Mike, Annabel and I are in New York City for the next few days. Until yesterday, Mike had only flown once with Annabel. It was a 55 minute flight, and she was only about five months old. He really had no idea what he was getting into. He even brought a BOOK to read on the flight. Sweet simple Mike.

Annabel hates sleeping, so she was in SUCH a good mood when we woke her up to go to the airport (seriously, she couldn’t stop laughing, she’s such a weirdo). We had breakfast burritos while we waited to board, and she decided she wanted to try salsa.

DOUBLE DIPPING

She was deliberate in her dipping, but much more so in her tasting:

That is my new favorite video of her of all time (I’m clearly a mean mom since you can hear me encouraging her and laughing).

Annie and Mike both slept for the first hour of the flight:

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After they woke up, it was time to keep Annie occupied. We put on some Yo Gabba Gabba, which distracted her for a bit…then she just started touching the screen with the cookie we’d given her and crumbs were everywhere and I blacked out.

I put my computer on self-portrait mode, but somebody ELSE had fun with that:

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At one point I got up and used the bathroom, and when I came back, the TV screens in the seat backs in front of us looked like this:

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The casing had been pulled off the monitors. I said, “Mike, how did this happen?” and he said, “I don’t know, Annie was touching the screen, and then she pulled on it and it popped off like that.” So I asked, “And the other screen?” He replied, “I didn’t think she’d do it again!!!”

Sigh.

There was a little boy in the row behind us strapped into a car seat. Annabel was OBSESSED with him. She probably would have stared at him the entire flight if I’d let her (and I let her stare at him a LOT). She just didn’t seem to grasp why he was in a seat. She would lean between the seats, point at him and say, “Up?” He would stare back at her with big eyes like, “GET! ME! OUT OF HERE!” Annie would then look at us like, “poor schmuck, stuck in a car seat.”

Joke’s on Annie, though, because next time we fly she’ll be in a car seat for sure.

I have to say that Annie did really well on the plane. She wanted to get down and walk/crawl a lot, but she seemed to grasp that “not now” meant no. The only time she cried was when Mike took her to the bathroom for a diaper change and he CLOSED THE DOOR ON HER HAND. I don’t know who I felt worse for: Annie, with her big crocodile tears: or Mike, who had hurt his daughter in front of the entire plane, and then had to walk back up the aisle with a crying baby.

Oh and that book Mike brought? Still in his carry-on bag.