Hold me up

When I was in Turkey I mentioned how using a scarf sling saved the day, allowing me to carry Maya on me without having to wear out my arms. She loved being in it and I loved having an alternative way of carrying her. Well, today, I dug through my closets and found my original baby sling that I had gotten when she was a baby. We had gotten it for traveling around without the aid of a stroller and it worked well. After a while I thought she was too big for it but after the trip to Turkey I decided to dust it off and see if it would still work.

There are many brands of slings and carriers out there so you kind of have to find the one you like. I had no idea what a sling was when we bought one but I ended up loving it. I have the NoJo Baby Sling by Dr. Sears*.

NoJo Baby Sling

It has extra padding at the shoulder and around the edges to keep the fabric from digging in which as a bit of a problem for me in Turkey. It's what's referred to as a ring sling because it has the double rings which you weave the strap into to adjust how tight the fabric is around you. I tried holding Maya several different ways and all of them seemed to be comfortable, even when we tested it while wearing our heavy jackets (a true test of what it will be like when walking around Estonia). I could hold her resting on my hip, in a lying down position across my front, and we were even able to figure out how to get her piggy-back on my back (though that position did end up being a bit uncomfortable). Again, she loved being in it. I think she just likes pretending to be a baby but it also allows us to be close to each other a lot which we both like. She's actually almost 10 lbs over the recommended weight limit for the sling (oops) but it still seems to work and she still sits safely in it.

Here's a few pictures of me wearing her when she was younger


*Just to clarify, my opinions are my own and Trunki is in no way affiliated with selling or promoting the NoJo Baby Sling. I just like it.

Embrace Your Inner Onion

• As I walked around downtown D.C. freezing every exposed portion of my body off, I realized that in about three weeks I'll be even colder as I walk around in Tallinn, Estonia all day. This brings me to the point of my title for this blog. One trick that I've learned through my years of traveling is layering. Now, I'm not talking about the cutesy layering where you put a lacy camisole under a nice sweater. Oh no, I'm talking backpacking through the mountains kind of layering. Now you may think to yourself, why would she want me to bring more clothes rather than less? There's actually several reasons:

• Suitcase space: OK before you say I'm dreaming, I promise you it will in fact save you suitcase space. Rather than packing several big, bulky, space devouring sweaters you pack several thinner tops which together will still probably be less than the sweater.
  


• Temperature control: I happen to be one of those people who gets sick to my stomach if I get hot so being able to cool off is a must. The same goes for your kid. Kids aren't happy campers if they are too hot or too cold so being able to adjust how warm or cold they are will make everyone happier in the long run.
  


• More outfits with less clothing: Here's how it works. Say you wear two (or even three) shirts one day. A few days later you can wear the same exact outfit just in reverse, wearing the shirt that was closest to your body on the outside and the shirt that was on the outside now will be the under shirt. You've now got two outfits but are only taking up the space of one sweater in your bag. Obviously this wont work if the undershirt from the first day is on the "ripe" side in which case you could either air it out, wash it and hang it up to dry, or just wear the outer shirt from a previous day as an undershirt.

If you travel in winter a lot, like I do, you can also invest in some "second skin" thermal shirts. These are ultra thin shirts and leggings that keep you warm while not bulking up your outfits or your suitcase. They also make for great sleepwear which will also cut down on the things you have to bring. Best of all, because they are so thin, they will dry in a jiffy if they need a washing so you can wash them in the sink at night and they'll be ready for more walking around the next day.

So, with all that said, everyone enjoy freezing to death in this wretched cold!

The Experiment

Lately Maya has left a little to be desired in the discipline department. To be frank, she's been going through the terrible twos...just two years late. Everything is a battle and it's at its worst when we're in airports. One thing parents who travel a lot know is that there are times when you HAVE to have a sort of zero tolerance with your kids for safety reasons. Maya's favorite time to decide not to listen to us is security lines, arguably the worst place to not listen. Since we live close to DC we have to go through the extra level of security at gates. Oh yes, folks, I get to be interrogated just so I can enter my own country. I digress. Anyway, those are the times that are the worst. There's a ton of tired grumpy people all waiting to get on the plane and here's Maya trying to run straight past the security officers to play with the x-ray belt. On the flight home from our Turkey/England trip, she was driving me batty. She wouldn't keep quiet, she was constantly asking for something, she was touching EVERYTHING, kicking the backs of chairs, the list goes on. All of this after she had kept us up all night because she had to sleep in bed with us and then we all woke up at 5 am for our first flight. By the second flight, I was ready to wave the white flag. Show me some mercy kid!

