Let's start with June 30. We spent the day packing in S.F. while a number of friends came by to entertain Emmett. We were to fly out at 10:30ish that evening, so we had all day to pack and prepare the house for our month-plus absence. We had to leave for the airport at around 8:30pm so we decided to put Emmett down bed around 6:30, wake him for the travels, and then hope he slept on the flight. Emmett, however, was a little off all day as it seemed that he could tell something was up with us packing bags, taking all of his favorite toys away, etc., so he decided he wasn't going to go to sleep so he could make sure we weren't going to run off on him while he slept with all of his favorite things in tow. We were already starting the night two hours in the hole
Jeff was kind enough to give us a ride to the airport and Emmett rode happily (I haven't mentioned this for a while, but Emmett now likes riding in the car quite a bit since he gets to do it so rarely). Similar to our last trip to Portland, Emmett fell asleep in the car seat just as we got to the exit for the airport, so he got in about four minutes sleep on the drive. We checked in with both of our bags packed to the brim and each weighing in at 50.6 pounds, just over the allowed 50 (they didn't complain about this, which was nice---I had packed each bag and checked them with the scale at home where they came in at 51 a piece, and I was hoping they would give us one-pound worth of leeway). When we had checked into the flight (or at least tried to) online, we could see there were about a dozen seats still available for sale. We had requested the aisle and window seats in our row in hopes that no one would want to sit between us, but someone had selected our middle. It ended up that the flight was sold out, so we were going to be riding with Emmett in our lap the whole way.
We didn't notice, but there was an "SSSSSSS" code on each of our tickets, and what this meant for us was that the three of us got to go through a special security screening. They patted us all down, had even Emmett take off his shoes, and took apart all of our luggage and swiped it all. It was a long, slow process and Emmett was not very happy about it. We were determined to be bomb free and they left us to repack all of our belongings in the corral they had set up for suspected terrorists. Oh, yes, I haven't mentioned this, but one of the primary bulky items to pack for the trip was 30+ cloth diapers and covers. As I knew we were running tight for space and weight, I made a carryon bag that was an improvized laptop carrier with both Andrea's and my laptops sandwiched between multiple layers of stained cloth diapers. I am sure security thought we were crazy.
We spent the wait before the flight walking Emmett around to try for sleep, to no avail, and then boarded when the time came. Surprisingly, the flight was relatively uneventful. Emmett was a little whiny and loopy from lack of sleep (it was 11ish-p.m. by this time) and we tried all kinds of tricks to get him to settle down. I had downloaded Elmo videos onto my ipod, deciding that it would be worth breaking his first 16-months without watching videos for the sanity of others on the plane. Emmett finally slept after half-an-hour or so on the plane and stayed asleep for pretty much the whole flight. We have watched him sleep on the video monitor quite a bit, so we knew he moved around a lot in his sleep, but it takes it to a whole new level when one is exhausted and trying to sleep too, and Emmett is rolling around every ten minutes or so. Needless to say, Andrea's and my sleep wasn't too great, and Emmett's was a little better but far short of his usual 11-12 hours a night.
We landed on July 1 at JFK and made it through the airport without incident. As we had so many bags, we took a taxi from the airport to our pad, and the drive was long with a pretty ugly accident. Emmett caught a little more shut eye (he was in a car seat which we brought along), as did his parents, and we made it to our new pad after an hour or so.
The flat we are staying in is simply amazing. It is probably 2400 sq. ft. and sits on the edge of the East River in Brooklyn with the Brooklyn Bridge immediately out our window, the buildings of downtown Manhattan right across the water, and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island out to the left (I am writing this as Manhattan is lit up for the night right behind the computer). The picture at left is as much of the living space of the loft I could get into the picture. There is another window to the left with the same spacing and another to the right around the corner. The pictures below are the view from one of the four windows on the right which face Manhattan. Ideally I would have sewn them together, but I am too lazy to do that now, but the first is starting from the south and moving to the north with the Statue of Liberty visible in the first. The lot where construction is being done in the pictures is the start of a park, so the view will improve later. Oh, I guess not every reader of this would know what is going on, but Andrea and I are doing a house swap for the month of July with an photographer who lives in Brooklyn.
The first day was pretty rough as all of us were exhausted and we were not able to enter and leave the house as freely as we would have liked as floor to the lobby was being painted. On top of that it was hot and we were having a lot of trouble getting Emmett to sleep even though he should have been tired, but he was clearly thrown off by the new digs.Emmett actually slept pretty well that first night, although he cried a lot going to sleep (a theme we will see repeated shortly) which is rare for him. The second day we saw many friends. Our friends from Indiana, Tom and Jacqui, arrived the night before and we saw them for a bit, we had friends from San Francisco over for dinner (Laura, Lesley, and Sal, all transplants from S.F.), and then I left for a karaoke party at a friend, Bob's, where I saw Thor and Liz, all three of whom I played Ultimate with in Indiana with the latter two currently living in Chicago. Lots of friends on our first full day. At the same time all of this was happening we were trying to figure out how to best deal with Emmett's sleep. It is hot here (well, for a San Franciscan...the NY'ers say it is mild and pleasant), and we have been trying different combinations of fan, pajamas, t-shirts, etc. to make sure that Emmett stays comfortable through the night. He was not sleeping well, part of which was clearly due to a new locale, but we assumed part must also be due to temperature/light differences in his sleep area. We have him in a semi-closet area in the second bedroom in order to keep the light relatively low while at the same time making sure air is flowing. Well, the short of it is that he didn't sleep as long on the second night after having a bit of trouble going to sleep to start the night, and on top of this were unsure how much of an effect jet lag was having. Basically we were not having luck and weren't sure which of the parameters we could control would be helpful or not.
