France!

So many things have happened, I'll do a list:

Travel

After a huge delay, we made it to France. Jack a champ on the plane. When we boarded for round 1, everything was calm and good. I had him in the Baby Bjorn and Damian took care of the stroller, car seat etc. We got on the plane, he settled right in, had a feed and fell asleep. Then Air France told us the flight was cancelled due to a maintenance issue in the brake system, so we got off the plane, went to the Hilton hotel and attempted round 2. All was the same for the second day, except it took quite a long time from queuing up until getting on the plane, at which point a certain JFM was Not Happy and Ready for Sleep. So he had a minor meltdown as we were taxiing, but Damian calmed him down. He slept part of the flight in my arms after a feed, and part in his bassinet. It worked out quite well. Our stroller took an age and half to arrive but our ride was waiting and we made it to our apartment. Finally!

We also did a 2-night trip to Saint Paterne, a tiny town with a lovely chateau near Alencon. We rented a car and did the 2 and half hour drive from Paris. Jack mostly slept in the car. We had amazing dinners at the hotel each night. The middle day we did a driving tour to some very cute towns - St Ceneri - and also the Chateau de Carrouges. Jack did good visits in the Baby Bjorn and it was all very fun.

Smiles

Jack smiles, finally!! We got a bunch of half smiles in the days leading up to France, but once here, he has given us full blown, big smiles, dimple included. It is so truly amazing. He has always been the sweetest baby, but getting a good smile back is just what we needed.





Sleep

He's now done 2 nights in a row with a stretch of 5+ hours of sleep! I know! 2 nights ago he slept from 10:00 p.m. to 3:50. Then last night was 9:30 to 3:15. Most exciting! He had been sleeping really since about 6:30 each of those nights and woke up for a feed around 9:00. So we will see how it evolves, but only 1 night feeding is great, and I can see how over time he will phase that one out too - or maybe have a little dream feed around 11:00 or midnight and sleep through til 6:00. Right now he is just too tired for that midnight one, so we are patient. He even falls asleep really easily in the middle of the night - it used to require a good 15-20 minutes of rocking and shushing, but now he often just drifts off, I hold him for a bit, and then gently put him in the hammock with the noise machine on a rain sound. Really different than when he was a tiny thing. The past 2 nights of a longer stretch of sleep have been amazing, I feel so rested and great. When he gets up around 7:00, I bring him in the bed and feed him there, and then we're up for the day and I don't need another lie-in.

Slings

So I have become obsessed with babywearing. This is what I wanted to do since he was born but I couldn't quite figure it out, plus he slept so well in his hammock that we didn't really need it. But in Paris several things are different. First of all, we don't have help, so if we want to get ready, go out, shop, etc he has to come with us and sometimes he just won't sleep. So if we put him in a sling, then he sleeps as we achieve things. Also in Mexico, there is plenty of room for a stroller and a car, but here our stroller is too big for the bus or metro and in some restaurants it would just be awkward. So it has been a breakthrough to take him in various sling contraptions around Paris. Yesterday we did a walk with him on Damian in the Baby Bjorn. He even ate his whole lunch with Jack strapped onto his belly. The day before we went to the Marais on 2 buses. Damian wore him in the Bjorn over there, then I put him in my French sling. I'm still learning all the different ways that I can hold him, but it is great. Yesterday afternoon I took him to the laundromat while strapped on. He slept while I did 3 huge loads of laundry. Most efficient! Plus it is just so cozy and great to have him on you, he stays warm, sleeps well and even gets to look around. In the Baby Bjorn when he wakes up, he looks around and loves to have the breeze on his face. Very Cute.

Apartment

It is all coming together. We had the maintenance guy here to do a few little jobs, including making the wooden rod for the hammock and replacing the ugly glass in the French doors to our room. We got shades to cover the doors for if we have guests. (Actually Manuel came 1 night to stay with us, but we had to leave our doors open to hear Jack when he woke up). In an #Fail, I bought lots of wrong sized sheets for the second bedroom, but did manage a good blanket, duvet cover and 1 pillow case. The changing table I ordered came in (it was on a huge sale), so Jack's little room is all set. And we got a lovely Perrier publicity poster framed and is hanging in the entry way. Ours is more red/pink but it's the same. We still need to fix a few things on the electrics so that the lights in the entryway are decoupled from the ones in the living room. But otherwise, it is looking very good.