Leaving on a Jet Plane

Last week I took A to Florida to visit my mother and step dad for a week’s vacation….by myself!  I know what you might be saying, “is she nuts?!?”  I figured I had the vacation time and it only cost us 2 plane tickets so why not take him away for a little beach time (my husband couldn’t get the time off of work so it was just the little man and myself).

I said to myself hey, I can do this.  He’s almost 3 years old and able to follow directions well so it shouldn’t be that bad.  All I need is a DVD player, a bunch of movies and some snacks and I should be fine.  So I strategically packed bags that I could carry on my back and left only one bag to pull with the stroller and I drove us to the local airport vs going down to NYC.  I was feeling great walking into the airport with A and all of the bags when a nice man offered to help wheel my suitcase in for me.  There was no line at Jet Blue and we checked in and got through security in no time (A was very cooperative through the security check).  He even got a pair of wings from the nice man at the Jet Blue counter.

I was so worried that take off was going to be a horror of A screaming that his ears hurt (we have a history of bad ear infections and he currently has tubs in both ears).  I came prepared with lollipops and drinks to help with take off, but to my surprise he never made a peep during both take off and landing (BOTH ways!).  He was too busy counting down to “blast off” as he called it.  3…2….1….blast off!!!!  It was too adorable.  The DVD player I brought was the best money I ever spent.  He spent the first hour glued to it watching Monsters, Inc.  He never made a sound…just sat there with his headphones staring at it.

The rest of the flight he made himself right at home in the seat and enjoyed some snacks and playing with his toys.  He was an excellent boy and got a few complements from other passengers on what a good boy he was.  Looking back on it I don’t know why I was so worried that he was going to be a terror on the plane.

The whole week was filled with new “firsts” for A.  First time on an airplane, first time at the beach, first time in the ocean…  He had a complete blast and I am so glad that I was there to watch him experience these things for the first time.  We played in the pool a couple days but of course it was the very last day that he was really getting into it and wanting me to toss him into the air and have him jump off the side into my arms.  We went to the aquarium one day and they have on exhibit a Clown Fish and a Blue Tang.  A runs right up to the tank points to it and says “there’s Nemo and Dory” and refuses to budge for about 10 minutes. LOL  I had to bribe him away from the exhibit so that we could see the rest of the aquarium.   He loved looking for shells and playing in the sand on the beach, but the ocean he wasn’t a big fan of.  He was scared of the waves and I think just the sheer size of the ocean scared the poor little guy.  By the last beach day I did get him to finally put his hands in and touch the ocean! 

A was allowed to do a lot of things while we were away that he wouldn’t normally be so we’ll see just how long it’s going to take to un-do all of these habits now that we’re home….most importantly sleeping.  Daylight savings occurred while we were down in FL and since the extra bedroom at the condo my Mom is renting only had 1 bed, A and I shared a bed for the week.  It should be interesting to see how tonight in his own bed goes.

A had such a great time this past week that this morning when we were packing up to leave he started to cry because he didn’t want to go home!!  I had a great time too, but I won’t lie…I was ready to go home.  A week was just enough.  It’s not entirely relaxing running after a 3 year old so after a week I am ready to go home and pass off to Daddy for a while :)

Here are a few more pictures from our week.