Day 1 has come to an end and I have to say it went way better than expected. My four year old, who was the one we worried about was pretty much perfect. DVD players are a lifesaver for long car rides. And Leapsters. And snacks. We barely heard a word out of him.

We got on the road at about 9 a.m. The first 45 minutes were flawless. The baby fell asleep right away, Jax watched a movie. About an hour and a half into the drive, Jax asked for the first time, “are we almost at our hotel?” My husband and I just looked at each other and figured that would be the first of too many to count times that we would hear that question today. Amazingly, we never heard it again. He was just too busy and content to care.

We drove through the entire state of Florida and most of Georgia. We got to our hotel in Savannah at about 5:30 pm making it an extremely long day. I’m too tired to give any more details, but nothing too exciting happened to us anyway. Off to bed now. Stay tuned……. I will try to write about our adventures daily.

We’ve decided to do some practice runs in hopes that our child will be okay when we go places and not just be cranky and cry because his crib is nowhere in sight. So far so good. He actually ate at two restaurants today.

We had a playdate with my friend and her baby and then went to lunch. Tonight, my husband and I took the kids out for pizza. Both times he did pretty good, but I do now have a few comments and suggestions about going out to eat with a baby.

Do:

• Bring your baby to a restaurant hungry
• Bring snacks in your diaper bag or purse for distraction purposes
• Have a toy or several toys to keep baby busy (forks, knives and plates on the table don’t count!)
• Clean up your mess (you know the one that is all over the floor) at least just a little bit
• Bring a bib (with pocket –crucial)

Don’t:

• Bring your baby fully-fed to a restaurant because what will he do while everyone else is eating?
• Bring baby to a quiet restaurant. The noisier the better.
• Discuss your baby’s toilet habits at the table if other people are in earshot. I was just reminded by my husband tonight how gross that is. Oops!

Any tips you care to share? We will definitely need them!

Taking a 6 month old to Disney is not the easiest. They can’t really go on many rides and it’s quite noisy (like lots of loud, sudden noises) so it makes napping kinda hard. Luckily we had 3 other adults with us (my parents and brother) so we were able to take turns going on rides and watching Jett. He was a trooper and really enjoyed all of the new sounds and sights. He was very busy looking around at everything. It just got hard when he was tired and wanted to go to sleep. The first two nights he was cranky as can be, but finally got used to it. He was the most excited, though, to get home! He recognized his toys and his crib. He went right back to his normal schedule and has slept better the past two nights since we’ve been home than he has in a while.

As we all know, having kids means giving up some of the freedoms we previously had. We can’t just pick up and go anywhere at any time with only the clothes on our back. We have to plan around our children and worry about bringing their essentials and baby gear. This doesn’t mean, however, that we have to give up traveling, whether it be to the store, the park or a real vacation.

Having a young child doesn’t mean being stranded at home. This rings particularly true for today’s generation of parents, as there’s plenty of help to increase freedom of movement and keep people mobile. A great stroller, such as the Bugaboo, with it’s integrated functionality, streamlined design and personality, makes moving around easier and enables us to have fun as a family!

These strollers are lifesavers on travels that require a lot of walking, hiking and running around. They protect kids from harsh environmental elements and save you the worry.  You can literally go farther with Bugaboo!

Check out this family who is loving the outdoors:

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Don’t be fooled by the beach in the background. We didn’t lay on the beach and relax all day as one might expect. We had a wedding to go to at the Ritz Carlton in Naples and the brunch the next morning was located at the Beach House there.

But anyway, now that we’ve done this and know that our son is totally fine, I am obsessed with the idea of doing it again, especially before our new little bundle arrives. Next time we’ll go for 2 nights and 3 days and we WILL be relaxing. Me and my big old pregnant belly and my dear husband, of course, will be laying by the beach napping and reading and just enjoying the peace and quiet. That doesn’t come around ever too often anymore.

That’s my baby boy at 11 months old. That was in our hotel room in Tokyo, Japan, while we were enjoying breakfast. There was no high chair and no booster seat and although I could have easily put him on my lap, it was a lot easier (and fun for all of us!) for him to be in his own chair.

Most of the restaurants we went to while there, did not have high chairs. The ones that did, did not have a waist strap. Needless to say, the waist straps they sold separately in department stores were a big hit. We saw them everywhere, being used by everyone with a baby.

That was probably our first purchase in Japan, since we realized right away it was going to be pretty hard to eat out with our son otherwise.

And a great purchase it was. We got a ton of use out of it. Since basically all it is, is a thin fabric belt, it was so easy to carry around in my purse or diaper bag.

We’ve used it quite a bit at home when our son was younger too and pretty much bring it with us everywhere we travel since you never know about high chairs.

