First overseas trip with a 6-month old!

Yes we are here in Malaysia! Back to the familiar food, warmth and home brought me so much happiness, and I remembered the teary feeling I felt after seeing my grandparents. Afterall, it has been a VERY LONG three years. I am sure I will probably cry a little if I went back and read all my previous posts about the struggles and challenges we had when we were in lockdown in Melbourne. I am glad that all these are over (hopefully) and I can now travel! It prompted me to write this post too to share our first overseas trip with a 6-month old. 

Here is a video summary 😆

D-Day

So, unlike previous travel where we can book an uber car to airport, this time round we had to find a car with carseat for baby safety in mind. I really appreciate the parents group that I was part of as they recommended a bub taxi service, where a car seat is provided. I made a booking and the driver reached even earlier than the scheduled time! 

Though, hubby and I were in such a rush because we were still busy packing in the morning. Well, that is because we have another good news - we are moving next year! 😉Yes we are bidding farewell to our apartment lifestyle after 5 years and I will probably share more in the future once everything is ready. But for now, let's travel! 

He is comfortably sitting in his car seat on our way to airport

We arrived just half an hour later, and we were 3 hours early in the airport. We have already checked in online, but to my delight, Singapore Airlines had kiosk service to further streamline the check in and baggage drop process and we were done within 15 minutes! We grabbed an early dinner in Macdonalds and off we went to the departure gate. (We figured we might be better off earlier than later at the gate, just in case there were any delays in clearing the custom)

As you can see in the video, we had a travel stroller that is compact and light for travel. We had him in the stroller all way to the gate, and even when we were supposed to clear the custom by scanning the luggage, we were very happy to find out that we didn't need to fold the stroller to pass through the X-ray scan! My husband pushed the stroller ahead, and I cuddled the baby. There wasn't any queue at all, and it was very smooth. More so, during the passport check, since I had a baby with me, we did not need to go through the automatic gate, but went to the officer straight away. I preferred it this way because the machine always had problem reading my face lol. Within 15 minutes, we were already cleared and going to the boarding gate!

Once we were at the boarding gate, I started my routine of being a mum - pumping on-the-go! To those who aren't familiar, I expressed my milk exclusively so you probably see me pumping when you meet up with me haha. I was quite nervous, perhaps due to the fact that I know I can soon see my family and my heart was leaping in joy. A little anxious and little worried but all the feelings were mushed together in a very exciting way. I know I will be home, soon! 

He was just chilling in his stroller while we were at the boarding area. 

I thought we could board first, but to my surprise, Singapore Airline did not have priority boarding for those with kids. So, we waited till our group was called. It wasn't a big deal, though I would have preferred if we could board earlier so it saved us waiting and queing to the flight with a baby and heavy luggages. In a hindsight, we really overpack our carry-on by bringing too many baby stuffs, and ended up not using at all lol. I brought like 2-3 packs of baby food, one whole bag of toys, 3-4 diapers but well, we did not use them at all since it was his sleeping time and he wasn't playing too. I was really inexperienced since it was our first time! Haha. 

But prior to boarding, we checked with the staff and confirmed that we could bring our stroller to the plane (Yay!) since it can be folded into a compact size, and most importantly, we have a BAG. You need a bag to put the stroller in so you can bring onboard, if not, it is not allowed. I am very lucky that the salesperson reminded me that I absolutely need to bring the travel bag with me so it is always with me. 

Once we were on the plane, we were on the very front row due to having an infant. He was sitting on my lap during taking off, since it is a requirement for the baby to sit on the lap instead of being in the bassinet when the seatbelt sign was on. And our flight was unfortunately delayed so we had plenty of time just sitting in the plane while waiting for it to take off. 

We gave him a dummy to suck when we were finally taking off, but the ear pressure did not seem to bother him as much. Once the seatbelt sign was off, only then the air stewardess came and install the bassinet. We let him to be in bassinet, but then he started to struggle massively and cried, and that was when I foresee my future in this flight - probably one that we could not get any sleep at all haha.

He really wasn't sleeping as much in the flight. I know he was tired but he struggled to fall asleep too. 

Here is when I realize one downside of not getting him used to sleep on me - he now struggles to sleep in my arms, as he wanted a flat surface to sleep. He was obviously tired since he was awake for very long already, but struggled to fall asleep. We put him in the bassinet, and I can only pray that there weren't any turbulence, because if there was any and the seatbelt sign was on, we had to pick him up again. (And it happened... Sigh..)

He managed to sleep inside finally but this did not last because seatbelt sign was on after half an hour.

I remembered myself counting down the hours to land because I was just so tired, and poor baby was really tired and couldn't sleep too since we were constantly picking him up from the bassinet due to the turbulence. So, when the plane landed, imagine my sigh of relief! 

Landed!!

And this boy who was SOO tired after a 7.5 hours flight, fell asleep even in his stroller when my bro came to pick us up haha. 

See his eyes closed haha

But he became his cheerful self once he was picked up in the parking again. Any transfer would wake him up usually, so here is a picture of the uncle and nephew pair! (Some of my relatives even said the baby took after my bro haha)

I remembered feeling humid and hot after we arrived, but upon seeing my brother, I had this realization - I am finally home. 

The days after were just passing in a blink, baby did take some time to get used to the hot and humid weather. He was sleeping very badly the first day, waking up every hour after we landed, but we soon got him up at 7am to start his day as per his usual routine, and got him to bed at around 7pm, which he slept through finally Yay! And we got him his first haircut (where he made some ugly but cute faces, protesting that his hair was cut haha) but it was so hot and he was sweating every day and we decided it is time to say goodbye to his lion-king hairstyle.

My lion king hair. NOOOO ~~

Why you cut my hair? NOOOOO ~~

Baby Joel is now on his short-hair style, but I wouldn't say it is bad. I thought it is kinda cute after all. Well, he can still grow his hair out and I will then make him a lion-king hairstyle again HAHA

He still has the cutest confused look isn't he? Haha. 

Dear Joel,

You are home! Melbourne is home, but so is Malaysia too. Do you know that mummy and daddy have a lot of family and friends here who adore and love you very much too?

The flight was tough no doubt, but you did well my little one. I mean, who sleeps well in the plane anyway, so mummy totally understands you. (To tell you the truth, mummy is even afraid of flying too sometimes lol) But, to think that you adjusted back to Malaysia timezone within a day was really an amazing feat!

We will have a few more months to go in Malaysia and I hope you will enjoy your stay! We will bring you to see all your relatives, enjoy all the cuddles and hugs, and the warm weather and good food (through the breastmilk la, you cannot eat sambal yet haha). 

We thank God for bringing us back to Malaysia safely and may God continues to bless our time here, and praying that we will have an awesome and wonderful time spent with family and friend. May all our conversations be glorifying to Him :) 

Loves,

Mummy & Daddy