Postcard: Mexico

When I had visited my college friend in San Diego in 1997, she and I made a day trip to Tijuana. Since then, when people asked if I had visited Mexico, my answer had been "Not really." Fortunately, I got a taste of better parts of Mexico when my now husband and I went for Labor Day weekend 2007.


It would have been our engagement trip, except that it took 5 weeks for my engagement ring to be ready. Five weeks!! That's okay because Australia is a more exotic engagement celebration. Instead, it was our first international vacation together (yes, Mexico is international even if it seems silly to call it that). We prepared for the beach vacation by getting up at 6:30AM every morning for 5 weeks straight to go to the gym before work. We looked great! Those were the days.


As usual, I went all out in my research to determine the best places to go, the best flights, and the best itinerary to achieve all of my vacation goals. I do have my spontaneous moments during travel, but I like to be prepared before I step on the plane. I decided on beautiful Playa del Carmen and historic Chichen Itza after consulting with my co-worker friend who is Mexican. Playa lies on the Caribbean Sea and is an hour south of the Cancun Airport. I would like to visit Cancun someday, but I may have already missed the prime age to go there. Maybe when I'm reliving my college days.


Since Mexico is so cheap, I found an all-inclusive resort, Royal Hideaway Playacar, where we stayed for three days. Neither of us had visited an all-inclusive resort before and we quickly learned that this was the life. For one thing, they address you on a personal level every time they see you. This was funny because I had booked the reservation and my then boyfriend was Mr. MyLastName for the whole trip. This is also funny because, technically, he should be Dr. MyLastName. ha.


The resort had restaurants, bars, beaches, kayaks, tennis courts, etc. We ignored most of the water sports and activities and lounged on the beach all day in cabanas set up by the attentive staff. We talked about doing the activities but never got around to it. Bartenders brought us drinks right into our cabana. We only interrupted our lazy, beach time to go to the fabulous restaurants to eat our gluttonous meals. One day we walked down the road (well, we taxied there and then walked back) to Quinto Avenida (5th Avenue), the main street of the town. Not much going on unless you want to take the ferry to Cozumel or tour to Tulum. Really, there was no need to leave the Royal Hideaway.


One funny incident to note...We were oblivious to the strict dress code enforced in the hotel's three upscale restaurants. We should have read the details, but who brings formal dress attire to 90 degree heat and, for that matter, to Mexico? We had a lovely lunch at the resort's casual Spices, which featured local cuisine. We made dinner reservations at the 4 diamond pan-Asian cuisine restaurant, Azia. We arrived on time only to have them take one look at my husband in his cargo shorts and flip flops and tell us that we couldn't be seated. My flip flops were fine (reverse sexism?), but gentlemen were required to wear pants and shoes. We protested that we weren't told this only to have them point out out the mention of dress code on their website and on Expedia where I had booked the trip. Oops. Luckily, they had spare slacks for people like us and we came back after my husband changed into his borrowed pants. He had to put the flip flops back on because that's all he had, but we figured they'd let that go now that his offensive legs were covered. Wrong again. They were still unhappy about the lack of shoes so they ushered us into a private room that had a low table and pillows on the floor. That way, we had to take off our shoes and, I guess, the other diners would be saved from looking at us. Anyway, the food was awful. Maybe because we're from NYC or maybe because of our ordeal, but we did not like one thing we ate. We skipped the rest of the upscale restaurants and ate at Spices and the other casual place, The Grill, for the rest of the trip. Now, whenever we travel ANYWHERE, my husband brings dress clothes.


We left the Royal hideaway on our third day by private car to Chichen Itza. I was excited that the site was recently named one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Check that off the list. The ruins of Chichen Itza are in the Yucatan and were built by the Mayan people. The three best known monuments are El Castillo, Temple of Warriors and the Great Ball Court. "El Castillo" (the castle) is the dominating center pyramid, which is said to cast a shadow of a serpent during the Spring and Fall equinoxes.

The Great Ball Court was the largest ball court of the time for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame. The interior walls have scuplted panels of players, serpents, a winding plant, and the games.



At night, we went to the Chichen Itza Light and Sound Show. The entire ruins area is lit up in colorful lights and sounds while you listen to the history of the area in Spanish. Unfortunately, we didn't get the headsets to translate because we didn't know the show would go on for so long. The show was spectacular.

Baby Feeding Basics

Sweet potatoes -- food #1

Introducing food to your baby is an adventure. We somehow managed to make it 6 months on exclusively breast milk and then started solid foods (well, solids as in steamed and pureed and mashed up so it no longer resembles solid food) at the 6 month mark and, fortunately, my son loves to eat.

