Natalie in Omaha

Natalie took her first plane trip last weekend. We went to Omaha to see my grandmother. I was definitely nervous about traveling with Natalie because I've always been the person who avoids sitting anywhere near families flying with babies. Fortunately, it was very early on a Saturday morning so the flights weren't full and there weren't too many people to annoy. And actually, Natalie did great and slept most of the time. She even got a certificate from the flight crew noting that it was her first-ever plane ride. It had the little wing pin and everything!
The weekend was very busy. We visited with my grandmother, who just loved meeting her great-granddaughter. It was neat to see so many generations of my family represented. My grandmother lives in an assisted living facility and let me tell you, bringing a baby to one of those places is like bringing a keg to a fraternity party - people were SO excited to see Natalie! All the seniors were coming up to her and telling us how cute she was. We never get tired of hearing that! I think my grandmother enjoyed showing her off, too. We also visited with my cousin Bart, his wife Brenda and their three sons. They all loved meeting Natalie as well. Special thanks to Brenda for holding Natalie during dinner so Johnathan and I could actually eat with both hands! In addition, Natalie met some of my dad's friends and even got to dip her feet into a hot tub (don't worry, the water wasn't hot) for the first time. The weather there was absolutely wonderful - no humidity and only about 80 degrees - so we were loving being outside without sweating profusely like we do here. Natalie also got to spend some more time with her grandfather, who took all of us on a tour of Omaha. We visited the old grocery store that his father owned, where my dad worked when he was a kid. So we definitely crammed a lot of activities into a short period of time!
Monday morning arrived and it was time to head back. We were happy with how Natalie had handled the weekend. She had her share of what I call "Crabby Bear" moments, but overall she did as well as we could expect of a three-month old. The first leg of the flight home was great, but as we sat on the tarmac in Chicago waiting to take off, Natalie decided to have a meltdown. Johnathan and I were both trying to calm her down - offered her the bottle, pacifier, shushed her, etc. - and she was not having it. She wanted to let the entire plane know that she was not a happy camper. The woman sitting in front of us got up and moved to another seat. I avoided making eye contact with anyone sitting nearby and told Johnathan "This is my worst nightmare." It probably only lasted 10 minutes, but it felt like about an hour. I wanted to crawl into the overhead compartment and disappear. Fortunately, she did calm down and ended up falling asleep and slept for most of the rest of the flight. What I learned: It's hard for a baby to be away from home and away from all her stuff that we rely on to calm her down. I enjoyed our trip, but we were definitely happy to be home! Enjoy the photos!