Baby in a car. 7 hours with baby in a car. Check. Check.

When Baby G was ten months we had to attend an AGM at Chickmangalur which is about 6 hours from where we live according to Google maps. Sometimes I wanna hit Google maps for not accounting traffic and the road conditions. This was one of those times. It was easy planning and packing.

Baby G was crawling now so he would be an additional wiggly in the car. We had tried the baby seat so many times but he wouldn't sit. We just took it along I case he would.

I realised one thing. Many parents have this beautiful thought of dressing up their babies in their finest when they r going somewhere. Good thought when you are travelling close but when travel is more than 1 hour, dont use jeans, lace and tutus. Babies are mostly uncomfortable because fabric cause heat and is a little pokey pokey. Its best to just stick to a tee, diaper and loose shorts. Also, mummies who choose to wear tight clothing, opt for track pants. They are a blessing which we dont appreciate much. Forget duppattas, forget your loose hair, forget uncomfortable lingerie. Just stick to track pants and a tee.

We started from home around 6am hoping to reach by 1pm. We ended up reaching at 3pm. Late, only because I got motion sick and had to change clothes in the car. My bad to have opted to wear a denim. We stopped for breakfast and once for baby G to have his lunch.

We started from Tirupur and till we reached Hasan, the drive was boring. Only after Hasan did the scenery get beautiful with farms all along the way. We checked in and had lunch. It was drizzling the whole time we were there and it was too cold to use the pool. We sat by the pool and had some 'our' 
time (which also included me pushing Padhu inside the freezing pool). 


We were indoors most of the time. Baby G enjoyed his long baths in the hot tub. He would float all his bath toys and play till he got sleepy.

Padhu took over G for a couple if hours, while I got a massage. They apparently floated all the bath toys in the pool and watched them.

The resort was beautiful. Coffee and pepper plants everywhere. Their buffet spread had porridges and boiled vegetables one day and boiled oats the next. I had no problem finsing food for baby G. It wasnt the apt time to go with a baby with all the rains the place was seeing but we had fun nevertheless.  

Our drive back was tiring. The traffic was thicker and we stopped at Mysore for a whole hour that added to the delay. He didnt use his car seat throughout. We figured the one thing we invested in in a big waste.

Travel with baby in a car for seven hours - check.

Travel with baby who refuses to sit in a baby car seat for seven hours - check.

Nailed it!

Of first vacations..

Everyone says it is difficult to travel with a baby. Well, they are right.

For the determined, a trip with a baby is a fun thing. Otherwise all it needs is organization and sensible packing. A two hour drive will not require a lot of work cause the baby is probably going to fall asleep. However organized and well planned one can be, your baby always ends up surprising you anyway. Here goes my travel diary with my one year old.

Gnan, my son is a sleeper. He is cranky when he gets hungry and just dozes off when he is sleepy. As wonderful as that sounds, it comes with some twists. Baby G hates being indoors. Id blame myself for that causr I made sure he got his morning and evening walks everyday and the only known time he was indoors, he was asleep. So sitting in a car while awake was a task! He loves music - thanks to my mum who saved the Preethi Sagar rhymes cassette that I listened to when I was one. Anytime he would get cranky in the car, I would just start singing rhymes and enacting them and he would be alright.

Travelling with him while breastfeeding was easy. When he was 6 months, we took a trip to Ooty. Blessed as I am, he slept through the 3 hours uphill and downhill. The only solids he had started eating by then was bananas, so I made sure I had a few for the weekend. Our trip fell on the Easter weekend so there were songs on speaker throughout and Gnan enjoyed them. We discovered his love for music then. He liked any music not just rhymes!! I carried a bunch Of his toys and two huge rubber sheets that I had stitched in case we went on a picnic. The temperature made his sleep cosy and he had his playtime outside as well.


There were swans, puppies  horses and cows so baby G didnt miss his outdoorsy times. He watched the cows like he did at home and he was comfortable throughout.

We took a horse ride and at the end of the ride he was asleep with the continuous rocking on the horse's back. We were lucky again, and we just put him to bed. He didnt move for over 4 hours. When he did wake we went for a walk in the woods and spread out the sheets for a little picnic.  We played with him and took pictures.  It was a lot of fun to spend quality time with the boys. It was just 'our' time! We got back with no complaints except that we couldnt find button roses for our garden at home. Ootacamund for 3 days at 6 months - Nailed it!!There were swans, puppies  horses and cows so baby G didnt miss his outdoorsy times. He watched the cows like he did at home and he was comfortable throughout.

We took a horse ride and at the end of the ride he was asleep with the continuous rocking on the 
horse's back. We were lucky again, and we just put him to bed. He didnt move for over 4 hours. When he did wake we went for a walk in the woods and spread out the sheets for a little picnic.  We played with him and took pictures.  It was a lot of fun to spend quality time with the boys. It was just 'our' time! We got back with no complaints except that we couldnt find button roses for our garden at home. Ootacamund for 3 days at 6 months - Nailed it!!

8th time's a charm.

I'm that someone who is always arguing about how every is friendship day, Mother's Day, Father's Day etc. I have this amazing friend of mine who once surprised me with a bouquet that said 'Happy Everyday' exactly the same time I surprised her with a card that said the very same thing. I love her. I truly believe in everyday being a wonderful day. One day needn't be celebrated, unless one wants to do all the mushy random stuff everyone does. To me, these days are for retailers who wants to sell off those old products and to those innovators who come up with products just to make money.

After Baby G arrived, I quickly fell into the trap of doing these things. I was bent on making his hand and footprints, having a photo shoot of him (by me), dressing him like Krishna on Krishna jayanthi. I wasn't thinking and I don't think I still am. If I see a funky toy he would enjoy, I just buy it. It's like a reflex. Sneeze - excuse me. Cute toy - buy for Baby G. See, reflex.

One of the funniest days was when my cousins visited from the US. I had asked her to get me the kit to making a baby's footprints. When she got them I was so overjoyed. We all as a team immediately got to work and tried hard to get it done. The putty smelled so wonderful and we rolled it and placed it on Gs foot so happily... Waited the two minutes and the damn thing wouldn't come off. We were so shocked that the print didn't come and we tried so much again and again. Finally, 8th time and am honest - it worked.

It was so much fun to sit around and play with the putty. What a wonderful memory it is!

Ten fingers, ten toes, one tiny little button nose

No amount of time can prepare a naive mother for all that emotional chaos. It's beautiful. Baby G arrived on an early August morning after a long 36 hour labor and to me a ten month and 36 hour wait. Every single day I made that pointless activity of counting the number of days left. Pointless because I already knew it.

No one tells you the beautiful things one misses after the birth of a baby. I for one missed the kicks. So very much. Every kick was a reminder saying that I wasn't alone. I ain't alone now, I know. But the kicks sure are a lot missed.

Baby G is 18 months now. Or, I'd like to call it the time when new mummies get a little time cause babies have learnt to sleep through the night. When pregnant, I wrote a baby journal for G. Little things I wanted to tell him and share with him during my pregnancy. I had given him a neutral name Tejas, cause I didn't know what baby I was going to have.

Roller coaster of a one and half year it has been. The adrenaline hasn't yet worn off. Loving the kick. The first one year passed with trying to capture every single moment of Baby Gs life and not missing his milestones. Every little word videotaped uploaded and shared on YouTube. Every single smile captured and shared on whatsapp. Every milestone saved and journaled. All this from the girl who never completed her record books, class notes or exams. Kudos me!

Being Mommy G is my new thing in life and I cannot wait to share the experiences of the new parent in me. Welcome to reading my world - Being Mommy G.