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Our morning had an interesting start. Mia was up at 3:30 and screamed at me for about 40 minutes until I was able to calm her down. Slept for another 20, again took a while to calm her down, woke up around 5:00 and crawled into bed with Aaron who magically makes everything better. As we were waking up for another family day at the beach, I looked outside on our terrace, and there were 3 huge monkeys just walking by our sliding door. We did a horrible thing in leaving our room service outside on our patio table and they thought they would come by to check and see if we had any leftovers. Don‘t see that at home.
Breakfast buffet again downstairs. Equally as wonderful as yesterday. We still took turns eating so we could feed Mia, but we didn‘t get up and leave the area once for a crying girl. She (not entirely happy about it) let me feed her while Aaron ate and then sat on her dad‘s lap while I did. Post breakfast, we walked down a couple of steps and were on the beach for another walk exploring. Again, not happy about walking, but she does grab on to each of our hands and hold tight and I love that.
The ocean here is hot – like give Mom‘s 94 degree pool on a hot day a run for it‘s money – hot. Not refreshing at all, but it‘s beautiful and the pool is perfect. Nap time was another huge battle for a girl who wants nothing to do with me, but before long, her tense little body gave up fighting, melted into mine, and she fell asleep for about an hour on my chest – only to wake up screaming, of course, that she wants nothing to do with me. Fun fact though – she purrs like a cat when she sleeps and that‘s pretty adorable.
We went downstairs for a morning swim and she did pretty well as long as she was with Aaron. She seems to enjoy the water, but literally cannot be physically separated from us without being absolutely hysterical. With me, she is mediocre-ly hysterical. With Aaron, she stops crying instantly. It‘s enough to make a person insane. Lunch was out on the deck of the restaurant again today with palm trees overhead and waves crashing not too far away. The food is absolutely amazing here! And we‘ve had leftovers a couple of times that turned into our next meal on our outdoor terrace which isn‘t a bad thing when you have a screaming baby. She did really great at lunch, little bits of personality shining through, and she was happy to sit on Aaron‘s lap, feed herself, and started pointing to things to show us. And she happily accepted a bib for the first time. I think she‘s realized that it catches food that she drops, so she‘s now happy to put it on. I was so proud of her in those moments and it felt like we really made a breakthrough. And then it was nap time again.
Friends, pray for patience for me. I am doing fine right now, but I hit a breaking point earlier today. She fell asleep next to me again on the bed after a good long fight, but woke up screaming at me. Completely angry that I was there. I tried calming her down and let her know we couldn‘t go back to her Mae‘s house. I was her mom now and we were her home. She would have none of it. Screamed at the top of her lungs at me, pulling at my arms all the while to hold her closer in her anger.
I told Aaron to go enjoy a swim while we were sleeping, so he came back an hour later to this girl having the meltdown of the century. The second he walked in and she was able to get in his arms, she was perfectly content. I am feeding this girl, getting her bottles, getting her naps, changing her diapers, getting her ready for bed, doing her hair, loving on her like there is no tomorrow. Aaron goes for a nice relaxing swim and comes back as Mr. Wonderful to her. Aggravating beyond all reason. That‘s so life though, isn‘t it? Dads go to work. Moms deal with all the junk of the day. Dad comes home and is the hero. Gah.
We went for a family walk on the beach and she was happy as could be. We were literally the only ones sitting out in chairs under the palm trees, watching a humongous rain storm roll in over the mountains and over the ocean. It is hot as can be here, but when those storms roll in, I‘d give it downright cool and pleasant. We got a little nervous with how close it seemed to be getting, so we headed to the lobby and we had our first glimpse of a girl who might be interested in play.
I brought a stuffed sheep to play with that I‘ve saved since I was a little girl and she carries it everywhere – along with her pink elephant. She still makes room to hold our hands even when she is carrying stuff. 🙂 Anyways – I was just making the sheep run across a coffee table, jump up and kiss her nose, and we got some of the best smiles in that moment.
Leftovers on the terrace tonight so we could get ready to head out to Cicada night market tonight. We went last time with Ty, but it was so much better than we‘d remembered. Aaron got some mango sticky rice and coconut ice cream that he has been dreaming about literally since we were here last. There are tons of food vendors, specialty drinks, desserts, lots of shopping, street performers, and a couple of outdoor “theater“ areas showering the whole area in live music. Lights strung between the trees illuminate the area along with the lights of the vendors’ stalls. So much fun and such a treat to get out with Mia.
Aaron carried her in the backpack and she did awesome for most of the time, talking to us, waving at people as we walked by, and even giving me high 5‘s. Our hotel offered a complimentary shuttle to the market and on our way out of the market, Aaron stopped to take a photo while I held Mia. She screamed the whole time and reached out to the van driver, seeking solace from anyone but me. Makes a lady feel good, let me tell ya. I‘m afraid we have a long uphill battle through attachment with this one.
We are back at the hotel now and Mia let me rock her to sleep with no fighting tonight. There‘s a small victory there. She is sleeping just inside our open door as I write from a chair out on the balcony. Flower petals blow across the floor like fall leaves do at home. A lizard and some sort of bug are doing a dance on the wall in the corner. All is well again in the world and we are seeing progress in our girl, as small as it may be. It‘s only day 3 for her with us. I need to keep reminding myself of that. And yes, Ty couldn‘t stand us either right away and look how great he turned out. 🙂
Random bits for the day…
Mia has these amazing curls. I wasn‘t sure if it was her hair or the pigtails from the previous day, but it is definitely curls and they are adorable.
She still has dimples in her knuckles on her hands. They are a baby‘s hands, and they are so stinkin‘ sweet.
Dogs here – lots of them. There are strays that roam the beach, but there are also a lot of guests with Pomeranian type dogs. It‘s a little odd, but I feel less bad about a crying daughter at meals when there is a dog sitting nearby, for what it‘s worth.
Tools to document your day…
- Camera Phone (for easy pictures and handheld video)
- Mirrorless Camera (for wide angle & zoom options to add quality video and photos)
- SLR (for beautiful, intimate moments with your child and for the night market)
- Osmo Pocket (for adding smooth movement to your video – like walks on the beach)
- Go Pro (for interactive fun in the water at the beach and pool)
- Drone (for unique perspectives of the hotel and beach)
It’s another family day at the beach! We were super laid back again today. Aaron got some amazing shots with his drone, adding some unique perspective to our video. We played with the Go Pro and mirrorless at the pool, and used the SLR to explore the Cicada Night Market. This is how we roll, but it doesn’t mean you have to. Mix and match what is going to give you the best experience and level of documentation that you are comfortable with. Technology changes quickly, so we’ll try to keep you up-to-date with what is currently in our camera bag and the tools we are now using to document travel.
