Babies on a Plane, vol. 2

Let me just say that coming home wasn't as easy as flying out. Don't get me wrong, hitting up the Pinkberry yogurt place in Charlotte airport was awesome, but for a baby - or at least for this baby - doing the time change going east was a greater feat of endurance.

When we got to my dad's house in Georgia, Ethan had slept through most of both plane rides, then woke up for a dinner out at Cracker Barrel and even met the "goggies" once we got back to the house, putting him nearly on his usual bedtime schedule in the new time zone. Despite not doing his usual daytime naps, he got onto a reliable pattern of sleeping that made the transition that much easier for Seb and I. Coming home? He fought going to sleep on our long plane ride from Charlotte to Gatwick. I had to bribe him with a short feed about 10 times before it finally succeeded in getting him to sleep. And of course, by that point there was no way I was going to get comfortable enough to sleep.

Sleeping in an aeroplane seat? Nigh on impossible. Sleeping in an aeroplane seat while holding a sleeping baby (and keeping said baby asleep)? That's when we've actually reached impossible. Needless to say, after the maddeningly short kip that the three of us caught all jumbled up together in our seats, we had quite a lot in common with extras from Shaun of the Dead when we met my mother-in-law at the arrivals gate.

Of course, the real test begins once we get back home. We've been absolutely lame and have been lucky to wake up in the hours that can still legitimately be called morning the past few days. Now, to mitigate the shame of not getting dressed before noon, I will say that we were really productive yesterday and did the grocery shopping, cleaned the car (Seb), cleaned the new pushchair we bought just before leaving (Seb again), vacuumed (me), tidied the bathroom and kitchen (me again), and finished unpacking putting away the suitcases. For three people who weren't functional before midday, I think that's an impressive list of accomplished goals. I even framed one more picture I got to hang in an arrangement in our bedroom. Once I buy my last birthday present I'll have the whole thing ready and I can blog about a bit more DIY/home decorating again. Which reminds me, once I can rustle up some fabric and get my hands on a sewing machine, I've got some DIY to do on one of E's toys. I was indecently excited when I realised that I could improve his baby gym in this way. Just you wait to see what an improvement I make.

In the meantime, I'm working on getting E back on track. We've already made an improvement on his bedtime (from midnight up to 9:30pm...a step in the right direction), but now I need to make sure he's getting his usual afternoon nap and having enough playtime and a walk outside so that we can regain some sense of the normal. And anything that helps me drag my lazy bum out of bed before 2pm (true story) is a good thing. And, please God, maybe getting back into our usual routine will put a damper on the truculent pterodactyl impressions E's been doing lately. You have no idea how difficult it is to sleep when your son is thrashing in the bed next to you, head-butting your chest, and squealing like an air raid siren. Pray that you escape this particular experience...I don't recommend it.