What's amusing to me is that before Josh was born (perhaps even before I was pregnant), Jim was adamant that we would not take a child on a plane before they were one year old. So when the timing turned out that Josh would be nine months for the reunion, I was surprised Jim didn't really bat an eye at attending. I think introducing him to family outweighed any other feelings he had previously.
So for months and months I have been trying to prepare for this trip. What to pack. What to buy to take on the trip. What to buy at the destination(s). Whether or not to still be nursing. To medicate or not to medicate on the flight (I won't tell you whether I mean me or Josh). I'm a planner and an overthinker and my lists were happenin' well in advance.
The day arrived and we hired Super Shuttle to take us to John Wayne airport for a direct flight to Chicago. Then we rented a car to drive to La Porte, Indiana. So it was a full, full travel day.
Unfortunately, immediately after boarding the plane, they announced an hour delay to repair a wheel. Not a good start. Josh got pretty antsy and my mom was able to rock him to sleep. He was asleep during take off.
The rest of the flight was okay. He had good periods and rough periods. He really had a rough time with the descent. I was prepared with a bottle of water for him to drink to try to ease the pain in his ears. He was doing good drinking it, but then I think the pain just got overwhelming and he was miserable. He went rigid and red and stopped breathing while he cried. It was terrible. Luckily, once it passed, he got over it quickly.
Josh was the only baby on the flight, so I was pretty stressed with any noise he made. Looking back, he probably wasn't too bad, but it was still stressful. I was grateful to have Jim and my parents available to take turns.
On a personal note, I wouldn't purposely fly United with a child again. They offered no preboarding, I hated the delay, and I just didn't feel any of the friendliness I had read about in regards to flying with a child (not specific to any airline). The security check at the airport was pretty rushed and unfriendly as well. Blah!
INDIANA
My dad's sister, Judy, and her family live in Indiana. We stayed two nights with them.
Aunt Judy
Hannah celebrated her tenth birthday.
Second cousins
Josh is just so funny whenever he sees other kids. He has this big inhale-screech that is just filled with joy and excitement. We stayed with his second cousins Ryan and Alex and they were so good at keeping him entertained. He had so much fun and was never overwhelmed by them. We definitely need to find him some playmates soon!!
My parents feeding Josh on a beautiful morning
We always eat really well when we visit Indiana. And the weather is usually just perfect to sit outside and relax.
First cousins
On our route home, we stayed with them one more night to cut the drive time from Michigan to Chicago. It was pizza night! Such fun to put your own toppings on. We need to incorporate that more into our family.
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