My adorable niece, Lucia, originally uploaded by *SuperstarSinger* Felicia Folinazzo.

Meet Pepina Dolce! Before & After, originally uploaded by *SuperstarSinger* Felicia Folinazzo.

Dallas - rescued from gang members, originally uploaded by Eldad Hagar (Please support Hope For Paws).

The owner of this photo, Eldad, is one of my contacts from Flickr, and, along with his wife, Audrey, runs the non-profit organization, Hope For Paws. They are based in Los Angeles where Eldad can often be found in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods rescuing injured or stray animals. The pair also rescues animals from shelters who are facing euthanasia. Eldad & Audrey open their home to these animals, pay for any medical attention, even surgery, that the animals may need, and work to find forever homes for the animals. How do they afford all of this? Eldad & Audrey have published a book, Our Lives Have Gone to the Dogs, that contains pictures of and stories about many of the animals they have rescued. The price of the book is $9.95, and 100% of the proceeds goes directly to paying veterinary and surgery bills, and to providing general care for all of the animals. I already have a copy of the book but my donations won’t stop there.

I would like to think that such an organization exists here in Chicago but I don’t know of one. Anyone know of something similar to Hope For Paws in Chicago?

Posted by Francesca

It warms my heart to hear a child say that she is interested in travel, especially at such a young age. The educational opportunities associated with travel are endless – and it doesn’t have to be exotic, international travel. Exploring within our own country, or even our own state, can be adventurous and cultural. A family with young children may not have many chances to get out and travel, so how else can we foster and promote a child’s desire to see and learn about the world? Toys and games, that’s how. M’s birthday is coming up so I wanted to get some travel-related gifts for her. While searching for such gifts, I found two awesome websites that sell travel-related items for children of all ages, games and toys that are fun and educational. The first is I’m A Good Little Traveler!; the other is Magellan’s Toy Shop. Amazon.com also yielded some wonderful finds, as well.

On another note, I am tired of people telling me, “Your travel days are over now that you have a baby.” Uh, excuse me, what? I beg to differ. Why are so many people of this belief? Why can’t we travel with our child, no matter how old she is? By the way, Lucia is 14 weeks old and already has been on an airplane. I’m sensible so I know that backpacking through Laos and Cambodia might not be the best trip to take with a toddler or young child. But why can’t we spend a week in Costa Rica? Why can’t we rent a villa in Italy? I refuse to believe that my travel days are over, and I know my husband feels the same way. There are plenty of resources available for traveling families, the first being BootsnAll. There is an entire forum on the message boards devoted to Traveling With Children. Through BootsnAll, I came across the article, 6 Ways that Traveling with Kids Can Actually Improve Your Travel Experience by Karen Banes, which made me feel a whole lot better.

My motto has become: Have kid, will travel. Don’t tell me I can’t.

Posted by Francesca

Posted by Francesca

Posted by Francesca

Pet peeve alert, originally uploaded by Francesca….

While I applaud the city of Chicago’s attempt to be multi-cultural, I am disappointed and annoyed as hell that the Chicago Park District didn’t do their homework. In the photo on the right is a close-up of the Welcome sign that is found in, I’m guessing, all of the parks in the city. The word “Welcome” is expressed in several languages, one being Italian, and it’s spelled incorrectly!! On the sign, it’s spelled b-e-n-v-e-n-u-t-t-i. The correct spelling is b-e-n-v-e-n-u-t-i, with one T. Someone should have double-checked the proper spelling before spending God only knows how much money on these signs.  And this city wants to host the Olympics… how embarrassing.

The two airlines I researched were American (my preferred carrier – frequent flier miles, baby) and Southwest. Both airlines offer “infant fares”, discounted prices for infant travelers whose parents choose to buy them their own seats rather than hold them in their laps. Ultimately, I booked with Southwest and the cost for Lucia to have her own seat was over $300. If I’d made the reservations farther in advance, I would have gotten a better price but it was so worth it. Traveling alone, I would be left with one free arm since one would be holding Lucia, and I never would have been able to handle her and the carry-on baggage. I definitely would not have been able to make her a bottle during the flight if she needed one. So the decision to pay the $300+ was an easy one. Moreover, the airlines and pediatricians recommend, for safety reasons, that infants do get their own seats since they are strapped in to their car seats, and then strapped in to the airplane seats. It worked out well for me because Lucia’s car seat is part of the stroller travel system: the car seat snaps into the stroller, and both pieces can be used separately and exclusive of one another if needed. I was able to use the stroller in the airport before boarding and that made everything so much easier. What’s also great is that I got to keep the stroller until the very last second. Airline personnel take the stroller right before boarding, at the end of the jetway, and gate-check it. When I got off the plane in both Phoenix and in Chicago, there was my stroller, right outside the plane’s door, waiting for me. All I had to do was snap Lucia’s car seat in and away we went.

Going through security is a different story, even with the TSA’s newly designated “Family Lane”. The lane wasn’t the problem; it was getting everything broken down and onto the conveyor belt with one hand, while holding Lucia with the other hand. I also had to keep hold of our boarding passes and my photo ID, and remove my shoes! At Midway, I was lucky to be behind a family who was very experienced with traveling with children. The mom helped me break down the stroller and even lifted it onto the conveyor belt for me. The same family then waited for me to get through the detector so they could help me get everything back in order before proceeding to our respective gates. I encountered the same situation in the security line in Phoenix. The family behind me helped me that time. It’s amazing how nice people are when someone, namely a lone female, is traveling with a baby. Even the TSA agents were nice! Speaking of the TSA, there are specific rules regarding what baby-related items are allowed on-board and specific instructions on getting those items through security. Check out this link before traveling with baby.

All in all, it was a pleasant experience. Sure, I was slightly stressed but, as I’ve learned in my early days of motherhood, I just have to take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand. I may not be able to complete some tasks as quickly as I did before, but it’ll get done eventually. That being said, I’m still looking forward to having a travel partner (Mark) the next time I fly with Lucia. It’ll be nice to have an extra set of hands going through security.

Posted by Francesca