Vegas, Baby

My sister Michele just had her first baby. Meredith and I flew from Houston to Vegas so that I could help her adjust to her new role as mommy. Well, she already has 3 step-sons, but she's not had a little newborn before... So, yesterday Meredith and I boarded a plane for Salt Lake City...3 hrs and 9 minutes of torture. We were on this tiny plane that had 19 rows total. On one side were 19 rows of two seats then an aisle, then 19 rows of single seats (So, 3 seats per row). When I booked the flight, I selected a single seat because I figured if Meredith was horrible, at least there wouldn't be anyone beside me being bothered. Well, as soon as I sat down, the flight attendant told me I couldn't sit in the seat I had chosen because it didn't have an extra oxygen mask for an infant. Only Rows 16 and 19 did, so I would have to move. She said that row 16 was empty and she'd probably move me there so I'd have some extra room. That sounded wonderful! I ended up in row 19 sitting next to this poor guy that had to listen to Meredith whine and cry for most of the trip. I could tell he was irritated because the volume on his ipod got louder and louder until I could clearly hear the songs he was listening to - a collection of Michael Jackson greatest hits. I heard "Thriller", "The Way You Make Me Feel", that song from "Free Willy"... very interesting taste in music. But he was nice and did try to be accommodating - he let me use a part of his tray table for my snack, since I couldn't put mine down with Meredith sitting on my lap. The worst part of the flight was that I was right next to the lavatory, and there was a steady flow of people using it...and it smelled. Man, didn't their mothers teach them to go to the bathroom BEFORE they left on their trip?! So, Meredith had a hard time taking a nap due to all the people walking by, the constant sound of a flushing toilet and the odor that wafted out from the lavatory. Twice I checked Meredith because I thought she had pooped, and then I realized I was sitting next to the bathroom and it wasn't Meredith who had pooped. UGH! Gross. The air conditioning didn't seem to work either...because it was HOT HOT HOT on that flight. I thought I was going to lose it. I was so grateful when that plane landed and was dreading the 2nd leg of my trip...the flight from SLC to Vegas. Fortunately, the flight to Vegas was a completely different experience. It was still a smaller plane...we had to walk out on the tarmac to board the plane...I don't think I've ever done that before. But the cool Utah air felt good, so I didn't mind too much. This time we had to sit in row 1...at first I was annoyed because I had to stow the diaper bag up above since there was no seat in front of me to put it under. All her toys and books were in there...what was I going to do without it? But once we took off, I found that having the extra leg room was really nice. And Meredith was a perfect Angel. We were in a window seat, so Meredith got to look outside, which she loved. About 15 minutes into the flight, Meredith looked up at me, jibber jabbered something, and then laid her head on my shoulder and crashed. She slept the entire rest of the flight and even slept through the landing. She woke up when the flight attendant started telling us that we needed to stay seated until the plane parked at the gate. She woke up with a smile and waved at people as they exited the plane. Two people commented that she was such such a good girl and did so well on the flight... I just smiled and thought to myself "Yeah, you weren't on the last plane. Ask that poor dude who had to sit next to us for 3 hours if Meredith is a good girl!" Oh well. I'm just glad we made it here safely and that I can be here with Michele. It's been so amazing. It's so fun to see Michele hold her son and to see how happy she is to have him.