Christian, Sophie and I spent last week in Barbados, the exact same place where we honeymooned (belatedly) this same time last year. While the country and the people were as welcoming as ever, the main changes I noted were:
- Last year I could read books and watch magazines during the flight. This time I could still do both, but Christian and I had to constantly be on the alert if Sophie cried, getting fussy, or there was turbulence. We then had to stand, haul her out of the cabin cot and strap her to me or head to the bathroom to change her. Not a lot of nap time for me either!
- We didn't get to roam around as much on foot or by car this time around. A lot of what we did revolved around Sophie and her sleeping-eating-nappy filling schedule.
- A typical day last year would be us waking up at 9am to catch surfing lessons at 10am, then coming back in land after two hours of surfing, eating a hearty lunch and driving to a different beach to chill out everyday. We'd then pick a place for dinner and head out at 7pm, and stay out as late as we wanted. A typical day this year was waking up at 8am, feeding her until she went back to sleep, waking up at 10 or 11am when she did, dressing her in her swimsuit and lathering her up in sunscreen for a morning swim. Feeding her again at 230pm and lathering her up again to go to the hotel's beach area. We'd stay until she got hungry again at 5pm, then head inside, feed her and get ready for dinner while she snoozed. We'd either eat at the hotel restaurant with her in tow, or take out from Oistins to eat in the room while we took turns holding her in our laps when she fussed. Then it would be bath time at 8 or 9pm, bedtime at 10pm, and morning feedings at 3 and 6am.
- The time I spent in the sun last year was A LOT in order to get a good "holiday" tan. This time around I had to stay with Sophie all the time so I was also hiding from the sun, choosing loungers that was either under a low palm tree or under the big shadow of a beach umbrella. Christian managed to get a bit more tanned because of his surfing lessons though, but he is still nowhere as tanned as he was last year.
- I was able to take surfing lessons last year. This year, I was on baby duty! No surfing, but a lot of sleeping when the baby slept!
- Last year I bought 7 books on holiday and finished it within the two week time frame we were in Barbados, and I still had to buy a book at the airport to read on the flight home! This year, for one week I brought three books and barely managed to finish all in 7 days.
Still, the biggest change is:
Last year we were only thinking about having a child, this year we have one who runs our days and nights, squeals in frustration when she is lathered in sunscreen (she probably feels like a marinated piece of meat), and acts up in the most romantic restaurant because she is bored with the candlelit ambiance. As I scooped her up for the nth time to rock her back into calmness, I realized that there was no where I would rather be, and nothing else I would like to be doing.
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