Fly Girls

The first time we flew with Liesel was from Boston to SLC. By the time we finally landed we were embarrassed to go to baggage claim because Liesel had been SUCH a beast. Our recent trip to Iowa was markedly better. First of all, the flight was much shorter but this was also the first time Liesel had her own seat. The only glitch was the flight from O'Hare to Cedar Rapids.

The plane was a one seater on the left side of the plane and then a two seater on the right. When we booked the flight, we figured I'd sit with Ireland in the one seater, nurse her through take off and landing and Brent would sit with Liesel on the two seater side of the plane. Per regulations, Liesel's seat had to be next to the window. We then found out the lap child had to be in a two seater side as well because there weren't enough oxygen masks on the one-seater side. So then I figured Brent would sit with Liesel on the two seater side and I'd also move to the two seater side but one row back. But wait! It gets better: only even numbered rows (aside from 16 and the front exit of course) have 3 oxygen masks rather than 2. As luck would have it, the flight was chock full of people with lap children like myself so even the prospect of sitting two rows behind so I could manage just one child rather than two was not going to happen. Brent thought I could just nurse during take off and then he would handle Ireland while I worked with Liesel but that wasn't allowed either because of those dang oxygen masks. The flight attendant sternly advised me to go over the instructions for inflating the toddler life preserver which is also only on those even numbered rows. Confused yet? To make a long story short, I ended up sitting next to Liesel (who was already antsy from being strapped down during the Boston to Chicago flight) with Ireland in my lap while Brent sat across the aisle in his own seat. It was miserable for me personally, but thankfully it was a short flight.

Both girls got a lot of attention on all flights. At one point we had a small crowd of airline attendants around our seat and they kept reminding us they'd be happy to walk Ireland up and down the aisle if we needed a break. Even the one who was insistent about the toddler life preserver came and chatted for quite a while. The people seated around us were incredibly kind as well. Turns out the lady in the video (whose seat Liesel is kicking) was a pediatric nurse and she didn't mind at all. Liesel was fussing after one landing and when I tried to quiet her, a woman in the row behind me said, "Oh she's all right." Really, it was a successful trip!