March 11, 2000 - Saturday
After another fine breakfast in the Ritz-Carlton's elegant Café Mexicano, we made a reservation on the "Sub See Explorer," a pseudo-submarine - it never submerges but rather has stairs down to where large windows view the ocean and ocean floor. It takes patrons on a half an hour tour around the northern-most tip of the Belize Barrier Reef, the "Scorpion Coral Reef" to Mexicans and the second largest coral reef in the world behind Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Naturally, our little half hour tourist ride barely hinted at the glories of such a natural beauty, but it seemed like a nice, low impact activity for two people with a baby in tow.

Unfortunately, about an hour before our scheduled departure, Harry began a meltdown that was eerily similar to last Sunday's. Of course, the idea of being trapped in a confined space with a very uncomfortable baby and a couple dozen other tourists was not terribly appealing and we began to panic. We called our event planners inquiring about postponement, but they’d have to check.

As with last Sunday, something seemed to be physically wrong with Harry. This time, however, he had eaten fairly well not too long beforehand, so hunger was probably not the cause. Recent constant finger and hand chewing, even when entirely sated by his mother, has raised the possibility of early teething, so we suspected of a baby toothache of sorts. Or, given my history, maybe Harry had a headache for the second time in one week.

Fortunately, in preparation for the trip, Harry's mother had wisely purchased some baby Tylenol and we started to think that this might be the time to use it. Like typical new parents, we’re paranoid about putting anything foreign in Harry’s young body, but a potential reprise performance of last weekend had us facing those fears head on. Spitefully, the baby Tylenol box gives doses by weight and Harry's weight said "Ask Your Doctor." But, Harry’s continued insistence of discomfort overwrought our self-doubt and we pushed forward on the past advice of another relative who swears by Baby Tylenol when all else fails. We gave Harry a quarter dose.

Our event planners finally got word that we could change our reservations for the Sub See, but the medicine was showing signs of working and we decided to take what a half an hour earlier seemed like a big risk. And, Harry did fine, even seeming temporarily fascinated by a school of yellow-tailed snappers that swam right beside the boat’s undersea windows.

On the encouragement of Elise's father, and with the surface interest of others in the group, we decided to bring Harry along for the evening’s group events; an hour-long lagoon cruise and then dinner theater. Harry wasn't really his charming self and slept (another kind of charming!) almost the entire time, including through the complete and very loud stage show. We think he must have had a fun and exhausting time at the beach earlier in the day laughing and playing with one of the other couples on the trip, because he was out cold and slept not only all evening, but through the night as well.


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