So, with all that said (yes, you could say vented), I'm going to do an experiment. I turned to some of my fabulous friends for help and one of them mentioned a great idea. Poker chips that can be given and taken away for both good and bad behavior. Earn enough and you get something cool. Do something bad and you get some taken away. The thing I love about this idea is it's portability. Charts are nice but you can't really take a chart with you. A bag of poker chips, though, can easily be kept in my carry on or my day pack so I can really take them anywhere and we can be consistent. Our trip to Tallinn is in a few weeks and I think that will be an excellent time to really try this idea out. Im going to start now with them, but that will be the true test. Will we be able to stick with the plan or will it all sink faster than the Titanic? Keep reading to find out!

Anyone Know Mandarin?

So Im skipping right over my trip to Talinn, Estonia right now and heading straight for our big trip to China this summer. Mostly, this is because we're in the middle of planning it now and it's quite the feat of scheduling as we're doing it all ourselves.

Josh has done an awesome job of finding us nice hotels and tours to take and has also gotten us some great deals on airfare within China. I'm really excited about the trip. Our plans are to go to Beijing for about a week then fly to Shanghai. From Shanghai we will go to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Soldiers; from Shanghai we will go to Guilin to see some of the incredible countryside and then from Guilin we will fly back to Beijing and then home. WHEW!! Hopefully Maya will do well. I'm a little concerned about how much actual traveling we will be doing and hopefully she won't get worn out.

I still can't believe we're going to China. Of course, I say this before every trip we go on. I was thinking about Estonia the other day. I mean really, Tallinn looks like it's going to be awesome but how often do you hear "I'm going to Estonia!" It's just so weird. The first time I ever heard of Estonia was in the movie "Encino Man" where Sean Astin and Pauly Shore uncover a caveman. To hide the fact that he's a caveman they say he's an exchange student from Estonia. I seriously thought they had made it up. Who knew! When I was growing up I thought making it to Paris once in my life would be the ultimate. I never dreamed I would get to go to all these places, and with my family! When I get a chance I'll post more about our trip to China. Some of the pictures of Guilin are AMAZING! Like this one! AHHHH I can't wait!


Now I just need to get someone to teach me some Chinese. I don't think my vast knowledge of Chinese food menus here is going to help me.

Meet my friend, Trixie

"Hi! I'm Maya...this is my Trunki."

Ok, I know that totally sounds like a commercial but she really does say that in airports. I noticed it a little when we went to California back in August, but for some reason on this trip Maya was all about introducing everyone she met to Trixie. We would be mindlessly standing in line and there was Maya, on the floor next to her Trunki, introducing it to everyone who remotely made eye contact with her.

I think she views Trixie is her pet. She does, in fact, pet Trixie. She hugs her (and yes, Trixie is a her), pets her, tells her "Go on girl, let's go!" She begs me to ride on her at all times through the airport, though I draw the line when we get to the amusement park type queues because of all the hairpin turns. They seem to have this close relationship that I have long since grown too old to understand. I always wonder what's going through her mind because, well...it is in fact a piece of luggage. I wonder if she's like how I was with my stuffed animals growing up. They weren't toys, oh no, they were REAL. They had feelings, they had favorite things and, for reasons I now do not know, I was convinced that if I covered them up with my bedspread they were all certain to suffocate. Because I was scared of the dark (ok, I MIGHT still be scared of it) I use to pile all of them in bed with me as my defense. With that in mind, does this mean I should expect to walk into Maya's room and see her clutching Trixie for dear life? Should I be worried that my daughter has a "special" relationship with her luggage? Should I avoid getting her Terrance for fear there might be a day when she comes to me and tells me she wants to marry him? Oh, think of the love triangle!

I guess I'll just have to wait and see. For now, I will just enjoy the fact that my daughter has something that makes traveling really fun for her and keeps me from killing myself trying to carry her through behemoth airports like Heathrow. Hopefully, Josh won't follow suit and start hugging our luggage. Hey, it could happen. We already name our TVs.

Time to Reflect

You know traveling always puts me in a daze and I've discovered that one of the hardest things about blogging is that you have to condense all these great things into one short little post so it doesn't go on forever. The problem is that, especially with Turkey, the things I did and saw were so wonderful that those short little posts didn't do any of them justice. Plus, having to either share a computer with everyone on the trip or use the hotel's computer got a little hairy sometimes because there was always someone waiting to use it. So, with all that said here are some of the things I loved about my trip to Istanbul.

