Travelling with baby

Last month, we took a two week whirlwind tour of Canada. We crammed in a wedding, a 90th birthday, lots of visiting, and of course, introducing our wee man to the rest of the family. From Vancouver, British Columbia, to Kingston, Ontario, all the way up to the Yukon, we managed to cram in an unbelievable amount of visiting in the two weeks Stephen got off from school (we are now enjoying the school holidays and recuperating from our travel). While there are many great stories from each specific visit, I wanted to do a wee survey of how we successfully (read: no screaming by Hector or us) navigated our various modes of transportation - plane, train, automobile, and boat, to name but a few.

For a start, we booked our long overseas flight from NZ to Canada at night. This meant that we did our normal-ish bedtime routine in the airport lounge, boarded the plane and Hector went straight to sleep. Although we booked the bassinet seat, H-man did not like sleeping in it, but with the extra leg room, I was much more comfortable holding him the whole time.

On flights when he didn't sleep, we took it in turns to coral him up and down the aisle - making friends with many a passenger and many of the flight attendants (always try to use their first names, it's such an easy thing to do and so immensely meaningful). Breastfeeding him on take off and landing helped so much. Not continuously, but whenever he got a bit whiny (which I took to be weird feeling in the ears whiny). We were indeed lucky to earn the compliments of our surrounding passengers as to Hectors' quietness.

Once in Canada, we had planned to drive as little as possible, so we brought Hector's regular mountain buggy. I considered taking a smaller umbrella stroller, but the comfort of the reclining buggy meant that Hector could easily take the odd nap on the go so we could get more travelling done. Also, remember to bring your rain cover,you may not have family on the other end with an extra.

When we did drive, we rented a car seat along with the car. This meant we didn't have to lug one around and that we knew it was approved by the government safety people. We tried to do as little driving as possible, as it is our least favorite mode of transportation, but when we did, we were sure to have lots of toys and snacks available for all. And we made many stops to ensure bladders were not over stretched and legs were not under stretched.

We also did a little bit of bus travel in Vancouver. This was fun and easy.

Boats made an appearance as well. The only word of warning here is to hold onto your (and your childs') hat. We lost Hector's sun hat on our last trip over when a random gust of wind whipped it off his head - much to his delight.

Trains - our favorite mode of transport on this trip. We took the train from Kingston back to Toronto to avoid holiday traffic (and being in a car) and it was fun. We could watch the countryside rumble by, play with Hector up front in the luggage area where there was empty space, and generally, spread out. We even got cool paper train cars to take home and build.

 

Napping with mom and playing with dad. Good times were had by all.

Finally, we made sure to take time as a family to just relax. It was an intense trip and there are things we didn't get done, but we took time to just slow down and be together and this meant we didn't loose our sanity.
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Please Note: Stephen says I have made it sound like Hector didn't cry. He did. And the thing that got us through those rough patches was the idea that parenting while travelling is not about being good or bad parents, but simply surviving. If holding him while he slept is what he wanted, then by golly, that's what happened. If running up and down the aisle of the plane kept him quiet, then, hey, that's what we did (even the flight attendants believed this). Holidays are all about having a good time, including the little ones, so we just went with what made him happy - then we were all happy.

Welcoming Winter

Got out and enjoyed the first snow of the year with Hector, Anna, and her daughter, Eva. While we couldn't make it to the top with the snow everywhere, we enjoyed tramping through it along the way. The snow is quickly melting under a warm sun, but we've heard whispers of a 'hard, cold winter' to bring us more lovely white fluff.

Hector goes Canoeing (again)

 Over the school term break, we decided to head out on the water with Hector. As he is growing, Stephen cleverly thought to just hook up the clip-on high chair to the thwart of the boat. That way Hector could see what was going on. Awesome. Just toss on some blankets and you've got a cosy little seat. So all tucked up, we headed out onto the water.

Unfortunately, shortly thereafter this occurred . . . .

Pretty sure that is not a happy face. It turns out the downside of this cool seat is that one cannot sleep in it. Which is just what Hector wanted to do. So, after this shot was taken, Hector was whisked out of the high chair and cuddled by mom while dad paddled back to shore. Back on land, out of the enclosing grasp of the pfd, Hector fell promptly to sleep.

Lesson learned. Timing is everything.

Hector goes to the park

Out for a walk at The Groynes.

A gorgeous autumn day, sunny & brisk.

A perfect day for learning to fly.

Encountering the world in a whole new way.

A great day out with the family.

Another Step Forward

 This past weekend was the "Grand" re-opening of Regent Street. Before the quakes, this was a well-recognized part of Christchurch with lovely facades and nice pedestrian and tram only access. As demolition took over the CBD (central business district), there were (well justified) fears that all our historic buildings would be flattened. So it was great when it was decided that Regent Street could be saved. And after months of work, it was finally opening.

