Tuesday Things.
1. OMG! These puffy pancakes? I’m in love.
2. Last year at this time, we were gearing up for our kitchen remodel. I can’t even explain how thrilled I am that something like that is NOT happening right now. We will never ever ever do anything like that again, mark my words. I jokingly wrote about how awful it was last year, but it was baaaaad.
3. I absolutely love this idea of morning pages. Right?
4. So I’ve always loved daylight savings time, especially the last ten-ish years with this job. It means more photography hours for me! But um, yesterday everyone was WIDE AWAKE at 5am for the day so I might be changing my stance on that.
5. TV things! I’m starting to like Homeland a little more this season. This Is Us was SO heartbreakingly good and I’m excited for tonight’s episode. And I pretty much can’t stand every single storyline on Grey’s Anatomy. Oh! Who watched American Idol? I mean, I usually like the auditions so it was okay?
6. True story: as a kid, I was obsessed with the idea of messages in a bottle! And let’s be real… it was probably mostly due to Nicholas Sparks’ book of the same name. My head was always in a book.
7. Give me all of your traveling/flying with multiple kids tips! Also, what do you do for an infant sleep situation in a hotel when you fly somewhere? Do you ask for a crib? Why does this freak me out?
8. Seriously. The Lindt chocolate mini eggs are ruining my life.
27 Comments on “Tuesday Things.”
Yes! Ask for a crib. You can also ask for a mini fridge if you need to store milk. Also if you can swing it, stay in a suite, so kids can sleep in the bedroom while you are up in the other room. Otherwise it’s darkness and quiet for you starting at their bedtime. Okay if you like going to bed at 7:00pm! Lots of bigger cities also have companies that you can rent baby stuff from, strollers, cribs, etc. Baby’s away is one I’ve used before. Good luck!
this is so helpful!!! thank you!
I’ve been reading your blog for years and never commented before. I have two little ones — a daughter, Emilia (yes, Emilia!) who is a little older than Max and an 18 month old son. It’s a wild ride! It’s so fun to see you enjoying it so much too!
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Yes to what Jess said!!
I always ordered stuff from amazon and sent it to the hotel — any snacks, diapers and wipes, disposable kids toys (i would order some inexpensive toys and books so i didnt have to carry them on the plane and my kids would be more into them). Don’t forget bath toys!
Pack a few things for Max for the plane and roll then out one at a tome over the flight. My girls loved playing with wikki stix
Plan for downtime every day while you are there. This sounds dumb, but if you dont plan time to be in the room, the kids will melt down where you want to be.
Be brave the the resturants you go to. If it seems too adult, just go at 5.
Oh, and dont be that person who hands out candy around you when you get on the plane. As a former frequent traveler, i always felt like the person was announcing that her kids were terrible. Babies sometimes cry on planes and most people will be kind.
Take Max on little adventures be himself (like to get coffee in the morning) so you all get one-on-one time.
Your kids are so well socialized, i am sure you will be great!
im going to pass this on to my sister. what good tips especially the sending of diapers, etc to hotel via amazon. what a good idea ! ive also heard people suggest things like packing clothes that kids are almost grown out of or old ones you are ready to part with and then just tossing them (or donating) once you are on vacation to lessen the load once you get back. i also think its nice to leave books/games at your location whether its a hotel or a house rental. many places have a “library” or a game area. i think air travel is best if you can keep your “stuff” to a minimum. And i couldn’t agree more. the candy doesn’t even begin to make up for a crazy wild kid on a flight. as long as you are doing your best i will be tolerant but recently was on an overnight flight with kids running up and down the aisle (no joke – it was a nightmare) who made huge messes all over the place. it was both loud and annoying and looked like a bomb went off in their area when we got to our location.
Yes to asking for a hotel crib! We’ve called and added it to our reservations ahead of time so it was set up for us in the room when we got there. At both a Marriott and a Hilton, the crib was just a pack n’ play (I thought it would be, well, a crib…). And yes to a suite (if you can swing it) so you can close their door when it’s time for them to sleep.
I am with you on the daylight savings time- both the excitement of it, but also, why have my kiddos been up earlier?! It seems like it should be the opposite doesn’t it?
