Hours and Home

My Halloween monkey

It is 8:30 am right now, and my mind is alert though my body aches from fatigue.  Though we theoretically "gained" an hour because of Daylight Savings Time, I have lost hours in the last few days.  Baby Loquacious has been sick or teething or something, and has woken up every two hours crying and needing to be cuddled by me exclusively; she has not wanted Hubbs at all during these night-time wake-ups.  Furthermore, she hasn't always wanted to nurse down again, which used to be my fool-proof fall-back plan to return her to slumber.  In these past few nights, she has whined and cried, and needed me to hold her in cuddle position for her to go back to sleep.

Just up from a nap!

Strangely enough, too, she hasn't been sleeping in a very, um, normal position of late.  Her body arches and her head tilts backwards while she snoozes on her side.  When I cuddle her, she prefers for her head to tilt backwards and her mouth to be agape as she sleeps on her back.  It is an odd sight, and one that is slightly troubling for me because I don't know what it means, or if something is wrong.  The cursory Google check suggests maybe my girl might have some reflux issues, which, though possible, doesn't seem to be a visible annoyance during her conscious hours.

Regardless, I am exhausted.  I can only imagine that Baby L is as well.

To top things off, she also developed a 39'C fever last night, just so that Momma could worry her head off a little bit more.  We plied her full of liquid and did all of the usual non-medicinal stuff that is recommended for mid-grade fevers, but all that did was result in her waking up at 1:45am with a very full, heavy diaper.  In the end, we decided to give her a dose of Baby Tylenol, which seemed to bring her skin temperature down from blazing hot to lukewarm.  An armpit thermal probe suggests her temperature has also returned to normal ranges, though I am only cautiously optimistic, since it sometimes takes a few doses to get rid of the fever entirely.

I wonder if this type of traveling is taking its toll on my little girl.  At nearly 9 months, she wants to be mobile, all of the time.  She is curious and constantly exploring, unwilling to be limited to the same spaces and toys that previously occupied her attention.  When we are home, we can go for walks or drives or take a train somewhere, and she is entertained.  When we travel to places already entering into winter, it isn't so easy.

Playing with her other Halloween costume - and her toys - at our E-town "home"

And such was the case with this trip.  It was a cold wintry destination, one that required Baby L to be bundled up a lot of the time, and one that didn't allow for much strolling.  The roads were icy and covered in a thick blanket of snow, and on some days, visibility was extremely limited due to the seemingly endless snowfall.  We spent a lot of time indoors at "home," and though there were toys to play with and people to love on her, I suspect that Baby L missed being outside and getting fresh air.

Traveling is also hard because she isn't familiar with her new surroundings, and sometimes it takes a while to adjust to sleeping on different beds, or sitting in different car seats.

Maybe her little body is worn out, just as mine is.  Maybe the travel has wearied her, and decreased her immunity, giving her a fever.

I don't know.

But I do know that I am so glad to be home, and even as our vehicle exited the airport, I could feel a weight being lifted from my shoulders.  Truly, there is no place like home.

***

In "stuff" news - our convertible car seat (Clek Foonf) is on back order.  The ETA is the end of the month.  I am hoping it arrives before Baby L no longer fits in her current Orbit infant car seat!

Also, to help Baby L as she learns to walk, we've ordered a Juppy Baby Walker.  I am so excited about this, because nothing is worse than having to bend over to support your little one as they try to wriggle free and race around trying to look at and touch everything! This is a great idea that I am really hoping will be as easy to use in reality as it appears.

We also ordered a Meowsic B-Toys keyboard, which has arrived! It is waiting to be picked up at the post office, and I am so psyched that Baby L will finally have a 2-octave keyboard to play on! :)