Our hotel: We stayed at the Hotel Niles. The rooms were a little on the small side and the mattress left something to be desired but everything else was excellent and more than made up for anything wrong with the mattress. The staff really did make you feel like you were staying in someone's home and the roof top terrace was definitely one of the best spots in Istanbul with a beautiful view of the Sea of Marmara.

Hagia Sophia: Despite the fact that I kept thinking it looked like the royal palace on Naboo in Star Wars, this once church, once mosque, now museum was gargantuan to say the least. It was being restored which took away from its grandeur a little but it was still overwhelming. The best thing there was the mosaics on the wall which were incredibly intricate. I don't think Maya thought much of any of it though because she was too busy asking me to speak with my horrible fake English accent the whole time and seemed much more pleased with talking to "Rita" from Flushed Away than taking in the sights.

The Basilica Cistern: I did actually post about this and I will say it again...it is AWESOME. From the outside it is very unassuming. Just a little tower with a ticket booth. Once you walk down the steps into the cistern, though, it's an entirely different world. It's like something out of the dwarf city in Lord of the Rings. Maya loved it. She especially loved all the fish swimming around some of which were HUGE.

The Mosques: There were so many I'll just put them into their own category. We really just went in the big ones but the ones we saw were just beautiful and, to me, because I had to take the extra steps of taking off my shoes and putting on a headscarf to go in, it just felt like you were doing something really special. They were places of respect and it was a wonderful opportunity to introduce the concept of other cultures to Maya.

The Grand Bazaar: If you're ever in a city with a bazaar, you have to go to it. Istanbul happens to have one of the world's largest covered bazaars. It's simultaneously fun and nerve-wracking. It's definitely a smorgasborg for the eyes but if you don't like large crowds, don't go there. If I get a chance I will post the video we took while going in. It seriously looks like you're about to go on a Disney ride. After a while you realized that there's really about 5,000 versions of the same five shops: belly dancing outfits, mosaic glass lamps, turkish delights, jewelry, and fake name-brand stuff. It's all kind of kitschy and haggling can be tough (it's much easier in Egypt) but you have to go.

Turkish Bath: What can I say about the Turkish bath experience. It was wonderfully embarrassing. As a mother I have precious little time to get away from it all but this ended up being a very cool, very Turkish, way to get some time to myself. In the end this was fantastic but MAN it's like being in junior high gym at first because the one I went to you had to bare it all or look like a complete buffoon. I walked in all hunched over desperately trying to over up as much as possible and most likely embarrassed myself even more. For obvious reasons I won't go into details but just be sure you look at what kind of bath you're going to before you go. Chances are, if your bath has separate sections for men and women, don't plan on wearing too much clothing. After I let go of my embarrassment, though, it was arguably the best part of the entire trip.

Dolmabahce Palace: If you want to see Ottoman spending gone wild, go to this place. My friend from England said it blew Buckingham Palace out of the water. Personally, I don't think you can ever have too much gold leaf. DO NOT take flash photos there though. They are rabid about people not taking them.

Lastly, The Call to Prayer: I found these times of day unspeakably wonderful. It was like having a soundtrack to your life as you were walking around. The city rippled with the sound of prayer from the thousands of minarets throughout the city. I don't care what religion you are, it's a beautiful sound to behold.

Sorry, No More Turkish Delight

I didn't get a chance to post the past couple days both because I was completely exhausted on the first of January and then, yesterday, we got up in the wee small hours to catch our flight back to England. We're now in the town of Chesterfield visiting with our good friends the Pardo Family for the next few days. I love being here. It's quiet, it's relaxing and it's a wonderful way to unwind from the excitement of Istanbul.

Istanbul was, to say the least, amazing. I loved it there. Every turn was a totally new experience and the amount of history there is astounding. It's a modern city that has never forgotten it's past. In fact, it's quite proud of its past and the Turkish people are all madly proud of their country. It's a place that welcomes visitors and loves nothing more than to see a child smile. Maya was a princess there, always getting toys and Turkish delights from street vendors, and she still wants to be the world's greatest belly dancer. It was truly a great experience for all of us and we'll never forget it.

If you have an adventurous spirit and aren't afraid of something slightly different then, Istanbul is the place for you. I've been to many cities and people often ask me which is my favorite. I use to say Prague but now I'm not so sure. Istanbul is certainly a magical place and I can't wait to go back home and tell everyone to go there.