We left home when Astrid was 15.5 months. After our first couple of weeks in Paris we started doing several International trips and between 16 and 17 months of age Astrid has been to Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, then Netherlands and Sweden! She has also travelled through France. She really is becoming an International traveller.

We have had many, many hours sitting on trains. Big fast trains, and dingey metro trains. She now loves trains and when you say you are going on a train, she helpfully says ‘choo, choo’. It seems we go on trains everyday pretty much and she is so well behaved on them! Of course she also thinks that when she gets on a train she gets a biscuit, a croissant and endless hours of playschool to watch on the tablet. She now just happily (for the most part) sits there eating and munching, with some talking to other babies/children/passengers thrown in. We have done a few flights and she is slightly less keen on those, but only because it is harder to move around. She does helpfully tell us that planes go ‘up’ and points to the sky. It’s good that she reminds us of these things!

Buses and long car trips have also been our friends and again she is pretty good on them and just sits and behaves. She is getting really good at falling asleep whenever and wherever. Most forms of transport are sleep-inducing and this includes riding in the carrier, ergo or pram! For a baby that loves routine and familiarity she has done really well with moving around to many different places. Some days and nights her meals are at odd times, they often contain whatever we happen to have available, but she doesn’t mind because she normally gets to eat something fun. Less pesky vegetables have been eaten recently! She is also getting used to sleeping in different places. When we rock up at a hotel she is always excited to find her ‘bed’. Even if she then later refuses to sleep in it in a timely manner, when asked 🙂

We have noticed she is becoming much more outgoing. Prior to going away she suffered from a lot of separation anxiety and was only OK with people she knew really well, and even then she didn’t like being away from us much at all. We weren’t sure how she would go travelling and being only with us constantly but it’s been fairly good for her so far. She is actually really happy to talk to people and wave at them and generally have a chat (in foreign languages). We always get comments on what a happy and outgoing child she is. She has also started latching onto new people and give out cuddles.

Something she has never done before. Since Astrid is our only child we don’t have much to compare her to, but we keep getting told how well-behaved, out-going, calm and easy-going she is. Any tours we have done we have had many comments on how good she has been and they see quite a few children. Of course she has had total melt-down moments and there have been times she hasn’t been the happiest child in the world. Who can be happy when they are exhausted and being shuffled around yet another long train trip or carried in the rain or snow for hours? She takes it all in good humour though and seemingly a croissant and hot chocolate makes everything right in her world.

 Another couple of weeks and we will be home and it will be interesting to see how she adapts back to life at home. I’m sure it won’t be as interesting as her last 6 weeks! Before home though we have more travel to do and more croissants to eat!

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