And the Winner Is...

Oliver and I worked hard and made some amazing cakes, but the winner of the Southwest Airlines cake competition went to another airplane cake.  The pin for the winning entry is here:
http://pinterest.com/pin/186758715768142790/

I must admit, that is a really, really good airplane cake, and it's done better than the one Oliver and I made.  I think we put up a good fight, though, and I'm proud that we were the first ones to submit an airplane cake, and proud that we took cute photos of our cakes.

I'd waited and waited to hear the winning entry announced.  The longer I waited, the more sure I was it wasn't us.  I sent off a self-addressed, stamped envelope to find out which was the winning entry.  A couple days later, the winner was announced on their blog.  I have to admit, I was a little disappointed it wasn't us.  But the winner definitely deserved to win, as her airplane cake was better than ours and better than the other plane cakes.

Then, today, I came home to a little package from Southwest Airlines.  They sent a thank you card along with a few little goodies, including a blow-up airplane.

It might sound silly, but it made me feel better about not winning the contest.  Besides, as far as Oliver is concerned, what's better than spending a week baking cakes and then getting a toy airplane on top of it all?  No kidding, the boy loves airplanes.  As soon as he hears one, he looks excitedly to the sky and points them out to me.  As I write this, he's happily flying his new Southwest Airlines toy plane around the house.

Thanks, Southwest!  I really appreciate the little goody bag, and Oliver loves the toy plane.

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 27: Airplane!

Airplane is a classic game for toddlers. If you've never played, you lay down on your back on a flat surface. You hold on to your toddler's armpits and put your feet under their pelvic bone, supporting their weight. Without going too crazy (as their necks still aren't as strong as an adult's), you make them "fly" above you.

I don't play this very often with Oliver. In fact, I'd forgotten about it until last week, when I caught him playing airplane with Monkey (his favorite stuffed animal). I decided that must mean he really likes the game, so I've been playing it more and more with him this week. It wasn't until today that it occurred to me to make a blog entry about it.

I play airplane on the bed. We have a large, king-sized bed, and I appreciate knowing there is extra padding under Oliver in case I manage to drop him or something. I have him soar above me, and he yells, "Zoom!" After a few seconds, I announce, "Oh, no! There's turbulence!" I gently bump him up and down and side to side as he laughs with glee. We'll go back to soaring, and I'll throw in the occasional turbulence.

I give airplane an A. The game doesn't last long because my muscles tire easily. Still, even in that 1-2 minute period, Oliver has the time of his life and laughs his adorable, toddler laugh. The only downside is the potential danger of dropping your kid or shaking him too violently. As long as you're careful, the game is a blast.

I'll be sure to post some pictures soon!

Airplane Success!

Oliver (and Andrew and I) survived the round trip flights to Chicago! On the way there, we flew Frontier. There was one empty seat on the entire plane, and it was next to Andrew and me. So, Oliver was able to have his own seat! He relaxed, drank milk and ate cookies, and watched music videos. I'm pretty sure he thought flying was the greatest thing ever. It went so well that I was even able to do a few sudoku puzzles, and Andrew was able to play a game of Magic on the laptop.

The way back was a whole different can of worms. We flew American Airlines on the way back. Because we had to drop my parents off at a different airport for an earlier flight (they were flying Frontier back), we arrived really early--5:45pm for our 8:30pm flight. We checked our bags and made our way through security. We grabbed some dinner at the food court, and then we made our way to the gate. H12. It said H12 on our ticket, and we confirmed it by checking the monitors. We set up shop at H12.

Oliver had a lot of energy, and we decided it was best to let him run it off before boarding the plane. It's difficult to let a toddler run around in such a busy airport (O'Hare is one of the busiest in the world). There were no empty gates, so we'd let him run down the hallways while we followed him and prevented him from running into anyone's way. Andrew and I alternated so the other could rest. Well, I'm sitting at the gate with a stroller and a diaper bag. A man asks me if he could sit next to me. I said sure. A few minutes later, Oliver and Andrew came back. Oliver started playing with his toys. One is a Transformer that makes noise. The man next to me was shooting us evil looks the entire time. I was thinking, "What the heck?! Switch seats, then." It wasn't like he was there first and we came in making noise. And it's not like there weren't empty seats around the gate.

