Ugh.  Today Alex and I flew to visit my parents.  It was a 6 hour flight - 5 hours and 59 minutes too long if you ask me.  The flight left at 8:45 a.m., which meant we had to wake Alex up from a dead sleep (never good) and drag him to the airport by 7:00 a.m.  He was all fine and dandy untill Daddy waved goodbye at the securtiy area.  He was upset that Daddy was staying back home for work, as I guess Mommy isn't as fun.

Well we boarded the plane, got settled and then ran to the galley to ask the flight attendent for juice, since you can't bring any liquids through security or while bording the plane.  Luckily they had a nice crew, and the woman was happy to fill the sippy cup up for King Alex.  The next 45 minutes were uneventful - he fell asleep for awhile (yippie!) then woke up and wanted to play.  Thank god we had the entire center row (3 seats) to ourselves on that flight.  He was bouncing from one seat to the other; I had to put the tray tables down so he wouldn't slide off the chair and run down the aisle.  He then wanted cookies.  He ate a few and then began to throw them around the plane. 

His new thing is throwing things to the floor when he is done with them.  Sippy cup done - toss on floor.  Dinner done - throw plate on floor.  Done with snack - throw snack on floor.  You get the idea.

So after removing all snacks that were being used as projectiles, he decided that he wanted to scream his head off during most of Mission Impossible III and for the 30 minutes thereafter.  I talking about screaming here people - not wailing, but high-pitched screaming, tossing-of-the-head, kicking-the-mommy, pushing-the-mommy screaming.  There was one cow (she really was a cow, both in looks and projected attitude) in the row across that kept giving me looks and whispering to her husband.  I felt like going over there and giving her a piece of my mind.  While no one said anything, I could tell people were irritated; but what the hell was I suppossed to do? Find a parachute and jump tandem with Alex?  I did take him into the restroom to give my 'neighbors' a break, but he kept on screaming.  He was really tired, and would not go down for a nap!

I know for a fact that he did not have an ear infection because I had taken him to the doctor the day before to have him checked out prior to our trip. 

Finally, he succumbed to sleep for about 45 minutes - ah, heaven - until he decided he wasn't done screaming and screamed all the way until the wheels hit the tarmac.  I was never so happy to get off of a flight.  Needless to say that as soon as we got off the plane he was fine. No screaming or crying - go figure!  Now if I can only get him to cooperate on the flight back home.  We'll see!

My parents hadn't seen Alex since April and they said he is so much more advanced (walking, talking, motor skills) than he was 4 months ago.  After spending the day with them, my father made the comment that 'girls are easier than boys' at this stage.  Since my parents only had two daughters, and I only have one son, I have no idea if a girl would be easier.  My mom said that Alex is VERY active; much more so than my sister or I at that age, but I only know about raising boys thus far.  Hopefully the next baby will be a girl, but with my luck I'll end up with another boy - or twin boys.

Any suggestions on flying long distances with a 16 month old?