Happy New Year!

We’re back in Athens.  Our return trip, accomplished in 11½ hours, was another rousing success.  We even discovered a fantastic taqueria just off the highway in Durham, NC that will undoubtedly become our halfway-there lunch spot for future Athens-DC excursions.  We are now staring down the last two days of freedom left in our winter break.  I go back to work on Monday, Ellen will be getting ready to return to full-time PhD work and teaching, and Safia will begin a two-days-a-week daycare.  We’ve come to notice, quite acutely, just how profoundly life’s transitions affect our day-to-day functioning. 

While we were in DC for the winter holiday, Safia did some growing up.  She continues to make progress on her “crawling.”  She is not yet on hands and knees, but is getting increasingly proficient at getting to where she needs to get.  She is getting more comfortable on two feet, and just loves to tentatively explore the world of bipedalism, mostly with shrieks of wonder and giggles.  Safia has also learned to wave hello and goodbye – quite possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. 

Ellen and I, as always, are trying to figure out Safia’s sleep patterns.  We seemed to have things under control before we left to DC, but predictably, right when we arrived, her sleeping routine got all discombobulated.  Trying to go off her cues, we noticed that she might be trying to consolidate her three naps-a-day to two naps.  Logically, if she consolidates naps, the naps she takes should get somewhat longer to accommodate.  Her naps, however, are no longer – 30 minutes on the average.  So that leads us to wonder what in the world is going on.  She has also had a harder time going to sleep at night, likely the result of only sleeping a combined one-hour throughout the day.  We have conceded that traveling is hard on babies, and once we get settled back into familiar routines and spaces, she should settle into a rhythm.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t hard, though.

Anyway….this is the last post of the year.  We hope all is well with all our loved ones and friends that have supported us through this crazy, crazy new experience.  Thanks for the advice, babysitting, listening ears, food, laughs, drinks, hand-me-down clothes, sympathy, empathy, and loving hugs.  See you all in 2012!