I agree with asking for a crib, and have had mixed success with it being an actual crib or a pack n play. I have always taken new toys on the plane for my toddler and they have been met with mixed reviews, even the ones I thought she was going to love. What are you gonna do?! I do suggest taking some packages of post its. If nothing else, they like sticking those suckers everywhere and they are easy to clean up.
We travel with this Phil and Ted pack n play – it’s lightweight and easier to travel with? I don’t know why hotel cribs gross me out. But according to the comments a lot of people use them!
https://www.amazon.com/phil-teds-Portable-Traveller-Silver/dp/B009VYX8E6
Snacks for Max. Seriously, you cannot have enough. Also pack him a water bottle you can fill up at the airport after going through security and have him take a drink when the pressure changes to help with his ears. You can also nurse Emilia during this time. Pack a change of clothes for everyone including yourself (I always put them into 1-gal ziplock bags so I don’t have to put wet/dirty clothes directly into my bag). Make sure to bring wipes and more diapers than you think you will need.
For entertainment, I suggest an age-appropriate puzzle/coloring book or small notebook & crayons), a small lovey from home, and maybe a small toy or two. I would also recommend preloading a couple of movies/games/shows onto your iPad and bringing a pair of over-the-ear headphones for Max. Oh, and if you have a blanket scarf, you can use it in place of a bulky blanket (and avoid the nasty plane blankets) and just wear it or tie it to your bag.
Also, get a little backpack for Max if you don’t already have one. He can carry some of his stuff like a big kid and you won’t have to lug it around.
Good luck!
We have the baby Bjorn travel crib light and always use it when we travel. So easy to pack and carry and really lightweight compared to pack and plays.
To add to the other travel tips…if you use a hotel crib or pack and play, bring crib sheets from home. This way the smell and feel is familiar and hopefully results in better sleep-for all!
Now on baby #4. . . we don’t travel with anything extra other than blankies, some snacks, and necessary clothes. You can ask for a cot for the kids, or just some extra blankets for the floor. Seriously, you don’t need anything extra (except, say your child’s security object).
For the plane: We do have an ipad with some movies loaded on it. Our kids never get to use any kind of technology except on the plane/long car rides, so watching a movie on the ipad is a pretty huge deal. With toddlers – upward in age, we play I Spy, and a game where we tell one another a story – one person starts, and then the next person takes over and so on. I’ve also taught rhymes, and tell my own stories, with my kids as the protagonists. They adore this. I find it’s interaction that my kids crave on the plane and movement, not so much individual play. If you make it a time where you are 100% focused on them, it may become something special, rather than something to dread. (or it could be a really, really, really long trip – been there, done that too!!!!)
On baby #4 also and I agree with you! Your kids will adapt. Don’t need to bring tons of things. I try to pack light. An iPad and notebook or coloring book for the plane. I’ve never brought toys for using at the hotel or anything.
Renting a crib freaks me out, so we just bought a guava pack and play. Folds up super small into a backpack for travel and it’s apparently pretty comfy because our little guy loves it more than the Nuna pack and play we also have.
Where did you get those mini eggs? Searching and cannot find them!
I used a pop up tent and it was a huge space saver. It’s a travel tent that folds up so nicely into your suitcase. I travelled alot with 3 kids and my little one was about 6 months to 1 1/2 during the time. He slept in it beautifully.
We have already gone through 3 bags of the Lindt mini eggs since I bought them like a week ago at Target! 🙈
I would absolutely look into an AirBnb rental vs a hotel room. My toddler would absolutely not nap or go down early in a hotel room where she could see us! Full size kitchen is also awesome for breakfast and snack time.
I think we have the guava lotus travel crib (how that name still exists in the recesses of my sleep deprived brain is beyond me) and we love it. We forgot to bring it on a road trip and the hotel pack n play was just fine too. I do prefer to have our travel crib just in case the hotel’s crib is from 1964 or something.
For flights, i hit up the dollar section of Target and stocked up on little toys and games and coloring things to be hidden away until the trip. Once Amelia was older and enjoyed cartoons traveling with the ipad made life a lot easier, even on a 6 hour flight. I pack her travel headphones for the ipad and in case the flight has the tv screens in the headrests.
