Walking, walking, walking

Last Friday I flew down to Copenhagen with Zoe. It was one of the easiest flights ever with her, she was a darling despite being slightly ill, coughing and sneezing. I don't travel with a stroller, have never done and will never do. I have a used one in Copenhagen for getting around there and I take her in the Beco on the way to and from the airport for the stretches where she can't walk herself. The great thing is she is increasingly able to walk more and more by herself. She walked onto the airplane herself and was very patient as we stood in line on the air bridge for close to 15 minutes, having her head bumped by inconsiderate business men with their big laptop bags. She cried for 20 seconds as we got seated at our window seat and fell asleep right after take off, sleeping until we landed an hour later. She walked off the airplane herself too and as if my magic, an airport provided stroller appeared (yes, this is one of the reasons I love Copenhagen airport) right outside our gate. She put her little bag underneath the stroller like her mother does, except this version didn't have a basket so I had to save it from being run over before we took off. When we had to leave the stroller before the arrival gate she turned around and waved goodbye to it, as it was her dearest toy in the world. She walked, holding my hand, past all the baggage belts until we reached number 6, much to the amazement by other people who probably rarely saw such little children walking by themselves. At the carrousel we stopped and Zoe looked excitedly for the big green suitcase she had seen her clothes disappear into back at home in Stockholm. When I got it, carrying her in my arms was out of the question, and I managed to lure her into walking the very last stretch through the customs by telling her grandma was waiting at the other door. She was and Zoe ran up to her, with open arms, giving my mom the biggest hug. My mother's eyes welled up. Nothing better than a toddler that recognizes you with love.