Viva la Mexico!

We think this picture says it all (sorry, future Eli):

Eli vacations

Yep, Eli learned to live a lounger’s life last week. We just got back from our first big family vacation, at Club Med Ixtapa Pacific in Ixtapa, Mexico. And can I just say that if you’re traveling with children, you should only go to Club Med? Ever? It really felt like they’d thought of everything — you can reserve a “family room” that has two separate rooms with a door that closes between them, and there are kid-sized beds in the kid room (or, in our case, a crib, a high chair, a changing table, and even a bottle warmer). Plus, they throw a heck of a Superbowl party — we really enjoyed watching the Gigantes de Nueva York defeat the Patriotas in grand Spanish-language style.

We went with Lindsey and Tim (con Miles and Liza) and Erik and Val (con Jude and Scarlett), and it was a pretty great time overall. Well, it was a pretty great time for me. Eli had a good time, although he objected mighty strenuously to being left at Baby Club while we frolicked without him. Every mom at the resort was hilariously doing the same thing — worrying all day that he was upset, peeking over railings to see if he was ok, checking on him obsessively and rescuing him at even the slightest sign of tears. Overall, though, once he got over the initial drop-off, he had a good time playing and napping and he didn’t punish us for abandoning him. Justin, on the other hand, got about three and a half good days before being felled by a horrible cold/sinus infection/flu that kept him in bed for the latter half of the trip. BUMMER! At least he got to rock the trapeze a little before he went down:

Now, for the Eli business. He started by discovering that he loves the pool:

With all kinds of fun floaties for him to enjoy:

Eli floats in the pool

Next, despite some initial prissiness:

Eli and the sand

Eli learned the dig the sand, too:

He discovered lots of fun new foods to eat, like ice cream cones:

Eli eats an ice cream cone

And his one true love, hot dogs:

He pretty much ate a hot dog at almost every meal, except breakfast, when he ate sausages. He discovered, in general, that he really likes eating:

Eli loves eating!

Oh, and the warm tropical air apparently inspired him to to try to learn to stand. We’re still working on getting a good video of that, but he’s managing to stand for a few seconds at a time (mostly on soft surfaces like the couch, the grass, or the bed, but sometimes on the floor). At this point, we’re pretty much forced to admit the plain truth of it: he’s turning into a little boy. The kind who’s turning 1 in just a few weeks. How has this happened!?

See all the Mexico vacation pictures here. Click here to watch Eli swing in the hammock with daddy and here to watch him love to hate that cold, cold ice cream.