Travel Tips

As requested by Teresa, a few travel tips for flying with a toddler. Here's a website that was really helpful: http://www.flyingwithkids.com/. And a few of my own tips:

AIRPLANE - Call and let them know that you'll have a baby. That way, they will have baby food and other goodies prepared. Japan Airlines even provided diapers. Ask if the plane will have a changing table and bassinet.
Also ask for their seat dimensions to make sure your carseat will fit. Ours was wider than their seats, but they let us use it with the arm rests up. They weren't going to let us at first, but I told them that I got permission over the phone beforehand.
Japan Airlines has a Family Room at the Tokyo airport, but it requires reservation. I didn't know about it until it was too late. Take advantage of this, the room is a nice quiet space with toys and kids stuff.
Also, Japan Airlines has a snacks "buffet" but they don't tell you about it. On a counter near the flight attendant stations, there's a basket of snacks and drinks.

TOYS & BOOKS - I've heard take one toy per hour of flight, and gift wrap if baby like to unwrap things. We only used about half the things we brought. Make sure they're accessible, not in the overhead compartment. Doodle board works wonders. Our plane had books, so we probably didn't need to bring as many as we did.

EQUIPMENT - Bring a cheap umbrella stroller and check it in. Take a hiking backpack carrier if you have one. Get a carseat carrier/bag with wheels. (Unfortunately, I can't find the website where we bought ours.)

EARS - Have the baby/toddler eat or drink something during ascent and descent. We were really worried that JJ's ear would be painful with pressure, but he was okay with goldfish crackers.

The only thing that we really didn't anticipate was the seat kicking. We felt really bad for the people who sat in front of JJ. I think the only way to remedy this is to sit in the front row or install his seat in the middle seat, but I think it's their policy to car seats at the window seat.