Other than doing our best to keep the kids entertained, fed, and not annoying the general population (as much as we realistically can), we travel fairly light. Diapers take a ton of space but I’m too paranoid not to travel with a bunch extra even though we usually end up buying some when we get to our destination. Beyond that traveling with our kids hasn’t been nearly as bad as I always anticipated but I think it’s helped that they’ve been traveling since birth more or less.
Also, because this isn’t wordy enough, Grey’s is the worst right now. Every story line is kinda gross and annoying to me? Like they’ve probably jumped the shark long ago and I just don’t care about any of the characters anymore. I cannot stand the fact that I don’t understand who is taking care of all of Meredith’s children all the time. Maybe this didn’t bother me before I had my own kids, I don’t know, I have issues now…
Well I have no baby advice because all my babies have four legs BUT I am so behind morning pages. I started doing them around Xmas and they have totally worked for me. She’s right, the good stuff is always in the last paragraph. I have had some big revelations doing morning pages, plus I almost always end in a good mood, ready to go deal with the day.
When we traveled with baby I was always freaked out about cleanliness of hotel cribs. Babies put their mouths on everything! I talked myself off the ledge by packing our own crib sheet to put on top of the hotel sheets. Also, when we got there I baby wiped all the bars down then used a hotel washcloth with water. Overkill? Probably but it made me feel better. I second the comment about AirBnB or VRBO. We had an entire townhouse in DC this fall for less than the price of a hotel room.
Uber has an age restriction even if you use the Uber with carseat function so look into that in advance. Flight wise, we have checked the carseat (double bagged it and packed extra bags for the return home) and then gone without a stroller using baby carrier OR gate checked the stroller and brought the carseat on once baby was over lap child age limit. Both are free.
We also have the Guava Lotus travel crib, it’s so small it can be a carry-on, and it’s come to Paris and Venice with us. Aside from that, be chill about expectations and have fun!
We just traveled with our 5 month old. We asked for a crib in a few of the hotels, and they gave us a pack and play instead. I don’t know about your babe, but ours will not sleep in a pack and play, so we just put him in the king bed with us. We ordered take-out for dinner and ate in the suite part in the dark and mostly quiet. Ha! But, our babe slept and I suppose that’s all that mattered :) Have fun!
6. When I was about 7, the adults planned an elaborate pirate treasure hunt that started with a message in a bottle on the beach. The 10 or so of us cousins believed in this for YEARS. Thought we had really discovered treasure.
7. We had a very, very bad experience getting a crib during a wedding weekend with our 11 month old last year. Make sure they can guarantee the crib (packnplay). The chain hotel that will not be named did not “guarantee” the availability of it. They had 2 for the entire hotel. This mama was NOT pleased. Corporate heard about it. We ended up ordering an inexpensive travel crib at Target in the city we were and then donated on our way out of town (literally dropped it at a church on a Sunday). It was cheaper than checking something at the airport and it was guaranteed.
Also, don’t get on the plane early with Max. You go sit in your seats with Emilia and settle in and have Eddie let Max be up and about at the gate until they make him get on. Trust.
Morning pages are an absolute game changer. I do them in a medium-sized unlined moleskin, so not as big of a page as the author suggests in that post.
I loved American Idol. I said to my co-workers “the commercials for American Idol during the Bachelor were…” and they both said “AWFUL” and I said “AMAZING!” I watched the entire first episode and loved it and cried. The very first contestant was from my hometown and I was SO excited. I think Katy, Lionel, and Luke are such good energy and I like how the energy of this season is much better than in the past.
My husband and I only have 1 kid, we took her to Hawaii a year ago when she was just 14 mo old, we only brought necessities (clothes, booked, diapers toys and stroller of course etc) for the crib, high chair and stuff we researched and found each island had baby rental shops they came in and set up everything before we arrived and did pick up after we left. (We even rented beach toys for basically nothing) not sure where you’re vacationing but a lot of places have baby gear rental. Ask around and just make sure it’s a reputable place! Hope this helps!!