Beachy Baby

We survived our first road trip with our baby boy. We braved a 7 1/2 hour drive with a 3 1/2 month old who is quickly learning to voice his opinions about things. On the way down, he slept the whole way and then slept all night at the hotel. We were so proud of our "perfect" baby. As the days went on and his schedule was severely altered, our child went from perfect to not-so-perfect...to put it nicely. The last night we went out to dinner, Rodney and I had to box up our dinner and eat it cold in the hotel because Clinton was so loud with his screaming we were embarrassed to stay at the restaurant. Don't get me wrong, he was pleasant the first four nights we went out...but the last night was a doozie. And the ride home was even worse. I'm sure he had good reasons for crying....but it broke my heart and gave me a headache...and Rodney was able to cut the drive to 6 1/2 hours.

While we enjoyed being off of work and being away from home, I learned a whole new lesson about what vacations are like with children (well, a child)....especially a baby. My last few vacations consisted of relaxing over nice dinners, sitting back and having a few drinks, and enjoying some type of grown up activity...snow skiing, snorkeling, hiking. This trip, while nice, was more work than vacation. Every morning I had run through the agenda for the day to see what I needed to pack. I then had to get the baby dressed, get myself dressed (something I don't have to do everday with a home office), apply sunscreen to me and baby, get the baby fed (which Rodney helped with every morning), and then begin the actual packing. Bottles, premeasured formula, water for the bottles, extra outfit, extra diapers, swimmer diapers, wipes, sunscreen, pajamas in case we don't return until late, toys to entertain him, medicine for our teething child, sun hat, blanket, extra blanket, burp rags, Bumbo in case he wants to sit by himself, Johnny Jump Up in case he wants to play, Baby Bjorn in case I need to carry him around and my arms are tired, car seat because you can't go anywhere without it, and a cooler with every drink or bite to eat we might need in case a bar or restaurant wasn't near by. Then once all this was packed, we had to haul it to the car and head down the road from our hotel room to Rodney's family's condo. And while we were prepared for everything, the day was still dictated by a baby's schedule. Anytime Clinton got tired or fussy, I had to excuse myself from whatever activity the group was participating in to feed him or put him down for a nap. And my new, grown up swim suit was usually covered in slobber or spit up, while my hair was never fixed but securely tied up, out of my face in order to keep tiny hands from pulling it out of my head. Now I understand what I heard so many grown ups say growing up, "I need a vacation from my vacation."

Check out pics below.

Clinton with Daddy before we went out for our last dinner.


Getting ready to hike down to the beach...and I'm only carrying half the load...Rodney had the other half.


This sums up how mommy and baby felt about the beach...too windy, too sandy, too sunny. I think we lasted about 27 minutes before we packed everything back up and headed back to the condo.


Clinton "swimming" at the hotel. This lasted about 23 minutes before we had to pack it up and go back up to the room for a nap.


All ready for the first day at the "Lazy River". We lasted about 24 minutes before we had to pack it up and head back to the condo for a bottle...and then a nap.


...all pooped out.