Traveling with a baby: Part I

I used to be one of those people at the airport who shuttered when I saw kids waiting to board a plane. I wasn't sympathetic at all...in fact, I probably uttered some snide remarks loud enough for the parents to hear me. Wow...if I knew then...
In my last blog I mentioned that my grandma was really sick and that my mom (G's caretaker) was going to go to NY asap to help take care of her. Well in a sudden turn of events, we got a phone call the next Monday saying we needed to get up there pronto. Yes, we as in mom, G, and me. They weren't sure if we would even make it in time.
So, plane tickets were booked, bags were packed, and within 12 hours we were headed to the airport.
YIKES
Am I the only one who feels the need to pack everything and the kitchen sink when I take G out of the house? Now that I'm a mom I go by the Boy Scouts' motto: Be prepared...for everything. That's not easy when the airline industry decides that they need to charge per checked bag.
I managed to fit 5 days of clothes for G and me, baby food, diapers, bibs, and burp clothes in one suitcase ($25). For carry ons I had his diaper bag and a toy bag. Plus we toted his travel system and pack-and-play (which thankfully United didn't charge us for).
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6am. We left the house at 4:30. G was peacefully asleep. We managed to get checked in and to security by 5:30. This is where it got fun.
I want to reiterate that G was peacefully asleep. In his carrier which was in the stroller. I was the next in line to put my stuff on the xray belt and the old man says "You have to take him out of the seat and put the stroller and carrier on the belt". WTF? I hate to pull the old do I look like a terrorist card, but geez. I'm all for safety, but isn't there a better way? Doesn't everyone know NOT TO WAKE A SLEEPING BABY? I think I would be a much better sport about this whole thing if I'd known ahead of time. There are tons of reminders about the 3-1-1 rule (3 oz. of liquid per container and they must fit in a 1 quart ziploc bag)...but nothing about taking your baby out of the seat. And to top it all off, I had a 4 oz. tube of Baby Aveeno sunscreen that I forgot to take out of the diaper bag and I was okay with having to throw it out...but they let me keep it! So apparently I could smuggle something destructive in my baby stroller, but not in a tube.
So anyways, I removed G from the seat and of course he woke up. Then I had to get all my crap resituated. We made it to the gate at 5:55. When I stepped through the plane entrance I saw that we were on the tiniest plane ever. 4 seats per row divided by an aisle and I could definitely see the back row. If someone crapped in the bathroom the whole plane would smell it...and if G had a meltdown the whole plane would hear it! As I struggled with my 20 baby in the car seat I looked at my fellow passengers, smiled, and said "I think I might be the person everyone hates on this flight."
Of course they say your kids will make a liar out of you and thank God G did. He was so good! Of course in DC we didn't even get a gate...I had to carry him down the stairs onto the tarmac and then back up the stairs for our next flight (on another tiny plane and he was fabulous for that flight too!)
It wasn't horrible, but I don't want to fly with him again any time soon. Stay tuned for more of this story...we took a different form of transportation home!