Packing for vacation, with all that extra baggage

√ Clothes, underwear, socks: check
√ Shoes and sandals: check

√ Overnight pull-ups for Max: check. I wonder when he's going to stay dry overnight. Still, it's awesome that he's potty trained by day. That was a long time coming. It'll happen in time, I hope, like other stuff has. Max has just started going standing up, another one of those milestones you'll never read in the development books but to us was headline news.
√ Toiletries: check
√ Gazillion bottles of sunscreen: check 

√ EpiPen: check

√ Seizure meds: check. We get the compounded kind; each dosage comes in a little silver packet.

√ Diastat in case Max still has a seizure: check. We had his blood checked a few months ago to make sure his body had good levels of the medication, and he's fine. It's been more than nine years since that grand mal. But I still can't get that picture out of my head of Max lying with his eyes half closed on our living room couch with his entire body shaking.    

√ Swimsuits: check. I hope Max will someday learn to swim. The coordination and physical strength required are beyond him right now, but at least he's comfortable putting his head under water and exploring. Sometimes, he puts his arms out, walks around the pool, and he tells me he's swimming. I say, "Good job!" 

√ Goggles: check 

√ Extra goggles for when the other pairs mysteriously disappear: check

√ Beer goggles: Bwaaaaa-ha-ha! Left those in college.

√ Books and magazines: check. We still like the kind you hold in your hands.
√ Mad Libs: check. They're how we pass time in the car.
√ MacBook Air: check. But will try not to use it. But may not succeed.
√ Cars 2 Lighting McQueen suitcase: check. While Max's obsession has now shifted away from Cars 2  to firefighters and fire trucks, he still adores that suitcase. He's had it packed for vacation for months now. A friend recently asked how Max's new thing for firefighters started. I have no idea, same as I have no idea about how he got into spaghetti, car washes or purple. It just comes upon him, and it stays. We'll be hitting a couple of local fire stations on vacation, since that is Max's idea of a Good Time. Visiting firehouses may take a little more time than purchasing Cars 2 merchandise on Amazon or eBay, but it is vastly cheaper.
√ Fireghter hat and outfit: check. The very realistic firefighter suit is from his occupational therapist and, yeah, I had to buy a bunch of red plastic firefighter hats on Amazon—I got the twelve-pack—but that's about as much investing I've had to make so far in this obsession, phew. Hopefully, Max will not request a fire truck anytime soon. Like, a real one.
√ Plugs for iPad and iPhone: check. Max has been obsessively watching fire truck videos on YouTube; he would sit there and watch for hours on end if we didn't pull him away.
√ Headphones: check. Max has been needing these less frequently now when we go to new places, but still wants them on occasion. They're like our restaurant insurance.
√ Cotton bibs for Max: check
√ That thingie we got at Five Below that makes instant slushies when you plop the three frozen plastic ice cubes filled with a mystery, possible lethal liquid into a cup filled with your beverage of choice and shake it, and which causes extreme fights if you only remember to bring one: check!
√ Extreme determination to relax: C-H-E-C-K

Image: Flickr/slolee