We're going on a family holiday

Suitcase? Check. Holiday reads? Packed! Nails done - *sighs* no. Baby? Of course. Ever wonder what it's like to holiday with a baby? Me too; all the time! Not! I have never been so stressed or have I ever fret so much about packing the right thing, and the right amount of everything! Of course I thought of every scenario and packed the ENTIRE medicine cabinet. Armed with Calpol and the like, (basically the baby aisle of any supermarket or boots pharmacy) I stood feeling helpless over my suitcase. Not only because I was running out of space but also because I didn't know the first thing about holidays with a 10 month old! Bottles? Luckily she could make do with a few and I wasn't desperately reliant on the perfect prep machine anymore - we could just use a little bit of boiling water to dissolve the milk and top up with cold... So as long as I had a flask - shit the flask! I didn't know where the flask was, and it was coming up to 11:30 pm, the night before our 9am flight the next morning. #mumlife ?

Long sleeved, short sleeved tops and bottoms, change of clothes for sick, wee or poo, sleepsuits, swim nappies, normal nappies, toys, the HAND BLENDER... The LOT. But what might be more useful might be if I compiled a quick list of things I forgot. Just in case anyone goes on hol and might find it useful. Btw - baby milk and food pouches are totally ok to take on board a plane and there are no 100ml or less restrictions in place. So here's what i forgot:

1. Washing up liquid (for bottles)
2. Teat pipe cleaners
3. Sponge - because I was washing up with the toothbrush the hotel provided!!!!
4. Sudocrem (we ran out)
5. Buggy with a shade - we took a sun umbrella which was shockingly unhelpful

So aside from those, we had everything and we made our way to the airport. Long story short, a combination of relationship drama, baby drama and traffic drama led to us making our flight with LITERALLY only 10 minutes before check in closed! So it was no duty free shopping for me, or pre flight beers for Joe but a run (actual run) to the gate!

We made it. We sat comfortably on the plane, milk in hand, ready to give to Amelie to help with the possibility of popping ears during take off. No dramas there either - she was an angel. A (weirdly) wide awake angel despite the 6am start, but perfectly behaved. Aside from stroking the bald patch on the man in front, and a little wriggling around, she was perfect. Joe was living in a different world at this point still - and pre ordered a bottle of champagne which we wrestled from Amelie and eventually wedged down the side of him - making him freezing cold and very cramped for space. The actual cups of champs were either guarded incessantly or downed so as to avoid Amelie playing 'splash splash'. Then it dawned on us how irresponsible we must look - downing alcohol whilst clutching a kid - so I stopped drinking and Joe got basically a little past tipsy. So it was time for a family nap. Not long after lunch, (my lunch; Amelie ate my ENTIRE toastie except the crusts) she fell asleep. And I starved for another approximately 3 hours until we arrived at the hotel. But none of us were drunk, so we resumed our classy family holiday.

Normally I can't wait to dive into the cocktails (promise I'm not an alcoholic) on an all inclusive holiday.. This time I couldn't wait for a shower and a nap! Amelie had other plans though, so we went for a lovely late afternoon walk and got our bearings. The sun and heat had hit the spot, and so had the first (and only) gulp of holiday beer!  

Our adventures were great we got in some pool time, nightly visits to the children's disco -where Amelie learnt to shout and jump with excitement - and sunny walks coupled with sand play. We were loving life! I can safely say I feel 100% at ease with going out for a meal and I'm so proud to say Amelie mastered the art of chewing this holiday. The downside was that the restaurant meals were not low salt, low sugar or baby friendly and I had probably been way over generous with Amelies chocolate ice cream, mousse and sauce intake. She's allowed chocolate or cake or biscuits once a week and twice maximum... She'd exceeded her maximum allowance by the second hour of the plane journey, and had had a years worth of her allowance by the end of day 2 at the resort! Her fruit intake was on point though and we'd added watermelon and kiwi to the end of each meal - she was loving it! The staff, not so much as she worked out how not to spit and drop everything out of her mouth.

We hired a car too and got really lucky as it fell on Amelies nap time and we got to actually enjoy a couple of hours in the mountains as a couple engaging in adult talk. It was bliss! Best part? Joe and I were in the sun and the back of the car was totally shaded so for that, SEAT, Ibiza, I LOVE you (as far as cars go anyway) she pooed no joke, 4 times and kept to her usual 'once-the-car-moves-I-poo' trend.

Having had a really successful hour long coach transfer and plane journey on the way there, I was skeptical and worried for the way back.. But, she was great again and made our first family holiday officially a success!

We had a great time and came back very refreshed; albeit a little freezingg as it had snowed!