Noah will be ten months old this week. In that relatively short amount of time he has taken off and landed 14 different times and has been in nine states (Utah, Colorado,Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, New York, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont). For a state to count you have to leave the airport.   At first flying was easy; Noah was just three months old on the his first flight so we did nto have to worry about food.  On the other flights he was beginging to eat solids with a growing regularity but it was still not a big deal. This last flight was an entirely different story.

Having a nine month old with a hollow leg makes planing your day of travel a logistical nightmare.  We had to plan out each meal and guess at where we might be when that meal was to be given.  Once we had the food prepared and our suitcases packed we set about trying to fit a grocery store worth of food into into two moderately sized  carry-on bags. This resulted in much frustration and the thought that we may need to hire a sherpa just to get our bags and ourselves to the plane.  Around ten at night and nearly at our wits end we decided to call our friends who had a larger bag that we could us.  Thankfully they did not ignore our cry for help and even gave me a much needed glass of champagne when I arrived to pick up the bag.  With the larger bag the puzzle of  how to fit all the food was solved and we managed to get to bed at a fairly decent hour.

I am happy to say packing was the most cumbersome part of the trip. Noah travels well and loves to ride around the airport in his stroller.  leaning forward with one arm hanging over the side he looks this way and that smiling and occasionally waving at people.  Yet again he did not sleep and I saw the sun pop over the Horizon of the Atlantic more than once as I walked the beach blurry eyed from lack of sleep.  While Noah, talking non-stop, leaned forward in his stroller taking it all in.

I do not think it needs to be said that we are a bit burned out with planes and airports at this time. The thought of of sketching another airport scene while we wait for our flight makes we want to put my pens away, even more so the thought of trying to figure out what to feed Noah and how we are going to carry all that food makes me want to cry.  Soon though we will be off on another adventure to the Tetons with friends who have a fifteen month old, this time however we are driving which could prove harder than flying when it is all said and done.