Travelling

We started our day at 5am on Monday. All went very smoothly, and Elliott slept the whole way in the taxi to the airport. He woke up for a quick feed at Starbucks (I'm pretty sure he knows what Starbucks smells like!) and then we went through customs to the waiting area. Customs was a little irritating, as everyone knows. I was asked to take Elliott out of the carseat even though he was napping. Evil glares at the customs officer made no difference to the situation!

Once we got to our gate, we discovered that our flight had been delayed an hour. Never mind, I thought, this is Air Canada. There were sure to be delays. Soon after that, we were told the flight would be delayed another three hours. Screw you Air Canada, I thought. Don't you know I'm travelling with a baby?!

The wait passed somewhat uneventfully, aside from the fact that both mummy and baby needed multiple changes of clothing. Then it was time to board! Grant stood in awe as I politely pushed past all the people who thought that "Those boarding with small children" meant they didn't need a child in arms to start lining up! When we got on the plane there was more polite persuading as I managed to ask several people to move seats so that I could have access to a bassinet for Elliott. Considering we had discount tickets I was way overstepping my mark, but I dreaded the thought of not having a place to put the baby down for 13 hours so I wanted my bassinet, dammit!

The bassinet was interesting. Here's a photo of the width of it:



And of Elliott sleeping in it:



Elliott slept for most of the flight. He seemed to have a sixth sense about when the meal cart was coming, and conveniently fell asleep in the bassinet just before our food arrived every time. He's such a kind baby! I had time to finish a two hour movie during the 13 hour flight, and it was such a refreshing feeling to have seen one of the latest Hollywood movies! Elliott watched a bit of TV at one point too. It wasn't his favourite TV show Jeopardy, but apparently it was still fun!



Then we were in Tokyo! I needed to change and feed Elliott before we left the airport to drive to the Reversible Destiny Lofts, so I went in search of a place to do that. I found a family-sized bathroom in the ladies toilets, and wonder of wonders there was an adult-sized bed as the change table! According to the wonderful friend who came to pick us up from the airport that is not the norm, but I was so glad of a comfortable spot to nurse Elliott after such a long flight. Even if it was in a toilet!



Elliott slept the whole car ride to the Reversible Destiny Lofts, and also gave us a chance to rest most of the night before popping awake right at his usual Jeopardy time!