When your baby is the one having a meltdown on the very small plane

Pictures by me, my parents and my Uncle Robert and some of his girls

This is what the Davis family reunion looks like:

  Lots of cute kids, story-telling and "debating," good food, nature, chatting, games, balloon launchers and picture-taking

 

You know how you hear horror stories where someone was on a plane where there was a baby that cried the entire flight?

On our flight home from Oregon, Ella was that baby.

And it was a small plane, so everyone had the privilege of hearing her meltdown of awesomeness.

She just bawled and sobbed and writhed.

And Adam wasn't there because he had to go home earlier in the week, so a poor stranger was sitting next to me and my crying baby.

But he never once complained.

Whenever I turned and said, "I'm so sorry!"

He was all, "Oh, don't worry about it. She's not that bad."

Mmhm. 

He knew I knew he was lying, but I appreciated him being so kind.

I know that it really was as bad as I thought because everyone else on the plane, as they passed by in as they left the plane said things like,

"You're doing good, Honey. Hang in there!"

"At least you were trying to quiet her down, some people don't even try."

"Don't worry about it, Dear."

That was so nice of the people to say such kind things when I felt like joining Ella and sobbing right along with her.

The flight to Oregon was the complete opposite of that, because Ella was not yet sleep-deprived like she was on the way home.

At the end of the flight every single person sitting around us turned to us and said 

"Oh my goodness, she was such a good baby! That was amazing!"

And she giggled and threw them all smiles like she does when she tries to charm people and it worked and they were loving it.

And then when I put her in her stroller and wheeled her off the plane, seriously everyone waved at her as she passed by and declared how cute she was. 

And she sat in her stroller with her arms resting on the sides, looking like a little princess in her throne-on-wheels.

It was like wheeling a celebrity off the plane.

Except it was a 7 month old baby.

That happiness is her normal self.

But once you deprive her of sleep for an entire week, things get out of control.

I laughed when at the end of one flight the five people sitting in the row next to us and in front of us all whipped out their cameras and took pictures of her throwing her smiles at them.

I had no idea that traveling with a baby would be like that.

Oh man.

Ella.