It doesn't get much better then this

You never know how your baby is going to handle their first plane ride.  She would either be the fun, sweet little baby that I know and love, or she could be a vicious beast that screams and cries leaving the rest of the passengers of the plane hating us for having the nerve to travel publicly with her.  I let her sleep in hoping it would help our late night flight.

We were smart this year and checked in online, so when we got to the airport we went straight to the security check.  When we got there we were so nervous we wouldn't make it because the security long was very l.o.n.g.

We soon realized that traveling with a baby is a little more difficult than we expected -- especially when the security guards ask us to take our daughter's shoes and jacket off.  Really?  We put a bomb in our baby's shoes.  Serious?

We finally made it through security and headed to our gate.  The gate was packed and there were only two seats left.  Lucky us!  well, that's what we thought.  Unfortunately the flight was an hour and a half behind schedule thanks to a leaky faucet in one of the bathrooms.

While we were sitting around waiting Zoe did real well smiling and talking to the people we sat next to -- for the first hour.  About half an hour before we boarded the plane Zoe started to get cranky.  The poor thing was tired and hungry.  Thanks to nursing I knew that as soon as I started they would call us to board, so we tried to stall her as much as we could.

By the time we actually boarded Zoe was full blown screaming at us for food.  We walked through the plane with our screaming baby and found our seats.  As soon as we sat down I fed her until we were in flight.  I'm so thankful she fell asleep.  Too bad she couldn't stay!

About halfway through flight the stinking pilot had to make an announcement so that loud ::ding:: came overhead.  Scared the bajeebers out of Zoe.  After that she was wide awake looking around at everything and everyone.

Zoe's first plane ride!

Eventually I started hearing the strain.  Uh-oh.  Boy is that kid gassy!  She would pick when we're in a confined area with a bunch of people to rip her nastiness.  If that wasn't bad enough, she decided when we were in descent to fill her diaper with the nastiness of green when I couldn't do anything about it.  For reals.

When we finally landed and the plane stopped everyone started standing up and getting ready to get out. Let me just add a rant right here real quick, if that's ok with everyone.

Just because the pilot turns the Fasten Your Seatbelt sign off that does not mean everyone needs to stand up at once and crowd each other out.  This causes people like me, with young claustrophobic children, to feel uncomfortable.  Especially since once the Fasten Your Seatbelt sign goes off so does the A/C.

As soon as people started crowding Zoe started to feel hot which meant -- you guessed it -- more crying and more screaming.  As soon as we stepped off the plane she relaxed.  ::whew::

We saw my parents waiting for us and it was a beautiful thing!  They hugged us and immediately took Zoe out of my arms to hold her and coo over her.  Unfortunately because of the green poo and previous crying she was too worked up and eventually started crying, again, about these people holding her instead of mom.

My mom and I took her to the bathroom while I cleaned her poo.  Unfortunately that did not make her feel any better, so we decided to leave and find the nearest gas station to 1) get a drink for the long trip home and 2) to feed the wee babe.

After I fed Zoe she calmed down some.  We put her in her car seat and started heading home.  Unfortunately the last half hour of the trip -- or was it longer? -- was more screaming and crying due to Zoe being plain tuckered out.  Nothing Jack Johnson can fix, though, thank goodness.

Thankfully by the time she was out of the car seat she had a second wind and let everyone hold her, even my parents.  It was such a late night.  Zoe actually slept through the whole night in the pack-n-play!  Thank you Jesus!  This morning she woke up her normal happy self.  Life is good again.

Here are some of the many pictures I have taken so far.

Papa Shu and Uncle Tommy making her smile for the camera

Zoe loves everyone already!

Cheese!

Tonight we get to see my grandparents.  This will be the first time they see Zoe!  I'm very excited to show her off -- as long as it doesn't involve anymore screaming.  Oh boy.