We just came back from a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to attend the wedding of our friends Lisa and Ray. Well, we got back on Tuesday night, but you know how time flies. Faster and faster every day!

We all had a wonderful time. Julian was fantastic on the plane ride down and back. He started to fuss a little bit when we got on the plane for the first time, but I think it was because *I* felt nervous that he would fuss. I calmed myself down and told myself that if he fussed or didn't fuss, it would all be fine, and he calmed right down. The boy has an amazing ability to pick up on tension. If you worry that he will cry, he is guaranteed to cry. If you are calm and relaxed, he stays calm and relaxed.

I nursed him during the ascent and descent, and he slept most of the time in-between. I had him in my Girasol sling, so if he started to fuss, I just stood up and rocked back and forth and he was happy as a clam. There was another little girl, 2.5 months old, behind us, and she was good too. I don't think I would like to test a plane ride past three hours though. That was plenty of time on a plane for all of us.

We stayed at the Hotel Fiestamericana outside town, on the beach in between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas. It was lovely, sort of chaotically mananged, but lovely. Our first room had a beautiful ocean view, but there was a tremendous vibration in the room that periodically got much worse, you could hardly stand to be in the bathroom without having a seizure. It seemed to be coming from under the bathtub. Unacceptable. And there was a windowless shed down under our window that emitted a loud noise as well...the desalinization plant? Anyway, Dan got us moved to a VIP room in the Grand Club section of the hotel, which was quiet and lovely, and on the ground floor. Much easier with the baby. We had our own lounge with drinks and appetizers throughout the day, our own separate pool, all kinds of fringe benefits.

We got settled in to our new room and headed to dinner. They were having a big Fiesta Mexicana dinner that night, with different cuisines from all over Mexico available. Delicious. I love Mexican food in Mexico. It's so much better and different than the BS you get in the US. I have read that there are only three great cuisines in the world: French, Chinese and Mexican...based on the sophistication and quantity of techniques, variety of ingredients and flavors, etc. True, in my opinion.

Dan was talking to one of the chefs and introduced me. By coincidence, his wife's name was Laura as well. We finished dinner and went to bed. The baby was up several times that night to eat, so I woke up more than usual, and then at 4:15am the phone rang! It was a Mexican male voice..."Miss Laura? I am coming to visit you. Do you want me to come and visit you, Miss Laura?" CRAZY! I hung up the phone, but in the dark I couldn't find the cradle, so it took me a minute or two, and I could hear him talking in the meantime. I got out of bed to go check the door and make sure it was locked. Scarily enough, it was not shut all the way, so the lock hadn't clicked! I turned the deadbolt and went into the bathroom to pee. The phone rang again! I picked up the phone next to the toilet and said nothing. It was him again, saying more stuff about coming to visit me. I hung up.

Ring number THREE was the front desk...was I expecting a visitor? NO! Of course not! I hung up. And the fourth call was from him again. I told him he had BETTER stop calling, as my husband and baby were sleeping. He said, "Yes, I know, I'm very sorry...", actually sounded somewhat sad, and hung up the phone. That was it. I'm sure it was the chef. I seem to have an affinity for inspiring sudden passionate love in Mexican men. I guess I should be slightly flattered, but it wasn't that fun at 4:15 am.

I was so proud of myself, I packed Julian's things and my things for an entire week PLUS diapers, all in one medium-sized suitcase. Then I had one more little carry-on bag and that was it. I was awed by my own minimalism. We took his bouncy seat, because it folds completely flat and is super-lightweight, but no car seat or stroller or anything bulky like that. The bouncy seat definitely came in handy. We carried it on the plane and used it at restaurants, poolside, in the room, all over the place. He figured out how to bounce himself and has been going to town in it. I mean, we've been using it since he was born, but now that he can bounce *himself*, it's a whole new world. So I just had the bouncy seat and my Girasol sling and we were set for anything.

