Sunday, May 4, 2008

A vacation with a toddler …

… is really no vacation at all.

We went up to Basalt (near Aspen) for a pre-baby weekend getaway, but we ended up coming home after about 20 hours because a certain little someone was being so difficult. We did have about two good hours in there, so I'm including pictures and video of that magic time, and then I'll tell you about the other 18.
















So, now that you have evidence that I can still see beauty in life, let me tell you about the ugliness: We stayed at the condo of Greg's friend, who was out of town. The condo was beautiful, right on the river, with a living area downstairs and a bedroom loft upstairs. We hadn't thought too much about sleeping arrangements, figuring we'd just all share a bed. What we had forgotten is that Sidamo is absolutely impossible to share a bed with—even moreso when that bed is a full-size futon.

After a very cranky dinner on Friday night, during which Sidamo completely refused to eat but then had a monumental meltdown when we finally threw his food away and got up to leave, Greg put Sidamo to bed in the loft. Didn't work out too well. With no containment system, he just refused to stay put. I tried going up there and staying with him while he fell asleep, but that didn't work either. Eventually, after about 2.5 hours (and, I admit, some yelling on my part), he fell asleep. Greg and I stayed up a little longer and then went to bed for what was the most sleepless night either of us can remember.

The little monster (all 33 pounds of him) somehow managed to assault both me and Greg—constantly and simultaneously—for about five hours. He poked Greg in the eyes at the same time he was grabbing fistfuls of my hair and rolling over with it clenched in his tiny hands. When I turned to face him so he couldn't grab my hair, he'd go ninja on my belly. When I put my hands over my belly to protect it, he reached down and pried my fingers off one by one so he could do it again. All while he was sleeping! I swear, the kid isn't evil in real life, but apparently he has some sort of alter-ego in unconscious states.

Every hour or so throughout all this, he'd wake up and want to talk. "Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi Daddy. Hi Mommy. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi." Get the point?

Eventually we put him on some blankets on the floor and we all got to sleep—at 3:30. Then the morning light came in and woke him up at 6:30. Repeat the "Hi" conversation.

Significantly worse for the wear, we all got up and started our day—Greg and I exhausted and cranky, Sidamo wired and cranky. After a very frustrating breakfast (repeat of the previous night's dinner) Greg left to get some fishing in, since that was the point of the whole trip, and Sidamo and I went for a walk. The weather turned out to be lovely, which was a surprise gift in the midst of a week of snowy and cold spring storms. Sidamo had a grand time throwing sticks and rocks in the river, as you can see in the video above, and I had a nice time relaxing and not being yelled at. We kept at it for about an hour and a half before we had to leave, find a potty, and begin our tantrums again. Fun times.

Rather than risk another night of the same, Greg decided to call it. He was satisfied with his fishing, having caught three, including one that was indescribably large (no eye witnesses, unfortunately). So we hit the road, stopped in Frisco to see an old friend of Greg's, and made it home by evening so we could sleep in our big, comfy bed—with two closed doors between us and the tyrant.


7 comments:

shelly said...

funny!

Maia said...

I'm glad to see that spring is springing up there...we're thinking about going up to Vail next week but only if we can hike. Is mud season mostly over?

lisa said...

I'm so sorry. Wish I could say more, but I'm barely standing after 5 days camping with a toddler-and yes, thought about coming home early...

Mark and Sarah said...

Wow! We've not attempted a weekend away with our boys yet, but we do have a week long vacation looming this summer...our little A doesn't sleep well with us either, so I'll be sure to put the pack'n'play in our bags based on your experience. Oh, and thanks for the muffin recipe, we can't wait to try it! Glad your computer was fixed. Oh, and you should be getting mighty close to delivery day, no? You haven't blogged about her much lately.

Julie said...

What kind of Babymoon is that!? Drat.
It is hard to believe that someone that cute could be so annoying to sleep with.

whatever_heather said...

Yikes! Sorry to hear the trip wasn't much fun. :(
Hope things are better now!

cathy said...

I absoluted HATED when we had to travel anywhere when C and L were small. Neither one of them would sleep well anywhere other than their crib, so I feel your pain. The pictures are great, though!