March 7th Sophia went on her first plane ride ever. We went up to Alaska to see her great-grandma and all of her second cousins on my dad’s side of the family. I was worried that Sophia would have my ear problem and air travel would be a nightmare. I don’t travel well. It doesn’t take much for me to feel extreme ear pain as the plane descends. Sophia was fantastic! And no Tylenol or Baby Benadryl required. I just tried to time her feedings for when the plane was changing elevation and let the swallowing action help keep her ears regulated. We landed in Alaska a passenger about two rows back said to us, “Well at least she’s a good traveler.” On the way back home, a woman in front of us turned around to get her bag from the overhead at the end of the flight and said, “Oh-my-gosh I didn’t even know there was a baby behind us!”
While in Alaska Sophia got to meet two of her great-aunts (my dad’s sister and one of my mother’s sisters), her only great-grandma and all six of her second cousins on my father’s side. We weren’t there for very long but we did get to venture just south of Anchorage to where Portage Glacier *used* to be (I can remember as a child when we would make a pit stop at the visitor’s center on the way up to Anchorage and I would climb around on the glacier. Now you can’t even see the glacier from the visitor’s center. You have to take a boat to see it. - No such thing as global warming my f*&@#^& ass!). We went to an area that for as long as I can remember was nothing but a dead forest (earthquake damage from 1964) that has now been turned into a Big Game Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. The bears were out because Alaska had been having some unusually warm weather. We had grandma’s dog in the car with us as we drove through and every time she barked at the bears, Sophia burst into uncontrollable giggles. I got some of it on video. It was absolutely hilarious! The file is just too big for me to post. I’ll have to edit it or something.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:40pm
Ugh… the bit about the glacier just made me sad. And angry. But everything about Sophia is sweet. And I’m not surprised to learn she’s a good traveler. She’s a very easy-going baby.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:45pm
What a great picture! Definitely one to hang on the wall.
Aren;t baby giggles the best thing on earth?
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April 21st, 2008 at 9:56pm
nice story… my son 20 months when we went with airplane don’t have ear problem. what he had problem was only sleep problem
Can not sleep.
Will you visit mine Thanks
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April 22nd, 2008 at 6:52am
The first plane ride…that is awesome. Great picture!
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April 22nd, 2008 at 6:59am
How you scheduled Sophia’s feeding was very clever. It’s funny how the theme to MASH calms her too.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:13am
How nice that your traveling companions were kind enough to compliment Sophia!
Alaska is a place I hope to visit one of these days.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:06am
What a wonderful opportunity! Nice post! Sorry about the glaciers. Sorry.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 9:26am
Oh wow! She really does sound like a good traveler. I’d love to visit Alaska someday, I haven’t been that direction yet.
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:39pm
Wonderful photo. We visited Alaska in September, beautiful place.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:27pm
What a great post! I loved this whole story, but I must admit that my favorite part was about Sophia bursting into giggling fits at the dog barking at the bears
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April 23rd, 2008 at 11:45am
smarmoofus - Yeah the glacier stuff really irritates me. Especially when I see surveys where they ask, “do you think you’ll see the effects of global warming in your lifetime.” I realize not everyone has experienced getting out of their car and walking on a glacier then 20 or 30 years later gone back to see it’s Gone. But it bugs me when people stick their head in the sand and say there’s no problem. About Sophia, I wasn’t worried about her being a bad traveler just that I was afraid she would have my ear problems and the elevation change would cause her great pain.
JaniceNW - Yes, I love that the kido second from the right is picking his nose.
picturing of life - Yeah once we got to grandma’s house we had a sleep problem. She had a hard time with the new environment, but over all she did really well. I’ll make my way to your site when I get a chance. Thanks for stopping by mine
Shannon H. - Thank you
Linda - Yep M*A*S*H-ing the baby is fun
Skittles - Yeah it’s cool to get the pat on the back. I hope you make it there soon. It’s changing so much. Because I know what it was like before - it makes me cry to think of it now. It’s still beautiful but well the lack of glaciers is very noticeable to me.
Tumblewords - Thank you
Natalie - I recommend it, but I’m a little biased
Inspiration Alley - Thank you
Misty Dawn - Somehow I knew that would be your favorite part