jumparoo
Originally uploaded by michellanea
That whole jet-lag thing has run its course...
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Mangia, mangia, mangia!
dylosaurus
Originally uploaded by michellanea
Sorry for the two posts in one day but Flickr will not allow me to post two videos in the same message. This video is along the same lines as the previous manic Jumparoo post. Dylan gets excited about eating and when the food is all gone, tears and tantrums are frequently involved. In the U.S., Aunt Cindy taught us a little trick though - when he's done we let him hold and chew on the spoon, which more times than not serves as a distraction. No more tears.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
U.S. Trip 2008
lunch
Originally uploaded by michellanea
All of the excitement of our trip now online by clicking here. We had a great time and did a bunch of stuff. If we met up with you on our travels from New York to Ohio to Washington D.C. to Connecticut to Cape Cod, back to Connecticut and back to New York - you may be pictured here. Loved seeing everybody and those we didn't see, hope to see you soon if not in Italy back in the U.S.!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
I feed myself!
babyfeeder
Originally uploaded by michellanea
One of my favorite, favorite, favorite things I bought for Dylan in the U.S. is the Baby Safe Feeder. I can put a piece of fruit, teething cookie or ice cube (I made some with diluted apple juice to give him when his gums hurt from teething) in the little mesh bag and let him feed himself and not worry that he will choke. He gets kind of messy but what are you going to do? In this video, he got lazy and instead of holding the feeder, he let it rest on the tray of his high chair.
Jet lag
Dylan spent so much time in his car seat, in a random pack-and-play or being held on our vacation that I've really been trying to give him time on the floor on his tummy since we've been back to give him the chance to crawl if he so desires. Last night I had him on the floor with some toys in the kitchen while I was cooking dinner. I was chatting away to him and for a while he was yammering back but after a brief moment of silence, I looked down to find him passed out. We let him sleep that way all through dinner and then changed him into his pajamas, gave him his bottle and put him down for the night. He's been waking up quite a bit and crying throughout the night but I think that has more to do with teething than jet lag. Poor little guy.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Traveling with baby
We are back, and I have lots of pictures and stories from our trip for the blog but I haven't had time to download them. Many people have asked me what it was like traveling with a baby, so I thought I'd jot my thoughts down while they were fresh. All in all, Dylan did great and we didn't have any major problems. When we bought our tickets, I just assumed Dylan would be a "lap baby" (the price of the ticket is about one tenth of an adult seat and the baby sits on a parent's lap) because I didn't know of the possibility of buying a full price ticket for him and bringing his car seat on board. I later found out that the safest way for a baby to fly is in his car seat and that while airlines sell tickets for "lap babies," flight crews consider them a hazard.
It is now recommended in the U.S. and in most of the world for a baby to have his own seat. Of course, Italy is behind the curve on this. In fact, Alitalia does not allow you to bring a car seat on board and requires all children under the age of two to sit on a parent's lap. So had I bought Dylan a full price seat, he would have had to sit on my lap after all as we flew out on Alitalia. That would have been a mess. On our outbound flight, Dylan sat on Cristiano's lap. Right before take-off, the steward brought a small seat belt to loop around Dylan and an infant life vest and flotation device (eek!). Once we reached cruising altitude, two flight attendants brought the bassinet and hooked it on to the wall (we were in bulkhead seats and had called the airline repeatedly to make sure we'd be there and would have access to a bassinet). Dylan slept on take-off and landing, which I was told is very common as babies find the hum of the airplane relaxing. He didn't sleep much in the bassinet and we mainly used it as a place to sit him with his toys while we ate our meals. Most bassinets go up to about 25 pounds, and at 19 pounds, he was already almost too big for it. Alitalia had no changing stations in their bathrooms so we had to change him in the back of the plane where there were empty seats. Had there not been empty seats, I'm not sure what we would have done.
The flight back to Italy was on Delta. Right before take-off, I flagged down the steward to ask when he'd be bringing the baby seat belt. He wrinkled up his nose and said, "We don't do that." The subtext was "That is bad/dangerous/an out-of-date practice." I mentioned that we'd been given one on Alitalia and he shrugged and walked away. Not having something to restrain Dylan with felt a little precarious, especially when the flight got turbulent. We will definitely be buying him his own seat next time and bringing his car seat on board (meaning we won't fly Alitalia). We also had a bassinet on the way back but found that it wasn't very useful as Dylan was almost too big for it and because it was placed right under the large movie screen and the flickering of the bright screen right in his face kept him awake. He spent most of the time sleeping on his nonni who were seated in another, darker part of the plane. The other thing to take into consideration with the bulkhead seats is that you can't keep your bags in front of you so you spend a lot of time getting up and down to get things. Fortunately, Delta had changing stations in their bathrooms, and while it was a tight squeeze, it was much easier than trying to change a squirming baby on airplane seats.
It is now recommended in the U.S. and in most of the world for a baby to have his own seat. Of course, Italy is behind the curve on this. In fact, Alitalia does not allow you to bring a car seat on board and requires all children under the age of two to sit on a parent's lap. So had I bought Dylan a full price seat, he would have had to sit on my lap after all as we flew out on Alitalia. That would have been a mess. On our outbound flight, Dylan sat on Cristiano's lap. Right before take-off, the steward brought a small seat belt to loop around Dylan and an infant life vest and flotation device (eek!). Once we reached cruising altitude, two flight attendants brought the bassinet and hooked it on to the wall (we were in bulkhead seats and had called the airline repeatedly to make sure we'd be there and would have access to a bassinet). Dylan slept on take-off and landing, which I was told is very common as babies find the hum of the airplane relaxing. He didn't sleep much in the bassinet and we mainly used it as a place to sit him with his toys while we ate our meals. Most bassinets go up to about 25 pounds, and at 19 pounds, he was already almost too big for it. Alitalia had no changing stations in their bathrooms so we had to change him in the back of the plane where there were empty seats. Had there not been empty seats, I'm not sure what we would have done.
The flight back to Italy was on Delta. Right before take-off, I flagged down the steward to ask when he'd be bringing the baby seat belt. He wrinkled up his nose and said, "We don't do that." The subtext was "That is bad/dangerous/an out-of-date practice." I mentioned that we'd been given one on Alitalia and he shrugged and walked away. Not having something to restrain Dylan with felt a little precarious, especially when the flight got turbulent. We will definitely be buying him his own seat next time and bringing his car seat on board (meaning we won't fly Alitalia). We also had a bassinet on the way back but found that it wasn't very useful as Dylan was almost too big for it and because it was placed right under the large movie screen and the flickering of the bright screen right in his face kept him awake. He spent most of the time sleeping on his nonni who were seated in another, darker part of the plane. The other thing to take into consideration with the bulkhead seats is that you can't keep your bags in front of you so you spend a lot of time getting up and down to get things. Fortunately, Delta had changing stations in their bathrooms, and while it was a tight squeeze, it was much easier than trying to change a squirming baby on airplane seats.
Friday, August 1, 2008
First time swimming
I love water
Just let me go...
With my chicks - cousin Kelsey and cousin Luana
Blue slushie
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