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We're Off!

In three days we leave for our San Diego vacation. We will be gone at least six days, but maybe more. It all depends on how much we are enjoying ourselves. Since we will be living in our camper for the duration of the trip, we might be ready to come home after day three!

As Benjamin gets older, it has become harder to travel with him. When he was an infant we would just pack him and all the various baby supplies in the car and go. He would sleep fine in the pack-n-play or hotel crib, he was a dream at restaurants, and when we sat him down somewhere, he would stay just where we left him. Now that he is mobile, things have changed a bit.

He now takes off the minute I put him down. Which isn't a problem when we are home, but it's a different story at a busy campground. He has become picky about where he sleeps, as in he doesn't like to sleep anywhere but his crib. He can last all of about 10 minutes in a restaurant before he determines that he is bored and loudly protests the seating arrangements...that is, the fact that he has to sit, period.

Since we will be in our camper, I don't have to worry about his cries keeping up other travelers, like I would if we were in a hotel. However, since we will be in our camper, I have to worry about his cries keeping us up. Last week, on our maiden voyage, he was up the entire night, which meant that we were up the entire night. It wasn't fun for any of us. Hopefully this time will be different. I am debating whether to put his crib bumbers into the pack-n-play, in an attempt to trick him into thinking he is actually in his crib. Think it will work?

The worst part about traveling with him is that once we put him down to bed, we have to vacate the camper/hotel room. Or we have to sit there, dead quiet, in the dark, until he goes to sleep. I learned last summer to get mine and Nathan's bedtime stuff all laid out and ready to be put on/used before I put Benjamin down. This eliminates us fumbling around with drawers and cupboards in the dark after he is asleep. We even went so far as to put our toothbrushes outside of the camper so we could brush our teeth before going inside. Believe me, you do not want to wake up this child once he has gone down for the night.

And don't even get me started on the amount of stuff you have to pack for a one year old. The crib (including blankies, stuffies, and now bumpers), diapers/wipes, clothing, bibs, highchair, childsize plates, cups, and utensils, three traveling devices (stroller, hiking backpack, and bike trailer), toys, toys, and more toys, favorite snacks, special milk (he drinks whole while we drink skim), meds (just in case), baby dvds (for our sanity), and about a gazillion other things. It's insane the amount of stuff a 25 pound child requires.

So now that I have just described how difficult it is to travel with a toddler, I think I've changed my mind. We aren't going. I'll just throw a tent up out back and call it good. :)

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