regressions.

Apologies for the infrequent blogging lately. It's not for lack of subject material (we have a lot to catch up on, and hopefully we will... in the next year? ha). It's because our one-year-old baby went from (finally) being a relatively good sleeper... to totally not. For the past few months. Teething? Separation anxiety? Sleep regression #101? Who knows. 

We're back to carrying Arden for all her naps, which is exhausting and frustrating (as some of you may know, a child's naptime in the crib is the cornerstone to preserving a parent's sanity...).  And she doesn't settle back to sleep after her night feedings, so sometimes we're up for hours trying to rock/feed her back to sleep at 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am... I mean, it could be much much worse. (Some would even say that I have the privilege and luxury of being able to carry my baby all day long!) But it could also be better...

And, cultural side note: the advice from Australian friends is once again very different from our American friends/family. In the U.S. everyone I've talked to has suggested letting her cry... even those who are strictly against letting babies "cry it out". But here, our situation is pretty normal, and other parents cater to their children's sleep problems the same way we've been doing.

Anyway. Sleep is such a simple thing, but it's often the difference between a great/good/manageable day - and one where I'm holding a screaming child all day long and trying not to lose my cool, counting down the minutes until Ben gets home from work.

Like last Wednesday, when this happened:

Needless to say, that was not what we wanted to see on Election Day 2016.

(and to clarify... yes, we voted from overseas!)

First of all, some cultural observations: being in Australia for the election was pretty surreal. It's strange to live overseas during big American events in general. There's a difference in the featured subject matter, such as sports during the Olympics (sailing was a huge sport here, but we hardly saw any gymnastics). Also, the time difference means witnessing these events at odd times (like the Superbowl and the Oscars, both on Monday mornings). Watching the election on a Wednesday afternoon was very odd... but also kind of convenient, as the results were finalised by dinnertime as opposed to bedtime. And of course, it's very different (and kind of refreshing) to watch Australian newscasters report the election results, while interviewing Aussies about their opinions. It's quite the experience to see American politics from a different country.

Now, I won't get super political here, but: we are extremely disappointed and very sad for a number of reasons, but especially because of the reported violence and hate crimes targeting vulnerable people and communities in the name of our new President-elect. The whole election season was toxic enough, but the aftermath looks even bleaker.

Everyone is truly divided, even the people we are closest to. The political spectrum in our families ranges from at least one vote for Trump, to another person buying plane tickets to Washington D.C. for a post-inauguration day protest march in January. I'm not sure how our families, our friends, and our nation will recover from all this.

It's a rough time for America, that's for sure.

CK