It’s not a common item in the US since high chairs are pretty prevalent. The most similar thing I’ve found available in the US is the Sit ‘n Secure strap. Seems a bit more constricting, but I suppose when you are dealing with a smaller baby, that would be better. You can use it on a baby as young as 6 months.

Pretty cool, eh?

So, for those of you that have left your children with someone while you travel, how do you do it? How do you prepare your child? How do you feel being away from them?

Does anyone else always take the kids with them like my husband and I do? Do you miss traveling as a couple?

Day 1: We left our home around noon, which is nap time, in hopes of our son sleeping for half the ride. As soon as we hit the rode, he conked out so we were off to a good start. It took about 3.5 – 4 hours to get there. We arrived at the rental house and let DS (dear son – for those of you unfamiliar with the acronym) run around and explore for a while. My parents arrived shortly after. We got settled in and unpacked a bit, then got back in the car and went out for dinner. We ate at Don Pablo’s, which is a Mexican chain, on International Drive. Our son slept through most of dinner, which gave me a chance to relax and enjoy my larger than life margarita. We then headed over to Disney Marketplace to walk around. DS enjoyed his first ice cream cone, shared with his grandpa!

Day 2: Epcot here we come! We first went on the big golf ball looking ride (what is the name of that?!) which is there when you walk through the gates. Then we went on the Energy ride where DS fell asleep. If he could sleep through that, he could sleep through anything. It was so loud!! After that, my husband and I took turns going on the Test Track ride since our son can’t go on it. That is my favorite ride! When he woke up, we had lunch – one of those nasty looking turkey legs. They look gross, but they taste REALLY good. We then went to The Land for a cookie and waited for my parents and brother to meet us. We took DS on the boat ride, then over to The Sea to go on the new Nemo ride. My son was in heaven!!! He did not want to leave, so my parents took him on it again while my husband and I went on the new ride Soarin’. That was awesome!!! It was already about 5:00 p.m and we had reservations at Italy for dinner. It was BAD!!! Eating off site is so much better. So after dinner, we went to a couple of the countries – China, watched the movie…and Norway – went on the ride. My dad and I went back to Test Track and then checked out the new ride Mission: Space while my husband, mom and brother took DS back on the golf ball. We saw some fireworks and left with a bang!

Day 3: Magic Kingdom. Grandma and Grandpa took DS to the Country Bear’s Jamboree while my brother, husband and I went on Thunder Mountain. Our son fell asleep so hubby and I took over and just walked around while he slept. As soon as naptime was over, we went over to Fantasy Land and hopped on It’s a Small World. By far that was our son’s favorite thing of the entire trip. He loved every minute of it and went on it quite a few times that day. Dumbo was also a hit, but waiting in line for that ride SUCKED!!! We stayed until closing and finished off the night with some BBQ at Smokey Bones.

Day 4: We went to Animal Kingdom. If you are going there, you must see the new Nemo Musical. It was fantastic. None of us wanted to see it, but my dad kept pushing it so reluctantly we went and were all very pleasantly surprised. The Mt. Everest Roller Coaster is insane and quoting my dad, he said “that is about as intense of a roller coaster I want to go on”. Personally, I’ve been on way worse, but we are talking about a 60 year old man. But, I digress. AK was great. The jeep ride is very cool – lots of animals were out and DS recognized most of them, which was very exciting to him. The park closes at 5 so we left straight for dinner at a Thai restaurant on I-Drive. It was just OK. I’d say the Tom Ka Gai is better in Thailand, but that’s just me. HA!

Day 5: We had to be out of the rental house by 10, which of course for us is no problem. We went to Golden Corral for the breakfast buffet, which I’ve never been to before. We then said our goodbyes to the rest of the fam and headed out for some outlet shopping before we drove home.

It was a short trip, but lots of fun and we can’t wait to take DS back to Disney World again. I think in another year or so, he will love it even more!

I was intent on baby wearing, but never really got the hang of wearing a sling. We started out with the Baby Bjorn, but my son was huge and grew out of it very quickly. My husband did a lot of research and discovered the Ergo carrier. It seemed like a great solution for all three of us….and it was.

We have used it many times in many different situations. This picture is of my son at 16 months (in Bangkok, Thailand). It was impossible to use a stroller there so the Ergo was a necessity. My husband always wore our son on his back, while I prefer the front position.

I was no longer nursing my son at that point, but when I was, it was super easy to feed him discreetly while walking around or sitting down somewhere.

Now that my son weighs almost 30 lbs, I have not attempted to use the Ergo in a while, but we are going to Disney World in a few weeks and I am considering bringing it just in case he gets tired of the stroller or walking and needs to take a nap on me in the middle of the day.