At 8:15pm, I started to wonder why there was no plane at our gate. For the nearly two hours we were at the gate, there was never a flight attendant. I realized our flight might be delayed. I went back to the monitors and saw that we were moved to gate H14, and our flight time was delayed to 8:45pm. So, we shuffled over past the bathrooms to our new gate. It was already boarding, but thankfully I was able to get the stroller gate-checked before it was too late.

We boarded the plane, and it was hot and miserable. It was at least 80 degrees inside. After waiting about 15 minutes after everyone boarded, the pilot announced that take-off would be delayed a little as we got new oil in an engine or something. So, we sat and waited in the heat. Thankfully, we had a sippy cup with a little water in it. We started to ration it because there were no flight attendants or anyone coming around with water. All around us, kids started crying and screaming. Oliver stayed strong. As time went by, all the adults were starting to complain. I was getting overheated, and so was Oliver We stripped him down to his diaper. Although there was almost no air coming out of the vents, Andrew aimed his at us to try to keep us cool. I wanted Oliver's water so badly but wanted him to have it more.

After about half an hour, they moved the plane away from the gate. Then, we sat there, not moving, for another hour with no explanation. I have no idea how Oliver managed to not cry. I was trying not to panic, but Oliver was phenomenal. At one point, I let him slide the shade to the window up and down for entertainment. Mind you, it was dark outside, so it wasn't like he was constantly cutting off light to the plane. Still, the teenager ahead of us had an attitude about it and kept glaring at me. I was pissed because I was hot and pissed at him for thinking that a window shade was noisy. Would he rather the child be screaming??

After an hour and a half sitting on the hot, hot plane with no water or explanation, we took off. The pilot announced that the weather was very poor going west, so our flight path was changed. We were going to go up north through Minnesota and head west through the Dakotas and then back south to Denver. The new flight was about 3 hours, so we were on the plane for about 4.5 hours, about twice as long as we'd expected. Oliver slept for much of the flight, but the turbulence was so bad that it was difficult to keep him asleep. He cried out a few times but never got hysterical. Meanwhile, I started crying from the turbulence and a woman across the aisle started praying aloud in Hebrew from her Torah. The turbulence was that bad.

We landed around midnight local time. My dad drove back to the airport to pick us up, since we were so delayed. He said they had minor turbulence on their Frontier flight, but it wasn't that bad like it was on our American Airlines flight. It was absolute misery.

Andrew made me swear that we'd never fly American again. We've never had good service with them. Even though this flight was free with our miles, it didn't matter. It was so terrible that I wished we'd just paid the rest of the ticket to fly round trip with Frontier.

Toddler in an Airplane

Oliver's going to be on a flight soon, and I've started to get really worried. He's traveled numerous times and has always done well, but now he's at an age where he likes to go, go, go!

I tried to look online for ideas to keep him entertained on the plane. It seemed odd that *none* of the ideas seemed to really suit Oliver. A lot of people mentioned crayons. Oliver thinks crayons are OK, and he'll play with them for about 30 seconds before dismissing them for something else. People also mentioned stickers, which Oliver hates so much. He literally screams if someone puts a sticker on him.

Finally, I decided to go to the Toys R Us website. I browsed pages and pages of toys, knowing Oliver wouldn't like any of them. The boy just doesn't like most toys. Oliver enjoys figuring out how real things work. Currently, he's obsessed with learning how to pour milk from the carton as well as pulling out and reinserting the pegs that hold our screen door together. He definitely needs something new, something that will pique his interest. I know if I can successfully find a toy that will perplex Oliver, he'll play with it nonstop until he masters how it works.

It took a lot of searching, but I finally found something that I think Oliver will like: a tool bench!

Success! I pick it up later today. My plan is to give it to the little man on the plane. As long as it's not too noisy, we'll bring it to the wedding ceremony, too, so he doesn't freak out there.

Long Flights

My parents treated us and my siblings to a trip to Saint Thomas! It was fun and relaxing, and I loved getting to spend time with my family. The trip is for another blog, though (specifically, this one: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/WhirledPeas/).

On Thursday and Monday, Oliver had to deal with twelve hours of travel each. I was nervous and stressed about it, but he was such a pro traveler. I mean it. I think he let out a total of three whines during all of the travel.

Mostly, we did well because we pushed all of his naps until we were on the plane. We also had a lot of snacks available for him, and we brought tons of little toys in his diaper bag. As a hallelujah, we brought along a DVD. We only had to break the DVD out once!

