Felix & I flew aaaaaaall the way across the country last week.  It was 4.5 hours to Philly and was supposed to be 6 hours back, but luckily, was only 5.

I was a little nervous, having to manage him alone.  Luckily, the worst part was getting through security.  And, by the way – HI, AIRPORT SECURITY.  YOU ARE SO NOT HELPFUL.  I was, for once, immensely thankful for the kindness of other mothers.  One woman saw me struggling to hang on to Felix while getting myself strapped back into the infant carrier.  She held him & then did the straps up for me.  Actually – it wasn’t just the women.  In Philly, a man saw me struggling & while he didn’t hold Felix, he did help me with the buckles of the carrier.

Also, on the flight to Philly, I was absolutely stunned at how nice people were.  We boarded first, then everyone who came on and sat around us paused to admire Felix and then tell me “not to worry about us,” that they’d all “been there, done that” and if I needed any help, just ask.

The stewardesses each way, however… What the…?  Grouchy, grumpy, didn’t smile at him once (even though he was perfect) and even got annoyed with me for standing in the aisle with him.

In any case.  On the way to Philly he just grumbled a few times about being tired, but either slept or hung out in my lap just taking it all in.

On the way back to Seattle, he was crying (tired) as we approached the boarding area and I caught all the wary looks.  But wouldn’t you know, he was PERFECT.  He slept about 90% of the way – the flight wasn’t full and I was able to give him his very own seat next to me.  After we landed and everyone stood up to get off, every single person around us made a point of telling me how impressed they were.  The woman in front of me (who I’d noticed trying to find a new seat before we took off) said she thought he was going to scream the whole way.  Another guy said he wished that Felix was the baby that had been on his previous flight.  Another guy said that his wife was going to be flying with their 5 month old and 2 year old son and he hoped that they were as good as Felix.

That’s my boy!