The whole month leading up to vacation I was what one can only describe as a crazy person. I was obsessing over EVERYTHING! This was the first time my son ever slept away from home and away from his crib (which he loves, and I will talk about in another post).
The following bullet points were some of my worries. I will address each...
- food changes and challenges
- worrying about packing clothes without having a washer/dryer
- overall being grossed out at a hotel room
- is he going to sleep in the hotel room?
- his schedule
FOOD CHANGES & CHALLENGES
Let me start from the beginning. My son went for his 6 month check up on June 29th (the day after he turned 6 months)... it was at this time that Sal's doctor told me that he wants him on ALL table food by 9 months... PANIC...EXCITEMENT... at this point my son was only having cereal once a day. Let me just say...I LOVE my son's pediatrician...because he's awesome, so, I trust him. This was a Friday and by Monday I was ready to start with the purees. They were a HIT! Move along a month, and I noticed that my son is consuming less formula. Out of concern I call the pediatrician ( I must be the annoying mom that calls) to ask about that and advice regarding vacation and food BECAUSE, up until this point, my food plans must have changed three times.
1st- make a bunch of ice cubed purees to bring with me
2nd- make ahead a whole bunch of food to bring
3rd and final- bring a hot plate to make fresh food and a flat hand grater (I'll explain)
According to my son's doctor, his progress was AWESOME and would probably be on all table food within a week, (from this call) which made me panic slightly. Let's just say that I was not thrilled at the idea of my son already eating food from a restaurant hence the hot plate.
For our vacation, I ended up bringing fresh organic fruit (yes organic...I don't push it on anyone else, but it makes me feel better for my child AND my husband needs it as well), a hot plate, and a flat hand grater.
THE FLAT HAND GRATER
First of all...my new best friend. Considering the fact that my baby is beyond purees but not yet ready for whole solid pieces of certain fruits, I had to come up with a solution... and that solution is the hand grater. I googled until it felt like my eyes were going to pop out for a solution to my problem and there was NO SOLUTION, Everything I found was either for purees or Baby Led Weaning with whole pieces of raw fruit that made me uncomfortable. I'm still not sure how I stumbled upon this idea, but it works like a charm. I used this for apples and pears whether they were being mixed in yogurt or cereal or simply were eaten on their own.
In the end, the food situation was fine. The Saturday before we left I made sweet potatoes and a crock pot recipe that consisted of chicken breast and carrots. This made so much that I had more than enough while I was away and still froze some cubes for when I got home. I made Sal eggs and cheese for breakfast some days, pastina with cheese and carrots for lunch, and had the chicken mixture and sweet potatoes. He was a very full and happy little boy.
PACKING
Well safe to say that I 100% OVER PACKED. I was so afraid that I wouldn't have enough that it compelled me to literally pack Sal's entire wardrobe. I packed 5 rompers, 5 outfits with a short sleeve and shorts and then 5 pairs of pants. Not to mention, 5 pairs of pajamas, and his 3 bathing suits. Not having a washer & dryer REALLY freaked me out. In the end, he had more than enough clothes, and I ended up washing EVERYTHING when we got home.
Dear Lord the cleaning I did when we got home...My husband is lucky that I didn't put him in the sterilizer :)
HOTEL ROOMS
Yes, I do mean hotel rooms. The first night of our vacation was spent in one room on the 1st floor and the rest of our vacation was spent in a different room on the 3rd floor. Why would we want to change rooms and drag all of our stuff up three flights of stairs...one word...balcony. My husband and I knew that we would be in our room from 7:30 on because that is when our son goes to sleep, so we wanted to make sure we weren't sitting in the dark staring at each other; hence, the balcony.
I'm someone who gets grossed out by anything and everything (except my baby- he can literally do anything). So, needless to say, hotel rooms skeeve me out. However, I will say, the Engleside Inn in LBI was VERY clean. I went over the surfaces, floor, and bathroom, and everything was clean. This was a huge plus. The next challenge was whether or not my son, who sleeps beautifully, would be able to sleep on this trip.
SLEEPING
As soon as we got to the hotel and room #1 my husband and I got our son situated. The pack n play was up with a new sheet and mattress cover (if you could even call what they put in a pack n play a mattress; it's a zipped up covering over three pieces of cardboard). I set up the monitor and placed Sal inside. He immediately wiggled himself to be underneath the changing topper and smiled at us like he was in his own little fort. My husband and I went outside of the room and waited...about 10-15 minutes later Sal was sleeping, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
For the remainder of the trip, Sal slept soundly in his pack n play. The air conditioner was so loud that it could be considered a white noise machine in itself, but I still put on the one that I borrowed from my mother in law.
SCHEDULE
For the most part, Sal's schedule was pretty much the same. The only thing that changed was his bath time and afternoon naps. On a typical day Sal's schedule is as follows:
6:30/7:00 am- Wake up
7:30 am- Diaper change and Bottle
8:00/8:15 am- Breakfast
9:00 am- Morning nap (usually anywhere from 1-2 hours)
12:00 pm- Lunch
1:30/2:00 pm- 1st afternoon nap (usually 1- 1.5 hours)
3:00 pm- Bottle
4:00/4:30 pm- short nap (30-45 minutes)
5:30 pm- Dinner
6:30 pm- Bath
6:45 pm- Last bottle & story
7:00 pm- Bed
Vacation Schedule
6:30/7:00 am- Wake up
7:30 am- Diaper change and Bottle
8:00/8:15 am- Breakfast
9:00 am- Morning nap (usually anywhere from 1-2 hours)
12:00 pm- Lunch
***After lunch we went to the beach or by the pool to meet daddy and my in laws
3:00 pm- back up to the room for bath and bottle
3:30 pm NAP until about 4:30/5
5:30 pm- Dinner (we would go to a restaurant and Sal sat in the best portable high chair EVER
7:00 pm Bottle, story, and bed
By the last day this mama was TIRED and ready to go home, but, putting being tired aside, it was a great vacation filled with so many new memories.
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