The experience was still a bit stressful because Andrew and I were so focused on keeping Oliver constantly entertained and happy. Therefore, we really needed a mental break from all the travel. It helped that we traveled with family who all wanted to spend time with Oliver, as Andrew and I could take a little time for ourselves and each other.

Pro Flyer

At nearly nine months old, Oliver continues to show off his skills at flying on airplanes. On the way to Chicago, I swear, the kid didn't make a peep. He had fun playing and cooing at the other passengers on the plane. I can't tell you how many of them stopped to tell me what a wonderful, happy baby he is. There was even turbulence! Other babies and young kids were scared (as could be expected) and screaming, but I was able to keep Oliver calm and occupied.

On the way back to Denver, Oliver fussed a bit before takeoff and just before landing, but it was nothing people would complain about. My parents and I were able to calm him easily and distract him until we were home.

Our next flight is in January, and it's a long one (all day to St. Thomas). I'm nervous about flying with a one year old then, but if there's one thing I've learned about Oliver, it's that he always amazes me!

Flight to Boston

I'm proud and happy that Oliver was so great on his flights to Boston. We had a two hour stretch that took us from Denver to Chicago, and then another stretch from Chicago to Boston. After that, we had about a two hour drive to our place in Cape Cod. Would you believe our 8 month old barely cried during all that? He slept for an hour on each stretch of the flight. For the other hour on each, he played. Of course, there were times when he started to get frustrated, but Andrew and I were able to keep the crying at bay. Good job, Oliver!

Babies on Planes

By no means do I think people are bad parents when their babies cry on planes. As a mom, I now know that there are times your baby will cry, and there's nothing you can do about it. However, I think airplanes are a place when you pull out all the stops to keep your kid from crying or fussing for as long as possible.

Oliver is a seasoned traveller now. He has flown to Austin and back, gone on a road trip to Omaha and back, and has now flown to Omaha and back. Truly, he's done a superb job. In February, when we flew to Austin, he slept the whole time. Easy, easy! On the way back, he fussed for a few minutes, but never really threw a fit and was happy for most of the time (not bad for a two hour flight, ey?). Driving to Omaha, he cried for about one hour out of the eight, and he was quite the trooper on the way back.

I was nervous flying to and from Omaha this time because it wasn't timed to be during bed time. Still, he managed to be amazing. Before boarding at DIA, Andrew walked and patted Oliver. He fell asleep and stayed asleep for about 40 minutes of the 54 minute flight. When he woke up, I nursed him, so he didn't fuss a moment.

The trip back home was a different story. We elected to go to the airport early so my sister, Julie, could drive us on her way to work. We arrived at 6:30am for our 10:50am flight. Oliver was a champ at the airport and didn't cry at all. He even napped. This good mood lasted until shortly after boarding the plane. He sat on my lap and watched all the passengers board (when travelling with a small child, you get to board first). As the plane taxied before take-off, he started to fuss. I tried nursing him, but he wasn't hungry. Andrew and I started to panic. If he started fussing before take-off, it was going to be a long flight. I busted out a few toys, but he wasn't interested. I went for the Hail Mary--Oliver's toothbrush. Success! He chomped at it and shook it for about 10 minutes before showing signs of fussiness again. Andrew and I busted into song: Head, shoulders, knees, and toes... The singing worked for a few more minutes. Forty-five minutes left in the flight. What to do? I tried nursing him again, but he lost interest after a minute or two. We changed his diaper. Oliver still hadn't cried, but he let out a few unhappy calls. We knew it was only a matter of time until the crying would start unless we could figure out something quickly. Then, Andrew started patting him and swaying him (which wasn't easy in the restriction of an airplane seat), and Oliver fell asleep. Cue sighs of relief. Oliver slept until we landed.

After landing, Andrew and I had to wait for our gate-checked stroller. We stood off to the side as other passengers disembarked. A man from New Zealand whom we'd met at the Omaha Airport gave Andrew's shoulder a pat as he passed by. "Not a sound," he said. It was a reference to Oliver, as we'd previously confided in him that we were scared Oliver would cry on the plane. Success! Even though we wre freaked out the whole time, apparently the other passengers never realized that Oliver was close to throwing a fit. We did it!