Florida - part one

Well, we made it safe and sound! Flying with a baby is interesting to say the very least...people either want to interact with you or avoid you like the plague. Our first flight was the most stressful. The agent at the gate refused to let us board early. Tyler cried during take off but I think it was due to nap time and not anything else. She decided to "talk" as loud as she could for most of the flight. In addition, she made sure to poop twice, knowing that I couldn't change her immediately. For those of you who have changed a baby on an airplane, you know how tricky it can be. We had a four hour layover in Chicago which turned out to be a HUGE blessing. We circled Chicago for almost an hour due to air traffic. Once we did land, over an hour past our scheduled arrival time, it took forever to get to our gate. Mind you, Tyler had poopie pants and needed to be changed PRONTO! Once we deboarded and changed her diaper, we went to find our gate. As I was looking around, I realized that the airport was packed with a lot of people that looked a bit upset. After looking at the departure board I realized why...O'Hare was cancelling flights left and right. If your flight wasn't cancelled, it was delayed. Our flight time to Fort Meyers changed over half a dozen times. Luckily, our little peanut is a great traveler and didn't mind the extra time spent playing on the floor. No, I didn't let her play on the nasty airport floor...I put down a blanket and she rolled around. Our second flight was fantastic! Every single person sitting around us offered to hold her or help if needed. The seat next to us was empty, so Tyler had her own space. She was happy as a clam and so tickled with herself. At one point I turned to look at her and she was licking the back of her leather seat. Gross, yes...funny, absolutely.

We are so happy to be here. It is sunny and warm, with a nice breeze off the water. I am going to try and keep Tyler on West Coast time. She didn't go down to sleep until after midnight but slept until after nine this morning. She did wake up once, for a bottle. Oh, I almost forgot. Tyler is still swaddled at night. When we wrapped her up, we left her in just a diaper and her swaddle. When I heard her this morning, for a bottle, she had wiggled both arms and one leg out and was on her tummy, looking around. For those of you who use or have used the Miracle Blanket, you know this is no easy task.

I will continue to post as often as I can while we are here. I'll also throw some pictures up later this afternoon.