Don't forget the nanners

As I've said, you don't know what kind of parent you'll be until you are one. And any judgments you pass on other parents beforehand are likely to bite you where it counts. Will and I learn this everyday, and never so much as today, while we pack for our trip to the U.S. Who are we? Crazy parents. Crazy over-prepared, crazy cautious, and some other kinds of crazy as well.

Our levels of crazy have reached new heights in trying to plan for a painless as possible flight. If airport security rifles through my meticulously packed bags for E, I might weep. We will be toting some of Edie's favorite toys, which have been hidden from her view for the past week in an effort to new-ify them. All manner of favorite foods, not the least of which are two immaculate bananas. Diaper count is in the double digits, and we've even acquired a season of Yo Gabba Gabba, loaded onto DVDs as well as my iPhone for her majesty's viewing pleasure. We don't do baby TV at home, but we're entering the Baby Thunderdom here, people: two parents enter, and we'll be happy if one leaves.

Add to this a suitcase packed with a second identical security blanket, lest the first meet its end, and a battery-operated stuffed turtle that displays the constellations on the ceiling, and you've got an idea of depth we plummeted to.

I've scoured the internet for baby flying advice, baby jet lag tips, and have boned up on my Eckhart Tolle. No magic bullets, it seems. The New England Journal of Medicine has not published any studies that advise parents to sedate their babies on aircrafts (hey, I'm not generally for it, but who would I be to argue with the experts?). So, we're left with loving that baby, remembering that bad days pass eventually, and are heartened with the knowledge that non-Germanified Mexican food awaits us.

And with that, dear friends and family, we beg you to get those avocados ripening for the guacamole and make note of 24 hour stores nearby that we might visit if not for midnight baby emergencies than simply for midnight excursions to bask in the conveniences that our fair homeland has to offer. Wish us luck, and see you soon.