Victorious!

Preparing to go out no longer just involve taking a shower, decide on what to wear and hop into the car. It involves packing the nappy bag with enough disposable nappies, wipes, disinfectant spray, a change of clothes, a blanket, a muslin square, pacifierS, nappy rash cream, plastic bags, a toy and of course the obligatory bottles, formula, hot water for feeds. Then come the loading of his gears into the car. The car seat, the stroller and the baby carrier. We would then ensure Tobey is well fed, burped and changed into suitable clothing.

I remember clearly the first trip out we took with Tobey. It was nerve wrecking.

It was to our usual shopping haunt. Our main focus was on him, everything around, the shops, the sales, the people, the weather, the fashion were lost on us. They were just some blurry images that we passed as we pushed our stroller along. For me, it was like a trip that marked the start of normalcy, the finish line that signified my readiness to rejoin the outside world. What used to be just another boring trip before Tobey’s arrival became literally a life-changing event. We knew if we can endure the first trip without breaking down, the subsequent trips would gradually get easier…and hopefully one day it would be a breeze and we would actually enjoy shopping again. So we took off every weekend without fail. To the park, to the shops, to restaurants, we even try to do evening walks on weekdays; weather permitting of course…each trip taught us more on how to manage a baby whilst trying to achieve other goals. On learning Tobey’s preferences on the stroller, on the carriers, on crowds, and more.

Glad to say that today was the day we 100% enjoyed ourselves fully without the slightest doubt of our competency to attend to Tobey when being away from the safety of our home. It felt as though we were back to our pre-child couple days, except now we are actually with child and have his needs to attend to along the way.

We were out for 5 hours today. Tobey was a gem. He slept when he wanted to, he sat up and look around between naps, he smiled and laughed.

I am positive that all three of us enjoyed ourselves.