traveling with a 9 month old

with a wiggly baby who wants to be on the move, i was sure my 5 hours plane ride was to be a disaster. after we got on the plane, ben made friends with everyone around us by smiling and waving at them and then we took off. he didn't seem to have any trouble with his ears and once we were flying he looked over at the guy across the aisle and smiled, then he looked at me and smiled, and then he crashed his head down on my shoulder and fell asleep. whaaaat?!? he slept for half an hour. amazing. who was this child who had not slept on me since his wee infant days? i was loving it. and while our first hour on the plane was fantastic, the rest of it was more like you'd imagine it to be. ben crawling up the aisle trying to play with peoples' shoes, me holding ben while he whines, ben wanting to be put down and then wanting to be picked up and then wanting to be put down and then wanting to be picked up... but there was very little crying so that was great. he ended up falling asleep again right before we arrived and he slept through the whole bumpy landing! what a guy.

sitting on the floor playing with his bucket of toys...

on my lap...no, i didn't ask anyone to take our photo. i should have.

we arrived in toronto and i thought, "we made it! phew!" and then we entered the airport... the luggage carts in toronto don't hold a child like the ones in vancouver so my plan to have ben sit in the cart then fold up his stroller on the cart with the luggage wasn't going to work. so i put the duffel bag on top of the small rolling suitcase and pulled it behind me with one hand while i pushed the baby in the stroller with my huge diaper bag on the back with my other hand. we found our car rental desk (the farthest one away from the luggage) and got our car set up and then we went outside to the other desk to get the key. i'd rented a car seat so i wouldn't have to bring mine and i'd imagined it already in the car when i got there. it was not. i asked if there was someone who could help me put it in because only tim has ever put our carseat in and out of the vehicles. in fact, i'd never even looked closely at our carseat let alone installed it. "oh no, no. we don't put in the carseats because of liability issues," she says. "okay..." i can't even carry the carseat to my car because i'm pulling luggage and pushing baby so the guy behind me in line says he'll bring my carseat out for me. i get everything in the car and ben is still sitting in the stroller and itching to get out. i'm sitting in the backseat with the carseat reading the three tiny pictures on the side. no help. it is so unclear to me how to do this. i go over to some parking attendants nearby. "could either of you give me a hand with this carseat? i don't know how to put it in." insert speech about liability. so i begin to cry and walk away. of course they follow. i am now sitting in the car with the carseat crying with ben crying in his stroller and two people watching me. oh brother. the short version of this is that i finally decide to install it facing forwards because that seems the easiest and i finally get it in. i strap ben in and off we go. i don't wait for the gps satellites to kick in because i want to get of that garage away from staring parking attendants. i get on the 401 East. my gps finally kicks in. i'm supposed to be going West. my trip begins.

pit stop on our two hour drive to port stanley. happy to be out of the car.