We did it! We traveled with W. Were we nervous? Very. First of all, we never slept in the same room as him. Since the day we brought him home from the hospital, W slept in his crib, in his room like a good little baby. So to share a hotel room with no walls to separate us was going to be interesting. What this meant that we would have to go to bed as well. No TV, no reading....nothing. In bed by 9pm?? I haven't done that since I was 12!!
Also, the forecast showed that it was going to rain, rain, rain the entire week of our visit. Great. And what the heck am I supposed to feed him?! I mean, he can eat normal food, but do I really want to feed him all that salty crap this early on? No. The hotel doesn't provide a fridge for us (c'mon Westin, seriously?) so that was another issue.
But it was our first family vacay. And regardless of the concerns, I was soooo excited! As soon as W came into our world, I knew my sole job was to be a good mom. And as much as I want to keep him sheltered and protected from this cruel place, I also know that the best thing I can do for him is the show him the world and pray that every experience will only make him a more open-minded and empathetic individual. Something we could a lot more of, if you ask me.
How did it go?
It was awesome!!! W was sooo good on the plane. He loved looking out the window and walking up and down the aisle (not easy to do in a 737). When we finally went into the clouds, he kept pointing to the window, wondering where the cars and building went. He was so patient the entire time!! And even though it was freezing and we had to wait for our bags and rental car, he was all smiles and giggles. Sigh. What a trooper.
Why Seattle? Same reason as the last time, medical conference! Kekeke. P had his annual meeting there and we decided to make into a family affair. The northwest is so beautiful, we just had to let W see it with his own eyes.
As for the weather, well, it rained. I'm sure it did. But we didn't really see much of it! It kept missing us. Ha!! Maybe next time, Mr. Rain. We did see snow fall. For about 5 minutes. Through a window of a restaurant. Ha!! But even still, it was freezing cold!! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for getting W his Patagonia! He looked so cute in it and I think it worked because he was nice and toasty the entire time.
We went EVERYWHERE! It was so great to go back to all the spots I visited a few years back, only this time with my DS. Pike Place Market, yarn shops, Seattle Center, etc. But this time, we catered to our little one, too. We went to the Children's Museum( this place rocks!), the Aquarium(not so rockin), and, of course, the Woodland Park Zoo....twice! What a great zoo! Unlike LA Zoo, all the animals are visible. W finally got too see REAL animals! He waddled with the penguins, he growled at the lions and he mooed with the cows. So adorable!!! And this time, we had a car so we were able to see a lot more of Seattle.
There is one thing that Seattle is in dire need of. Korean restaurants!! Holy cow, we had an easier time finding Korean food in New Zealand than we did in Seattle. I don't know if it's because of Ichiro or what, but it's all about Japan over there. You'd think a city with so much cold weather would embrace a good bowl of hot, steamy soontofu. But nooooo. This made feeding W quite difficult. Towards the end of our trip, we did find a Korean restaurant, in a Japanese shopping plaza, of all places. Needless to say, we went back several times.
I wasn't sure if we'd get any sleep during this vacation. Like I said, We've never slept in the same room as W before. But he did surprisingly great. Each day, we'd come back to the hotel, change into our pjs and slowly thaw out. Read a few Thomas books and hit the sack. I'd rub his belly and sing to him in the dark(this was something new for me). Then it was lights out for us, too. Honestly, I got soooo much sleep!!! Not only did we go to bed super early every night, we'd bring W into our bed in the morning and sleep another few hours! It was blissful. I slept to the point of grogginess. Happily groggy. The best was seeing W look out the window, eating his Cheerios and drinking his milk. Add the morning paper and you'd think he was grown man!
The very last night, W got sick. He kept waking up and we kept soothing him back to sleep. Then around 4 am, I realized he had a fever. A bad one. I felt like such a shithead. Poor guy was burning up and he just obediently went back to sleep every time we asked him to. Isn't that amazing? I think most babies would cry and cry because they don't feel well. Poor P had to take a cab to a drug store to get medicine. Even though W was feeling like crap, he was still great on the plane ride home. He even fell asleep in my arms! It's been a few days since we got back and W is still sick.
Even though our trip ended on a sad note, I'm so grateful we got a chance to go. We REALLY needed a vacation. A change of scenery. We never have babysitters or leave W with the grandparents. NEVER EVER EVER! We've only been away from W for one night for few hours, and that was when he was already asleep. We've missed weddings, out of town visits, family gatherings, you name it, we've been MIA. We could drag our baby around at night with us, just so we could get out. We could dump him off on others, just so we could have some personal time or party with friends. But P and I share the same philosophy. It's just a few years of sacrifice before our baby doesn't need us this way anymore. I can't get this time back. That's what I always hear. Enjoy them when they're this little. Enjoy I will! W will never be this little or this precious again. So I don't mind giving up my time for him. And I think it's paying off. He really is a good boy. His patience and demeanor during our trip was proof of that.
We're so proud of you!!!! Mummy and daddy love you very much!
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