There and back again: a trip to NJ in review.

The GREAT things:
1. The extra seat on the flight in that allowed Aidan to ride in his car seat for the entire flight. "Buckle off, please". Not a chance, little man. not a chance.
2. My dad picking me up from the airport, my step-mom giving up her bedroom for us, my Nena lending me her car, and my sisters for hanging out with me and for cooking me dinner. Extra bonus points for my cousins, who still think I'm cool.
3. LOBSTER
4. Laura, Alex, and Ari driving all the way to my dad's house for my birthday party.
5. The power going out right after I blew out my 27 candles.
6. My aunt giving Aidan extra cake, and Laura capturing the hilarity on (digital) film.
7. Aidan vs. the ice pop (more on that later).
8. Jon and Em driving all the way down from Albany to visit me for a few days.
9. My aunt's Memorial Day party.
10. Listening to my Grandfather tell me about his life.
11. Watching my son play with my little brother.
12. The saintly gentleman seated in front of Aidan on our flight out, who never once complained about the fact that Aidan never stopped kicking the back of his seat.

The NOT SO GREAT things:
1. Flying with a toddler. This is always a chore. Every time I swear I'll drug him the next time, but I never do.
2. Delta airlines WRECKING AIDAN'S CAR SEAT during the flight home after I had to gate check it. Seriously, the amount of force required to do such damage to the seat must have been huge. What did they do, drop kick it down the stairs?!?! Apparently they're going to send me a check for reimbursement in a few weeks. Unfortunately, that means I have to buy a seat before I get their money. They also kept my seat, which is fine since I won't be using it anyway.
3. Watching my little brother influence my son in poor ways. It is really difficult to convince your almost two year old to sit down for family dinner when his idol refuses to comply.
4. Not being able to play in the pool. Stupid ectopic.
5. Flight attendants who see that you obviously need help but do nothing, then do their very best to publicly humiliate you in front of every other passenger. Three hours on the flight home, and Aidan only got away from me twice (and was immediately apprehended). Both times the flight attendants made sure to chastise us over the loudspeaker. Not for nothing, but we were busting our ass trying to comply with their rules and prevent Aidan from irritating (much) the other passengers. I thought I was doing pretty well, him only getting away from me twice in 3 hours.
6. Aidan having another night terror.
7. TSA Agent Holmes (Newark) who picked up the oak tree I dug up from Nena's house by the tree, rather than the ziplock bag it was in, thus pulling off a leaf. I told her it was a baby tree, in a pot, in a ziplock bag. Do you think she could have taken a little more care?!

So all in all an excellent trip. You might notice, however, that almost every BAD thing involved the airline. I'm thinking next year we might try Amtrak. Or drugs. Or something. I am seriously glad to be home!!

End Note: Aidan vs. the ice pop
Nothing like watching your 23 month old son open the freezer, retrieve an ice pop, close the freezer door, remove the wrapper, throw the wrapper in the trash, proceed to greatly enjoy said ice pop, and then throw out the stick...all without any adult supervision or prompting. We were so amazed we watched him do it again. And again. And again. He had four ice pops before we put an end to it. My baby is growing up!

Musings

Apparently my desire to update ebbs and flows like the tides. Anyway...

In regards to flying with a 14.5 month old:
1. If you get a competent, understanding flight attendant (as we did on our way home) your life for the duration of the flight will be infinitely better, no matter how many meltdowns or hematomas your child sustains. If, on the other hand, you end up with a young, narrow-minded cow with no concept of what it means to have a young toddler, prepare to be royally screwed. Nothing Chad or I could do to make Aidan happy on our way to NJ was good enough for this woman. It's a testament to how flipped out Aidan was that he eventually fell asleep on my shoulder (which he hasn't done since he was 5 months old) for nearly an hour. He would have slept longer, but our oh-so considerate pilot elected to inform us that we "might" be 5 minutes early (and I care....why...exactly?). Aidan didn't sleep a wink on the way back, but just having a friendly flight attendant (plus an indulgent, pretty little 4 year old girl two seats up) made all the difference. And the hematoma? Though the first, I'm sure it will not be his last. It looked far worse than it was.
2. Airplanes are no place for toddler children who are incapable of sitting still for more than 20 seconds at a time and who are too young to be bribed.
3. No matter how bad it is...the flight WILL eventually end.

In regards to spending a week in NJ:
1. Aidan loved swimming in the pool and following his uncle everywhere around the house. He behaved well, slept reasonably well, and had so much fun I wonder if he really wanted to come home. Added bonus: the look on Mimi's face when he jumped head-first into the pool right in front of her...priceless! Mimi was already in the pool just inches from him, so no big issue there...but I think she nearly had a heart attack! Nevermind that I warned her repeatedly that he was going to jump...
2. I have awesome friends. Jon drove all the way from Troy to visit me for the night, and endured many frightfully hyper young children. I was only sorry that Em couldn't join us. Tatjana, Laura, and Mink also came down one afternoon to play, which was great fun! And finally, the hero of the trip...Max! Poor Max drove all the way from Providence to see me, only to breakdown on the Turnpike about 10 miles from where we were supposed to meet. We rescued him and brought him home with us for some sushi, good wine, and conversation.
3. My family is awesome and accommodating: we wanted for nothing whilst in NJ. My grandparents even cooked me steak and lobster and allowed my son to destroy their kitchen! My cousins still think I'm cool, which is a refreshing ego boost now that I'm no longer interesting to my sisters. I wish I had spent more time with Dulce, but at least I got to steal Katie for a while. It was also nice to see my aunt and uncle, who graciously bought us (and Max) dinner :).
4. It was refreshing to see Aidan thrive in an environment where he wasn't constantly being compared to a slightly older cousin or being called spoiled every time he whines about a nap or asks to be held.
5. Only people like me get tickets for doing in frustration (illegal left turn) what millions of other people do on a daily basis without a second thought.

And on a final note:
The notion that we as Americans have any true rights to privacy is fallacy. Anyone here who thinks their lives are private need only receive a ticket in NJ and wait 7 days to begin receiving solicitations from lawyers promising to reduce the violation or get him out of paying the fine entirely. That's right: my name and un-listed address made public for all the world to see and use as they see fit (gotta love the First Amendment, right?).

Until next year...I am happy to be home and back with my kitties :).

Flu update

Apparently none of the hospitals in the area are testing for h1n1 any longer: they assume if you have flu-like symptoms, then you have swine flu.

Joy!

Aidan seems fine now, and I'm starting to feel better as well. Chad, unfortunately, is taking a bit longer to get well. Hopefully being sick now means we'll be spared the mad rush of flu this winter.

I can dream, can't I?

We'll be back in NJ in a week and I'm excited! I swear I'm not going to stress about the flight. No, not me! I just keep telling myself: it's 3 hours...no matter how bad it is, it WILL end.