The sleepy trip home

We are back home now, unpacked and trying to catch up on sleep.

Sleep we missed out from travel, jet lag, and a couple of weeks of sharing a room with our darling Violet Mae.

I shared here last week that she had slept through the night, and she did do that - a few times. Most nights, though, she didn't.

I'm blaming teething, a virus, jet lag, and just the fact that she sleeps so darn lightly. Cora would have a dream and say something, and the next moment, we'd be hearing Violet shouting, "Gia! Gia!"

I had trouble getting Violet to settle back down without nursing her, and I haven't fed this baby much in the night since she was 7 weeks old.

The photo of Stace is from mid-morning Friday, after he took the early morning shift downstairs and let me sleep. And the photo of Violet with Gord is from our dinner date Wednesday with Stace's Nan, when Violet wouldn't sleep in her crib for Sue.

Anyway, with two nights back at home, things are definitely improving. Saturday night, after we got home from LAX, Violet slept until nearly 5 a.m.; with our own jet lag, Stace and I would have been up before long anyway. Sunday night, Violet woke once, but cried herself back to sleep within five minutes. She and Cora were both up Monday at 6 - not bad for our second morning home.

And, as for our trip home, it went off as well as I could ever hope. We had the bassinet fixture for Violet, and Stace had to sit behind us, but all was fine, and he helped out as much as I needed. Violet took an hour nap, and later slept for about three hours. Cora put herself to sleep about five hours into the trip, and I was able to close my eyes for a couple of hours and watch some television. With two small children on an international flight, that is a real treat.

Other than Violet not sleeping well, our time in England was a dream. Cora was so well-behaved, as was Violet.

We had a lot of fun with our family and friends, and even got a few stunningly warm days (like the one pictured here). We look forward to seeing Sue and Gord in two months, and everyone else again at Christmas!