Traveling and the biscuits of the chocolate

We are in overdrive trying to prepare for our trip (we leave next Wednesday) and there is so much to do and to remember. I especially want to be prepared for the long plane and car trips as we make our way from Milan to New York to Ohio. We have a nine-hour flight from Milan to New York and have to change airports (don't ask) from JFK to Newark to pick up our rental car. I still have to figure out how Dylan can ride in a taxi or car service car without a car seat. After we pick up our car, we are going to stay overnight somewhere in New Jersey and then drive the rest of the way to Ohio the next day (or in the middle of the night depending on how long Dylan sleeps...). I told Cristiano that next year we are NOT picking up a car in New York and driving to Ohio. We are flying direct to our destination and then taking internal flights from there. The driving everywhere thing is his grand plan and was fine when we didn't have a baby but I somehow think that mixing formula and trying to feed Dylan strained peas at 65 MPH is not going to be fun. So I must be really organized with the right amount of formula, food, bottles (will I be able to wash bottles on the road?), etc..

I'm running around trying to find gifts and fun things for all of our little friends in the U.S. but I realize that unless I bring olive oil or wine, there's really nothing all that interesting in Italy that doesn't exist in the U.S. Everything child or baby-related either comes from the U.S. (though we have much less selection here) or can be found there in greater quantities and much cheaper. All of the children's clothing stores here are French chains but for whatever reason, all of the t-shirts and things have (incorrect) English writing on them. Dylan got a pair of pajamas as a gift that had a bear eating cookies and the phrase "The biscuits of the chocolate" (I think they meant "chocolate biscuits"). Sounds like a direct translation from French or Italian, which are both article-happy languages. Then he just received a t-shirt that has a Kansas license plate (called "The Wheat Stat" on the t-shirt though in actuality it is "The Sunflower State;" I emphasize the "e" on the end of "State"), a cactus, a tumbleweed and a dune buggy with the words "Adventures in the Desert" written on it. I guess Kansas is part of The Great American Desert (a figurative connotation) but who thinks of desert when they think of Kansas? Apparently the French do. Though I did find that "Everyone's Favourite Boy" shirt in correct British English. All of the school supplies just started coming out so I went to see if I could find something fun for our little American friends as they go back to school. I saw a pink sequined pencil case with the words "Sexy Lover" on it. OK, that's a pass...I may be having to stop in at Gap Kids for gifts when I get to the U.S.