Frequent Flyer

Tony and I have taken a couple trips to Kansas City to see the Pledger Family. Tony has become quite the expert traveler, and we have our routine down pat. He has his backpack filled with books, a tablet, headphones, miniature trains, his blanket, snacks, a diaper, and wipes. Tony walks himself through security, and does fine until he sees that they are taking his stroller. He keeps a watchful eye on it until it's returned. Usually, the TSA agents give him a badge sticker, and in the rare occasion that they don't, he politely reminds them of their oversight.  Waiting for the flight can be tense, mainly because Tony is so excited that he doesn't want to wait for his turn to board. We go through multiple rounds of an Abbott & Costello routine: "Mommy, my turn?" "No, not yet." 15 seconds later: "Mommy, Tony's turn?" "Nope, just a couple more minutes, bud." 15 more seconds: "Tony's turn!" "Not quite yet." And on and on... until it's our turn. At that point Tony announces to everyone, "It's my turn!!" Then I try to hold his hand, which is met with, "I want to do it by myself." O.K. Once we got on the plane this time, the flight attendant asked me, "Has he flown before?" To which Tony responded, "I like pretzels and apple juice." She look back to me and said, "I guess he has." The flight generally goes smoothly, sometimes there's a nap, sometimes not as much. Yep, we have this down to a science.