flying: part two

It was the six hours on a single plane that finally did momma in. It sounded like a good idea at the time...flight 85 from Albany, NY to Oklahoma City without having to get off the plane. NO struggling with a stroller, NO having to chase after a very mobile baby in a busy airport, and NO having to get on and off a Southwest Airlines plane. I guess I didn't figure in that that also meant NO dinner for mom, NOwhere for Kira to practice her new-found walking skills, and NO place to feed Kira discreetly.
It went better than expected, though. She never got fussy and was easily distracted from the bumpy descents. It is very difficult to play "jungle gym" for Miss Monkey Toes for that long in that small of a space, though.
Thankfully, the first leg of the flight no one took the middle seat of our rown and the man (my age with a couple kids at home) was funny to Kira and he made her stuffed duck into a fun puppet. He was very reassuring about my nervousness to fly alone with her.
The second leg was the long leg...we landed in Baltimore where I managed to cram both of us into the tiny airplane bathroom for a much needed break...and scrambled back to my seat just as passengers were boarding. A very young mom and her 6 or 7 year old daughter sat with us in our row. The mom held Kira for 10 minutes while I gobbled up the sandwich I had bought way back in ALbany and the daughter played with her most of the flight. Kira tried to get a little snack nurse in, and the little girl looked incredulously at us...she was hispanic and quickly turned to her mom to ask what in the world I was doing (in Spanish, which I know just enough of to get me in trouble). Her mom reassured her that that is how babies eat and she seemed satisfied with that answer.
The last leg was the shortest and luckily, no one wanted to sit in a row with anyone cranky (and I'm not talking about Kira!). Very few people boarded so we had a row to ourselves. Kira got her much needed milk and fell asleep the rest of the flight.
All in all, successful, I have to admit, but it sure did wear me out! Maybe next time I'll buy her that seat after all...just to have a place to set her down for a few minutes!