Note, at 5 months, we had begun rice cereal, which was a bit of a bust. He had developed a rash on the first day of cereal, so I immediately stopped and waited 5 days for the rash to completely clear away. The, I tried again for 2 days with another rash appearing. Our pediatrician recommended a different brand that worked for a few days by which time he was ready for solids. I stopped the cereal when I began solids, but I will re-start it tomorrow morning so that he has two meals a day. Also, he's been resisting formula these days and mixing it with cereal will help give me a break.

It's amazing to watch babies learn how to eat, e.g accepting the spoon, swallowing the food, grabbing the spoon. So far, he's had 3 days each of sweet potatoes --> carrots --> peas --> pumpkin --> green beans --> butternut squash. Acorn squash is next and then his first fruit will be pears before avocado and apples. He made faces of disgust on the first days of sweet potatoes and carrots and actual gagging on the first day of peas. He loved pumpkin while green beans were not well received. I made the squash less liquidy than the rest and he refused to open his mouth after the first bite. I added a little bottled water and he ate the rest albeit reluctantly. Today, he grabbed the spoon right out of my hand because he wanted to feed himself. He is eating a few tablespoons at each sitting.

Signs that little boo was ready for solids.

• He had steady head control for months and was able to sit upright in his chair easily.

• When I introduced water in a sippy cup at 5 months, his extrusion reflex made him push out his tongue to keep the cup out of his mouth. He did this a few times before he learned to drink from it. Since my mom had also taught him to take water out of a spoon, he had no problem accepting the spoon with food.

• He was fascinated when my husband and I would eat in front of him. He would stare us down.

• His appetite had grown tremendously in the last month and he definitely needed something extra to help keep him full.

• He's more than doubled his birth weight and should be close to 15 lbs at this point.

I haven't bought ready-to-eat jars yet because I'd like to make his food at home for as long as I'm able. Making your own baby food is easy, efficient, and economical. I am using fresh (organic when possible) produce and no added ingredients. Also, it's great because on the first day when I make his vegetable of the next three days, my husband and I also eat that vegetable as a side dish during dinner. My friend recommended the BPA-free Beaba Babycook, which is fantastic. I can steam then blend the vegetable all in the Babycook. The food can be steam re-heated the next day. Also, it's easy to use and to clean.

Milestone: 6 Months

The little one is continuing to grow (albeit slowly) and interact with the world around him. His day consists of going outside to the park or the college next door at least 3x a day, morning alone time with daddy, evening alone time with mommy, crawling along a comforter we've laid out in the living room, playing in the exersaucer and activity mat, banging his activity box, reading books, singing, his bath ritual, and of course, eating and napping.

We had a doctor's visit at 5 1/2 months and he weighed in at 14 .4 lbs. He's still on the small side but he has had no problem excelling at the typical milestones. He had his second set of vaccinations at this last visit and his reaction was much better than the first time. He cried immediately after the 3 vaccinations but calmed down rather quickly. When we left the doctor's office shortly thereafter, he was quietly observing the trees and cars outside. We decided to walk home since he is so enamored by the outside world and he fell asleep before we reached home and napped for the next 2 hours. He didn't have a temperature or any grouchiness. Good boy!

He's using his hands to reach (or lunge) for objects. He reaches for toys in his path or at my hair and glasses. My husband just bought an extra pair of glasses because one set is sure to get destroyed. He has a keen interest in taking newspapers or magazines out of your hands and ripping up the pages.

The little one is crawling with a purpose. Before he was balancing on his hands and knees and lunging forward because he had not figured out how to move the two in sync with each other. Now, he is slowly moving his right arm when he moves his left knee and left arm with his right knee. Thus, he is face planting less, which is a relief. So, he is officially crawling at 6 months. He is determined to make a break for our TV stand.

He loves to verbalize his thoughts. He's "reading" aloud with me and "singing" with me. He has a lot to say and sometimes he will scream (ah, the piercing scream) to get it out. He loves listening to Hindi music with my mom. I've compiled a selection of highly recommended board books and baby nursery rhymes. My husband thinks I should write a children's book because they're so simple. I realize there's a lot involved in publishing, but seriously, some pages don't even have words on them!

He is seeing the world with a new perspective. He's sitting up while balancing himself with one arm. At moments, he sits up without support. I imagine this is an eye-opener compared to lying flat on one's back at all times.

He's learning to eat and drink like a little man. Luckily, my mom had taught him to drink water out of a spoon so we did not have to train him on using a spoon for food. Yesterday, we started solid foods with mashed sweet potato. He made a face to show how disgusting he thought it was. Somehow, my mom got him to eat a good amount. He didn't seem tolike it any more on day 2, but he ate enough. We haven't seen a rash or bad reaction so we're looking to move on to carrots after one more day of sweet potatoes. Also, I introduced water in a sippy cup before 5 months and these days, he's drinking water out of his sippy cup and a glass.

And, no, he is not yet sleeping through the night. We need to tackle that one next week because my husband's mother is coming into town this week.