Like many other mums living in Dubai, I have decided to leave the desert during summer to escape the heat. As it is my first year as an expat in Dubai, I have never experienced the summer heat in the desert but, apparently, it is quite an experience – and not the best for our 11-month old Luca. The plan was (and is, as we are currently in Europe) to spend two of the hottest months first in Germany and then in Switzerland.
As Luca’s grand-parents haven’t had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with him so far (we moved to Dubai when little L was only three months old), our respective parents’ homes seemed to be just the perfect summer escape destination ;-)
It was still chilly when we arrived
We arrived in Germany two weeks ago (two weeks already! how time flies!!) and Luca is more than enjoying the German countryside and, of course, being with his grand-parents. There are so many new things to discover, like farm animals, houses with wooden floors (great to play on but unfortunately rare in Dubai), new wooden toys (they seem to taste so much more yummy than the plastic ones), Kaiserschmarrn (ok, that one was not supposed to be for Luca ;-P but it’s just such a delicious German dish!!),…
But leaving home for two months and going back to my “old home” is something I haven’t done in years. Oh, no wait – something that I have actually never done since I left home! Especially not with a baby. Quite an interesting and emotional experience!
We love wooden floors!
Here are some important things I have learned during the last two weeks:
– Despite the fact that you know the house where you have grown up, you will re-discover it with a baby: Have these doors always squeaked? Where can we put the baby phone? I am sure there have been many more plugs in this room before! Wow, we really DO have a lot of deco items that Luca can grasp and throw down…! And how come there is still SO much day light at 8pm?? I can’t remember this… (In Dubai, it’s much easier to darken the baby room as the sun goes down much earlier and we have these block-out curtains)
– Seeing grandma and granddad over Skype is not the same than seeing them for real. It’s probably due to his age but Luca was a little bit shy at the beginning. He would not let me leave the room without saying “mamamamamama”. Thankfully, this changed fairly quickly but it took some days before I could relax a bit and let little L play with Omi and Opi (NB: Prepare your mum beforehand! At least I wish I had done it…).
– A good travel cot is key!! When we arrived in Dubai last year, we had to stay in a hotel for about six weeks. Luca literally hated his travel cot at that time… :-( Thus, I checked out every available travel cot in Dubai before buying a new one (Ok, not every available one but a lot!!). We have chosen the Nuna Sena travel crib, whose mattress seemed not too soft but still comfortable. AND the cot is easy to open and unfold. Luca likes this cot much better and sleeps well in it. However, it still is not his usual cot (and environment). So, he was crying quite a bit before falling asleep the first nights… :-/ Usually, he just plays in his cot for some time and then falls asleep. Thankfully, we have a solid bedtime routine – and this brings us to the next point.
– A good bedtime routine really helps overcome the time difference and get used to the new environment – at least, it was the case for Luca. Our bedtime routine is quite long but really a great moment for all of us. It starts after dinner with a bath, a massage, then a bedtime story and a little song. Finally, we reflect on what we have done during the day (there’s always something nice to say ;-)). When we arrived in Germany, we started our bedtime routine at the same time than we would have done it in Dubai. It only took a day or two for Luca to adapt to the new timing and then he was fine!
– Not seeing your husband for a long time is actually quite hard… and I think it won’t get easier during the next weeks. Despite our daily calls, Luca and I miss daddy a lot. :'(
– Never expect Germany and Switzerland to be refreshing compared to Dubai. While it was quite chilly when we arrived, temperatures have now reached 43° C! It’s actually nearly as hot here as in Dubai… but without our air-conditioned Dubai apartment. And that makes a huge difference! It’s nearly impossible to keep Luca’s room cool…
These are just some first impressions. To be continued ;-)
xxx