Travel Anxiety

Will and I are two short weeks away from our trip to New Jersey to visit Lani and her brood (and Sonny, too!). I am already concocting a list that will eventually be a mile long of things to bring, do, and say in order to make our flight as smooth as possible. 6 hours is going to be a loooooooooooooooong plane ride...

Here are a couple articles/sites that I've found helpful:
FlyingWithKids.com
Traveling with an 8-17 month old by babycenter.com
Seven Secrets to Successful Travel with Young Child by babycenter.com
Flying with Small Children: Checklist of Questions to Ask Your Airline

This is Will's second time flying, and we are actually flying the exact same route and distance. We visited Lani and family when Will was around 7 months last year, but Hubby and I flew together with Will on our laps. That was tiring and stressful, but all in all, a decent experience. Now, Will is 15 months. He can run, scream, and definitely has a mind of his own, which usually doesn't like to be confined to a small space. And this time Hubby has to work, so I'm on my own.

I'm trying to get a list of things to keep him occupied during the flight(s). Here's what I'm planning on taking so far:
- Mini-DVD player - This is at the TOP of my list. He is in love with Toy Story right now, so that will already be loaded and ready to go. I really hope Buzz Lightyear comes to the rescue for me on this one...
- Fruit & snacks - My boy is a fruititarian and would eat only that all day everyday, if I let him. I'll be sure to pack good fruity snacks for the flight to keep his little jaws occupied.
- Woobies - We lovingly call Will's woobie, Rupert (after Stewie Griffin on Family Guy and his love for Rupert...). 1 for the diaper bag, 1 for my check-in bag, and the 1 he'll be carrying. When it comes to Rupert, you can never have enough back-ups.
- Binkys - Will doesn't usually cruise around town with a binky in his mouth, but he does use it to calm down and fall asleep. I will have to locate as many as possible so I have several back-ups, since these are one of his favorite things to throw when he's cranky. On that note, sorry in advance to whoever is sitting in front of us on the plane.
- Books - We're really into reading right now. I'll have to grab a couple of the smaller cardboard books for the flight.
- Toys - Probably a mash of cars, blocks, and a ball or two.

Anything else you can think of? I'd greatly appreciate any other ideas and advice!

In the meantime, I'm going to pray that it's not a full flight and that we can get an extra seat, or maybe even the whole row to ourselves so he can have a little bit of wiggle room when the fasten your seat belt light is off. A Tuesday morning flight shouldn't be crowded, right? RIGHT!?!