We mostly hung out at the hotel all week. It was a lovely spot. Breakfast in the morning in our room, while Baby J did tummy time on the bed. Then we went down to the pools about midday, Dan worked on his tan, Julian and I got some hammock time, or lounged under the palm trees overlooking the beach. We would order lunch down by the pool on most days. Sometimes we took an afternoon nap back in the room, other times we just napped by the pool in the shade, waiting for the magic hour of 4:30-5:00pm. when the sun was down enough so that we could swim in the pool without worrying about getting fried. We would lounge in the pool until 6:00-7:00pm or so, and then head back to clean up for dinner. Apart from the hotel scene, we spent time with Lisa and Ray and their families, with lots of helping hands to hold Julian so that we could have time to eat and dance and do fun stuff. The wedding was beautiful, and it was really fun to spend time with such warm and loving people, in a lovely setting, with no jobs to go to!

I ended up wearing a bikini almost the whole time instead of my one-piece. I just figured...screw it, I want to wear a bikini, it's much more comfortable, and in the grand scheme of things I don't really care all that much if somebody sees that my belly is still floppy. I did wear my one-piece one day, but when I got out of the water it stayed wet forever, and then when I held the baby on my lap he got wet from the suit...it sucked. So I just put on my bikini and forgot about it. Having said that though, I looked at the pics below and I can't believe how LARGE I look in them, so I'm really making a determined effort to get back to my pre-baby weight. I'll just have to somehow carve out the time to work out more often than 2x/week, and maybe eat something else besides what I'm feeding Dan.

I'm so glad we took the baby. I had a few moments of really wanting to go swim in the ocean or do *whatever* and Dan was not immediately there for a passoff. Baby J cried one afternoon when he was extra-tired for a solid hour, that was definitely not fun. But I can't imagine NOT taking him, that would have been miserable. Dan and Julian got some good father-son time that they hadn't really had before. I mean, Dan works from home, so he's always around, but when he's working, he's working...same as anyone else. He does an hour or two of baby care in the evenings while I make dinner, but that's about it. It was wonderful to be on vacation and have Dan available to hold Julian and play with him all day long without distractions. Nice for me to not have to make dinner, run errands, or do any household chores! Julian got both of us to himself 24/7. It was great to just enjoy our cute baby instead of trying to distract him to get some chores done.

A woman came up to us on our last day there and she and her husband had left their six-week-old baby at home with Grandma to go on vacation. Seeing Julian made her miss her baby...yeah, no doubt! No way could I have left Julian at that point. I still don't know when that point will come! When we are done breastfeeding, I guess. Her baby must be formula-fed. I don't know, six weeks is just too little. My personal opinion. I couldn't do it. And if you're breastfeeding, a week away from your baby would be a disaster at that point.

Being on vacation was great for his potty-training as well. Ugh, I should really call it "elimination communication", because that's definitely more what it's about than "potty-training" per se. But EC sounds so clinical, and somewhat bizarre. Anyway, since it was so warm and we were outside so much, AND because the sheets got changed every day (and not by me!) we let him go diaper-free for a good deal of the time when we were just lounging around in the room or out by the pool. I held him over the sink or tub whenever it seemed like he had to go, or it was time for him to go. We only had one miss all week, and that was because I let him go too long without taking him to pee. He did a little squirt of pee onto Dan (surprise Daddy!) and then he held it again until I took him in to finish over the tub. No big deal. I should be more relaxed like that at home! There's really no reason not to be, we have Pergo floors and I have a wool pad on the bed with cloth diapers over it, in case he spits up or a diaper leaks. So I should just let him go diaper-free more often and see what happens. It keeps me from getting lazy and just making him poop and pee in his diaper.

Only a few more weeks until I go back to work. I just can't even imagine it right now. It's stressing me out, but I'm just trying to think of the paycheck, which will be most welcome. Really, it's a wonderful situation. I get to work part-time, I like my job, I have a fantastic boss, I can go see Julian at lunch...but it's going to be so hard at first. Right now I have a hard time getting things done, I don't know how in the world I am going to be able to do all my regular chores PLUS baby care while I'm working. Anyway, I'm trying to just think positive. One of the moms in my support group said that she thought it would be the end of the world, but it turned out to be OK. Her baby is flourishing in daycare, likes it fine, and she likes being back at work more than she thought. So who knows?

Gotta run, the baby is awake.