The third day was similar to the first two in that we were trying to get all of this hammered out while exploring the neighborhood. There are a number of playgrounds within a ten-minute walk and we were feeling them out. Something we had never come across in S.F. is the presence of constantly-on fountains in playgrounds for children to run through. We had not arrived at the playground prepared for this when we first came across one, but we just let Emmett go to see what he would do. He watched a kid or two run under the water, just went for it, and loved it. Luckily we had him in sandals (leather, not ideal) so drying out wasn't too much an issue. The two nearest and most conveniently located playgrounds have these fountains, and unfortunately they are not fenced off or in any way separated from the remainder of the playground, so one must either be constantly on alert for one's child bolting for the water or cannot go to these playgrounds as a stop-off to run errands or the like. I don't really like this set-up too much, but luckily on a walk to a party at another friend's house last night I came across a very nice playground with no water which Emmett and I tried out this morning and will probably be our playground of choice.
Wednesday our friends, Tom and Jacqui, came back by and spent the day and evening, and they got to see Emmett's sleep situation at its worst. Emmett cried and cried when put to bed at 7pm and between two diaper changes, a bit of time spent wakling him around the house or reading to him, and additional attempts at putting him to bed, he didn't go to sleep until 9ish. This was definitely the worst time we have had getting him to sleep since he was a tiny baby and wasn't pleasant in the slightest. He woke the next morning hoarse from the crying (we think) and woke very early again. He had slept about 8-9 hours a night since our arrival and things didn't seem to be improving. His naps, when he took them, were 1 hour tops and usually only one per day (home: 1 or 2 per day with 2-4 hours total nap time). Andrea and I continued different combinations with airflow and lighting but nothing seemed to be working.
The Fourth came and we made our first trip to Manhattan since arriving to go to a free concert at Battery Park at the bottom of the island with a number of friends. Emmett had taken a morning nap for an hour (still woke early, early, early in the morning, though). Actually, I should say here that through all of this, Emmett has not really been all that cranky for not sleeping. It has more been the case that we know he normally sleeps much more and that he needs more sleep than he has been getting. He has been fun and cranky-free except at the very end of the day for the most part. The 4th of July was no exception and Emmett was a good sport as we waited for the concert to start and rocked out for a little while before heading for a hummus dinner. On the travels to the restaurant Emmett fell asleep in the stroller for a good half-hour or so and then woke up getting to try hummus and pita for the first time, liking both and really putting in a good effort at saying "pita." We made our way home and put him to bed a little late. He again fought sleep but was able to sleep through the fireworks.
Side note about the fireworks. Every year they are on the East River, basically outside our window, except this year which happens to be the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's riding in a boat so they set them off on the Hudson River on the opposite side of Manhattan from us. We could still see about half of the fireworks (the ones making it over the buildings), but in the end it was probably better for Emmett's sleep issues they were a little further away. I took a video that didn't turn out so hot, but here it is for those interested:
This brings us to today. Well, sort of. I went to a 4th party after the fireworks with seven people I played Ultimate with in Indiana while Andrea went to bed. I didn't get home until 3:30 or so and Emmett (and kind Andrea) got up at 5ish. Andrea had the brilliant idea that we turn the fan off completely (perhaps part of the hoarseness problem?) and Emmett slept pretty well for his first nap. I took him to my newly-found playground and ran him silly, and he came back for another 1.5 hour nap (a 2009 NY record) going down with little fight. We went to a different playground this evening and got Emmett to bed at 7:30 with hardly a peep. We may finally be getting somewhere.
This was long and dull. I hesitate to post it, but realize that it is pretty representative of how central Emmett's sleep is to our lives. We had gotten to where we could read him pretty well in S.F. and were figuring out how to make the shift from two naps to one that he was giving us the impression he wanted or needed. Coming out here where there are so many things that are so different for all of us really makes it difficult to figure out what the important things are that we need to get right. Back home both Andrea and I have our own routines to put Emmett to bed or down for a nap that are not too different. Both have parts such as reading books in front of the crib for a while before bed, etc., but with him sleeping in a cramped space here there is no room for these sorts of things near the crib so we have had to design new routines. Today is the first time that I have felt like when I was putting him down we had establishesd something that was going to work for both of us and that made him seem like he felt safe and wasn't just being stuffed in an unfamiliar closet in an unfamiliar crib. I hope we don't have to do a five-day restart and reinvention like this on our return to S.F.
I'll close with a picture from yesterday. Emmett trying on Laura's glasses with dried fruit between his front teeth. He is all NYC style all the time.
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