Blessed

I'm not sure that word does justice to the 'awesomeness' of Ayden.  He never ceases to amaze me. Today he and I took the long trip home from Nashville....alone. One mom, one ONE year old (today!!), two suitcases, one stroller, one diaper bag, and one purse. 3 hours to Denver, then another 2 to Tucson. A recipe for a LONG DAY.

Both flights were COMPLETELY full. From Nashville we got on and sat in our usual window seat on the right side of the plane.  Ayden spent the first 30min in his usual wide eyed, glazed over stare at all the hub-bub outside his window and then watched as the city got smaller and smaller before disappearing behind the clouds. He then promptly took a nap...a hour and a half nap!! (SCORE!!) Mom read over his head, supporting the noggin with one arm, back contorted so not to impede his ability to lie as flat as possible, a arm rest in her lower back and turning the pages with one hand and her teeth ;) All the while thinking....I wouldn't have it any other way. When he finally woke, we dug into our endless supply of snacks and ate a hearty, (well contained!) brunch, just in time to read a few books and make a soft landing through Denver's clear blue skies. There was no screaming, no crying, no kicking, no nasty looks from strangers who are/were clearly better parents.....it was blissful.

But really that was not the feat of the day as Ayden and I have traveled quite a bit alone and he has ALWAYS been a gem.  Despite this history, I am always wondering if this will be the flight we lose our undefeated season on.

The second flight set the perfect stage for the big upset.  Due to some distractions, I almost made us miss the flight. This resulted in us taking the walk of shame down the isle 15min after the rest of the passengers boarded, found room to shove their bags in the overhead and fasten their seat belts. To make matters worse, and as proclaimed earlier, the flight was packed. Thus, Ayden and I got the last middle seat to be had.....right smack in the middle of two HUGE men. You know the type where the arms rests don't go down all the way?? Yea, TWO of them.

So there we were. Squished. Hot from running to the plane. And two daunting hours ahead of us. What is a mother to do??? Internally I panicked. Externally I was calm and collected as Ayden proceeded to toss the magazines out of the back of the chair and climb over the man to get to HIS window. Thankfully this lasted only a few minutes. Ayden soon found his zen. He began to stick to our confined space with his play, he took a bottle, played some more and then my prayers were answered as I was able to lull him to sleep, and it was the dreaded second nap to boot. While I lay slumped in my chair so he can lay flat, no book in hand because there is absolutely no contortion in the world that would have allowed me to reach it, I had an hour to ponder how blessed I was. Who was the kid that so peacefully slept upon my chest? How did I get so lucky to deserve such an amazing kid as my son? How did he know that I needed him to be strong today?


Wouldn't you know it, he slept until the wheels touched down in Tucson.

We were finally home.

And what I already knew was once again confirmed.....Ayden is a blessing.