Traveling with a Fussy Baby

Noah is a huge traveler and I started him off young. We went on a long road trip when he was two months old. He enjoyed riding in the car most of the time. Occasionally, he would start to fuss. He didn't want to be in the car anymore. He wanted to stretch and be held by me. It's hard because you just want to hold them. It's not safe to hold a baby in the car, even though it's so tempting. If I could have just held him on long car trips it would have been easier. Thankfully I am creative and have a knack for making up songs. It helped some when we were in the car.

Even just sitting in the backseat isn't enough. I honestly think it can make it harder sometimes. If you have a snugly baby, just touching them is not satisfying. They can see you and almost beg to be held. It makes the temptation to slip them out of the seat worse. You really have to know what to do to soothe your infant in the car. It's important for everyone's sanity especially if you are traveling far. Trust me when I say this: picture it it's like nine pm we can't find our hotel and everyone is tired from driving. Noah starts crying and his toy breaks. This toy is the only thing that is stopping him from crying. I was a new mom as he was two months old. It was time to get creative. I sang rattle rattle thunder clatter boom boom don't worry call the car-x man for a half hour straight.  I tried to only sing it a few times but well Noah really loved it and he was done with the car that night.

I wrote a post about soothing your infant in the car to hopefully help other parents manage long car rides

Organizing your Car is Easy

Something happened when I became a mom, I became more organized. I used to be someone who liked what I call organized chaos. I knew where things were, they just didn't have a set home. Now I am organized and I am able to keep things organized. I still lose things sometimes but that's because someone either moved it or I put it up somewhere to keep it safe.

I used to also not really care if someone's car is clean and organized. It didn't really bother me too much. As long as it wasn't totally trashed, it was fine. Now that I am a mom I prefer for the car to be organized. It's hard to find things you may need. If we are out with friends, I am very picky when Noah is in the car. I don't expect the car to be sparkling clean but I would prefer him not to step on trash to get in the car. I totally understand that not everyone is organized. I think it's a skill you obtain, if you don't have it already, when you become a parent. It becomes a necessity because your child has a lot of stuff. You also have to be able to tell your child where something is in the car while you are driving. It's really easy to organize your car. It doesn't have to be a huge project or complicated process. It's nice to know where everything is.  If you had ever lost something in the car and spent an hour looking for something you can appreciate this. I think organizing has received a bad rep. It doesn't take a bunch of money or time to get your car in order. The hardest part is honestly putting things back where they belong. If you forget to put it back you risk losing it in the car or worse knocking it out when you get out. You can lose something really important or valuable.

Be sure to read my post about tips to organize your car and start 2015 organized.

They Named the Town What?

Sometimes I can be immature when it comes to humor. I love laughing at silly things that someone my age probably shouldn't. It's not anything hurtful. I don't make fun of people. I remember when I visited my friend Logan in North Carolina. We were going on an adventure and we stopped at a gas station in the town of Blowing Rock. I am not sure why I thought it was such a funny name for a town. I think it may have been because it was in the mountains. The town was really cool. I really enjoyed it. I miss my friend Logan a lot. We were really close up until his death. He always had a smile and a kind word for a friend. He was so amazing and such a sweet soul. Except for the time he made me eat livermush. Maybe I wasn't so bright not realizing it was actually liver and not just a cute southern name.

I am always reading signs and usually telling Noah where we are when we travel. Some town names are odd. It can be fun to take turns calling out town names. It's also great for when you are playing the city alphabet game. I will warn you that you may have to whip out Google to prove it's really a town name. You could also see who can come up with the funniest or strangest town name. Have you ever visited a town with a funny name?

Here's an article I wrote about funny town names.