Yaahh!

Well. . . . . not so much.

Granted it was a rainy, rainy day. But with only three shops (of about 25) leased and open, it was a rather dismal and empty street.

If you look closely you can see some pompoms. They're celebratory. Right?

While there were very few people, the shops did look great (if a little empty). It will be great to see it once life has returned.

Our feelings towards the city rebuild today was well-represented by this graffiti face. Tired, drawn-out, and a little under-whelmed.

We had a great chauffeur for the drive home though. Which brought lots of smiles to our faces. As you can see, Hector is very alert to any other traffic.

After an underwhelming morning examining the city's slow progress around town, we had a slow afternoon ourselves. I suppose good things take time, and we are certainly enjoying our slow start to the autumn holidays.

6 Months Old

Tiny and new

One month old

Two months old

Three months old

Four months old

Five months old

Six months old

Man, they grow fast. Already halfway through the first year and he's changed so much. Pretty excited to see what the next six months brings.

Hector's Easter Weekend

Easter weekend, while distinctly un-spring-like, was gorgeous. So lovely in fact that we decided to go out camping in our brand new family tent. Stephen had been wanting to head out to Lake Taylor for months now, so we crammed the car full of stuff (literally, there was no view out the rear window and all untaken seats were taken) and headed out of town.

Lake Taylor is a few kilometres South of Lake Sumner National Park, down along a long dirt track and surrounded by sheep, cows, and loads of scrub. Two stations run alongside the lake, but access is open to the public and there is a DOC (Department of Conservation) campground at one end of the lake. And I use the term loosely, as the "campground" consisted of a fenced field with access to the water, a wee shelter with a map, and one outhouse. But the company was a pleasant mix of families out for Easter Weekend, travelers, and mountain bikers there for the biking.

We left town relatively early, much easier these days when wake up is around 6:30. Despite this, we still found ourselves in the long line of holiday traffic leaving the city at the start of the long weekend. This cultural more of city holidays was something I had only ever read about in books or seen in movies. So I was thrilled to be experiencing it firsthand - this was of course aided by the relatively short duration of the slow traffic. We did emerge from the melee of cars and turned down smaller and smaller side roads ending up on the gravel farm track that would take us the last 35 kilometres into the lake.

We arrived at the lake in time for lunch. And after a chat with a couple of dads who had already been there one night, we set up the tent in the recommended site to get out of the wind. Local knowledge is always something to take on board. Soon, our massive home-away-from-home was set up, the table was up, and we could relax in the warm afternoon sun.

Both Stephen and I were raised in families who camped. This was very different from the type of camping we were now doing. We could both stand up in our new tent. In fact, we could probably have swung wee Hector around without hitting the walls. We also stored all the food in the front room (yes, room, not vestibule, there were doors on all sides to keep out the sandflies) in order to keep the possums and rats away. The attached veranda (Kiwi version of the vestibule) allowed us shade and rain protection, eliminating the need to spend precious holiday hours setting up a separate tarp (there are some [dad] who would argue this is one of the enjoyable parts the holiday, but I get no end of teasing from Stephen for my mad tarp setting skills [don't worry, I will endeavor to still pass this unique skill set on to Hector]). And finally, our nearest neighbour was a cozy 3 meters away. We observed our neighbouring dads closely for more camping ideas (like using two plastic 4-drawer sets with a board on top as a kitchen set up for the stove - awesome). This fancy pants camping was definitely a skill we were looking forward to learning.

The weather on Saturday was absolutely glorious, with temperatures soaring to the low 20s on the Saturday. Perfect for a lovely morning paddle, a long run (for Stephen, walk for Hector and I) and a quick swim in the lake (for Stephen and I). In the evening, we cooked up a delicious Minestrone Soup and ate the requisite Easter chocolate for dessert. Hector enjoyed his avocado for dinner (after a tasty appetizer of camping equipment). After dinner, we got down into our bedtime routine (massage-mom story-dad story-snack-bed) and settled down for another night.

 On Sunday, after a glorious sunrise, we packed up our gear and headed down the road. We stopped to fish at the site of our camping equipment massacre (story not included here, sorry). Unfortunately, this only resulted in a car full of sandflies and a very unsettled little baby being bitten by nasty blood suckers. Eventually, we killed the flies, Hector went to sleep and we made it out to the smooth flat roads of the plains. Since it was still early, we headed to Hanmer for a soak in the hot pools. It was most satisfying to take Hector into the warm water and watch him enjoy the feeling of swimming. In fact, we were in the pools for almost an hour and he was still keen to stay in. But all good things must come to an end (a sad truth to have to pass onto ones child) and we drove back into town to spend the rest of the weekend relaxing at home.

I hope everyone had a lovely long weekend, whether you celebrate Easter or not. Cheers!