tizimatt.info

We arrived at the SD airport bright and early and everything went smoothly. It was hard to leave daddy, but it is only a week, after all.

So here I am going through security: a car seat and stroller combo to be disassembled and passed through the x-ray machine, a huge diaper bag and carry-on to be passed through, shoes, belt, necklace to be removed, all to be done while holding a squirming 9 month old babies while trying to show boarding pass and passports. Of course, the “friendly” TSA personnel decided to help me , as in unceremoniously moving some of my things out of the way, only after I went through the x-ray machine, while all my stuff was piling on the machine and creating delays. Anyway, we made it to our gate while the plane was already boarding. I guess this is the advantage of taking an early flight: they usually leave on time. Fortunately the flight was not completely full (just a couple of seats left), so I was allowed to bring the car seat on board. This was great, because it gave us a little more space to put our bags. The genius flight attendant, though, had the brilliant idea of seating us in the row in front of the emergency exit, so we had to be moved, due to federal regulations, after departing and just after Keegan fell asleep. Amazingly enough, the guy sitting next to us was sad we were leaving, as he was worried he would need to sit next some big guy. We moved next to a nice lady who really helped us and the little one did not wake up during the process. Keegan slept for more than an hour, so I could watch some of the movie. We were in one of those cool planes with videos in the headrest and lots of movies to choose from. A little of a waste for a three and a half hours flight. Still, I was able to watch almost a whole movie (the brainless Sex in The City). Once he woke up, he played a little bit and then started flirting with everyone, and laughing and smiling. He had his breakfast on the plane and had a good time playing.

Everyone was impressed for his behavior. We arrived in Atlanta just in time. Not much time between flights, so we called daddy and ate some lunch. This is when the only real crisis happened. 10 minutes before boarding, we went to restroom to freshen up and as I looked down at the stroller…

WARNING: TMI following

….I saw suspicious yellow spots on his blankie. As in the best mommie horror movies I lift the blankie, and here it is, my smiling little guy completely covered in vomit. Vomit on his sweater, onesie, blankie, toys and pooling in his car seat. So here I am, trying to wash him, change him, clean and disinfect the car seat, disinfect and wash his toys, and again, while I am holding the squirming guy. Of course, no one offered any help, (even after I changed him) even if a few women in the restroom stopped to smile at us: were they commiserating? Teasing? Making fun of us or simply enjoying the misery? We will never know. Fortunately I did packed some extra onesies. To top it off, as I am frantically trying not to miss the flight, the cereals that I had in a small tupperware completely poured inside my bag, covering everything from my wallet to the camera to the moist bottles, creating a nice paste. Finally I placed the stroller blankie I brought on the car seat to keep him warm, and we run to the boarding area. We are basically the last one, which actually works out OK, since I have already asked to block the seat next to me for his car seat, and we got to spend less time on the plane.He ended up looking very stylish, as the last onesie and oants I had clean was actually matching the bib I had for him.

The flight to Italy was 8 and half hours…a lifetime. They grouped all the kids at the back of the plane…which is fine because most kids like each other so they calm each other as well. Of course, the three young ones, Keegan and two more babies, were fine. On the other hand, we had the devil’s spawn sitting next to us, in the same row. He must have been around 2 and he SCREAMED most of the time. The genius parents brought for his entertainment….a stuffed dolphin! That’s it, a freaking stuffed animal for a 8.5.hours flight. They didn’t forget the noise canceling headsets and magazines for themselves, though, and that is what they did when he started screaming. Only after about 6 hours, the father decided that MAYBE he could walk him up and down the aisle. He was only quiet when he was playing with the baby behind him.

eating his night night mik on his flight to Italy

I really don’t get it. How can you be such a jerk? As soon as Keegan was cranky I got up and TRIED to calm him. For the worse case scenario I bought air plugs for the fellow passengers. Fortunately there was no need. While Keegan didn’t really sleep much, he didn’t fuss much either. He flirted with the flight attendants who we visited quite a bit and the other babies. In a way, actually, the flight went by almost faster than usual with him. Lots of passengers helped me to carry bags in and out of the plane and made my life easier. We landed almost 45 minutes early, and we got the bags quite quickly.

We are finally here

Keegan he is Italian, after all, so we are using the European Community Exit

So, all and all a pretty easy trip, despite the little vomit incident. Grandma and grandpa were of course at the airport waiting anxiously for us. They were so happy to see him: he has grown so much. It was great to be finally here, and we are looking forward to many days of relax, good food and family time.