Carolina on my mind

Now that we're back from our trip down South, it feels like a long ago dream. Seeing mom and dad again and having Elisa meet her aunts and cousins was a real treat and one that I'm lucky I had the time to do. Elisa was a real trouper on both plane rides (sleeping on the way down and barely fussing on the way back) and I hope that we'll keep up the pace. We have lots more trips in store for her, so we're going to need a baby that likes the movement and excitement of air travel. The only time she really got keyed up was during the taxi-ing on the flight home. As soon as the plane started down the runway, though, she was blinking her way to sleep and stayed down for the next hour. Hopefully she will continue to impress us with her go-along attitude.

During my two weeks in NC, I was constantly reminded how much it helps to have family around you at times like this. I feel very fortunate that I had such great help so I could squeeze the most out of my between-feedings blocks of sleep. Despite the fact that Elisa had a lot of issues with her tummy while we were there (gas, gas and more gas), mom did manage to get one 5 hour chunk of time for me (amazing!!) and most nights we had a good 3-4 hours between feedings. Decoding Elisa's new found facial cues and variety of cries (yes, she does have a bitchy one--can't wait to meet that temper!) was a fun game and I was happy to see her progressing every day with more smiles and cooing. By the time Nacho arrived this week, we were pretty sure we had a different baby to take home. So all in all, I was able to relax a little and enjoy sharing Elisa with the people I love the most.

Of course, nothing lasts forever, and as I'm finding out, Elisa is never one to get complacent with a routine. Our first night back home she was pretty calm and went down after each feeding with hardly a burp. It was like magic. She didn't give me more than two hours of sleep at one shot (3 hours between feedings total) but it felt somehow effortless. So on Thursday we ventured into the city in the Baby Bjorn and Nacho kept his dentist appointment (where Dr. Boyd pinched her cheeks and probably inspected her gums without me noticing) and I took Elisa to the office to hang out on Bosses Day where she was a big hit.

Last night was our first without Nacho around since he's got a two day trip this weekend. I was a little bit fearful all day long of how exactly things would go. It felt kind of like waiting for a hurricane to make landfall--it might tear your house down or it might miss you completely--you just don't know. I have to say it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but then again, I was just amazed I got any sleep at all. Miss Thing didn't want to go down for more than an hour at her bedtime feeding, so I picked her up and rocked her til the next one at midnight. Then she screamed and faunched on and off until about 2:30am (within 1/2 hour of her next feeding) but luckily she somehow fell asleep without that one and slept until 5:15am. By the time we woke again at 8:30am, I felt like I'd made it through the battle, and bruised and bloodied might just live to see the day. It's crazy how delusional sleep deprivation can make you! Now today we are hanging out and I'm trying to approach this second overnight alone with a bit more bravado...oh, yes, she will sleep tonight. So we might as well enjoy the day we have. I'm thinking of taking a shower even! And as for Elisa, she is fed and laying down as I write, so let's hope she stays that way for a bit longer until I can join her.