This morning it was reported that there would be 121,000 travelers through the local international airport today. That kind of news makes me even more grateful for the early Christmas trip we took closer to the beginning of this month: a fun and relaxing trip to visit my husband’s family on the West Coast of Canada.

It was a treat for us to sleep in (once we’d all adjusted to the new time zone!), explore the beach, nap, and catch up with family. It was also a great time for Jasper to have lots of time with both parents, to connect with his extended family, and to spread his wings a bit.

By the end of the trip, he was feeding Grandma’s cat completely independently, he was confidently carrying a step-ladder around the kitchen, he’d help make a lovely batch of blueberry pancakes, and he had happily adapted to a new washroom routine — carrying a little step-stool from the toilet to the sink for hand-washing, and back again. But it wasn’t just Grandma and Grandpa’s home environment that gave these opportunities for independence — actually getting to our West Coast destination and back, were huge learning and growing experiences for Jasper. Despite early mornings, strange rules (have you ever had to go through airport security with a toddler?) and somewhat stressed parents, Jasper loved traveling.

After our trip in August, I was once again pretty well prepared, with our backpack stocked with hands-on activities, many of which I wrote about earlier or can be found with a quick Pinterest search: stickers, books, etch-a-sketch, etc. Though we made use of many of things I’d packed, Jasper also enjoyed watching the screen on the back of the seat, opening and closing the window shade, and making friends with folks around us. This time around Jasper had his own seat, which made a lot of things simpler (including mama’s feeling of personal space and the addition of another baggage allowance). It also meant getting to operate his own seatbelt — similar to the ones the grown ups use in our car. No activity or treat or surprise I packed came close to comparing to the amount of time spent enjoying his seat belt.
The other awesome, can’t-leave-home-without-it tool in the arsenal was the suitcase. From the moment we arrived at the airport for departure, Jasper was in charge of his own kid-sized, rolling suitcase. We were including it in our carry-on baggage, and so he wheeled that little Franklin “oot-tase” all the way to the plane completely independently (something that probably couldn’t happen with a cute, ride-on Trunki suitcase). He was over the moon, and we didn’t have another bag to carry. Win-win. We saw a few other kids pulling their own suitcases, and they all had the same look of pride and determination.