My Daughter, Delightful Traveller

In late March, Dave & I had a discussion about living abroad. In my mind, it was a theoretical discussion but Dave thought he could "make it happen". True to his word, I now sit in New Zealand.

In my infinite wisdom, I had sent Dave as an advance party...this left me to accompany one child in the 24 trip from Ottawa to Auckland. As our departure drew nearer, I wondered at the sanity of this decision but knew there was no recourse. The five weeks prior to joining Dave were a blur of packing, socializing, and feeling my clothing get tighter ;-)

Despite my best intentions, Mikaela and I arrived at the Ottawa airport with four large suitcases, one car seat, and three *heavy* carry-ons. With the help of my sister, we managed to get checked-in by 4 pm and headed for security. After a brief, unexpected moment of choking up as we said good-bye to Auntie Bobbi, it was off to chase down Mikaela, perform our security ritual, and join the pre-boarding line at gate 17! The first leg of our journey passed quickly; it was the five hour flight from Ottawa to Vancouver. With a blur of puzzles, books, and snacks, I give Mikaela a 9.5/10 as the perfect travelling toddler. With a score like that, you can only assume things will go downhill.

In the Vancouver airport, I'd thought my luck had run out. Mikaela was running wild as I struggled with my carry-on luggage, and she face-planted. The ensuing wailing attracted the attention of a passing Air Canada flight attendant. She quickly flagged us down a golf cart, and Mikaela perked up as we were driven to our International gate. Next up, the 13hr+ flight to Auckland.

She continued to be a trooper, showing only the vaguest signs of her exhaustion until she promptly announced at 1:19 am EST that she was going to lie down on her back. She fell asleep within seconds and proceeded to sleep for the next eight hours. Sure, there was the occasional whimper as she moved positions or as she discovered she was no longer on the seats, but rather, her mother had assisted her rollover onto the floor. When it looked like a wake-up was imminent, I flagged down a flight attendant for the all important "milky". With this in hand, Mikaela easily transitioned from sleeping beauty to delightful daughter. We watched a little Baby Einstein on the iPod touch, read a few more books, and played with our animal flash cards. At breakfast, served at 12 pm EST (4 am local time), she dug heartily into her cheese omelet and home fries. Personally, I couldn't stomach the idea of eggs and partook of the lighter fruit fare. For this, the longest leg of the trip, Mikaela outdid herself with a perfect 10!

Customs was a bit more challenging, she needed to run and I needed to stand in various lines. After a few chase downs, I resorted to the sling on my back. This was not meet with glee, but some JellyTots helped soften the strapping down. As we emerged from the arrival area, she was extremely excited to see Daddy. It may be because she missed him, but I think the fact that he let her out of the dreaded sling played a role in this excitement :-)

All in all, my hestitation about travelling solo with Mikaela on such a long journey - unfounded. Despite Dave's displeasure in the use of superlatives, she was awesome.