We survived.

Well, we made it! Two flights in 5 days...phew. The way to Orlando was a breeze. Mark was so enthralled by all the new sights at MSY that he put his teething crankiness aside and was such a joy. He even ate ALL of his sweet potatoes. The entire 2 ounces.

Side note- my chunky monkey of a baby does not enjoy solid foods nearly as much as I anticipated. The pediatrician reassured me that this is totally normal and not to force it as it is just for fun right now and not where he receives his nutrition. He gets that from his favorite tatas.

So after we made it through security, which is no fun on a regular day and a real treat with a 6 month old, we arrived to our gate with time to spare and baby giggles and coos to enjoy. He was in such a good mood we didn't need any of the 10 or so toys (read: distractions) I packed. The flight was to take off at 8:15 and baby Bensabat's bedtime is 8:00. Turned out to be great planning on my part. I had my nursing cover out, the lights out and baby positioned when we began taxiing. (is that how you spell that?!) He was nursing through takeoff and asleep by the time we were at cruising altitude. He slept the whole way, as did my arm. When we landed, he woke up. I felt a rise of panic to which George responded with his usual sigh and something along the lines of "don't freak out, it might not be that bad." God, he is my voice of reason at times. Ok, most of the time.

Mark stayed awake until we got him in his car seat, in the car. As I stressed that this would somehow mess up his sleep schedule (which I admit, I am obsessed with), I was so relieved when he did not wake up until 8 am the following morning; right on schedule with his 7 am wake time at home.

Our flight home was not as breezy but it was not bad by any means. We made it through security relatively unscathed and with a little less time to spare. The flight was late and we had to wait for what seemed like 20 minutes after boarding. Well little baby Mark knows what he wants; and when he wants it, he wants it. He decided he wanted to eat, and no amount of toys/smiles/songs were going to put him off course. George leaned over to me to alert me that the young teenage girl who was in Orlando for some sort of dance/cheer competition, had just updated her Facebook status to  "sitting next to a crying baby, fml." I felt torn. I do remember being that age and could see myself making a similar remark. Hell, a year ago I can picture making the same comment. But now, I was just plain offended at someone making any negative connotation toward my sweet, precious baby boy. I know, I need to get over it. But not before I said, in a voice loud enough for her and her bleached blonde friends to hear, that I should update my status to say, surrounded by a bunch of peppy, obnoxious teenage girls, fml. I couldn't help myself.

Anyway, Mark nursed like he had gone days without eating, only to be full and refusing to nurse anymore right as the plane was taking off. I was panicked (again) that the pressure would bother him. But he fell asleep as we were going up and did not wake up until halfway through the flight. When he did wake up, we thought he was up for good and as such, started to try to play with him. bad idea. He protested for some time before finally  snuggling into my arms and falling back asleep. Overall, it really was not that bad. It was just a packed flight and I had a passenger reminding me of how noone likes to fly with a crying baby. But before we knew it we were landing and making our way to baggage claim. We wont be flying again until just before Mark's first birthday for our family vacation in the Florida Keys. No doubt that will present a new set of issues.

I'll update about our actual trip later. Too much to do as we are heading out of town this evening to visit my sister, brother in law, and sweet nephew!