riding airplanes with baby |

Finally, vacation!

After taking a long break from traveling, we finally had our chance to go for a quick getaway as a family. We went to Bali over the weekend to attend my best friend’s wedding and thanks to my love here—Priska and JP—we were able to go places in Bali.

We planned this trip even before Sam was born, exactly when my best friend told me that her wedding will be held in Bali and some of our good friends will be there as well. I was hesitant at first, but deep inside I didn’t wanna miss it and I knew that I had to go. I’m just glad that we decided to go!

During the trip Sam was busy squeezing her afternoon naps, getting enough rest and charming everyone wherever we went. They all smiled and approached her, some even asked to carry her! Her charm works like magic!

Airplane rides with Sam

Unlike a few months ago when we first flew with Sam, everything was so much easier now. Sam slept through the take off and thus, our flight was fuss-free. We brought her toys along, like all of them, just in case she gets bored. She remained calm throughout the flight and mostly just slept, played, munched on her snacks and watched the clouds. She was so well-behaved!

Quick! Hold my hand before your Daddy sees!

Check out this cute little boy who was trying to hold Sam’s hands by sneaking out (I think he didn’t want his parents to see LOL) It happened multiple times and Sam was just ignoring him the whole time, poor boy LOL

I think all parents know that it’s not easy to travel with a baby. Quick tips for flying with infants:

Make sure they’re well-rested. Well-rested babies are happy babies. We booked flights that matched Sam’s naptime, so she can just sleep throughout the flights. I noticed that babies tend to get bored easily and of course they will start crying, especially when they have to sit tight for hours (not to mention the crazy noise, change in air pressure during landing/take-off and even worse, bumpy flights!) so I prefer to board the plane with Sam sleeping soundly even if it means I have to carry her for hours.
Check their diapers before boarding the plane. Make sure it’s clean and dry, so they can rest and are ready to sleep once you board the plane. It’s also very inconvenient to change diapers in the lavatory as it’s very unsafe. Drop by a nursery or a baby changing room before you board your plane.
Bring their favorite toys along with you. Before Sam got bored with sitting down and staring out of the window, we already prepared some toys to distract her. The main purpose is to kill the time and distract her from whatever it is that makes her feel uncomfortable.
Be creative. Some things are not allowed to be used during take off and landing, but your baby keeps on crying so you just gotta do something, right? Good thing they have magazines! Sam loved browsing through the pages and looking at the pretty colors. It was good enough to distract her for a few minutes before we were able to let her play with her toys again. Just be careful ’cause your baby might tear off the pages! Another thing that we did was walking around the aisle. It doesn’t just help your baby but you, too! Stretch your body and walk around before you go back to sit for another few hours. Other friendly passengers might also be able to distract your baby by playing with them for a couple of minutes.
Nurse your baby. If you travel often, you might know that babies tend to get very fussy and cry a lot during take-off and landing as their ears hurt because of the change in air pressure. According to BabyCenter, breastfeeding or bottle-feeding your baby during take-off and landing will help to ease any painful ear popping. The sucking and swallowing will relieve the pressure that builds up in your baby’s ears. If your baby doesn’t want to nurse, you can give them something to suck or chew like pacifier or a snack to munch on.

Do you have any other tips on flying with babies? Let me know! 🙂

Days in Bali

As you know, Bali is one of the most popular holiday destinations, especially during summer. Lucky me, I grew up in Indonesia and my parents have brought me to Bali for vacation many times when I was younger. We traveled by land, my Dad drove all the way from Jakarta to Bali which took us a few days. It’s tiring of course, but we had a chance to visit other interesting places along the way, too! Road-tripping to Bali every holiday was like a norm back then, that was before they invented low-cost airlines. Bali is so well-developed now compared with a few years back and there are so many things/places that we haven’t been to before.

We were so blessed that the weather was just perfect and it didn’t rain. Sam wasn’t fussy and she stopped growth-spurting right before we left so I can say, our trip was amazing. Thanks to you, Priska and your hubby, we got to try and see what Bali has to offer. The food and the beach were the best part, I’ll definitely go back for more someday! *fingers crossed*

Speaking of beach, it was Sam’s first time to experience beach and she was soooo curious about the waves and the sand in her toes. She just woke up from her afternoon nap when we arrived at the beach and yes, that’s her default after-nap face LOL

I can’t wait to bring Sam to beach again when she gets older!

The Wedding

The main reason of our visit, my best friend’s wedding.

(From left to right: Vina, Priska, Me and Sam, Stella)

The four of us have been best friends since college, like, day one in college. I knew Priska on the very first day during college orientation day, she sat right behind me and we ended up in the same class with Vina and Stella.

For what I remember, we had bright happy days in college despite all crazy deadlines and assignments. We often went for a stroll at nearby malls and grabbed a quick lunch before we all went back to our places. Every single day Vina and Stella chased this shuttle bus called “bebek/duck” (simply because it has a huge duck picture on it) back to their place in Bogor (it’s like a few hours of drive from Jakarta) and Priska and I squeezed ourselves in the middle of the crowd inside a Transjakarta busway. Oh, good old days.

It’s been years since the four of us got together and it was definitely great to see them all again last weekend.

After college, we kind of went separate ways and meeting up is such a pain as it’s so hard to match our schedules together. We still met and hung out but I rarely made it since I live in another country, or even when I come back, one of them is unavailable so there’s always one of us who couldn’t make it.

During college years, we all had boyfriends and the lame drama that never ends (oh well, all teenagers have been through it) Vina was the only single lady among us, happy and carefree. College assignments are the only thing that occupied most of her days. But look at her now, she’s a brand new wife to a very lucky man and both of them just embarked upon a new journey, writing beautiful chapters together as husband and wife.

How was Sam during the wedding, you say?

Well, she was okay, thank God. I put her to bed before we headed out to the wedding venue and she was peachy after two hours of nap. She loved watching the pretty hanging lights, and when her mood acted up, Liam brought her to watch the fire dance and she just lit up like a candle.

It’s also a good thing that the party took place just a few steps away from the shore and the wind somehow cooled her off.

I just can’t imagine how fussy she would be, wearing that dress in this humid weather without wind blowing. Speaking of, she hates wearing dresses and hats. She likes to be naked with only her diaper attached to her. Oh my..