QANTAS TRAVEL LEGEND. PS, SHE'S A GIRL.

We’re back.

And we survived.

And so did Qantas.

And so did all the passengers around us because Q was a TOTAL TRAVEL LEGEND.

Seriously. I had very low expectations for this trip.

For the eternal optimist, even I was perilously close to being pessimistic.

I had visions of Q yelling the entire time she had to sit in my lap with the seatbelt on because she doesn’t like to sit still ever and most definitely doesn’t like to sit still when someone else tells her to.

She’s a punk.

I know I’ll admire that individuality and spirit when she’s 30, but not when stuck in a floating tin can with no escape from the few hundred strangers who look at you with undisguised anguish the second you enter your seat.

Instead, she sat quietly and read the distraction book I made her, then the second the seatbelt light went off, she was down, bear crawling up and down the aisles, hooning about the galley and introducing herself to the rest of the plane.

The only drawback being that her mother had to engage in banal conversations with complete strangers:

‘No, she’s a girl. I thought the pink striped pants might give it away.’

‘Yes, she is an active thing.’

‘You’re right, it is a unique crawling style, but I’m sure she’ll manage to walk when she’s ready. Thank you for showing your concern though, despite a complete lack of knowledge on the subject.'

for eleven out of fourteen hours.

That’s right, she only slept for 3.

But she didn’t yell, so while I was so tired it physically hurt to keep my eyelids open, inside I was cheering because my child had exceeded expectations I hadn’t even dared to imagine.

Travelling with a small, mobile human is not an activity I’d recommend for your health or sanity, but miraculously I managed to keep the slim grip on both that I already had.

New York adventures to follow, right now my insatiable appetite needs to be addressed. Again. 

Q tends to go for the familiar when we travel and that would be the two boobs she’s had a love affair with since the second she turned up.

I AM STARVING. I have to go. There is not enough food in the house.

Qs' crawl. Knees don't touch the ground.  Life in the fast lane, just the way she likes it.