Our recent trip was Zoe’s sixth jaunt out of the state, and our last plane ride marked her 18th one. Although I fret before each ride (Will she be uncomfortable? Will she cry a lot? Will everyone on the plane hate us?), we’ve been pretty lucky with our air travel. We’ve had a few unpleasant moments, of course – but all in all, things have gone smoothly and we’ve picked up lots of good traveling tips.

Someone once told me that friendly flight attendants can make all the difference in the world when traveling with children – and I couldn’t agree more! We’ve had flight attendants give Zoe little toys and free food, and others have let me hog the back of the plane to rock Zoe (even though other passengers weren’t allowed to linger there). And on this last trip, we even had a mini-babysitter of sorts: the flight attendant scooped up Zoe in the middle of the flight and told us, “I’m going to take her up to first-class!” She then marched up to the front the plane and walked a very surprised Zoe up and down the aisle with her. As we were deboarding, a man sitting behind us said he had never seen such a popular baby on a flight! We couldn’t help but smile.

Here’s a pic of Zoe on the flight – and one with her new flight-attendant friend.

-M

We just got back from our trip to Maryland, and Zoe had a great time. During her busy visit she celebrated Rosh Hashanah with the family, played around with Cousins Zavi and Lexi, met new friends at her Sunday brunch, and spent lots of bonding time with Safta, PopPop, GG-ma, Aunt Wendy, and “Grandma” Dorothy. Zoe can’t wait to visit again!

-M

Just hanging out on the plane:

Assisting Safta and PopPop on the computer:

Learning about animals from Cousin Zavi:

Playing with Aunt Wendy:

Kicking around with Dad:

Enjoying an evening on the swing with Dorothy and GG-ma:

Bringing in the New Year with a blow of the shofar:

Learning how it’s done from Cousin Lexi:

Saying good-bye to Safta: