journal Entry: 9-13-06

Vacation to see my husband, who has been working in California for weeks on end..... Logan: 2-1/2, Sylvie: Aged 9 months

The flight there.....It took three adults and a monster SUV to get all our stuff to the airport. Logan started crying realizing we were leaving Jorge's parents at the airport, then we went through security and he wanted to be in the stroller, so of course he wasn't happy knowing he was going to have to get out of it. So here's me with Sylvie in the Bjorn, two diaper bags- one with food and diapers, one with entertainment and extra clothes, and a purse, and a pillow, pushing the stroller with Logan crying. Lilia made the sign of the cross over me and Jorge and I were joking later that it probably meant "you're f-ing crazy."

So, I tell Logan we're taking our shoes off and he HATES that idea. I do it anyway then try to start dumping each bag into a separate little bin, calm Logan down and reassure him his shoes will go back on his feet in a minute, but in the meantime, could you please walk through the metal detector to that nice evil looking lady over there? Then to fold up the huge stroller and lift it onto the conveyer belt with Logan below me and a baby strapped to my chest. When I flew previously they made me take the bjorn off and put it through the detector, but this time I didn't have to. They took my entire diaper bag apart and made sure each thing was actually formula or baby tylenol or baby food, etc. and not a biological weapon.

Yeah! We made it through, 10 minutes of loading the stroller and attempting to tie gym shoes on with a bjorn on my chest and we're off! I couldn't wear slip-ons since there was so much walking involved, so I got the lovely challenge of tying my own shoes as well. I felt ready for the marathon ahead.

I had plenty of time to change two diapers, grab some french fries and fruit (no food on the 4 hour flight except brie and goat cheese on crackers for sale, a 2 year old's favorites) and listen to Logan whine and Sylvie started to headbutt me from being in the Bjorn too long. So I let the kids loose on the chairs and prayed that no real germs got onto their hands since I could not bring any Purell on the plane!

Lo and behold, both kids fell asleep- wonderful! Only, that leaves me with a stroller, three bags, a pillow and two children to load onto a plane!!!! I was envisioning how I could pack everything onto me, and thank goodness a kind mom (without her kids) offered to bring all my stuff onto the plane and that left me with just two kids. The flight attendant stood at the door and said "you really have your hands full!" I almost kicked her.

So, we took off, and as the pressure built, both kids woke up. Logan was very content with some stickers, markers, a new little Dora coloring book and scissors, for about an hour. We read books, talked, etc. for another hour. Then I brought out the DVD and played Baby Einstein to calm Sylvie down, nursed her, and she fell asleep on my lap. Put on Logans' DVD and he was zoned into it for the rest of the trip. The pillow came in VERY handy. When Sylvie fell asleep, she had to stay on my lap, so it was nice to have. And for the beginning of the trip, Logan fell asleep against it. He snuggled with it and fought with me for it. I also used to to hold Sylvie up while nursing.

Later in the flight, the flight attendants had me buckle Sylvie into the third seat in our row, she liked the man across the aisle, and did pretty well hanging out with us. Uneventful landing, and we all were awake leaving the plane. Found Jorge and Logan was soooo happy to see him! Four hours is a long time on a plane. But really we hadn't been home for 6 hours!

The flight home.....Getting checked in was a big ordeal since you had to leave from one certain place, go out the door, and back into another door. So strange! We waited in line right at security for about 4 minutes, letting people pass us because Logan wanted to finish his sippy of apple juice and Sylvie had to have some too, then I had to empty the rest in the trash. They didn't even bother to open the diaper bag, and we got through security quickly.

At the time, I thought the Chicago airport was bad, my goodness LA was worse! Chicago involved a lot of walking, LA was just plain unlabeled and ridiculous because they shifted everything around for security. We kept having to go down weird hallways to get to an elevator. I think I asked directions from 10 security people! And then in the elevator, I wasn't sure which floor to go to! Sat down to lunch with Logan and he did very well, ate well and Sylvie was entertained.

Then as we were leaving, he smacked his head on the wall (walked into it) and that was the end of Happy Logan. He was upset, and his upset about leaving dad, not being home, not knowing what was going on, all translated to tears on and off for the rest of our trip. And a few meltdowns. The flight was delayed 1/2 hr. Okay. Then they make an announcement. Bad Chicago weather, we may be up to 3 hours delayed. All the food and drink places close, and no one has any with them because of security restrictions. And we have to take an elevator to get to the bathrooms, or anywhere else. And Logan is upset that we are there still, and keeps telling me we need to go outside to get Daddy. Sylvie is now crawling all over the disgusting airport floor trying to put any little crumb into her mouth. Both kids eat all the snacks in my diaper bag, Logan drops half a Nutra Grain bar on the floor and smashes it with his foot, grinding it into his shoe. Lovely.

And of course, Logan is asleep again right before we need to board. I get the kids to the place where drop off the stroller, and the flight attendant actually gets all our bags on. She offered to take the baby but she was in the bjorn, so noto too helpful. Jorge bumped us up to business class with our miles -sweet! We waited one more hour on the plane before take-off. We left Jorge's place around 11am and got to Chicago at 9 pm LA time(11 pm Chicago time). Logan stayed asleep the entire flight!!!! He was so cute all curled up with his pillow and blankets. About an hour into the flight, Sylvie fell asleep, and I had something to drink and some warm nuts. And my feet up with the cool airplane chair watching outside. I felt like I was in a spa. It was wonderful.

Sylvie was pretty good until it got dark in the plane. I let her on the floor and she was climbing on the bags and making a mess. She only slept another few minutes the rest of the flight. She was pretty cranky at the end. When dinner came, I had her propped next to me and we both took turns eating from my special business class dinner. It was so cute. She was saying "mym mym mym." after each bite. We also shared a cookie:) Before we landed, Logan woke up and after freaking out, I got him some apple juice and a cookie and he was happy watching his little tv. Then he was upset we had to close it all up to land.

Sylvie cried the entire car ride home, and the kids are totally off with sleep. They went to bed at 12 last night. And Sylvie woke again at 1 and 6. Aaah! Well, there's my novel. We survived and it was a great trip. But ooh am I tired!!!!!