venturing home

Well, Jack and I ventured off to Michigan for his first trip to the Midwest. I was antsy for the weeks leading up to our visit, but since I was making the trip with Jack without Dan, I was a bit nervous as to how we'd inevitably have to get from point A to point B. As I booked the flight, I tried to figure out when would be the best time to fly with a 3 month old baby. I ended up booking a red eye, which was quite the gamble. I figured he's usually sleeping soundly at that point in the night, so he'd do the same on a plane. He was asleep in teh airport as I carried him around. Once we boarded, the bright lights and noise of passengers loading quickly woke up the little guy. I was fine with this because I was going to wake him up to feed him as we took off to help with his ears popping. As every person walked down teh aisle I was assessing my potential seat neighbor.

Internal monologue:

Oh, she looks friendly. (Keeps walking.)
Please not him. Please not him. (Sits down three rows up.)
Eh, that lady looks angry. Please don't sit down. Please don't sit down. (The row behind me.)

An older lady sits next to me and immediately says, "So why do you have your baby on this flight?" A million things ran through my mind..."Because he can't fly by himself," or "Yeah, I would have left him at home by himself, but I think that's a bad move." I explained to her that he's a great sleeper and usually sound asleep at this time and he'd hopefully sleep the whole way. She looked at me quite skeptically and put her coat on backwards, covering her face with her hood. Okay. Sweet dreams, lady.

The plane didn't start rolling for such a long time! I fed him and he seemed to be done before we even took off. FAIL! I was imagining him screaming as we took off and his ears were popping, or myself trying to force feed him and him spitting up all over me and CoatFace sitting next to me. Turns out, Jack proved to be amazing and SLEPT FOR THE ENTIRE 3 hour 44 min flight! The flight attendants weren't very helpful though. I couldn't put down the tray because Jack was sound asleep on my lap. When it came time to get a complementary drink and bag o' pretzels the flight attendant basically threw them at me. I was juggling a sleeping baby, and trying to QUIETLY open what proved to be a child-proof package of pretzels. I imagined them tearing open and spilling all over the unhelpful CoatFace. I had to abort the mission and threw the unopened bag on the ground. Sacrifice, people. Once we landed I stopped sweating. I slept a little bit on the flight, but certainly looked like a frazzled mess when I stepped off that plane. As I put Jack in the Baby Bjorn carrier he spit up all over me, and smiled. Once we got to the baggage claim there were four people there. My mom, a guy that was on the flight, a security guy and Danny Glover. Hello Mr. Glover, I am a Frazzled Mess.

AND WE WERE IN MICHIGAN! GREAT LAKES, GREAT TIMES AHEAD!

Our visit was packed full of cuddles, ooohs and aaaaahs, watching Jack roll from his tummy to his back for the first time, lots of family and friends, his first shopping session with me and Nana, gifts from Auntie Elanor, watching football with Poppy, MANY photo sessions, and Skype sessions with Daddy all the way in Milan. The time flew by so quickly. I loved all the helpful hands, people falling all over each other flighting to change his diaper, waiting at the bedroom door to see how beautiful and happy he is the moment he wakes up, going to visit everyone at their work...All the while, the weather was gorgeous! Seriously beautiful fall November weather in Michigan. I was reminded how much in love with Michigan I am. He got to meet my best friend Michelle, but the pics are on her camera! It was just so much fun introducing him to so many people that mean so much to me! I wish there had been enough time for him to meet everyone, but knocking on doors with a baby is pretty difficult to tackle between naps!

the oooohs and aaaaahs


morning cuddles with Poppy


nice to meet you, Wally Gator


cuddling with his Auntie


meeting Dayna and my Aunt Cindy

loves getting rocked to sleep with Nana


The flight back to Michigan was another success story for The Amazing Flyer Jack Wyatt! Although I did peek at the text my seat neighbor sent after asking the flight attendant if it was a full flight. It read: Sitting next to a lady and her baby. Fuck my life. She didn't really talk to me until there was an hour left of the flight and Jack had been asleep for 3 hours. Suddenly she was my best friend and telling me her life story. She said she and her boyfriend were planning on getting married and now she wanted a baby. Jack is the Ambassador of Babies, convincing unwilling women everywhere that having a baby is good idea.

SO, we landed in SF where Dan was waiting to pick us up. After 10 days without seeing Daddy, the reunion was pretty adorable!

I am counting down the days until our Christmas Michigan visit!