The sleep saga, or lack thereof continues. I’m not sure where Jet lag ends and sheer lack of sleep begins. Lili is not transitioning well. She goes down for a a few hours and then pops up crying inconsolably a few hours later. Last night however we were prepared – comfortable pillows and comforter on the floor in her room so the other parent could sleep a bit. She’s such a happy baby normally, but like her mother (and father I’m told),she can be more than a little cranky when she’s not getting enough sleep.

We awoke yesterday morning to signs in the neighbors windows of “Free Lili” and “Where’s Lili” expressing their displeasure at being denied visits with Lili. We called them and Lili waved through the windows (all of six feet away) which seemed to placate them because the signs came down shortly thereafter. Hopefully the busy schedules next door can mesh with Lili’s (and our’s) sleep schedule this weekend.

We appreciate everyone’s phone calls and I apologize if I don’t seem especially forthcoming over the phone. I know everyone wants tons of details and blow-by-blow descriptions of every second of the day including poop details  (okay, I’m not even sure if the grandmother’s want those details although they are interesting) and doctor’s vists. As we come up for air and eventually transition to eastern time, I’m sure those things will be forthcoming. For now the blog will have to suffice along with a few minutes by phone. Pictures will come, I promise. I have a few good ones from our tramuatization of our daughter – we gave her a bath and she still isn’t a big fan. Otherwise we are trying to find a rhythm that works for everyone. Lili seemed to like her morning and afternoon constitutionals in china, but the weather hasn’t been very cooperative since arriving home, so hopefully we can venture out for a walk today. We do miss the 75 degree weather in Ghuangzhou as I look out over the treacherous ice fields called sidewalks. Enough for now. Schoolwork calls. Ciao, -t

We thought we were making headway in eliminating the jetlag, but Lili had different plans. After lulling us into a false sense of sleep security by sleeping roughly 12 hours the night before, last night she decided she wanted to keep the neighbors awake, again. After an earlier successful test run of napping in her crib in her room in the afternoon, we thought putting her down for the night would be easy. As you might surmise, we were wrong. We’ve discovered a few things – laying on a cold floor trying to comfort your screaming daughter is especially uncomfortable without your slippers on nor a comforter to keep warm; our dog Maggie is concerned by the crying and wants everyone to be happy; and if our daughter doesn’t want to sleep, no one gets to sleep (actually that’s not entirely true because I could sleep, I just choose not to).

Catherine’s jet lag is becoming epic as her sleep deficit is approaching triple digits. She’s a trooper though, trying to comfort Lili in ever more imaginative ways. If the weather outside wasn’t so miserable, I think we’d have gone for a walk. As pleasureable as watching the sky slowly change from dark night to clear blue sky with rosy sunshine was, we’d all have preferred dreaming about it instead of watching it in person, wondering if our dear daughter was ever going to sleep. However if history holds true we can hope for a good night’s sleep tonight. Right now both Catherine and Lili are sleeping as part of the morning nap routine. I’m catching up on all of my business school reading wondering how I am ever going to be ready for class next week.

We’ve taken a few pictures but they’ll have to wait until we are all firmly on eastern time. And tomorrow, after all, is another day and hopefully we’ll be fully rested and can enjoy it. -t

We finally made it home in what without a doubt was the longest day of our lives. I’m not sure how but we were traveling for about 30 hours or so, all on the same day. Yes, you can talk about date lines and the rotation of the earth, blah, blah, blah… all I know is that we were all tired and through it all, Lili did amazing. In fact the feared meltdown didn’t come until we’d been home for about 2 hours. At this point Catherine and I had the intellectual and functional capacity of zombies and little Lili is trying to wake the neighbors to announce her presenece in the neighborhood. After a warm bottle and lots of time on Catherine’s chest, I finally slept for a few hours while Catherine may have gotten 30 minutes. Through it all Lili was not the happy Xiao Bao we’d seen the last two weeks. Now we  know, she gets cranky when tired, much like her parents.

I woke up early, made coffee and eggs. (coffee for the adults, eggs for the little one) and we fed her breakfast and then both Lili and Mom went down for a 2-3 hour nap. I puttered around the house digging through the 2 feet of mail, unpacking, doing laundry, etc. Catherine and Lili finally got up while I hunted and gathered by going to get sandwiches. After lunch and a naptime book, it was time for an afternoon nap. Lili fell asleep quickly, or so I’m told because I was comatose in seconds. Catherine’s mom dropped by for a few mintues Wednesday afternoon and I incoherently mumbled a few words while trying to clear the fog of jetlag from my system. I wasn’t successful.

We put Lili down for the night around 6:30 and we turned in as well. She slept for 6 or 7 hours, before taking a warm bottle and going back to sleep for another 6 or 7 hours. I feel like a thinking being today and Catherine is looking pretty chipper as well. I think it’s just the caffiene working it’s magic.

It’s sleeting and snowing outside now and we have our Pediatrician appointment this afternoon. It should be fun slipping and sliding through the snow. Photos will have to wait for a later day. Ciao -t