Clara's First Plane Ride

My dad and stepmom moved to Michigan a little over a year ago. After my grandma died, my grandpa decided to move to Michigan to live with them since he couldn't really live alone. Kevin and I decided that the middle of winter would be a perfect time to visit Michigan for the first time (actually I had to use all of my vacation by the end of January and my miles were expiring) so off we went. I thought that leaving at night would be good so Clara would just sleep the entire time. This may have worked had we not had FOUR flights (that's what I get for booking with miles and between two tiny airports), but in hindsight it may have been better to take our chances during the day!

We left on January 10 at 7:00 PM. Tio Chino and Tia Laurie dropped us off at the airport and laughed at us for having so much stuff (I blame the baby and the fact that we were headed to frozenville which meant big winter clothes). Getting through security was super fun with all of our stuff and a baby. Clara charmed her way through and made new friends with everyone. She ate dinner while we waited for our flight and then it was time to board. She has been obsessed with waving lately and waved to everyone as we boarded. I was going to nurse her on take off to help her ears pop, but she decided she was starving as we sat down so I nursed her before she started screaming. Luckily she loves her pacifier so she sucked on that while we took off. Clarita absolutely loved the plane and especially loved looking out the window at all the lights. She did perfectly for her first 37 minute flight and didn't cry at all!

Clara's first plane ride

When we got to LA, Clara was obviously tired but there was no way she was going to sleep with all the people around. Kevin finally got her to go to sleep around 9:45 by rocking her in the stroller. She stayed asleep while we boarded and luckily the flight was super empty so we had the row to ourselves. I laid Clarita down in the boppy and she slept almost the entire flight. I, on the other hand, slept terribly because I woke up every time Clara moved (and she moved a lot). I am the queen of sleeping on planes and Kevin actually slept more than me for the first time ever! I had to hold Clara for landing and she woke up when I picked her up as we began our descent into Nashville. She was really happy and looked out the window the rest of the flight. Unfortunately, she was also super awake and it was only 3:00 AM our time. Way too early to wake up.

Finally asleep

Planes are so comfortable when you're a baby!

Clarita decided she was not going to sleep so we hung out at the airport in Nashville. Our flight was delayed an hour so we had had a three hour layover. Clara managed to keep us occupied. She nursed, played in the baby play area with Dada, ate some eggs from my breakfast sandwich, and waved and flirted with all of the people. By the time we boarded the flight, Clara had about a million new friends!

I'm going to be a pilot when I grow up!

Clara finally had a mini meltdown as we took off. She was so tired and refused to sleep so she just started crying and burying her head in my stomach. Luckily it was a tiny plane and we were sitting near the front with a loud engine so I don't think she really bothered anyone. She cried for a couple of minutes and then fell asleep and slept the entire hour and a half flight to Chicago.

We only had about a half an hour in Chicago. Clara found some little boys to flirt with and kept crawling over to them and trying to touch them. They thought she was pretty funny. She stayed awake the entire short flight to Flint and once again loved looking out the window. She also liked looking at the man in the seat behind us and waving to the flight attendant every time she walked by. All in all, Clarita did extremely well on her first flights. Especially since we traveled for 15 hours and she did not get nearly enough sleep. She was excited to see Grandpa Bill and Grandma Peggy and fell asleep as soon as we got in the car!