Traveling with a Toddler

Well our first far away family vacation is a few weeks away and the preparation has already begun! I have a whole notebook filled with packing lists, information about flying with toddlers and the logistics of our trip. Our guest room looks like a tornado came through with piles of clothes, suitcases, toiletries, shoes, new small toys and vacation supplies everywhere!

I am both so excited and so nervous. We have never been away on a plane with Z before. This vacation requires us to fly and thus we have a 4 1/2 hour flight to prepare for :) I have read a lot about flying with toddlers. They say to have a new toy or book for every hour of flight. I could not afford to go out and buy 8-10 new toys (and I don't really trust the dollar store with all the lead paint issues) so we have borrowed from friends and family, bought a few things and took some books and dvds out from the library.

We borrowed my sisters portable DVD player. This will be key not only on the plane but during our vacation as well. Z loves his George and we might need him now and again while we are away. Last I counted we have about 12 "new" things for the plane I hope they make Z happy :) We have little trucks, an Elmo Dr kit, flashcards, a mini magna-doodle, books about trucks, 2 books with little mirrors in them, a foam puzzle book, a little wooden puzzle, stacking cups, word books and a brand new Baby Pro Ball dvd!!! He hasn't seen the ball movie in over 2 weeks (we had to return it to the library) and so he will be reunited with it on the plane ;)

Z will not have his own seat for this flight (I know what some of you are thinking right now) but there are 3 of us (did I mention my dad is going :)) so we will have our own row. I ordered the Baby B'Air so that he will be strapped to one of us during parts of the flight. We are bringing a car seat (this was a huge debate) and we ordered the car seat travel bag from One Step Ahead. We plan to check it and so we bought a cheap car seat that we will use as an extra when we get home. We also ordered Z a leash :) Another huge debate but so necessary where we are going and this one is cute and looks like a monkey!

Since Z drinks rice milk, we will be bringing a week supply. I am so nervous about bringing a box of it on the plane but they say as long as you declare the amount that you are bringing and that it is for a small child, it should be okay. I hope so!!!! We will be lost without it. We are also bringing a weeks supply of his favorite snacks, some baby food (yes he still eats baby food, I wish he would get past that) and boxes of Chex cereal :)

Once we get to our destination we have adjoining rooms with my dad. This will be so nice when Z has to nap or goes to bed early :) We also have lots of disposable bibs, forks, spoons, his meal time fun mat, dish soap to wash out his sippy cups with, baby medication, bouncy balls, his favorite stuffed friends, suntan lotion and his sun hut (yes we are going somewhere sunny).

We are all so excited we just need to make sure we have everything we need. If you think of something that you think we must bring....please let us know! I know that I will spend the next few weeks obsessing over Z and S's suitcases and I will be the one who leaves things behind ;)