I'll recap the vacation in the next few posts, but figured I better share how the actual traveling part went while the details--both the good and the very, very bad--are fresh in my mind.
1. Snacks.
The Innobaby snack containers were (and are!) in a word, awesome. I used them for church this last Sunday, and I anticipate us using them a lot in the future. The fact that I bought these so long ago and never bothered to use them until now really bums me out--they seriously rock. The cups hold the perfect portion size, plus it gives Boston options for a snack. The cold snacks stayed nice and cool in the bottle cooler with ice pack. Star rating: 5
2. Toys.
Obviously, Boston needed things to occupy him on the plane. Packing his backpack with his stuff worked really well, mostly because it kept all his crap centralized and out of my bag.
I don't really think the wrapped toys were a big deal to him. Rather, I don't think wrapping the toys made a difference. He was really excited to have new stuff to play with, so that part was definitely good for keeping his attention, but the actual wrapping paper part I probably won't do again until he is a little older. I think he is still a little young to grasp the concept of gifts, so the wrapping paper really only added extra garbage I had to throw away.
The ABC cards were fine too--nothing spectacular, but they kept his attention for a bit. He liked looking at the different pictures and naming things he knew, but I wouldn't say they were groundbreaking. I'm not too worried about his lack of enthusiasm for them. I plan on pulling them out pretty frequently to help him start learning letters, so they're more of a long-term activity to me.
The tablet was a life saver. He played lots of games and watched plenty of movies. It also ended up being our saving grace to be able to turn on a movie when he was having trouble settling down and going to sleep in a new place.
Star ratings--
Wrapped toys: 3 1/2
ABC Book: 3
Tablet: 5
3. Carseats.
Checking the carseats worked well, something I would definitely do again. Lugging Boston's huge seat through the airport and on and off the plane would have been hell. Maia is still small enough that holding her the entire flight is no big deal. We double bagged both seats in heavy-duty garbage bags to keep them from getting too dirty, but Southwest ended up having huge bags available as well. I've read horror stories of carseats coming back broken and filthy, but ours were fine. The bags were a little torn up (as expected) but thats what they were there for. Star Rating: 4 1/2
4. Mei Tai/sleepy wrap.
Surprisingly I didn't use the wrap as much in the airport as I anticipated. I knew I couldn't keep her tied to me through security and as we boarded the plane, but I planned on wearing her the rest of the time. Once we got through security and had to repack bags, put our shoes back on, etc I didn't see a point of tying Maia back on me for a 5-minute walk to our gate. I just held her as we walked, which worked fine. Same thing when we got off the plane. I will admit probably the biggest reason I ended up not using it as much was because we had so many people with us. Between Jason, my dad and my siblings, I had plenty of help in carrying bags and babies. I imagine if I were to ever travel with both kids alone I would utilize the wraps much much more. (I did use the wrap plenty during the actual vacation. Anytime we went shopping, sightseeing, etc she was tied to me.)
Star Rating: 2
5. CARES system
Overall, I think this was a pretty cool thing. It was easy to use, quick to take on and off at the beginning/end of the flights, and one of the pilots actually made a comment about how great he thinks they are. I also I think the design of it helped Boston feel more like he was in a carseat.
My original thought was that it would help prevent him from taking his seatbelt off. It did for almost the entire flight out there--he figured out how to unbuckle it close to the end of the flight. The flight home was kind of a different story. He remembered how to take it off, so if we didn't keep him occupied he would try to escape. Keeping a blanket over his lap also helped keep it 'out of sight, out of mind.'
Star Rating: 4, because it cost me less than $15 to try out. I'm not sold on it enough yet to pay full price, but it was worth renting.
6. Extra Clothes
You guys, if there is anything to take away from this post......this. is. it. Packing a change of clothes ended up being the best decision I made the entire trip. We used Maia's spare outfit the day after we got there when she had a blow-out of such proportions, it was squeezing through er armpits and oozing into her hair. I'm going to save the story of Boston's outfit change for its own post, as it is something that will likely require a few more therapy sessions before I can write freely about it. Packing the extra clothing was so simple and took up only a little space, and I will never travel without doing it. If you don't end up needing it, no sweat. If you do, you will thank the heavens above you have it.
Star Rating: 10,000
7. Clothing style
I don't know if this actually needs a recap, as it is mostly my own warped rantings. Is it a coincidence that Boston was dressed very well for the plane ride out and his good behavior quite exceeded my expectations.....yet when I just let him wear whatever on the flight home we were all enveloped into the Seventh Circle of Hell? Maybe. Maybe not. The story for the flight home is where his change of clothing comes in, so once I work through all my Feelings and stop getting the shakes just thinking about it I will share with you.
