Airplanes, airports...

The first time I got on the plane in 1996, it was one crazy flight from Sofia to Johannesburg. Since that time I never complained about different airlines and airports, most important for me is to get to my destination safe.

Things changed when I had a child. A.J.'s first flight was when he was only 3 weeks old. He has been flying domestic a lot and he did pretty well.

After this trip these are my personal thoughts on airlines and airports:
1. United Airlines - try to avoid them with infants and toddlers - they didn't have any special seat belts for little kids. We bought A.J. a separate seat, but he was so insecure, I had to hold him for most of the flight (I didn't take a car seat with me). He will just come out from the seat belt. There was not any special baby food, you have to call in advance for it. Baby bassinets are so tiny, up to 6 months I believe.

2. Frankfurt Airport - big airport, you need more layover time. If you are flying to Bulgaria:) do not buy any liquids (water, coke etc) after the security check. There is a second one before I got on my plane and I had to throw away a very expensive water bottle (close to $10).
If you flying along with a infant be prepared - the bathrooms are a nightmare - had to go through 2 doors to get to the actual toilets and they are so tiny, that I had to leave A.J. in the stroller outside.

3. Austirian Airlines- very helpful. This time we had a car seat, they made sure that it is approved one and safe for a child to fly and they had baby food, no need to call in advance. Very impressed with the crew.

4. Vienna Airport - pretty close and fast to get to the next gate at least this time:)

5. Washington DC airport - on the way over the gate was right across the one I arrived.

On the way back was a diffrent story. I guess I was the "lucky" one to get there when it is so busy. There were about 300 people waiting for their luggage and to go through security and did I mention that there was not enough luggage carts. It was a nightmare for us and on top of that one of my suitcases zipper broke. I had to find someone to help me and to secure the bag so it can make the next flight, while I had A.J. in the stroller, carseat, 3 bags and a backpack. It took me 2 hours from the time the plane landed until I got to my gate (not a close one either).

Flying with a one year old - packing less is better. A.J. was still on baby food, so I had a small can of formula, a few bottles, a few toys and books for him, lot's of binkies and a blanket. I packed in 3 separate ziplog bags jars with food, spoon and a disposable bib, was much easier. I think that is enough.

Someone recomended to take an extra shirt for myself, well I did on my way to Bulgaria, I changed in Frankfurt and 10 minutes later A.J. managed to get food on my clean shirt. Maybe an extra onesie for the kid is o.k.

A.J. did pretty well on the planes. On our way over he did great from PHX to DC, DC to Frankfurt he slept most of the time (it was night time for us). A.J. wanted to walk a lot on the flight from Vienna to DC, but he slept the whole time from DC to PHX and took nice nap from Sofia to Vienna.

While writing all about this it feels like a big dream. A.J. and I need a long break before we would like to get on a plane again.