survived

We made it. Madeline and I survived our flights to get us from NC to KS. I was really anxious about how it would all work -- would I be able to lug all of our carry-ons to and fro in addition to pushing her in a stroller (heck no, we're not paying extra to check luggage if we don't have to!), would I be able to effectively distract and corral her single-handedly during the flights, would her extra-tallness cause airline officials to question her age, would she even tolerate being "trapped" in an airplane for a couple hours at a time? But a few deep breaths later and with a resolve to only think positively about the adventure before us, we made it through security and boarded the plane. We even made it through a 45 minute wait on the tarmac* before we took off. God bless the folks who sat next to us on our two flights. They were so kind to me and engaging with M. One man even made her a puppet out of a barf bag.

Things that are now standard in our arsenal for toddler travel distractions: washable crayons, a plastic slinky, small tubs of Playdough, a few small plastic cookie cutters, and podcasts of Sesame Street's "Word on the Street". Here's hoping that they still do the trick when we return back to NC in a few weeks!

*Who knew that tarmac was short for tarmacadam? Oh the things you learn via Google...