For Rory: Our First Trip With Baby

We spent all of last week in San Francisco visiting Rory's godfather, Paulo. Marcos had the opportunity to do a work training in SF, and we decided to join him and take a mini-vacation. Turns out, traveling with a baby, even if it's to someplace exotic like Figi, does not equal a vacation.

The night before we left I had so much anxiety about the trip that I had trouble falling asleep.

What if she cries on the plane?

What if we forget something important?

What if she doesn't nap or sleep through the night?

What if they lose our luggage?

What if she cuts a tooth?
What if I'm attacked by liberals?

I wasted a lot of energy worrying because there were no major issues. Rory slept about an hour on the plane each way and played with the emergency instruction card for the remainder of the flight. Once we landed, we had to ride the BART for about 45 minutes and then take a taxi to Paulo's apartment. Considering the fact that she woke up earlier than usual and had a short nap, Rory was a champ. I'm not saying it was easy, but it wasn't a nightmare.

Paulo has a one-bedroom apartment on the third floor of a walk-up building in the Marina district of San Francisco. It's a beautiful area with lots to do within walking distance. Rory and I were pretty much on our own for most of the day because Paulo and Marcos were working from the apartment. We walked to get coffee, did some shopping, and played at a local park. In the afternoons we would walk to the water where Rory pointed to every seagull she saw.

Naptime was a little tricky at first. Rory is used to napping in a dark room and her sound machine, so she had trouble falling asleep in the bedroom. Once we noticed that Paulo's closet was much darker, we put her crib in there, and she fell asleep much faster. (It's a big closet.) Paulo doesn't have any children, but he will be much better prepared now when that day comes, thanks to Rory. He quickly learned that his shot glass collection will need to be stored somewhere high and even things like window blind cords are hazardous. I can only imagine the sigh of relief he let out when we drove away from his apartment towards the San Francisco airport.

We were also able to go out one night because Paulo's girlfriend arranged to have a babysitter come and stay with Rory after we put her to sleep. It was nice to go out sans-baby, but when your daughter wakes up at 5:30 am, you can't really go too crazy. (Translation: one vodka soda and half a Bud Light) Mostly, I just felt old. Also, I realized I need to listen to the radio more. The only songs I recognized were from circa 2002. Our last trip to San Francisco involved 6 hours of bar hopping...the details of which I'm still trying to piece together. A lot has changed in two years.

San Francisco is a beautiful place. I already can't wait to go back. Rory experienced lots of firsts during this trip: first airplane ride, first subway ride, first taxi ride, first time in a different state, first time seeing the ocean. Of course, it felt good to come home and sleep in our own bed, but I miss the hustle and bustle of the city and being able to walk to the ocean. Here are some snapshots from our week in San Fran;