Austin's First Time Flying

I hadn't planned on taking Austin on an airplane for several years. When I was Austin's age, my mom took me on a trip to see my grandparents, and everyone clapped when I got off the plane (apparently I was THAT bad ;-). That really wasn't something that I wanted to go through. But, life happens and plans change. This past weekend, we found out that we had to make a last minute trip up to northern Ohio for my grandmother's funeral. There was not enough time to make the 12 hour drive up there and back, so we had no choice but to fly. Austin once again made me feel bad for doubting him. I cannot brag on him enough. He was a superstar the whole trip! He was absolutely perfect on the plane. The flights were not full, so he got his own seat both times, and I could tell he loved feeling like a big boy. He seemed to enjoy the excitement of taking off, and once we were high enough, we set up the DVD player and he watched VeggieTales. He looked so grownup in his seat wearing headphones. (I hate that I don't have photos, but in the rush I forgot to pack my camera) As we were getting off the plane, I actually got compliments from flight attendants and passengers regarding how well he did (a huge difference from me ;-). While we were in Ohio, Austin went with the flow and put up with eating and napping on the go. We even had to wake him up yesterday at 3:30 am (our time) to make our return flight, but he took it all in stride. (he did have a meltdown from being tired, but he held that off until yesterday afternoon when we were back home) There were 13 people staying at my aunt's house and it was rather chaotic, but Austin handled it pretty well. There were times where he was definitely attached to me, but other than that seemed to deal with it better than I did. ;-) He is definitely a great deal more flexible that I am. I know it probably seems like I am just going on and on, but I just really have to brag on him. I was really stressed about traveling and dealing with a funeral with a toddler in tow, but Austin was amazing and made things so much easier than I expected them to be.