It is now our 6th day in Australia. We've experienced some heavy rain showers, some sunny and hot days, and today is our first slightly cooler day with a nice breeze. Two things are common about every day since we've been here though: it's humid and Evan's had jet lag!
I consider this first week to really have been a transition week. For one, we all were jet lagged, and while John and I may have seemingly gotten over our jet lag within a few days (though I still often take late day naps), Evan is still recovering from the huge change. It's not just his sleep schedule that's all out of whack, but it's also his daily schedule. The toys and play mats and faces he sees are different to back home and his normal routine. While we did bring a few of his small toys from home, his floor gym and rocking chair and swing had to stay. Nana Louise bought him a cute play mat for the floor and a cozy bouncer seat as well, not to mention several books and toys! These have all been highly utilized! In fact, I think Evan is so intrigued by his new surroundings that he really fights going to sleep! He just has so many new things and faces to investigate that he can't be bothered with sleeping!
Nap times have been extremely hard since we arrived. He typically finds himself overly stimulated and tired and yet won't let himself sleep. I had usually been able to coax him to sleep by rocking him in my arms with his pacifier in his mouth, however the moment I assume this position with him he cries even harder than I've ever heard him cry before, spitting out his "paci" and breaking my heart all at the same time!
As the days passed, John was able to coax him to sleep for an early morning nap by reading to him while he was either on his floor mat or in his bouncer chair. Then yesterday he started also taking a short mid-day nap too. Today is the first day that he has now had an afternoon nap, however it wasn't easy. He went down for his earlier naps today pretty fuss-free, but this afternoon I could tell he was tired, but he fought it tooth and nail. I ended up pulling out the Baby Bjorn and bouncing him around against my chest, swinging and swaying with him, until he finally lulled himself to sleep. And there he snoozes, against me in the baby carrier on my lap, right now as I type. :)
Perhaps since he's had his three normal naps today he won't fall asleep as early as he has the last few nights. Since he wouldn't nap much during the days, he often was falling asleep around 5pm. He'd wake up around 7-8ish to feed and then go right back to bed for the night. Of course, we didn't put him in his crib until around 8ish though anyway, to try to simulate our routine at home.
Lucky for us, though, he's been sleeping at least 6-7 hours straight at night since we've been here. After being placed in his crib around 8pm or so, he often sleeps until 2-3am for us. Then he feeds and goes back to sleep until around 6-7am. While it's not the full night sleep he was doing at home before we left, he is still a good overnight sleeper and we feel very fortunate for that.
I think the hardest thing for me about his dazed and confused body clock is hearing him cry so hard and not having easy luck calming him. This experience has helped me realize how good of a baby he's been, and I wonder how parents with really fussy babies handle it. Not that his crying has frustrated me or made me feel like I can't tolerate hearing it any longer...it just makes me feel bad because I don't want to see or hear him so upset. It is because of this that John and I are both glad we've been able to make this trip a long one, such that it will be well worth this long and painful transition period given we still have several weeks yet to stay and enjoy our time here. Hopefully within a few more days Evan will have settled down into a regular routine again so that he can fully enjoy the remaining time we have here as well.
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