We just got back from a spring holiday in our favorite travel destination Lagos, Portugal. This was our first family holiday with Sol and us solo so I was worried how we would do without any family intervention or babysitters to give us a break. We packed one snorkel, which sparked a little sadness in me, as Dom and I always snorkel in tandem and we knew it wouldn’t be possible with Sol in tow – someone had to watch the wee one at all times after all.
The flight to Faro was great, we met a few other families on the plane, one with a baby boy Sol’s age. We picked up our rental car and drove from Faro to Lagos with Sol passed out in the backseat. Everything was running smoothly and I started to feel confident in the coming days ahead.
We arrived at our usual hotel and the room I remembered loving in our single days looked like a giant hazard for a toddling baby. Everything had pointy corners, the tile floors looked hard and abrasive, just waiting for him to slip and fall and they had us on the ground floor right by the ungated pool. Perfect.
After a restless nights sleep I told Dom we had to move hotels. He broke the news to our host Marcelo and we moved across the street to the lovely Aqua Luz. The room was much better suited to a family and I felt better about letting Sol roam freely in the room.
We went down to the beach that morning after the room swap and spent a few hours playing by the sea until Sol decided he’d had enough and we headed back to our hotel.
Then came another fitful nights sleep. I couldn’t figure out why our child who was normally so easygoing and a good sleeper was acting up. He had all his usual comforts with him I made sure of that, what was I missing? Then I remembered something my mother told me when I was sleep training Sol. She said, “babies are creatures of habit.” It hit me then that I had disrupted his routine and he was just adjusting or protesting to the changes we had inflicted on him. So the next day I decided I would start a new routine for Sol and that’s when our holiday finally began for all of us.
We started doing the things we used to love as a couple, but with slight adjustments so Sol could also enjoy himself. I kept his nap schedule the same and we’d just let him sleep on the beach – what better melody is there than the sound of the waves lapping against the shore to rock you to sleep?
Sol loved crawling along the beach and feeling the texture of the sand. He also loved eating it!
I hope Sol grows up having the same love and respect for the sea and nature as Dom and I do. I have such wonderful memories of growing up on the Pacific coast and spending holidays in Lake Tahoe, Russian River and weekends in Stinson Beach and hiking in the Marin Hills. I so badly want Sol to grow up with the same opportunities to discover, explore and learn about the wonderful and beautiful world we live in.
