Fogs and airplane rides (unrelated)

Well, we're back and doing reasonably well (although neither of us should be operating any heavy machinery for the time being).

Friends of ours warned us that the "good sleepers" while in China had the potential to be not so good sleepers back in Canada, and, alas, so far, Kiyomi has decided to follow this adage. As a result, we’ve been operating in a bit of a fatigue fog the last couple of days. Hence the delay in posting here.

The trip home was relatively uneventful, although really long. We were all a little shocked by the insanity that is the Beijing airport. There are no real lines – rather you join the throngs of people moving forward towards the departure area. Oh sure, there are signs that seem to indicate some sort of order – indicating “something to declare” or “nothing to declare” – but they are largely meaningless. You simply join the crowd surging forward, and try to resist the urge to “moo” as you join a human cattle drive!

The plane ride itself was also rather uneventful, though very, very, very long. Kiyomi worked on her audience most of the trip – smiling and scrunching her face up whenever she caught someone’s eye. She even charmed a priest on the Toronto-Ottawa leg! She had a couple of fussy moments that were resolved by walking the aisles, and expanding her audience. All in all, we were quite relieved that there was no real crying fits and she didn’t seem to have any difficulty with the take-offs and landings. She even had a good long nap, helped along by the fact that we scored a middle bench – so four seats – all to ourselves. Tip for those of you travelling in future – if you are thinking of getting a seat for the baby (which we did), request the middle row, and specifically both of the aisle seats and one other. That way, if the plane isn’t full, it’s more than likely that no one will be in that 4th seat! Worked like a charm for us.

We were able to meet up with Ojiichan, Obaachan and aunty Miyo during our stopover in the Toronto airport. It was a brief visit and I’m afraid we were a little too exhausted to be great company, but Kiyomi made a few smiley faces and it was nice to see family.

There was also a small contingent to greet us at the Ottawa airport, and aunties Laura and Sue brought slurpees for mommy and daddy (yum!) It was also really nice to come home to a contented cat and a clean house (thanks to uncle Brahm for that!) Kiyomi was a little unsure of everything, and a little clingy once we finally got home, but all in all, she did pretty well considering everything she’d just been through.

We managed to keep her up until 9 p.m., after feeding her some of grandma’s lasagna, but she finally conked out. Unfortunately, she was awake at 1:30 in the morning, and not at all happy about where she was and what was going on. There was some floor walking and rocking chair rocking until dawn, when we finally gave up and got on with the day.

The next night was marginally better. She still woke up at 1, but this time, she seemed reasonably content to babble and play in her crib until 3, when she fell back asleep. Unfortunately, it did little for helping Kohji and I get over jet-lag.

The sleep strategies continue, however. Yesterday, we limited all nap time. She only slept for about ½ in the afternoon, and we kept her awake as long as possible. Unfortunately, I abandonned Kohji as it was impossible for me to stay awake, so I napped for about an hour and a half. Kiyomi made it to 7:30, mommy and daddy until 8. Let me tell you, it’s been a LONG time since I’ve gone to bed while the sun was still up. Luckily, the” torture the poor child by forcing her to stay awake” seemed to work, as she slept until about 5 this morning. There was some minor snorffling that required some back patting (we’ve moved the crib to beside the bed, so we don’t actually have to get up!), but it seemed to be a full night sleep. We’re feeling less foggy headed, but could have happily slept several more hours. Hopefully, the strategy will hold strong and we’ll be able to keep her up a little later tonight, she’ll sleep a little longer at night, and all will be right with the world (ya, I know I’m dreaming in technicolour, but you gotta hope!)

The hardest part of being back so far has been the lack of sleep and copping with jetlag. So far, we've all been healthy (knock on wood) and Kiyomi seems to be feeling comfortable and secure as long as we are around. She's still a little apprehensive when we leave the room, even if she can still see us in the kitchen (but, after what she's been through, who can blame her). Hopefully, we can get things back to an Ottawa time zone soon and settle into a routine to increase the comfort level for all of us.

All in all, though, she seems to be adjusting as well as can be expected. She's even starting to see eye to eye with KT the cat. She wasn't too sure what to make of the strange furry beast at first, but now she's even happy to see the cat - as long as there is someone else nearby. She seems comfortable in the house, and we are bit by bit trying to develop a routine. We've already been to Loblaws, taken a few strolls through the neighbourhood and Kiyomi's gone for her first run in the baby jogger.

We're also slowly introducing all the new toys and gadgets, and so far she has three favourites - the pail and shovel from uncle Brahm, the Pop-A-Corn car from Alex and aunty Jan, and the rocking chair from Lindsay. Actually with that last one, she's figured out that when she rocks hard enough, she achieves locomotion, so she's been puttering across the kitchen. When she gets faster at it, the cat's in trouble!

And for us, it's a treat to be able to drink, and wash dishes in, tap water, have laundry at our disposal and the comforts of home. Being in China was amazing and getting the opportunity to visit Kiyomi's country of birth was phenomenal, but living in a hotel while you're trying to get to know each other is a bit of a challenge.

Tonight, Kiyomi heads out to her first ultimate game (assuming mommy and daddy can get their acts together). We’re hoping she’ll be able to read a disc better than mom, and given how she's learned to chuck things from her high chair, it's obvious she's working on her hammer already!

Tomorrow (July 18th) is Kiyomi's 1st birthday (as well as uncle Brahm's)! Nothing special planned, although apparently she gets pretty darn happy if daddy pretends to sneeze in her face, so maybe we'll spend the day doing that!

Good afternoon, from Ottawa (ahhh)!