I decided that I was a confident mother. I could handle anything that my little V threw at me and I would win. I was so confident that I boarded a plane with Victoria for a 4 hour flight to Pennsylvania to see my parents. I mean, at three months old, how bad could she be? I could handle it, right? RIGHT?!

Apparently she could throw a lot at me. And while yes I did handle it and did finally make it to my parents house, it was a long plane ride! I had a feeling that trip would be kind of sketchy when as we were getting ready to board she started fussing. I knew she was hungry and planned to nurse her during take-off but she jumped the gun a bit and started screaming once I was on board. She settled down to nurse after a few minutes and once we were in the air she was rather content to look around and stand in my lap. The two businessmen on either side of me were smiling at me and enjoying the beginning of their flight. Not much of a bad start really.

Her usual 30-45 minutes of happy time after eating and before sleeping was cut down to about 20. Then she started to fuss which quickly turned into screaming as she tried to get her mind around the idea that she'd be sleeping in my lap on a plane surrounded by unfamiliar people, sights and sounds. The screaming lasted another 10 or 15 minutes and finally she fell asleep in the most uncomfortable position possible for both of us! I attempted to move her into a better position (one which I hoped would prove to give the gift of a longer nap) but she didn't go for it. So I left her alone and I started to sleep. Unfortunately for me, Victoria and everyone else, my head kept lolling around and I kept jolting myself awake. Which in turn jolted Victoria. Which eventually, after 45 minutes, irritated her enough to jolt her completely awake. And, back to the screaming.

I finally got up and just hung out in the back between the bathrooms for the rest of the trip. She needed to eat again on the flight, so I attempted to sit back down before she got herself too hungry and pissed off (she has a tendency to not nurse if I've waited too long to feed her. Almost as if she decides to punish me by screaming since I've made her wait). As I'm sure you can imagine, she was not for sitting down again or for nursing. So I abandoned that idea and once again made my way to the back of the plane. I decided to change her and while I was in the tiny bathroom, I thought, what the hell?! Why not see if she'll nurse in here. So, with me standing in the airline bathroom, I finally got her to nurse. She did allow me to sit on the toilet seat cover for half of it, which I thought was rather nice of her.

We had about 45 minutes left on the flight from Hell and I was itching to get off that hunk of metal. While we were still in the bathroom (I was in there for literally 30 minutes total. I can't imagine what the crew was thinking! HA!), the captain came on saying to take our seats as we were getting ready to land. Great . . . but . . . now that she just ate she wouldn't want to nurse for the decompression. Oh well! We made our way back to our seats for the final 30 minutes of flight time and true to form, she screamed and fussed until we landed.

I put her into the Bjorn (which she LOVES by the way) and made my escape from that dreaded airplane. Incredibly once we were in the airport walking around she was (unbelievably) smiling, laughing, talking and overall having the time of her life. I couldn't believe it, and honestly I was rather put out by it all!

My parents were waiting to meet us (her really. I was just the vessel to get the granddaughter to the grandparents! I knew my role and I was fine with it!) and I guess more new people were not what V had in mind. She started to scream and fuss while we waited for my one bag and then fussed and screamed once she was in the car seat. My parents live about two hours from BWI and would you believe it? Victoria screamed and cried and wailed for about ninety minutes of the drive home.

Once we arrived, she nursed and then fell promptly to sleep. After about six hours of straight screaming and wailing, I could understand that she'd be a little tired! Thankfully she slept the whole night and woke up around 10am.

She was fussy all day yesterday as she tried to adjust all the newness in her short little life, but this morning was better. She was happy for almost and hour after she ate and she kept smiling at BaBa (my dad) for most of it . . . as long as he kept his distance and she remained in my arms. So, progress is being made! Let's hope it lasts until this coming Sunday when I board another plane and make the 5 hour return trip home with her. I will admit right now that I'm nervous for that flight.

So much for the confident mother!