Lessons learned
Now that we've successfully completed our first holiday with a baby, we've learned some things that may be helpful in the future
(1) When your friend meets the baby for the first time and says "oh, she's so funny-looking!", something was probably lost in translation from Spanish to English so you shouldn't let it bother you.
(2) It's pretty much a given that the baby will poop at the least opportune moments: right as the "fasten seat belt" sign goes on, just as your food is arriving, in the middle of the Alhambra. She pooped and we (and by "we", I mean "Gretchen") changed diapers in some spectacular settings.
(3) Same goes for breastfeeding, which is all the more interesting since breastfeeding in public in Spain isn't really very common. But when the baby has to eat and won't take a bottle, what can you do? The highlight was probably breastfeeding in the most famous courtyard of the Alhambra...regrettably I only took a picture of the courtyard and not the actual feeding itself.
(4) Despite baby outfits generally being smaller than a pair of my boxers, for some reason we ended up carrying twice as much luggage as we would have in the pre-baby days.
(5) If you don't want to bring along a full week's supply, it's amazing how much time can be spent just trying to find the right size diapers.
(6) Traveling someplace where children are welcome makes a huge difference. (In other words, Spain is a better vacation option with a baby than, say...Switzerland.) People would stop to say hola to Munchkin and kids were regularly running around at 9:30pm like it was noon. That made it not so bad when people stared when it was necessary to change her diaper or breastfeed (and I think most of the starers were probably tourists, not Spaniards).
(7) Sometimes you just have to trust people. In the chaos of Atocha Station, Gretchen had to open the stroller to change Munchkin, which was a challenge since she was holding her in one arm and I couldn't leave my hard-earned spot in line. Seeing her struggle, an elderly woman approached and offered to hold Munchkin while Gretchen opened the stroller. Handing your baby to a complete stranger in a train station can be a bit scary, but it was just what she needed. Later at a restaurant in Sevilla, the manager asked if she could walk with Munchkin--next thing we knew, she was parading her back to the kitchen to show her husband.
(8) Spanish sounds beautiful to a baby. And to adults, for that matter.
(9) Spending a little extra on hotels that are comfortable for you and baby is money well spent. I spent hours looking at hotel websites trying to assess whether rooms would be large enough for a crib and seeing if it looked like chairs would be comfortable for breastfeeding (I can't believe I even think about that sort of thing now).
(10) You can still do things with baby in tow--you just can't do as much. Back in the days of old, we might have a list of things we wanted to do/see, and we'd be out from dawn to dusk. Now we know to have one or two priorities and anything else is a bonus.
Now, after surviving our first holiday, we leave tomorrow morning for Amsterdam, where I have meetings this week. Gretchen is looking forward to doing some shopping, especially at her new favorite store, HEMA. Let's hope it goes as well as last week...
(1) When your friend meets the baby for the first time and says "oh, she's so funny-looking!", something was probably lost in translation from Spanish to English so you shouldn't let it bother you.
(2) It's pretty much a given that the baby will poop at the least opportune moments: right as the "fasten seat belt" sign goes on, just as your food is arriving, in the middle of the Alhambra. She pooped and we (and by "we", I mean "Gretchen") changed diapers in some spectacular settings.
(3) Same goes for breastfeeding, which is all the more interesting since breastfeeding in public in Spain isn't really very common. But when the baby has to eat and won't take a bottle, what can you do? The highlight was probably breastfeeding in the most famous courtyard of the Alhambra...regrettably I only took a picture of the courtyard and not the actual feeding itself.
(4) Despite baby outfits generally being smaller than a pair of my boxers, for some reason we ended up carrying twice as much luggage as we would have in the pre-baby days.
(5) If you don't want to bring along a full week's supply, it's amazing how much time can be spent just trying to find the right size diapers.
(6) Traveling someplace where children are welcome makes a huge difference. (In other words, Spain is a better vacation option with a baby than, say...Switzerland.) People would stop to say hola to Munchkin and kids were regularly running around at 9:30pm like it was noon. That made it not so bad when people stared when it was necessary to change her diaper or breastfeed (and I think most of the starers were probably tourists, not Spaniards).
(7) Sometimes you just have to trust people. In the chaos of Atocha Station, Gretchen had to open the stroller to change Munchkin, which was a challenge since she was holding her in one arm and I couldn't leave my hard-earned spot in line. Seeing her struggle, an elderly woman approached and offered to hold Munchkin while Gretchen opened the stroller. Handing your baby to a complete stranger in a train station can be a bit scary, but it was just what she needed. Later at a restaurant in Sevilla, the manager asked if she could walk with Munchkin--next thing we knew, she was parading her back to the kitchen to show her husband.
(8) Spanish sounds beautiful to a baby. And to adults, for that matter.
(9) Spending a little extra on hotels that are comfortable for you and baby is money well spent. I spent hours looking at hotel websites trying to assess whether rooms would be large enough for a crib and seeing if it looked like chairs would be comfortable for breastfeeding (I can't believe I even think about that sort of thing now).
(10) You can still do things with baby in tow--you just can't do as much. Back in the days of old, we might have a list of things we wanted to do/see, and we'd be out from dawn to dusk. Now we know to have one or two priorities and anything else is a bonus.
Now, after surviving our first holiday, we leave tomorrow morning for Amsterdam, where I have meetings this week. Gretchen is looking forward to doing some shopping, especially at her new favorite store, HEMA. Let's hope it goes as well as last week...
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