Vacation...off to India!

Finally, the much awaited vacation is at our doorsteps. Less than 24 hours to go. I have been busy planning our trip, cleaning the house, shopping and more importantly packing the stuffs for a long trip.

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You know how difficult it will be to load our travel bags when Liya is around. I would say it is messier than you could ever imagine. Liya has a particular behavior- she won't share anything with anyone (but her teachers say the opposite). We have bought some gift items for our relatives and her cousins. If she happens to see any of them, they are not gonna get it any more. If she sees those once, we will never forget. So, even after reaching India, she would be remembering it and hence it would create mess. So we were strictly doing packing when she was asleep or off to daycare. So far she doesn't have any clue on what's there inside all these bags. We hope to unpack also while she sleeps, Insha Allah.

What I am much worried about is, sitting for such a long in airplane. It is challenging. Last time when we were coming here, she was too small and spent entire journey by sleeping in the bassinet. She is no more 'eligible' for a bassinet, but yes she has got a seat booked. We are flying from Buffalo ---{1 hours}--> IAD (Washington DC) --{13 hours}--> Doha (Qatar) ---{4.5 hours}--> Calicut (India). Nearly 19 hours of flight travel with little Liya is beyond my imagination- I am going mad thinking over it all the time. Plus we have 7 hours of delay in Qatar and prior to 3-4 hours we must report at Buffalo airport...Ya Allah! I am going nuts!!!

I am worried about her food too. Though I have opted for child special meal and the airline serves halal food,  I am not so sure that she is gonna eat that. Hence I am packing up some of her favorite snacks and fruits, as well. I have already taken few of her favorite books, a lot of crayons and print outs to color in, her building blocks. Her favorite puppy toy has been soaked (he he- I can't take it to public otherwise) in detergent and have to get it washed and dried tonight Insha Allah. I am also copying her favorite songs and videos into a thumb drive.  Thank God, I can connect flash drive to the persona screens in our seats.

Doggie getting ready for a bath.

Another annoying behavior I am worried about is that she won't let anybody touch her stroller, our bags etc. The other day, when I went USCIS office, they scanned my hand bag and this girl gave such a weird scream that the security guard was quite surprised. So, scanning or screening for our bags etc are gonna create another mess! In the security check area, if they ask to remove our shoes, belts etc, she is gonna behave really mad. She would never be able to think of giving out her sippy cup, shoes and belts to pass under the scanner...lol!

Did I tell you...? This is Liya's own backpack, stuffed with crayons and BBs.

Toileting is gonna be a big deal. Liya is a very early potty trained girl and these days she doesn't poop in the diaper. She can only do it in a toilet, I am not so sure that she will be comfortable in a fairly congested public toilet inside an airbus..:)

Everything in India is gonna be completely new for her. A lot of loving people waiting to see, hug, kiss and pamper her... vast area to play in.. never locked inside room..a lot of visitors... no carpets in the floor but tiles or marble flooring..., everywhere dusty, not centralized ac/heating system....after all a lot of mosquitoes buzzing around. But we are badly looking forward to a wonderful three week vacation and a lovely eid with family- Insha Allah!

We are gonna have busiest days and may not be able to blog so often. Stay tuned and listen to our vacation stories. IA!