Flight to Maui

I was really nervous about flying with Hudson. I totally didn't want to be the people everyone glares at for 6 hours because their baby is screaming the whole flight. I was also worried about bringing everything we would need for Hudson. For such a little guy, he sure needs a lot of stuff! I started trying clothes on him a few days in advance. Luckily I did because he now fits into some of his 3-6 month clothes. Since all his 0-3 month clothes still fit, I just assumed the 3-6 month stuff wouldn't, but he is actually able to wear both at the moment, which meant I had more outfit choices for the trip. ;) As I tried stuff on, I started making piles of what I would bring. 

The night before the flight I got maybe 3 hours of sleep, mainly because I was running around doing last minute preparations and going over my list again and again in the hopes that I wouldn't forget anything. We got up at about 4:30am to get ready. Hudson woke up around 5 for a feeding, which worked out perfect. (While we follow an eat, activity, sleep routine he still doesn't have a consistent schedule). 

Pretty happy guy at 5:30am!

We got picked up at 5:30 to head to the airport. Hudson slept in the car on the way. We were traveling with my mom and Tyler who are both premier flyers (they both got free upgrades to first class) because they fly so much. That made it way easier because they got a special (no-line) check-in and they got to check in 3 bags each for free! Thank goodness for that because Nic and I had 3 bags and Hudson's rock~n~play sleeper in a box as a 4th "bag." After the breezy bag check we went through security. Hudson was awake and pretty amused by all the people and action. It was actually a piece of cake. Even with all the new security annoyances since 9-11: taking off shoes, jackets, pulling out liquids, computers, etc. we were still more efficient than half the people around us. 

We got to our gate and I found a bathroom to change Hudson. I fed him in the airport (since he has never been a good nurser I was particularly nervous about feeding him in public, but he did really well) got him back in his car seat and we got everything situated and ready for boarding. We gate checked his stroller and had a seat for him so we carried him on in his car seat. He was pretty tired so as soon as the plane started moving he drifted off. He held my finger for take-off, but a few minutes in he let go as if to say, "ok, mom, I don't need you anymore, I'm a brave boy." He slept for a decent stretch...long enough for me to watch most of the movie and work on some scrapbooking pages. :) When he woke up I fed him, we changed him, held him for a bit (he checked out the people on the plane then discovered the tv, his favorite). The flight had quite a bit of turbulance, so we put him back in his seat and dangled one of his toys from the handle. He played for a bit, then fell asleep again. He took another long nap and I did some more scrapbooking, ate a few brownies that I made for the trip, and did my make-up. Hudson woke up again about an hour and a half before the scheduled arrival. I knew he was hungry, but was hoping to give him a bottle during the decent because i was nervous about his ears. Obviously, I couldn't make him wait to eat, so I fed him once he was hungry. Good thing because we ended up getting in a bit late so we had quite a bit longer before we started down. I was so nervous about Hudson's ears that I kept trying to shove the bottle or pacifier in his mouth, but he was fine. He actually loved the decent. he was smiling and laughing, we did a big turn and he got all excited like he was on a fun ride at Disneyland. When we touched down and it got all loud, his eyes got all big and he had that surprised face. It was hilarious! I wish we had video-taped him. 

The flight attendants were obsessed with Hudson and when one of them saw me making scrapbooking pages she insisted that we get a photo with the captain in the cockpit. She arranged the whole thing during the flight, so after we landed Hudson and I went and sat in the cockpit and met the pilot. Hudson would not stop staring at the captain. The captain ended up standing next to Nic just so we could get a photo of him looking. I know if he had fussed the whole flight it doesn't make him a bad baby, and he isn't old enough to know to make a choice to be good or bad, but he was so GOOD on the plane!! Nic and I were so proud of him!!!!