Yesterday, Emma and I spent some quality time together as we made the cross-country hop out to Portland. And the trip was uneventful, right up until we were getting ready to take off on the first leg of the 3-leg journey (from Indianapolis to Chicago to Seattle to Portland). As I was boarding the plane in Indianapolis, all of the surrounding passengers were fawning over my 6-month old angel, which for any proud Papa is always encouraged (until, of course, about 15 years from now when it's the boys fawning over my teenage daughter). One of the ladies nearby noted with a smile, "Oh, she's wide awake this morning!" To which I responded, "Yeah, but I'm hoping it doesn't last long."
Of course, I was hoping the pendulum would swing back toward the Land of Nod. It didn't. Instead, it swung in the other direction when, three minutes later, she began to wail. As I frantically tried to calm my little used-to-be angel, I heard the people around me chuckling in endearing amusement at how cute her crying was. "Aaahhh, sweet babies, and a cute little girl no less!" Unfortunately, that sentiment didn't last long as her unconsolable crying seemed to last for an eternity. I was praying as fervently as an ex-pastor can pray, "Please, Lord, please let her stop crying!", as I watched my fleeting hopes for the "United Passenger of the Year" award fade with each renewed outburst.
And then she was silent. As I snapped out of my frenetic attempts at calming her down I realized we weren't even in the air yet. It had only lasted about two minutes. But like a dog's life, in air travel years, that's an eternity! :)
We made it to Portland without further incident (other than the dirty diaper that needed some serious attention), and Emma got her wings from one of the flight attendants. Then we headed back to the airport that night to pick up Momma, who had been working all day before catching a flight to Portland. After a good night's sleep, we're ready to paint the Oregon coast red. I'll keep you posted... 
who's idea was it to fly separately?
Posted by: andy | May 09, 2009 at 02:04 PM
Oh Andy... Its good for a dad.
Posted by: Mandy Leech | May 09, 2009 at 03:27 PM
The idea was a mutual decision, Andy. Jean had to work all day and that, combined with the good deal we found on airfare, made it the best decision under the circumstances. It was a great day of bonding for me and the little beauty. :)
Posted by: John | May 10, 2009 at 01:44 AM