Flying Solo with Asher: I Survived!

The Photos:
Asher playing in the emergency exit area.
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Sleeping in the bassinet. He barely fit! He was longer than the bassinet but he sleeps with his knees bent anyway (and he was under the weight limit). But he kept trying to turn over and woke himself up!
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The goody bag Emirates gave Asher. It had a spoon and bib, a toy, baby wipes and baby lotion, nappy disposal bags, and a change table cover. They also had nappies, baby food, and...
Puppets! They are "Querks" dressed up as various animals from the counties they visit. So far we have a parrot and a cow.


And the story:

So, I flew with Asher from Perth to Dubai (10 hours), had a 14 hour layover, and then a 16 hour flight from Dubai to Dallas. With Asher, by myself. But we survived.

I ended up packing too much- I do that every time! The majority of my carryon(s) was nappies/diapers, and toys. We each had a spare change of clothes and then a few extra sets for Asher. Along with snacks, wipes, etc.

The first flight seemed to last forever. Asher napped, then played, and then napped, and so on. He was definitely the happiest baby on the plane, and the flight attendants loved him. They let us play in the emergency exit area, and also in the galley in back (when they weren't preparing food).

Dubai airport was huge- but my luggage was checked through to Dallas so I only had my carryons, which was great. A shuttle bus took me to the hotel, we had lunch, showers, and sleep before an 11pm wake up for the 11:30pm shuttle and 2am flight.

By then Asher was rather sleep deprived (me, too) and decided to spend the time before we boarded the plane screaming and fussing. When we got in the plane we had a few seat changes to secure a bassinet for him, and after the take-off he had a nappy change. He found a little piece of paper and when we got back to the seat he got it in his mouth and gagged on it, and vomited all over himself, myself, and the lady next to us. I was scared (I thought he was choking), and then mortified about him spewing on the lady next to us, but the she was a good sport. She brought herself a change of clothes (I hadn't fit an extra one in for myself, I put changes for Asher in instead) and she happily interacted with Asher throughout the flight.

After all that, the remainder of the flight was rather uneventful. He was happy most of the time. He slept, he played, he charmed the stewardesses. We watched a few episodes of Baby Jake, and played with the baby next to use. However, he did NOT eat any solid food (despite my best efforts), and he only napped. So by the end of the flight there was a lot more tired screaming, mainly from him. (Haha, really, it was just from him, I was doing all the tired sighs as I didn't sleep any of the 16 hour flight, because his naps coincided with the meals.)

We were met at the airport by a man holding my name up on a piece of paper (that's never happened to me before, I was tempted to take a photo) and the shuttle bus to Waco was uneventful. Meredith met me there, we had lunch, and came home, and slept. A lot!

I think the flight over will be much easier, as he will be well rested for the 16 hour flight, and then have a sleep before the 10 hour one.

Play- lids and an ice cream container

I got this idea from my sister-in-law, Linda. I had an ice cream with a hinged lid and cut a hole in the top, and gave Asher some large lids to put in the hole. I had to cut the corners off of the ice cream container so he could open and shut it himself. He played with it for quite a while, and even found other toys to try to put in the hole.

Bottom Scooting

Baby Mischief

Recipe- Weetbix and Date Slice

Weetbix and Date Slice

Ingredients

90g butter, at room temperature
4 Weet-Bix, crushed
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup caster sugar (I used 1/4 cup of raw sugar)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 cup boiling water
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup self-raising flour
1 / 2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Icing sugar, for dusting

Method

1. Grease an 18cm x 28cm rectangular slice pan. Line base and two long sides with baking paper.

2. Cut butter into small cubes. Place in a large bowl with Weet-Bix, dates, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and water. Mix ingredients until thoroughly combined. Allow to cool.

3. Stir in egg, flour and walnuts. Mix well. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Smooth top with a knife.

4. Cook in a moderate oven (180C) for about 30 minutes, or until cooked when tested. Cool slice in pan.

5. Lift slice out of pan. Cut into rectangles. Serve dusted with sifted icing sugar.

My Notes: I doubled the recipe and quartered or eightthed (?) the sugar. So on one quantity I put in one-eighth of a cup of sugar, and on a double batch I use one-fourth.

