Things I Learned Today: Oslo with an Infant

This afternoon we returned from our long weekend in Oslo.  We had to go to the US Embassy to get Elliot registered and passported, but we stayed for our first family mini-break.  

It all went shockingly well, but we did learn some lessons* which will serve us well when we attempt our upcoming trip to the US.  

1) Always pack 1/2 of what I think I need. Always pack twice as much as what I think Elliot needs.

This is mainly because I don't wet, poo or spit up on myself. 

2) Keep the sleep situation as consistent as possible.

Some dear friends of ours sent Elliot a Sleep Sheep. It is magic. He always sleeps to white noise, but for travel, his Sleep Sheep is magic.  (It is so magic, I will write it twice. On purpose.) That, along with his wrap and us, made it all okay.

3) Don't attempt too much.  

We never left the room before about ten am.  We choose just one goal a day. (Friday: Go to Embassy. Saturday: See The Scream. Sunday: Go home.) Then everything else was just extra fun. 

5) No matter how challenging it was to learn to breastfeed, the convenience is worth it.

We couldn't have done nearly as much if we had to constantly make a bottle. Warm it. And then wash them all, etc... Now feeding Elliot is really just a matter of finding a semi-quiet, out of the way place and adjusting my shawl as to not flash the general public.

3)  I am almost the master of camouflage.

This is especially key because we're going to be all over the US and Elliot is going to need to eat.  

Yes, I know it is all legal and super healthy for babies.  

This does not mean that I would like to be the posterchild for it.  I can count on one hand the times I have ever seen a mother breastfeed in public.  I can remember many more times I read articles about issues with it.  

Really I don't care what other people do. I prefer to be super discreet. (At least in static places, like restaurants.  In trafficked places, like airports, I care much less.)

4) Most people will give you a break if you are carrying a sleeping baby.

Seriously.  Even the people with the grumpiest faces will help out.

6) It is possible to have good meals as long as you go either early or late. 

It's not so much about Elliot's behavior, which is pretty steady right now.  It's more that I feel too stressed to enjoy it if I am worried that we could possibly ruin other people's dinner. 

7) Allow twice as much time to get whatever it is done.  

Seriously.  

When I was in high school...really as far back a I can remember...whenever we going anywhere --particularly church, for some reason--- Big D set a time for us to leave.  Then whenever she was finished getting ready, she would go out to the garage, get in the car and honk.  

Take note: No one was late.

 She just happened to get ready early and would run out of things to do inside, so she would go outside and sit in the car and honk.  It was to hurry us up, but really it just drove me nuts.  Now that I am an adult, I still get anxious when I am about to be late. 

(Actually being late is not nearly as bad.) 

But now, I find as long as I build in lots of time, no one gets anxious...particularly me. 

8) It helps to at least try to speak the language.  

Occasionally I find that when I am at a loss for language, it affects the service.  

Luckily, Husband is fluent and when he chatters a bit with pretty much anyone, it greases the wheels in all sorts of ways. In just the past 24 hours, it has gotten an extra seat on the plane and general smiles.  

It may also help that Husband is hot. 

9) There's always one more form. 

No kidding.  More on that tomorrow.

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*Some of them are age-specific and yes, I realize Elliot could become beasty at any moment, but he's not today.