Packing it In.

I am a good packer for vacations. Mostly because, when I was younger, my mom believed early on that every kid carried her own bag. Whenever I take a trip on an airplane I have to decide between wearing my Frye boots (which are a pain to take off at security, especially if you have a laptop and a laptop bag and a baby and a stroller and a diaper bag and a jacket, all of which have to be placed into their own little tray. Except for the baby.) and packing my Frye boots, which take up approximately 1/6 of my suitcase and immediately make it weigh 400 pounds.

Leaving the Frye boots at home is not an option, so don't even suggest it.

So packing for this cruise is a little easier because you never have to pick up your bags! Isn't that awesome? Aside from all the environmental/cultural objections I have to cruising, the fact that I don't have to share a bag with Jack AND I can bring as many shoes as I want might make this my new favorite way to travel.

Also, babies need a lot of stuff. Not as much as people might THINK they need. For example, I was at Target yesterday, and they're selling this portable highchair thing. Picture a slipcover one might use for a dining room chair--a pocket of cloth that goes over the back of a dining chair. But it has straps so you can buckle your kid to a chair. For a second I thought that was REALLY cool. If you went to a restaurant that didn't have a highchair, this would be great. Then I realized that a) almost every restaurant on the planet has highchairs, b) there's no way that thing works with every chair on the planet and c) I could, in fact, just save my $20 and HOLD Jack should we eat at a place with no highchairs.

But even for an anti-stuff zealot, Jack's bag is going to be pretty full. In addition to a week's worth of diapers and wipes (I don't even want to know what they charge for those things onboard the ship) and enough clothes that he can poop copiously and still arrive back in Baltimore with at least one clean outfit, there are the swim diapers (required in the ship's pool), the bibs, the pack-n-play (when the PR guy tells you not to use the cribs on the ship, you listen), Denver the Blanket/Horse, his swimsuit and swimshirt, his sunblock, his hat with a chinstrap since he won't leave a hat on his head for more than four seconds, a few toys so he doesn't destroy the entire cabin, baby Tylenol (just in case), Orajel (just in case), sippy cups, crackers for when we're in port and he starts fussing...there's a LOT of stuff. We're not bringing any baby food since he can pretty much eat all table food by now, so that helps. I'm wondering if I should bring some Cheerios or if they'll have Cheerios onboard. Should I bring a ziploc baggie so I can put Cheerios in it? I am never without a ziploc baggie of Cheerios.

I've made a list and it is LONG. And it includes odd things like "notarized letter," since everyone seems to think I needed proof that I wasn't kidnapping Jack.

I'm pretty sure I won't be able to relax until we're well at sea.