San Francisco

I was just out in San Francisco with Ava and my mother-in-law, Michele. We had an awesome time! It was a business trip, but since I'm from the Baby Area, I wanted to bring Ava out to spend time with family and friends. It was my first trip since she was born and with her newly walking, I was a bit nervous. I was thrilled when Michele said she was available to come out with us. She watched Ava during the work week and they ventured out in the city together. Michele flew with all of her kids as young children so I felt confident going with her for our first inaugural flight! It worked out perfectly! We flew out on Saturday and came home on Thursday. I wasn't sure how Ava would adjust to the 3-hour time difference, but she was very flexible. Here's my post on toddler travel tips.

We arrived to the hotel at noon on Saturday and we decided to unpack and let Ava stretch her legs. We walked to Whole Foods to pick up supplies for the week. For dinner, we grabbed Chinese takeout from an excellent place that specializes in Dim Sum (but we didn't get go back the next morning to try it). We Skyped with Aaron so he could say goodnight to Ava. She whimpered when she saw Daddy on Skype, but was very excited to see Bena on the computer! Aaron said that the house was very quiet without us and that Bena was a little off while we were gone.

Sunday was an amazing day! We met up with family and friends at Crissy Field Park, which has gorgeous views of the Golden Gate Bridge. We had sunny weather, though it was a bit cool with the breeze. Ava got to spend the afternoon with all three of her Grandmas! My stepmom (Meme) and my brother, Braden, drove in from Sacramento for the afternoon. They were so excited because they haven't been to visit us in Indiana so they were dying to meet Ava. They picked us up from the hotel and drove us to the park. My mom (Grandma Anna) and her boyfriend, Bernard, drove up to see us. My mom hadn't seen Ava since she was 5-weeks old! Ava fell asleep at the park on a blanket and Meme got to hold her for a bit. James, Kelly, and their son, Ethan came up from San Jose and then Romeo and Jeff drove out from Sacramento too. We had a bring your own picnic lunch and it was so relaxing! I'll never forget it!

I worked in the office Monday through Wednesday, but it was close enough to walk back at lunch to nurse Ava. It was hard to leave her for both of us because she cried for a few seconds when I'd leave. Grandma called herself the "Granny Nanny" on the trip got pretty creative at distracting Ava while I was leaving. They spent a lot of time in the lobby of the hotel walking around. Ava was just learning to walk that week so it was fun to stretch her skills on different surfaces like grass, cement, tile, and rugs. That was a big day for Ava and Grandma because they took a cable car ride up to Nob Hill and then Grandma carried her back in the pack through Chinatown. Michele was exhausted by the end, but they had fun and Ava fell asleep in the carrier. What a surprise! We grabbed dinner together on Monday night after work in the Ferry Building at a burger place. Ava was obsessed with the birds and seagulls! She practically yelled and pointed when she saw them. When we walked around the city, she looked up at the buildings and the people walking around. I could tell she really enjoyed seeing new things.

On Tuesday it rained ALL day! It was chilly too. So Michele took Ava on a stroller ride inside the hotel and they went swimming at the hotel pool. She's very creative. I guess you can tell she's done it before! Grandma let her walk around the empty dining room of the restaurant and Ava had her first taste of Fruit Loops. She wouldn't eat the orange ones.

On our last day in San Francisco, Michele took Ava (in the stroller this time) to the Legion of Art Museum. They had a great time! Even though it was on the other side of the city, Michele got directions with the bus and they spent the afternoon looking at fine art. They saw the Rodin sculptures. I love the pictures that Michele took with Ava walking all around the courtyard and by the art. That evening after I was done with my work meeting, we walked to a Thai restaurant for dinner. Ava was tired from the day, so we had to eat fast. We distracted her by putting an orchid in her hair.

Our flight from SFO was at 7:45am so we woke up very early. We had plenty of time to get to our gate. The airport security let us through faster since we had a baby and we had a bit more time to let her walk around. Ava got a bit antsy on the longer flight to Indy, but we entertained her. She nursed a lot and slept on my lap. Grandma sang and read to her. Aaron picked us up and it felt so great to be home! We missed each other, but it was great to know that Ava is a good little traveler and she enjoyed seeing a new city! What an amazing trip!

Toddler Travel

Hello from San Francisco! We arrived yesterday afternoon after a two flight travel day. I'm traveling here for a business trip and Aaron's mom and Ava are with me. It's a mix of business and pleasure since they are with me and Michele is watching Ava during the work week while I'm working in our Social Media Lab office in downtown San Francisco.

