Air Travel with a Two Year Old

So I've decided, after taking both daytime and overnight flights with Savannah in the past 6 months, that there is no "good" time to fly with a two year old....or at least not our two year old.  This is not to say that Sav is a bad traveller.  She's actually quite good-she didn't cry, talk loudly, get in other people's way, or act in any way that would disturb other travelers.  She was, however, incredibly busy and fidgety...she kept me on my toes.  I had to have a new activity, snack, or iPad app every 5-10 minutes it seemed.  She's not at an age where she will sit still and calmly watch a movie for two hours (though I had delusions of this happening....).  Here's what our cross-country travel looked like yesterday.....

Savannah's doll (whose name is either Marianne or Angel, depending on when you ask Sav) made the journey with us.

Super excited to go on an airplane!

After checking in, we went through security.  Between managing Savannah and the wheelchair, this is normally quite the headache, but the folks at SFO let us go through the staff security check point, which meant we were the only ones there.  We got to take our time, everyone was amazingly friendly, and, best of all, there was a huge window looking out over the runway, so Sav got to watch planes land while we took off shoes/took out laptops/etc/etc/etc.  After all of that, we stopped for a quick bite to eat.

We let Savannah pick out a new Llama Llama book for the trip.

Waiting patiently at the gate, with her travel backpack.  We only use this for trips and she's not allowed to look inside until we're on the plane (this time, her backpack included "I Spy" puzzles, a coloring book, colored pencils, and her iPad, which was loaded with a few new apps).

On board, playing with the in-flight entertainment system.  Whenever possible, we fly Virgin America.  Besides excellent service (seriously, our flight yesterday had some of the nicest flight attendants ever), they also boot up their entertainment system pre-departure and allow you to watch movies/TV shows during take-off.  This might not be a big selling point for most, but the ability to watch "Madagascar 3" makes it much easier to keep a 2 year old seated and buckled up during the very long take-off period.

She shared her seat with her doll.

Baby-sized headphones.

Lunch was great-perfect for a toddler.  Not a full meal, just lots of great food to snack on.  Savannah approved :)

Love the iPad for travel!

Post-lunch set up.  Whenever possible, we try to sit in the bulkhead aisle.

VERY quick nap....maybe 30 minutes?

In DC!

While waiting for Jason, she decided to "swim" all over the airport floor.  

We are all settled in to our hotel in Baltimore.  It's very nice and in a great location: Starbucks and movie theatre attached to the hotel building, Whole Foods is a 2 minute walk, plus there are lots of great restaurants all around us.  The room itself is also one of the better wheelchair accessible rooms we've seen thus far.  

Savannah is spending this first week in Fairfax, VA with her grandparents, which will allow me to go to all of Jason's appointments this week.  He starts at KKI tomorrow afternoon.  We're both excited to see what kind of progress he'll make during this stay.  During his last stay, Jason walked with the braces for the first time.  Who knows what this trip holds in store for us.

Probably lots of updates over the next two weeks-hope you don't get sick of me :)

Lots of love,

Ashley