Enjoying the holiday in the sun

We've now been in Spain for almost three whole days, and Emily is having quite the number of first experiences - from extreme heat to swimming pools. The last couple of nights she's been quite active during her sleep, which I take as a sign that she's processing all the amazing things she's been through.

Today we went to a Sunday market near Quesada, where Paul's folks live. We got about an hour into it before Emily gave up and just became agitated. (Sue had already given up, having been cornered in a children's clothing stall by two women who didn't seem to understand English or the word "no").

The constant sun in Em's face and the heat obviously played on her with great effect. We eventually retreated back to the car where we turned the A/C on and Sue fed her. She was quite good after that.

This afternoon, we did what most people do in a hot climate on holiday - we hit the pool! This involved - for Emily - donning waterproof nappies and a nice little wetsuit, as well as lashings of SPF 50+ sunscreen, baby sunnies and a hat. As she was quite tired and agitated from the mornings activities, there was no way the sunnies were staying on, so pool time was enjoyed through squinty eyes.

We played a few games in the water and did a bit of playful horsing around before Emily finally succumbed to tiredness and began to grizzle. A quick feed later and she was out for the count in the shade.

I think we're all having a nice laid back time, just doing things as they come. For Emily, especially, there are so many things she's experiencing for the first time, I'm surprised her mind doesn't explode.

The pain in Spain falls mainly from the plane

We made it to Spain for our long weekend getaway finally.

The plane was an hour late and we were already hestitant about how Emily would handle the whole thing.

I had visions of bleeding ears and blood curdling / passenger deafening screams surrounding the take off and landing pressure changes. As it was, she was feeding off Sue at take off and gave a few pained cries, but nothing monumental.

When we got the cruising altitude, she collapsed in a stressed out, exhausted ball on my lap and stayed that way until the announcement came over the tannoy that we were beginning our decent. Again, there was visible discomfort from Emily but nothing major.

The plane however, after the two hour delay, was horrendous. Monarch fobbed us off onto a Thomson plane which is pretty much akin to a sardine tin.

I think things will be much better when Sue travels to Australia with Em in September. For starters, Em will have a basket to stay in, not Sue's lap with a dodgy orange "baby" seatbelt.

We finally got to Quesada, where Paul's folks live, around 11.30p local time. Had a few bevvies and checked out all the baby stuff that we rented for Emily. We then collapsed in a travel-induced exhaustion, ready to start the holiday properly.