Sukhothai...First Family Road Trip!

Truth be told I started this blog post over a week ago, but just haven't found the time and energy to finish it... We've hit a stretch of "survival mode" this past week. Dylan's sleep patterns at night have been off and I've been trying to nap every time he naps. I'm chalking it up to his 3 month growth spurt, and hopefully waking up every 2 hours at night is in the rear view mirror for now. I've never in my life felt so sleep deprived...it makes me grateful that I've never experienced this before, and grateful for the sleep that I do get... AND it makes me so grateful that I'm not working right now, because I just don't know how I would manage.

So, our Sukhothai road trip...

Dylan in his car seat set up....not looking too happy here : (

A major priority for Fuad & I is to continue to travel with Dylan, I can hardly think of a greater gift we can give our child than seeing the world. So during the Thai New Year Holiday (Songkran) we decided to travel road trip style to a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Thailand called Sukhothai. These ancient temple ruins, some built by the Khmer, is akin to Angkor Wat, although on a smaller scale.

Dylan was a road trip CHAMP! He made the 5 hour drive with very little whining or complaining. He was able to entertain himself alone in the back seat (with his stuffed friends) and slept on and off throughout the journey south.

We did a lot of learning on the job, starting with what to pack...we are using cloth diapers and determined that we wouldn't be able to do this while away from home for 4 days. We're currently washing diapers every other day, so we don't have enough diapers to last that many days without access to a washing machine while on the road. Plus, who wants to do diaper laundry while on vaycay?! While using the disposable diapers and wipes I realized how good I feel about our decision to go the cloth diaper route. I really hated seeing how many diapers we were putting into the trash and making it worse is knowing that very often trash is burned here. A second reason I'm so happy with our cloth diapers is Dylan's skin. He had a rash after just one day of wearing the disposable diapers, so we were putting loads of diaper cream on every time we changed him, which is something we only do at night with our cloth diapers.
Aside from packing, we learned a new approach to traveling, as we had Dylan's needs in mind at all times. We got up early to have breakfast (instead of waiting to the last minute when it was just the 2 of us), and went sightseeing early and late in the day to work around Dylan's nap times and to avoid the intense heat of what is Thailand's summer.
All in all, I think this little trip gave Fuad & I the reassurance that we really can travel with our little boy...we just need to incorporate some new ways of traveling!
Another interesting thing that happened while on this trip was observing how Thai women repeatedly warmed to us when they saw our baby. On multiple occasions, kind-hearted waitstaff and women we encountered approached Dylan with outstretched arms, and literally took him out of our hands to play with him and entertain him. This happened 3 times in 2 days! The first was at our hotel, when the staff serving breakfast cooed at him for a few minutes and then came by and took Dylan and played with him with pure joy while we ate. It was pretty cool. Then the next day it happened again on the ride back home while we stopped at a gas station for a break. At first, the people at the station treated us like some random foreigners passing through, but then they saw the baby, and they warmed up to us like family. The women practically took him off my breast after he finished nursing. Then the third time it happened while we stopped to eat at a rest stop, which is when I finally took a picture. I get the impression that Thai people REALLY love babies! Now that he's 3 months old, he gets so much attention everywhere we go and what makes it really fun is that he pretty much always smiles back and has no problem hanging out new people! He's personable, likes meeting new friends, and gives as much love back as he receives. Here are some pics of the trip:

Dylan hangs out with a lady at a rest stop.

Can you spot the baby?

One of my favorite pictures from our sightseeing. 

Nice view...

Dylan and Daddy hang out in the shade while I take some photos.

Dylan practices tummy time on the bed at the hotel.

Smiling at his best friend 'worm' while waiting for our food at a restaurant.

In other news, Dylan can now roll over! This video is just moments after he did it for the first time!