Traveling with a "Terrible Two"

Makena is wonderful...no, she is beyond wonderful - Charlie and I remain in *awe* when we look at her. She is, however, heading quickly into the terrible twos phase. She is perfecting her stalling tactics (for nap time, bedtime, potty time, etc.) and her graceful fall to the ground in protest over just about anything that isn't completely going her way! Charlie and I love to travel too much to let a few temper tantrums stop us though...we are very proud to say that she knows what to do in a restaurant, an airplane, and airport, and a hotel room. She is actually a better traveler than most adults and she does enjoy new things (new people not as much, but we're working on that).

Charlie is a perpetual business traveler; if you tell Makena that daddy is at work she points to the sky and says "airpane"! Given that tidbit of info, I have flown alone with Makena on all but a few of her flights, yet I am still slightly apprehensive when faced with the actual trip. So the decision we made for Makena and I to head to Florida to catch up with some of her Fu sisters and visit Disney World was both exciting and intimidating! Charlie was to be traveling through Europe at the time, so it was just the girls! We made the rather spontaneous decision, got a dog sitter, booked the tickets, and made plans all in a matter of hours...

Kena is not the world's best sleeper, but it is always in our best interest to let her sleep until she wakes up. However, when we need to be AT the airport by 6am, I have no choice but to wake her. She was slow to wake up that morning, but once she realized what was going on she started to say "airpane" over and over. Her love of travel is such a beautiful thing for us! The suitcase was in order, as was my carry-on, her backpack, the stroller, its case, and the packed car seat. All was right with the world. She charmed her way through the airport and the security line - we ate our snacks and got on the airplane. The seat next to us was empty (score!!!), so I let her sit in her own seat on the tarmac and for take-off. Turbulence was not kind to us though. She vomited three times on that flight...all over me, leaving the plane seat remarkably unscathed. Now I ALWAYS have a change of clothes for her, but I seldom (if ever) have a change of clothes for myself. When we landed, I grabbed everything (and Kena) and went in search of new clothes. The very first t-shirt I saw was a lovely brown NC shirt with orange writing. It was perfectly atrocious, yet clean...and for the record, the best $15 I had spent in a long time! The pants would have to remain on me though - they didn't sell pants at the airport! After our lovely start, the rest of our travels went great and we landed in Orlando in short order, hopped in the car, and headed to the hotel.


We did Epcot that afternoon - went to the China pavilion, saw an incredible 360 degree movie about China's history (Makena was completely intrigued), enjoyed delicious Lo Mein, and played in Tinker Bell's garden. We headed to a zoo the next morning to meet up with two of Makena's Fu sisters and their families. What a lovely day! The girls are incredible and it was so reassuring to catch up with our China "family". We planned the whole zoo trip around Makena's nap time, hoping for sleep on the way back to the hotel (it was a 90-min drive). That just wasn't going to happen! She sang and played the entire time in the car and stayed up as we headed to Magic Kingdom. Over the rest of the trip we explored all of Disney. I won't bore you with all of our trip details, but sufficed to say, she had a fantastic time! She even broke into her own little baby breakdance to some fun music as we walked through Downtown Disney one evening! Makena had her own little crowd cheering her on!


I've decided that the people who say that Disney is not appropriate for a toddler have not been there with a toddler. Makena doesn't know any of the characters except Tinker Bell, but she LOVED the rides, the people, the chaos, the various modes of transportation that you have to take to get there (bus, monorail, ferry, train, etc.), and especially the castle! If anyone is thinking of heading to Disney World (or Land...we've taken her to both), I would be happy to share some toddler tidbits! It was so frustrating though...the stuff people let their kids get away with is crazy! I was so proud of Makena for showing PATIENCE...that was the word of the weekend! She even "says" PATIENCE now when we have to wait in line! It was so stinkin' cute to see her watch a super frustrated person at the airport standing in line and hear her say her version of patience (and point incessantly)! Good thing she is sometimes hard to understand, or the ride home that day would have been much longer!


We are back home safe and sound. Charlie was super lucky to get out of Europe when he did...if his original plans had not changed, he would probably STILL be there because of the volcano. Life is wonderful...Makena is happy...all is right with the world!