Given all my travel recently, I was worried about my ability to prepare for Olivia's first flight + being the flower girl, but thanks to some horrible jet-lag, I was able to prepare lists and notes to my heart's content and left the house feeling a little nervous but well-prepared!
And, per usual, all my worrying was for not. She. Did. Great. Never cried, sat in her seat the whole time, and no ear/stomach issues. Pretty much a dream trip. I'm guessing all our travel won't be as smooth, but this definitely calmed our nerves for future trips with Olivia!
We got to the airport pretty early and ate dinner there. Matt and I had some "grown up juice" and said a silent prayer that we would be sitting next to patient passengers.
A few stories for the memory book: While we were sitting waiting for our flight, a little girl kept staring at Olivia. She finally came over and said "Do you want to be my friend?" Olivia immediately responded with an enthusiastic "YES!" and then the 2 of them engaged in a reciprocal conversation exchanging the most superficial, girly compliments possible -- I like your bow, Your dress is pretty, I like your sparkly shoes...you get the idea. Adorable! They then held hands and walked to the window to look at the airplanes. I followed and heard the following conversation:
Olivia: Who is your mommy?
New friend: says her name and points
Olivia: This is my mommy (points at me).
New friend: How old you?
Olivia: I'm 2 and a half. How old are you?
New friend: I'm 6.
Olivia: Oh. Well I am almost 6.
Then Olivia turned to me and instructed me to go sit back down next to daddy. Apparently having your mommy hang around is a damper. So she sat with her new friend until the plane boarded. When it was time to go, I kid you not, they hugged each other good-bye at least 4 times. Those 15-minute airport friendships are the best! ;)
Olivia did great on the plane. She was pretty excited about it and sat there anxiously asking "are we in the sky yet?" despite the fact that she could clearly see out the window that we were not. When the plane finally took off, she sucked on her lollipop and just sat silently, taking it all in. After she settled in, she was anxious to see the goodie bag I packed for her and opened a few presents and played for a bit. But pretty soon, I saw her eyes growing tired so I pulled out her blankie and book, and snuggled up to sleep.
We woke up the next morning to a gorgeous Nashville day and headed to Centennial Park.
Then we went to meet Uncle Drew and Aunt Jenny for lunch
After a good nap at the hotel, we headed to the Rehearsal Dinner. This sweet dress is one I got for her from London. I just love it. She did great at the dinner- talking to all the family like she was a big girl and showing off for everyone.
With the beautiful bride-to-be
The morning of the wedding, I took Olivia for her first real manicure/pedicure. She thought she was such a big girl and was so happy.
And then she got dressed with the big girls. PS - if you're looking for a way to keep your toddler busy, apparently counting rose petals is very interesting. I swear she sat perfectly still for 15 minutes counting them!
Finally it was show-time! As soon as it started she told me to leave and that she would be okay. So I did -- and she was!
After she walked down the aisle, she sat her bucket down and ran to stand by the bridesmaids. I quickly ran over to sweep up the bucket and her and lured her over to sit with me and Popo/Tutu with some smarties. I was a little nervous, but she sat quietly for the entire ceremony -- furiously waiving at her daddy the entire time.
And, after the ceremony was over, she went back for one more moment while daddy invited the crowd to enjoy some refreshments while the family took pictures.
And then, she stayed up way past her bedtime, eating cake, dancing like a crazy person, and generally being adorable.
We headed back the next day with another easy flight, a happy toddler and 2 very tired parents.
Congratulations Uncle Drew and Aunt Jenny. We love you both so much and can't wait to see you again!
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