January 26, 2008

I'm leeeeaving on a jet plane...

So, I am officially a world-travelled Mum. Madness did well on the way to Australia, and from driveway to driveway it was a whopping 38 hours. Wow, go little boy. We had a 7-hour layover in Seoul, and ended up napping in some chairs.

I did learn some things. If you’re going on a long trip, say longer than two hours, take enough to eat and drink, but also order baby food on your flight. Depending on what they give you (Madness got some jarred fruit and yoghurt, and sometimes cold pureed green beans… ew), you can stow some of it away for snack times.

TAKE LOTS OF TOYS. (This isn't a header for the next section, it's just really important).

This will increase your handluggage amount. It will probably mean sacrificing the final Harry Potter book you were going to read on the plane. However, once you’re there and your baby will start to get bored, you will not care that you had to unpack and scatter Fisher Price Little People all over airport security, while running for your flight because you know you should be boarding first, and they’ve already started calling people.

If you feel comfortable enough with it, let people touch and play with your baby. We flew Korean Air (which apart from mashed cold green beans is highly recommended) and they loved, loved, loved Madness. Of course, his nature helped – he didn’t cry once – but the attendants would come and visit and play, meaning we could shut our eyes for 10 minutes or so before they had to go again.

By the end of the flight, he was in the kitchen, messing with their cupboards.

Once we landed in Australia, things went a little awry. We had a morning landing, so we had to make Madness stay up in the middle of the night, his time. He had no problem falling asleep at the end of the day, but he did wake up at 5:30am for the first week, which ended up being a real downer on our holiday. Cause man, we were tired.

Having my family take the load off was brilliant, too. My in-laws, thank goodness, are wonderful people, but it’s completely different with your own family, your own flesh and blood, that lets you relax more around your family in terms of your child.

It was a marvellous holiday.

In less travel wary news, madness sprouted six – that’s right, six! – molars while we were away. Four are through so far and I am not looking forward to the other two. Also, I bought him a pair of shoes yesterday. Sniff My baby boy is all growing up.

Which also means he’s started to Know What He Wants and How To Get It. I’m sorry, sweety, but yelling at me is going to get you precisely nowhere. Luckily, for all the whingey cries etc, Madness is still a very sweet-natured person. It just makes everything that much easier.

I do cuddle him when I don’t let him touch the oven and stove dials, though. Poor thing doesn’t understand that burns are bad!

It’s good to be blogging again. I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and New Year, and that 2008 is healthy and fun.

Fun tip: The ear plugs you bought for your in-laws late last year? Keep them for when your child starts Knowing What They Want. And you have to tell them 'no'

Serious tip: Stay as relaxed as you can when travelling. Do breathing exercises if you have to. If you stay relaxed, chances are your baby will, too.