Planning the "Big Trip"

It's really amazing how much and yet how little information is out there regarding air travel with an infant. Surprisingly, TSA's website had some of the best information: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/children/index.shtm

It looks like the biggest asset here will be patience. EVERYTHING has to go through the scanners at security, so some extra special packing logistics will probably help. I'll try to share what I found helpful and, after the trip, what obstacles we encountered.

Given that we are a bi-national family, I prefer travelling with more paperwork than usual just to prevent any unpleasant surprises. This includes a certified copy of our marriage certificate, DD's official record of live birth (long form birth certificate in Ontario), and probably a signed note from us both outlining our travel plans. Sadly, international parent abductions could put us under greater scrutiny than if we were all born in the same country. Then there's DD's dual citizenship status... but that's a topic for another post.

She rolled over - we're doomed!

So, my little girl takes to bedtime pretty well for a 3 1/2 month old. She gets a bath and then into jammies. Papa brushes her hair and Mommy feeds her one last "num-nums." Then she gets carried up to bed, a song, and a kiss goodnight. Usually, she's pretty calm and asleep within 10 minutes. Of course, some nights she's a bit more fussy. If she starts crying and neither of us feel it's a "I'm hurting" cry, we'll wait 5 minutes before heading up to check on her.

Tonight was one of those nights. Her cry sounded a bit more frustrated than the usual "overtired" or "pissed off that you put me to bed and left me alone" varieties, but it didn't set off any warning bells. So after the requisite five minutes, I went upstairs to see what the problem was. What I found was DD on her tummy with one foot sort of poking between the slats of the crib. The cry was the one she uses when she's tired of tummy time - and now I see why!

Poor kid... I called hubby upstairs to see this and we were both praising her and so happy. We rolled her back on to her back right away, but I could see her confusion why we were so enthusiastic about the whole thing. Luckily, she grabbed her elephant-blankie and a short song later was on her way back to sleep.

Almost an hour later hubby went to check on her and called me up - she was sleeping on her side. Too cute for words - must figure out how to post the picture. But now we're realizing that our little one is on the move and it's not going to stop any time soon!

To blog or not to blog?

I was telling my husband last night that I had no idea how any mother, much less a new mother, had time to blog. At the same time, I was lamenting that it felt like I had become a mom and nothing else; something that can't be good for me. So I'll see if I can blog to save my sanity - no clue how this will turn out, but it should be interesting.

Possible things you will read about:

• being a new mom
• raising a bilingual baby
• learning French
• books I'm attempting to read
• TV I'm attempting to watch
• my rather unique views on Canadian politics... maybe US ones, too, if I can be bothered to find out what's going on in my home country

And of course, it might end up being nothing like this at all. But hey, it'll be something.