Dizzy Wizzies

Spaghetti!

A week in Photos

Not in any particular order...

How to confuse babies: Gelli Baff.

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A very yummy cupcake at Kane's first birthday party. After smearing it on his face, Asher fed the rest of the cupcake to the dog. (Actually, he only had a part of a cupcake to begin with, a piece of mine. We're kind of strict with the sweet stuff.)

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Messy Play, idea courtesy of Childhood 101.

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A little python Dave found in the driveway. Not the one he stepped on, though!

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Asher fell asleep with a torch (flashlight)! Cute! He loves his torch.

Spoon Feeding Himself

1 Year Old- a late post

I can't believe Asher is one year old! He's only just had his birthday party so this post is a few weeks later than his actual birthday. But the time has flown by. I think we've all learned a lot this year, and I think I've mellowed quite a bit as I realized I can't fix everything and I can't make him fit into the "should be" mold. He does things in his own time, and in his own way!

At one year old Asher...

• says "bir" (bird), "bah" (ball), ma-ma, da-da, ssda (what's that), shii (which seems to be 'what's that' as well), "nien" (no), dah (dog), and cah (cat)
  
• isn't walking, but enjoys scooting around on his bottom
• feeds himself with a spoon, somewhat successfully
• mainly breastfeeds still, and eats some solids
• loves wheels and things with wheels
• has a sense of humor and loves surprising people
• continues to astound us with what he learns, does, and remembers
• loves swimming and going under water at the pool
  
• has flown on an airplane twelve times
• has dual citizenship with the US and Australia
• likes to play chasey and sometimes remembers to 'run away'
• is a bit harder to trick when hiding things we don't want him to have
• thinks his own sneezes are hilarious but is uncertain of others' sneezes
  
• isn't sleeping through the night, but this ties in with the whole eating solids thing
• enjoys dancing to music with Mom and Dad
• he likes being outside. Whenever he had a big sad moment we'd take him outside to help him calm down. Soon he'd cry out whenever he bumped himself and then point hopefully at the door.
• stays about half the night in his own room and the rest of the night in our room... and we like it that way. I don't think any of us are ready for him to be in his room full-time!
• Has 8 teeth, with some molars on the way
• Loves to chat

We are very blessed to have such a mellow, happy baby! Looking forward to what this new year brings!

Emus on our front porch

Asher's First Birthday Party at the Pool

Asher is one! Finally!

Okay, he's been one for a while, but his birthday has been delayed. We arrived back from Perth on his birthday (we flew down to get his American passport, again). So it wasn't a good day for a party.

We decided to have it the following Friday, the 27th of January, but cyclone Iggy changed our plans. So this Friday was it!

We had an extra week to prepare, and no real clue how many people would turn up. So we did a LOT of baking! Asher fell asleep less than half an hour before his party so we were late to the party so he could have a nap! (Baby needs sleep!)

The pool, and Asher on a mat in the pool.

We didn't have much time to set up- friends helped us throw everything on the tables! It was a pool party theme, with a clam shell to hold drinks and lots of blues and greens and yellows. There was a banner behind the table that had a photo from each month on every letter of "Happy Birthday."

Everyone gathered around and had a good chat- when they weren't in the pool!

Asher wasn't too sure about the cupcake. We forgot matches, so we pretended to blow it out. He hasn't eaten sweets before, really. And he doesn't eat much to begin with. We weren't sure what he would do with it!

He tried eating the bottom, but eventually worked out which way was up.

He licked all the frosting off and threw the cupcake on the ground. In the second photo he's explaining the whole cupcake thing to his friend, Ella.

Then he tried to get MY cupcake.

And the babies and kids played.

It was a great afternoon! Asher spent about an hour in the pool with Dave, he loves the water! The other church was having a gathering after ours, so we left them some food (less to clean up, yay!)

I think we will open gifts over the next few days. Asher is very blessed to live in a community where he has so many wonderful friends!