Michele is calling herself the "Granny Nanny" which is funny! I packed and organized two nights before our trip which took the pressure off of the night before. Our flight departed at 8am so we had to leave the house at 6am, which meant I woke at 4:30am to make sure that I had everything ready. Packing took a lot of thought because I had to take stuff for my business trip (work clothes, laptop), baby stuff (clothes, diapers, medication, my breast pump and supplies), not to mention own personal things. I had some great advice from friends who have traveled with their small children and babies. Since Ava is younger than 2 years old, she can fly for free on my lap, but I had to bring her birth certificate for documentation at check-in. Thank goodness I read that ahead of time because we wouldn't have been able to board our flight without it.

I am by no means an expert on toddler travel, but here's what has been working for us:

• Nursing at take-off, landing, and in-between: With the air pressure changes of air travel, nursing helps the baby's ears normalize. Not to mention, nursing is a baby's comfort and when they're in a strange place, their mother's breast is the safest place they know. I brought a familiar small blanket from home, which was helpful.

• Pashmina scarf keeps you and baby warm: I have a large wool pashmina scarf, which is perfect for wrapping up the baby while nursing or carrying her around.

• Your favorite baby carrier: I love my ring sling and used it on the plane to loosely wrap around Ava while we both slept on the plane. I didn't want to let go of her while I slept and risk her falling off my lap so I adjusted it so she was secure, but cozy. I used my soft structured carrier (in the picture) for walking on the city streets and the airport. It's very nice to have your hands free and your baby close and lower profile than a stroller.
• Lightweight carseat: we just got a second carseat for Aaron's car that is safe, but light. We were able to easily place it in the cab to head to the hotel and it's also fun for Ava to play in. Kids love playing with buckles! We were planning on putting it away, but she's having so much fun with it in the hotel room. A friend lent us a backpack that holds a carseat, which was very helpful because of all the luggage we had to haul.
• Lots of snacks: I packed some containers with Ava's favorite non-perishable snacks like dried cranberries, puffs, yogurt melts, and pretzels. My downfall is that I wished I packed a protein snack for me to keep my energy especially being vegetarian and nursing.
• Smart packing: I tried to scrutinize everything that I packed to see if I really needed it. I packed enough outfits for Ava to have fresh clothes and kept a change of clothes in our carry on with extra socks just in case we lost them on the way. I packed my bottle brush, small sample sizes of dishwash soap will come in handy to wash Ava's sippy and the bottles that I pump into.

• Diapers for 2 days: Our family is now a cloth diapering family, but on this trip we're using disposable. Cloth diapers take a lot of physical space and time to wash the diapers. It would be fine for car trips or weekends, but 5-days on a business trip, disposable diapers are much easier. I picked up a small pack of diapers at the store when we arrived. I carried a few diapers with a small wipes container on the plane and stuffed extras in my other carry-on and more in the checked luggage. It's good to have extras in case of delays. I packed extra wipes in a resealable bag for refills.
• Bring baby pain reliever, diaper salve, and sunscreen: A friend brought up a good point that it's hard to find baby items (especially your favorite brands) when you're at a hotel or airport. I packed these items, which have come in handy.

• Buying supplies at arrival: Before our trip, I scoped out a nearby Whole Foods store. We walked to the store and stocked up on food that you don't have to heat up for breakfast and snacks such as bread, peanut butter, fruit, yogurt, and soy milk. We also grabbed plastic utensils, paper plates, and napkins for the hotel room, which have been very handy.
• Refrigerator in your hotel: The hotel housekeeping brought one up to our room since our room didn't have one. We are keeping Ava's milk and our food in the fridge. Our only wish is if our hotel had a microwave to reheat leftovers.

• Fun new toys: Aaron stopped at the dollar store and got some fun toys for Ava to play with on the plane. He got some Sesame Street flash cards, which she liked. We used the "barf bag" for Ava to put things in and take them out. At her age, this is very entertaining!

• Low key plans on arrival: I didn't make any plans on Saturday because I wasn't sure who we'd feel with a long day of travel. The only plan was to settle into the hotel and go to the store to buy our supplies.

• Adjusting to time zones: A friend suggested that I try to reset Ava's home schedule for naps, based on the time that she wakes every day. It has worked for us so far. We usually go with the flow with her natural nap schedule anyway.

Today we're meeting family and friends today in the park near the Golden Gate Bridge! I'm excited because my step-mom and brother haven't meet Ava yet! And my bio-mom hasn't seen Ava since she was 5-weeks old when she came to visit us in Indy. We have some of my oldest friends coming to visit us for our bring-your-own picnic fun this afternoon.