Beach

This week we are at the beach with my family.  Margaret and I drove with Josh to Bethany Beach on Saturday and have been here all week.  This has been a trip of many firsts for both Josh and us.  The drive to the beach was the longest trip for Josh.  He started well by taking a nap for about an hour and then was quietly awake for a while.  We stopped for food and then things went downhill.  Josh screamed for the rest of trip.  We think he was just tired of being stuck in the car seat but unfortunately there was nothing we could do to calm him down.  We powered through and made it to the beach.

We brought Josh to the beach to see how he would react.  At his six month doctors appointment I asked the doctor how much sand Josh could eat before we should be concerned.  The doctor said we should avoid him eating sand if we can but it isn't a major issue.  I expected Josh to eat sand by the handful but he didn't seem that interested.  He played with the sand a bit and then we took him to the water.  I got him a bit wet but he didn't seem to enjoy it very much.  Then he relaxed with my mom.  The beach was very hot and I think he was uncomfortable.

There have been around 20 people staying in the beach house including 3 other kids (ages 15 months to 3 years) and for the first day or two Josh was doing well.  Unfortunately Josh seems to have developed a bit of separation anxiety I think related to being away from home and around so many other new people.  Anytime Margaret and I are away from him for more than a few minutes he starts to scream and won't stop until we come back.   I hope this problem will get better when we are home and in familiar settings but separation anxiety is common after 6 months so this might just be something we have to deal with.

For the most part we have been hanging out at the house and just trying to relax.  It has been an interesting experience for us to be so out of our element and to also be around other small children and their parents.  Josh has been watching the other children (who are all older) and I think it has been encouraging him to try new things.  He has been doing more real crawling (not on his stomach).  The main area of the house has two steps that separate the dining area from the living area.  On Saturday when we arrived he tried to make it up the stairs and couldn't do it.  By Monday he made it up and now he is able to speed up the stairs without any trouble.  Watching Josh try new things continues to be very fun for us.

Vacations with a baby are certainly an adjustment and going to take some getting used to.  Before we left we considered bringing some things to try to baby proof the house.  We decided there wasn't really anything we could do and we have had to keep a constant eye on Josh at all times.  As at our house he can always find a way to get into trouble.

Below are some pictures and a video of Josh's first time on the beach.

Just chillin'

Feeling the sand 

Relaxing with grandma