We're back from Malolo Island, almost exactly one week early. Hi!
On the fifth day of our time at the resort, after :
1. I had hurt my dodgy wrist for the second time (this time it happened flipping up the toilet seat - go figure),
2. both the boy and I had suffered multiple insect bites (in my case, really nasty ones that turned into hives the size of Welsh mountains),
3. my skin reacted badly to the tropical-strength insect repellent I sprayed on my arms, following aforementioned insect bites and
4. Baby had woken up screaming her head off half a dozen times per night, for the fifth night running,
we decided that going home early wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
Don't get me wrong, now; Malolo Island Resort is a lovely place with postcard-perfect views, extremely friendly staff, warm seawater and plenty of opportunities for snorkeling and sea-kayaking (if you aren't hampered by childcare responsibilities). From the patio of our bure, we could sit and gaze at the hammock-punctuated horizon, eat tropical fruit and say "Bula!" to anyone passing by. All the staff were baby-friendly, and most of them took to Baby from the moment they laid eyes on her tufty hair and cute little sideways smiles.
Okay, the prices of everything from restaurant food to trashy women's magazines was exhorbitant, and there was the little matter of being promised a proper wooden cot when the resort only provides portacots, but on the whole there wasn't much to complain about.
Mostly, it was Baby's sleep - or lack of. She's a sensitive wee soul, and seemed to find the change of environment overwhelmingly distracting. The boy had to practically rock her to sleep for every nap and bedtime, and every night we'd be up every 30 minutes to 3 hours trying to get her back to sleep again. I think I must've given her about 8 breastfeeds in one 24 hour period.
Having said that, Baby had tons of fun - flirting with the staff (pretty Mia, who works at one of the restaurants, was a particular favourite), playing in the sea, checking out other holidaying babies and having 24-hour access to super-fun play-daddy. She even got to ride in a sea plane - how many babies can lay claim to that at 9 1/2 months?
But we're all glad to be home now; especially Baby, whose eyes lit up when she saw the mountain of familiar toys again.
7 comments:
Glad you had some fun. If baby was having fun with everyone else maybe she just doesn't like hanging around with her parents all the time, tee,hee..
Sounded like you got some fun in, even though you had one week less fun than you were supposed to. And I suppose at least you were able to make the choice about coming home - I was worried for a minute there that one of you had had an accident...
Sorry about the cold and the rain you've come back to, too. Hope Baby makes up for it by going to sleep more easily!
eb: yeah we did manage to have a bit of fun too - we just didn't manage to use the babysitting service like we'd anticipated.
beth: good for you - I hope you enjoy blogging as much as I do. I had a quick squizz at the photos on your blog and Eve is a very cute bubbua - she looks bigger than my daughter so you must be doing something right in the feeding department.
happy and blue 2: yeah, that must be it. Nah, she has fun as long as it's not naptime or bedtime.
editter: yeah, it was a beautiful day in Auckland when we arrived yesterday, then on the telly news it looked like we came home just in time for the rain. Blah. Baby woke up every two hours last night, but at least it didn't then take hours to resettle her.
Good to have you back in the blog-oh-sphere anyway.
make tea: thanks. I had to make do with a paper journal while we were away - on the plus side, you were all spared daily complaints about Baby's screaming...
juliabohemian: I knew it'd make a difference but I didn't know just how much. I guess we were lucky that the change in surroundings didn't stop Baby from eating and feeding.
I must say that it is reassuring to see that traveling with babies is possible.
portuguesa nova:we met several couples holidaying with their babies, though most of them didn't have to put up with quite as much sleeplessness as we did. Planning a family holiday already, huh?
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