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    Baby’s first skydive

    It’s a little known fact to most of you that S has over 1300 skydives. Yep, “What for you jump out of a perfectly good airplane for?”, skydives (and that’s where the term Whuffo for a non-skydiver comes from). He introduced me to the sport 9 years ago, and although I haven’t made a skydive in over 3 years, I have a little over 200 jumps myself. In addition to our time in the air, S and I each have several hours of indoor wind-tunnel flight time.

    And now that G has reached the ripe ole’ age of 10 months, given the extensive training the high winds in our town have put him through, as well as the “fly training” S and G do at home, we decided it was high time he made his first flight. We fitted G with a tight pair of sunglasses, attempted to fit him with the smallest helmet iFly had onsite and off we went.

    He did awesome!!!

    He sucked up his little face, raised his head and embraced the wind. He opened up his arms wide and just relaxed in S’ arms. Of course, S never let go, and his flight lasted all of a minute, but he was a perfect little flier. We had to pause in the middle to get rid of the helmet since it wasn’t staying on, and he was a sport through the whole thing. Not a cry, not a fuss, not a peep.

    Given that he was denied his morning nap for this adventure I’m really impressed with how well he handled himself. I’m looking forward to going again.

    So… anyone know where I can get a mini-helmet for a 17 1/2″ head?

    S and I did some flying too, which felt awesome. I haven’t gone since I got pregnant with G — for liability purposes you can’t fly while knocked up, and since he was born it’s just been hard to find the time. I think we’re both going to be good and sore this week from the work-out. Another parting gift I got from today was an obscene amount of tangles in my hair. I had tied it in a braid, but forgot to tuck the braid in my helmet, so off the bottom-rubber band went and on came the tangles. I spent over an hour seriously contemplating calling a professional hairstylist while I worked out the knots. Let this be a lesson to you — while out in 140mph wind, tie and keep your hair under wraps.
    I also almost flashed all the other fliers, as the zipper of my suit came undone and my shirt was starting to pick up wind. Sadly, it wouldn’t be the first time 🙁 I’ll spare you this part of the video, though.

    Many thanks to Ben, our instructor, and Matt, our tunnel driver. And our great friend Bradstyle for waking up early to hang out and fly with us this morning. Oh, also, if you live in the California Bay Area: iFly SF Bay in Union City — you gotta go check it out! Keep in mind, though, that G’s flight was a personal exception: the youngest you can be to fly is 3 years of age.

    Anyway, here are some pics. Video’s at the bottom.

    “Alright, I’m ready to go. Are we doing this thing or what?”

    Woo hoo (Part I)

    Woo hoo (Part II)

    “Who you callin’ Goggle-face?”

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttGIlK06oxE]

    9 responses to “Baby’s first skydive”

    1. ariella516 says:

      He did it! OMG A he is going to be jumping out of planes with you guys in no time at all!

    2. Stephanie says:

      OMG! So cute with those little goggles!! Love it!

    3. Oh my gosh! Soooooo cuuuuute! Look at his little hair! Totally made my day!

      I wonder if you can have a helmet made special by the same companies who sell them medically for babies with Plagiocephaly & Brachycephaly? They’d probably be a pretty penny, and I wonder how quick kids grow out of them? But maybe worth a try?

    4. Katie says:

      Very cool! Love the first picture, too

    5. erin says:

      Wow-you’re G is “too cool for school!” HOw many kids can say “Yah, I’ve gone ‘skydiving'” before he’s even reached Kindergarten!

    6. Grammie says:

      Oh my I am getting scared already and the first suggestion of going near an airport I will make a beeline for CA

    7. becoming-mom says:

      Whoa, what a family of daredevils, I love it!

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