And there is the recap. I have been trying to think if I could come up with a list of things I wish I had done, or would do differently, but I can honestly say that 90% of the traveling went as well as I could have hoped. I fully acknowledge that we were lucky to have so much family with us as it made things infinitely easier. Anyone who has traveled alone with small children has a special place in heaven set aside for them. And it comes with all the Diet Coke you can drink, and a free babysitter.
2. Toys.
Obviously, Boston needed things to occupy him on the plane. Packing his backpack with his stuff worked really well, mostly because it kept all his crap centralized and out of my bag.
I don't really think the wrapped toys were a big deal to him. Rather, I don't think wrapping the toys made a difference. He was really excited to have new stuff to play with, so that part was definitely good for keeping his attention, but the actual wrapping paper part I probably won't do again until he is a little older. I think he is still a little young to grasp the concept of gifts, so the wrapping paper really only added extra garbage I had to throw away.
The ABC cards were fine too--nothing spectacular, but they kept his attention for a bit. He liked looking at the different pictures and naming things he knew, but I wouldn't say they were groundbreaking. I'm not too worried about his lack of enthusiasm for them. I plan on pulling them out pretty frequently to help him start learning letters, so they're more of a long-term activity to me.
The tablet was a life saver. He played lots of games and watched plenty of movies. It also ended up being our saving grace to be able to turn on a movie when he was having trouble settling down and going to sleep in a new place.
Star ratings--
Wrapped toys: 3 1/2
ABC Book: 3
Tablet: 5
3. Carseats.
Checking the carseats worked well, something I would definitely do again. Lugging Boston's huge seat through the airport and on and off the plane would have been hell. Maia is still small enough that holding her the entire flight is no big deal. We double bagged both seats in heavy-duty garbage bags to keep them from getting too dirty, but Southwest ended up having huge bags available as well. I've read horror stories of carseats coming back broken and filthy, but ours were fine. The bags were a little torn up (as expected) but thats what they were there for. Star Rating: 4 1/2
4. Mei Tai/sleepy wrap.
Surprisingly I didn't use the wrap as much in the airport as I anticipated. I knew I couldn't keep her tied to me through security and as we boarded the plane, but I planned on wearing her the rest of the time. Once we got through security and had to repack bags, put our shoes back on, etc I didn't see a point of tying Maia back on me for a 5-minute walk to our gate. I just held her as we walked, which worked fine. Same thing when we got off the plane. I will admit probably the biggest reason I ended up not using it as much was because we had so many people with us. Between Jason, my dad and my siblings, I had plenty of help in carrying bags and babies. I imagine if I were to ever travel with both kids alone I would utilize the wraps much much more. (I did use the wrap plenty during the actual vacation. Anytime we went shopping, sightseeing, etc she was tied to me.)
Star Rating: 2
5. CARES system
Overall, I think this was a pretty cool thing. It was easy to use, quick to take on and off at the beginning/end of the flights, and one of the pilots actually made a comment about how great he thinks they are. I also I think the design of it helped Boston feel more like he was in a carseat.
My original thought was that it would help prevent him from taking his seatbelt off. It did for almost the entire flight out there--he figured out how to unbuckle it close to the end of the flight. The flight home was kind of a different story. He remembered how to take it off, so if we didn't keep him occupied he would try to escape. Keeping a blanket over his lap also helped keep it 'out of sight, out of mind.'
Star Rating: 4, because it cost me less than $15 to try out. I'm not sold on it enough yet to pay full price, but it was worth renting.
6. Extra Clothes
You guys, if there is anything to take away from this post......this. is. it. Packing a change of clothes ended up being the best decision I made the entire trip. We used Maia's spare outfit the day after we got there when she had a blow-out of such proportions, it was squeezing through er armpits and oozing into her hair. I'm going to save the story of Boston's outfit change for its own post, as it is something that will likely require a few more therapy sessions before I can write freely about it. Packing the extra clothing was so simple and took up only a little space, and I will never travel without doing it. If you don't end up needing it, no sweat. If you do, you will thank the heavens above you have it.
Star Rating: 10,000
7. Clothing style
I don't know if this actually needs a recap, as it is mostly my own warped rantings. Is it a coincidence that Boston was dressed very well for the plane ride out and his good behavior quite exceeded my expectations.....yet when I just let him wear whatever on the flight home we were all enveloped into the Seventh Circle of Hell? Maybe. Maybe not. The story for the flight home is where his change of clothing comes in, so once I work through all my Feelings and stop getting the shakes just thinking about it I will share with you.
And there is the recap. I have been trying to think if I could come up with a list of things I wish I had done, or would do differently, but I can honestly say that 90% of the traveling went as well as I could have hoped. I fully acknowledge that we were lucky to have so much family with us as it made things infinitely easier. Anyone who has traveled alone with small children has a special place in heaven set aside for them. And it comes with all the Diet Coke you can drink, and a free babysitter.
2 comments:
Glad you made it. Tips dually noted. I also had new toys for Harper to play with...genius!
Ok.... I gotta know about B's incident!
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