Contact Daniel

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Welcome to the Jungle!

Shock! And awe!
Despite being a bleary-eyed, jet lagged baby on a Sunday morning, the blaring horns, angry drivers and excruciating dead-stop traffic made it abundantly clear to me: We were back in Israel!

I watched the morning's events from my new car seat (I got promoted!) as we braved Jerusalem traffic and made our way through the morning rush hour today. It has been an odd few days of readjusting to our new time zone starting with the oddest thing of all: 80 degree weather. We left here with our coats and Uggs (my Uggs, mommy's Fuggs - Fake Uggs) in March and returned with t-shirts and sandals. We left when it was rainy, damp and cold and now we have arrived to sun, dust and heat.

It took awhile to arrive. First of all there was the 10-hour flight. Lucas and I impressed myriads of travelers with our stellar behavior and amazing sleeping patterns. And I proved that, barring any natural disaster or hospitable illness, I am an impressive flyer. No pneumonia = good baby (as opposed to the first leg of the flight where I thrashed, moaned and heaved for oxygen for 12 interminable hours). This time I managed to string together hours of sleep in a row on the floor under Lucas' bassinet where my little brother slept well, having taken my advice on how to be a good baby traveler:


Then there was the long taxi ride home where I snoozed again. And then abba's FOUR trips up the FOUR flights of stairs with all of our traveling menagerie.

But the longest part of flying consists of one thing that can last for days: jet lag.

And, take it from me, you cannot tell a baby who wakes up from a nap raring to go at 3 p.m. why waking up - and staying up - at that time is no longer right. Even if it is actually 10 p.m. in the current time zone. It just makes no sense.

And so, after two nights of odd sleeping patterns, my parents determined that the only way to get me back on track was to get me back on my schedule. Accordingly, this morning they loaded us up bright and early to bring me to Shalva.

Now I'm still working on my long-term memory, but you should have seen my face flicker with recognition as we descended in the elevator. I saw the telltale view of Ein Karem and my hospital in the distance. I remembered the balloons painted on the walls. Then I nearly gasped when the elevator stopped at the space-age room. However, nothing compared to my reaction when we arrived at the main area of the daycare. Both my hands went to my head as if to say oy vey! Perhaps the shock culminated with the restrained greetings of Gavriella and Talia who controlled themselves long enough to see if I remembered. It was all so overwhelming that I buried my face in mommy's shoulder and then threw my hands to head time and time again as my young brain got overloaded with history. I was also restrained - if not on the verge of tears of "joy" - as I reacquainted myself with my old stomping grounds and my friends like Epraim and Hallel. It wasn't my easiest day ever, but I managed to get back into the swing of things. I even went to the pool today. Talk about throwing me in the deep end!

Who says I can't sleep? Here's me passing out at Da Nonna
Rosa restaurant, in a sitting position
This followed two consecutive nights of sleeping in my new bedroom: the living room. I am using jet lag as an excuse to not sleep in my crib anymore. So abba, rather coming to my aid every 15 minutes, let me watch Veggie Tales until I fell asleep. He cordoned a safe place in the living room and made the entire floor a bed for the two of us. As a bonus, he got to experience my sleep-time thrashing firsthand as I wiggled around the entire perimeter, but eventually did sleep, albeit in an interrupted pattern. I have to say, this is fun! Almost like camping.

I refused my bed, and meanwhile, Lucas has no bed! Gone was the bassinet we rented in his early months and nowhere to be found is a new crib - or a solution. So his new bedroom is mommy and abba's room. He shares the bed with mommy and Lucie, while pillows cordon him off into a safe place. He had a little run in with jet lag as well, but being mere months old he isn't pulling his weight like I am in challenging mommy and abba. In other words, he is adjusting more quickly.

Ironically, the only empty room is mine and Lucas'!

Lucas and I going for a ride

1 comment:

  1. i TOLD you to let me fix up the 'spare' room! that way, you'd now have two non-filled spare bedrooms! sigh. Oh, to be young again, with boys being boys. sleepers, snorers, shouters. um, do i miss those days? haha. looking forward to fall when you should be settled completely and perfected. can't wait to kiss ya alllll. lol
    aunt d and unca r

    ReplyDelete