Traveling with Baby: Kauai, Day Two

Today, we shopped.

Needed to stock up for the week in the condo. Food and gear.

We started at Wal-Mart. Just like Brad and Angelina. Bought a really cute cheap bouncy seat that my parents are going to take back with them for when we visit. Mom and Dad were delighted to find some James Pearse knock-off men’s t-shirts for $7.97, made from organic cotton (?!?!). Seriously. Scott got some too, and a couple of Hawaiian shirts for under $20 each. This really was the place for souvenirs at good prices — as I’d read on another blog before we left.

In a way, it was a very Hawaiian thing to do. The store was packed with locals.

We got other things too: baby sunglasses, a vented mesh head rest for the infant car seat because the fuzzy snuzzler was waaaaaay too warm, a fairly inexpensive video camera — which we’ve been needing pretty much since the boy was born! Jonah slept through a lot of the Wal-Mart visit, but woke up in time to need me to nurse him, which I did in the in-store McDonald’s.

Next stop was a strip mall containing, among other things, Starbucks, a Chinese restaurant, a Safeway, and a health food store. Turns out I could’ve left the laundry soap, goat cheese, and rice bread, and even the Tushies diapers (!) at home. It was all there, plus my favorite bottled lemonade that is actually made here in Hawaii, but which I have often purchased in Oakland at my neighborhood shop.

We had lunch at the Chinese restaurant and the owner kept stopping to make squeak and cluck noises at Jonah. Everyone generally seems to be really happy to see a baby. This was true on the plane too. People cannot get over his hair, but I don’t think it’s just that. People like babies. At least as long as they’re not crying.

I don’t mind the question about how old he is but I do find it odd that they ask his name. I don’t know if I’ve ever asked a stranger their baby’s name. It seems like a very intimate detail. Especially since he is too young for anyone to really use it.

We also hit Safeway to round out the food supplies for at least the next few days. Every time I asked this one cashier where something was, baking soda, fizzy water, et. al., he’d say, “Aisle ___, Can I get someone to show you where it is?” “Oh no, that’s okay. I’ll find it.” After the third time, the script remained the same, but his voice became desperate. “Can I Get Someone To…??”

I should have let him. Just to relieve the pressure.

After all that, it was around 3 p.m. and we were exhausted. Long drive home. We had to stop in a random housing development parking lot so I could nurse the boy (to stop his hungry screaming). Home around 4. Haven’t left the condo since. Boy went to sleep at 6:30 tonight, two hours later than he would have if we were back home (4:30/7:30). So he seems to be adjusting quickly to Island Time. I wonder if he’ll adjust back as easily when we return. Not going to worry about it right now.