Meine Erste Reise

The months rolled by. Three of them, to be exact. During this time, Lolo and Papa got to know me better and vice versa. It wasn’t all smooth sailing though. There were times when one or two or sometimes all three of us lost our cool. But otherwise, I like to think we settled into our lives quite comfortably. We hardly ever had visitors (2021, remember?), so when Papa left for work, Lolo and I made it a habit to go out on long walks. I liked the balmy breeze on my face, and it almost always put me to sleep immediately. If I was at all, Lolo would tell me about the trees and birds and all her chatter would send me to sleep anyway. Drink, sleep, royal walks in my pram, repeat, maybe a short drive in the car seat. Life was good. And then things changed. Unbeknown to me, Lolo and Papa were avid travellers. When I turned 3 months old, they decided that it was time to take our first trip as a family. If anyone had bothered asking my opinion, I would have promptly rejected the idea. But of course, no one did. And so a trip to Berchtesgaden was planned. We went by car. At first, all was good. I liked the soothing motion of the car and dozed off rather quickly. When I got hungry, Lolo jumped to the back seat and I got my milk. Still okay. But soon I got sick of being stuck in the car seat. I whined a little. Lolo soothed me. I stayed patient for a bit, but things were really beginning to get on my nerves. So I made my displeasure known. I howled. Lolo was panicking. ‘Maybe rock him on your lap for a while? What if that gets him to calm down?’, Papa called out from the front. I was unstrapped and Lolo hushed me and tried to distract me, but by then I was beyond mad. ‘It’s not working!!’, Lolo wailed. ‘Then strap him back in?’, Papa offered helpfully. Being back in the car seat made things worse. I shrieked and yelled. Lolo had lost her kindly tone too and was now threatening me to shut up. How dare she?! Papa kept up a live commentary from the front, ‘Pretty green hills to your right! Cows to your left!’. Lolo scrambled for her phone, but I yanked her hair, ‘OUCH!! Why, you naughty brat! SHUT UP THIS INSTANT!!’ ‘Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa’. My face was getting redder and the car was beginning to feel very small indeed. ‘Guys, please? Just ten minutes more! I promise!’, Papa ventured helplessly. Lolo and I paid him no heed. By the time our hotel came into view, and Papa swerved into the car park, Lolo and I didn’t want anything to do with each other. ‘I need some time alone’ Lolo huffed, Suit yourself! Papa lifted my car seat out of the car and, oh! the evening air felt so, so divine! Lolo stewed in the car for a while, and when she was ready we made our way to our room. Papa took charge of me completely, changing my diaper, rocking me, showing me the cows in the distance. I cheered up. Meanwhile, Lolo had a bath and changed, and soon, she had cheered up considerably too. Three cheers for Papa, Negotiator and Peacekeeper. After some milk, I slept happily in my giant baby bed and Lolo and Papa had takeaway pizza for dinner, in the dark. The next day, I took my first ever boat ride on a blindingly blue lake. Later, Lolo nursed me sitting on a stone, surrounded by trees, because I was hungry like hell and there was no other place that offered enough privacy. They tentatively had dinner at a restaurant but i surprised them by being the Best Baby Ever and cooed and gurgled and won over the hearts of all the staff and guests. The way people were stopping in their tracks to get a look at me, Lolo remarked that she felt like she was driving a Maserati, rather than pushing my pram. Lol!