The Gaga Diaries

1) Babies are capable of staying up 13 hours with only 30 mins of napping if enough stuff is going on that distracts them. Oy. Travel days seem to last forever! 

2) You get a lot of sleep when your baby, the world’s lightest sleeper, conks out by 8pm every night in your hotel room.  

3) You also get first dibs at the buffet breakfast the next day when you wake up at 5:30am while on “vacation”. 

4) Going to both the pool AND the beach constitutes a busy day.

5) Babies love pico de gallo and some have even been known to eat it by the bowlful whenever it is placed in front of them. 

6) Going to the beach isn’t quite the treat one’s parents imagine it will be when you hate sand…

…with a passion.

7) Sand isn’t quite so terrifying when you are wearing shoes.

8) Even if you hate sand, it’s pretty hard not to love the water.

9) You don’t always need to speak the same language to make a new friend. 

10) Just when you are finally starting to adjust to the time change and your new vacation schedule, it’s inevitably always time to go home.

Thanks for the memories Cancun! 

I guess you could say sometimes I do things a little backwards.  While I never went to Cancun for spring break in college, I did go there for nine glorious days with my baby and my husband for our first official family vacation last week. 

We actually co-vacationed with Baby Gaga’s cousins and uncles, as well.  

Believe it or not, if you time things right to ensure you miss MTV and all the college coeds, Cancun can be quite the perfect place for a tranquil, rejuvenating, family-friendly getaway! 

While in Mexico I learned that vacationing with a baby is definitely a lot different than when it used to be just Papa Gaga and me.  

We slowed waaaaay down and did a lot more vegetating and a lot less go-go-going than we used to.  

We also returned home almost as pale as when we left.  We definitely sought out shade at all costs for the especially fair-skinned, redheaded member of our family! 

Our first vacation together sure was a lot different than our Papa Gaga and my previous vacations as a twosome used to be.  While a part of me was a little sad that we didn’t get to experience beachside massages, swimming with dolphins, or rappelling down ancient pyramids, more of me was thrilled to be able to witness the looks on our son’s face as he dipped his toes in the Caribbean Sea, listened to a mariachi band during dinner, or tried papaya for the first time. 

One successful family vacation down and hopefully many, many more to come!

In case you still haven’t figured out where we spent our first family vacation, here are a few more hints to keep you guessing while this mama sorts through photos and tries to get her head above all this laundry! 

Last week the little guy got his passport stamped for the first time at 13.5 months old. 

We packed up our suitcases for our first family vacation together, which also happened to be out of the country. 

Nine whole days of this.  I’m already having withdrawals. 

Any guesses where we were?? 

                                               A is for Apple 

Oh yeah… I’m a little late, but check out what started right after the New Year! We have gates blocking all our stairwells since they are quite steep.  We can’t claim credit for the amazing baby proofing, however, since the truth is we were quite lucky to move into a place where the previous inhabitants had three small children of our own. Hallelujah! But when we were over Baby Gaga’s grandparents’ house around the holidays he suddenly beelined it for their stairs and we learned about this hidden talent of his.  How do babies all seem to know exactly what to do when it comes to stairs even if they’ve never climbed them in the past?! Impressive little things. 

                                           Sleepy marshmallow.   

Last weekend we went to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants to partake in their dim sum menu for the first time.  Papa Gaga and I are big dim sum fans, but we realized we had yet to introduce the little guy to the wonders of these delicious little plates.  

Attention baby-led weaning parents: dim sum is awesome for your little eaters!  With the exception of the saltiness (just be sure they chug lots of water throughout the meal), everything was perfect for Baby G and he seemed to really enjoy how easy it was to pick up and taste all the new things on his plate.  He especially loved the steamed pork and vegetable bun (we had to place another order just for him!), grandma’s pie (like a scallion pancake with sauteed bok choy?), and the soup dumplings with juicy pork filling.  

But this, by far, was his all-time favorite part of the meal: 

Sesame seed rice balls.  Papa Gaga and I weren’t too nuts about them at this place, to be honest, but Baby G thought these were UHmazing! The sesame paste filling almost looked like dark sand, which might be off-putting for some adults, but for little babies who don’t know any better, they were absolutely delicious. 

And then there were the fortune cookies, another one of my boy’s favorite treats.  I love that his favorite sweets at least aren’t sickeningly sweet things.  He actually grabbed a chopstick to try to get to them since they were a little beyond his reach.  

Smart boy… it worked.  Success!! 

His fortune couldn’t be more spot on, if you ask me. :) 

We weren’t five steps away from the restaurant before he conked out.  He even let me transfer him to his crib once we got home without batting an eyelash.  That *never* happens. I guess that’s a sign of a full, happy, sleepy boy! 

                                   Every day Baby Gaga seems to be picking up a new word or two.  It’s pretty exciting! Even more exciting is watching him comprehend what they mean as he’ll point to things he sees in the real world and define them when he knows what they are.  Next up on the vocab agenda: “doggy” and figuring out how to explain to a 13-month old that not all furry little creatures we let roam around our houses are called kitty.  

I accidentally left a spatula on the dinner table while I was emptying the dishwasher earlier in the day.  Baby Gaga reached out and got a hold of it while we were all eating dinner. 

He then proceeded to try to eat his enchilada, rice and beans with it for the rest of the meal.  

Which, of course, he thought was the funniest thing ever!

I’ve got to admit, it kind of was.  I just love watching his little sense of humor develop more and more these days.  

                            Wow. I guess he really couldn’t wait.  

I don’t plan on taking my son to eat at a McDonald’s anytime soon if I can help it.  But taking him there for (a few sips of) a very important drink is a whole other story. If you haven’t connected the dots yet, maybe this will refresh your memory.  

A boy needs his dairy, right?! And if you happened to read CNN earlier this week, then surely you saw the most exciting news story I’ve seen in a while: McDonald’s Shamrock Shake is currently available nationwide baby! You’re welcome.  

I just realized we don’t have many any pictures of the little guy frolicking around in white stuff this winter since, well, basically there hasn’t been any.  But that is OK with me! I think our biggest “storm” in the city this year has been about two inches and even that melted the next day.  We’ve been taking full advantage of this unseasonably warm weather in which we’ve experienced many springlike days with temps in the 50s.  Woohoo! It allows us to go to the park and do fun things like this… 

And this.  

Because really, who wants to push their shopping cart in the snow? Psssssh! 

The little guy isn’t quite walking on his own yet, but he is cruising up a storm.  

Getting closer and closer every day. 

I know it’s just a matter of time. 

And before I know it my little baby isn’t going to feel like such a baby anymore, is he? 

Lately Baby Gaga has been indulging the whole family in his new huggy/cuddly phase. Each instance is somewhat short-lived before he pushes away (nothing personal!) and is ready to go off exploring the world again.  So we’re all soaking it up while we can.  Here Bampy (Grampy) can be seen experiencing the wonders of Baby Gaga cuddles the other night. I snapped this picture quickly using my phone and love the expressions I caught on both of their faces.