Our little flier

Stanley was an amazing traveler at T-2 months going to Taiwan and he was a fabulous little flier at T+1month old to Rochester. I could not have asked for a better trip home. 

There were 2 major accidents on 101 on Wednesday morning, so Steve went with Stanley and me on BART to the airport. I had packed light (my carry-on rollerboard, 1 backpack, and Stanley in the Moby on my stomach). i.e. no checked luggage--hurray!

My main worry was security. Apparently, they changed the rule about a month ago and now babies can stay in carriers as long as the mother gets her palms swabbed. Going through the premier line, the first security man asked me to step ahead of the only 5 people in line. I declined feeling bad for those poor people in front of me who seemed shocked that someone was told to go ahead of them. Then, Stanley and I went through security and while we waited to get my palms screened, a security guard brought over a chair and another brought over all my things and asked if he should repack my items. You almost had to pick me off the floor I was so shocked at how well I was treated. 

The flights were just as easy. On the SFO-ORD leg, we sat next to a woman with a 4.5 year old, a 3 year old and a 1 year old. She loves babies and wanted more, but her husband stopped her since babies = college education bills later. When I needed to go the bathroom, she was thrilled to hold him. 

Stanley slept and ate the whole time. He barely opened his eyes to look around. He loves the hair drier and likes to be bounced so this must have been ideal--a plane sounds like a hair drier (why normally I like noise canceling headphones) and it shakes a bit. He was happy as a clam. The man on the opposite side of the aisle by the window didn't even know there was a baby on the plane in his aisle until we were leaving. 

The only challenge was changing him. I asked the flight attendant which bathroom had a changing table and she said that it was an old plane and so it didn't have a changing table. Did babies not fly in the old days? I felt quite accomplished to have exited the bathroom, having changed Stanley on my lap, without poop all over me. 

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Stanley was not super happy in the Chicago airport, but then again, who really is? And, the only other notable item is that on the decent into Rochester, there was tons of turbulence so instead of nursing him to relieve pressure in his ears, I held onto him for dear life. I didn't want him flying up in the air. He didn't seem bothered by the pressure changes and slept through the bumps. 

All in all, he was an amazing little traveler. I hope we can continue to fly with him lots in the future. He takes after his great-grandfather, grandfather, uncle, grandma lolo, and grandma leigh ann who all love to fly.