Travelling with a toddler.
Super stressful, super fun, and super hilarious!
I mean, we only have our little dude + I am fairly certain it can (and will) get even more crazy and hilarious as we add more munchkins to our circus, but travelling with a toddler is a total adventure.
Hubs, bubs, and I are currently in LA enjoying our escape from the Canadian winter + soaking up all the fun with our bestest friends (they moved down here a few years ago). Aaron + I have never travelled out of the country with George and our little dude had never been on a plane before, so it was all very very very exciting (read: stressful).
It was stressful but I’m not going to tell you it was all doom and gloom because, honestly, it wasn’t.
George was an incredible flyer. Like, incredible. He was pretty much happy the whole time and other than wanting to be able to move more during take off and landing, he was thrilled to be sitting with his mama and daddy on a plane with snacks and the iPad.
Yep, snacks are a lifesaver. Unless of course you decide to give your toddler a very full squeezie pouch of a berry something something + you turn your head for one second and realize the pouch is being tipped upside down. I don’t fully understand George’s desire to “water” everything with these pouches but it’s usually pretty cute. Except of course when you’re on a plane, you have stuff everywhere…like, we clearly set up camp, and you don’t want the very nice young man sitting beside you to be a berry puree victim. And goldfish were a good idea until GBB decided he would rather feed all of us (yep, that includes very nice young man) + then throw a few fish here and there.
You want to know what else is a lifesaver?
The iPad and Paw Patrol. Honestly our plan was to only pull out the iPad as a last resort because ya know, screen time blah blah blah but it was the very first thing we pulled out for George once we were able to unfasten our seat belts. The very first thing. And I so wish I was that mama who didn’t need to use technology to have a toddler sit still for a nanosecond but yeah. That was me and I have zero shame in my iPad game. ZERO. After the long lines at the airport, the lines at security, the lines to board the plane, the waiting for takeoff (and BF mamas, nurse your littles during takeoff and landing–it totally helps with any ear/pressure stuff!), and the constant schlepping of all our stuff, I was happy to give George a chance to chill out + enjoy his pups.
This also allowed hubs and I to get a few minutes seconds to regroup. The majority of the stress of the trip came from me (haha, obviously!) because I really didn’t know how GBB was going to fly. Yes, he is a pretty rad kid + he is so incredible with new spaces and experiences but I just had no idea so to say I was a teensy bit high strung is an understatement. My poor loving husband.
I was stressed about takeoff. I was stressed about diaper changes on the plane. I was stressed that I was pretty sure that we had a dirty diaper situation happening the moment we started to take off. I was worried he wasn’t going to nap. And then I was super worried about the time change. How’s he going to fare with the three hour time difference? Are we ever going to sleep? Will he cry forever? WILL WE SURVIVE THIS?
I was jammed in the window seat with a tray piled with books and toys that I couldn’t put away because his backpack was under the seat infront of hubs and I was sweating. Just straight overheating. GBB kept nursing in spurts and I’m fairly certain I flashed SOMEONE both my nips at one point (#freethenipple).
All of this to say, that it went really well. Take off was great. Diaper changes happened (thank you hubs!). And a plane nap went down + it was over two hours long (major mom win because I got to enjoy TWO episodes of The Crown while drinking a hot tiny plane coffee).
Santa brought George a super cute Bixbee rocket backpack + I filled it up with some goodies to keep him entertained on the plane. Crayola colour wonder paper and markers (hello mess free colouring!), his munchkin 360 cup, headphones for the iPad, his favourite books (Little Blue Truck is our most favourite these days!), a few new hot wheels, stickers, and some squeeze pouches.
I will tell you that the time change has been the hardest thing for us to adjust to. Now that we’ve been here for four full days, we’re finally getting onto LA time! Phew! The first morning we were here George woke up at 4am (7am TO time) so that was a little difficult for both mama + daddy. GBB was so happy to be awake–he is quite the enthusiastic dude in the wee hours of the morning.
ANYWAY.
We are loving our little family trip + these two dudes are my everything!
