Our baby boy, Diav, turned 2 and so begin the challenges and rewards of a toddler! This year Dipti and Sachin really wanted to make his birthday special as it was the last one as an only child. They didn’t want to do a big party with friends as many of his friends have birthdays around his and getting everyone together 3 weeks in a row wasn’t as fun as it sounds. The twins also have their birthday around his so we knew everyone would be getting together soon enough. They also don’t want to make it a habit of having big birthday bashes as they’d rather spend the money doing something different, like showing Diav the rest of the world!
On the day of his birthday they had the family over for dinner and cake and that was lovely as always. He got to run around outside with his brothers and sisters which is his favorite thing to do, and also got to eat a big piece of cake!
For his big celebration, this year they decided that they would combine their second babymoon, Diav’s birthday, and Dipti‘s birthday all together and go away for a mini vacation. Of course having a babymoon means spending some quality time without the kid and appreciating the quiet time before number two arrives, but with Dipti‘s emotions in high gear, it was hard for her to leave Diav behind and go away so they decided to combine all the events in one and do a babymoon “day trip” without him later in the pregnancy.
Finding a place was the hardest part as they had quite the list of requirements! First, they had to stay as far away as possible from Zika infested places – which basically took every warm place off the table. They also wanted to keep the flight rather short as it has been quite a while since Diav last flew and they weren’t sure how he’d take to it. Dipti was also nervous about flying while pregnant but her doctor reassured her that a 2 hour flight was fine at 5 months. Of course another requirement was going to a kid friendly place but also a place with good food and relaxing atmosphere as they had no plans of doing crazy active things. They finally decided that Savannah, GA fulfilled all of their requirements and off they went.
As for necessities that they packed, they bought a simple stroller that was lightweight and would withstand the cobble stone roads of Savannah. They also packed Horizon organic milk boxes (which Diav actually ended up hating), tea tree oil for the nats out there, and tons of stickers and coloring books for Diav to keep busy with. Keeping the trip local meant that they didn’t need to pack everything under the sun except the basics and the little they took ended up being the perfect amount.
Of course nothing goes as smooth as you plan when you have a toddler on your hands. On the way there, their flight was delayed for 4 hours, 3 hours in the airport, and 1 hour on the runway trying to take off. Lucky enough for them, right outside their gate was a small kids’ area for Diav to run around in and exert all the energy he possibly could while waiting for the flight. He loves airplanes, so watching them take off and land also killed lots of time. Dipti and Sach are big planners so thankfully they had Diav’s lunch and dinner and snacks packed with them and were able to feed him familiar food while they waited. Once they finally took off, among all the crazy turbulence, Diav kept his cool and reminded mommy (who was scared out of her mind) that the plane was just being “so bumpy.” They finally made it to the hotel, and throughout the whole trip Diav remained the champ he is!
Savannah was an amazing trip for them. They walked around the squares (while taking breaks often for Dipti), visited the railroad museum which Diav loved to see all the old choo choo trains, rode the trolly around the town, and ate some great food! They also went to the pool every day as promised to Diav as he loves nothing more than to splish and splash around with his daddy. They kept all the planning light as Diav still needs his 2 hour nap in the afternoon and were able to make it back to the hotel by 8 every evening to give D plenty of time to refuel. This also meant lots of Netflix for Dipti and Sach who weren’t quite ready to go down at 8pm!
Dipti’s favorite part of the whole trip was actually Sachin’s idea. He thought that it would be sweet to do a small maternity shoot out in Savannah with the 3 of them and he was so right. Because they had no references in the area, they went on thumbtack.com and found a photographer within minutes who would do their shoot for them – Wen McNally Photography. She knew exactly what Dipti and Sachin were going for – not traditional portrait type pictures, but fun, concept pictures that they could remember their time in Savannah with. The photographer picked the best location for the shoot and the pictures came out great! Here is a little sneak peak at the maternity family photo shoot!
Dipti and Sachin are now so fond of the idea of doing Diav and Dipti‘s winter birthdays away that they might make it an annual trip to local places within the US. It was the perfect time away from home, there was nothing they didn’t have access to, and Diav had a blast exploring new things without going too far! Next year they’ll have a 8 month old so lets see how far they’ll get!
