To Japan and Back

Noah survived his flight, his first trip overseas, his first visit with his Japan grandparents, and his first time eating natto. It was a great trip with lots of family -- all of Akira's family visited with us and my family came to Japan, too.

Prior to the trip I definitely over-packed and over-prepared, but better to have things just in case when it comes to traveling with a baby. Diapers, four different kinds of wipes, bottles, food, blankets, clothes, toys, burp cloths, medicine....and that was all just in the hand carry. Fortunately, there were no major meltdowns on the flight going or coming back. Although he didn't sleep on either flight as much as we would have liked.

Traveling to Japan, well, Tokyo more specifically, was definitely challenging. It is not the most baby friendly city. It's hard to find the elevators at many of the stations if you are using a stroller, and there are tons of staircases, many of the restaurants don't have high chairs, and the ones that do don't have a buckle to secure the child down.

To anyone who is going to travel to Japan with a young child, what pointers would I give -- I would probably say, unless you are going to visit someone or need to go, choose another destination and/or wait until your child is older. I wouldn't do it again with Noah if his grandparents weren't there. Don't get me wrong, I love Japan and Tokyo. I lived there for five years, I just didn't love going there with my baby.

We were able to enjoy the cherry blossoms with Noah though. And took this great picture with him. The real purpose of our trip was for Noah's baba and jiji to spend time with him though, so the purpose was served. Akira's parents really enjoyed their happy smiley grandson and already miss him. We are hoping this will convince them to come down to Hawaii in June for Noah's FIRST BIRTHDAY! Just a few months away....