I need to sleep

[sanpaku_backup]

We managed to get to sleep by 11 last night, but that unfortunately did us less good than we hoped. She woke up at 4:30 am screaming her head off. Swaddling didn't work; nursing her didn't work. (They never do these days -- early morning wakeups, maybe 1 day out of 7, just don't end with her going back to sleep.) For some reason (probably when I was awakened during the sleep cycle) I didn't feel like even trying to get back to sleep, so I decided to take her for a drive, and the Mrs. decided to come along too.

Driving at that hour with too little sleep is uncomfortably like an out-of-body experience, but we did well enough. Drove around some back roads in Corea, then used the handy Maine Gazetteer to find McClelland Park, in Milbridge, on the way to Machias. Turned out to be a real winner -- picnic tables overlooking the high cliffs of the ocean, and camping to boot. We all got a little shuteye (the babe having fallen asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car) and then pushed on to Machias for buffet at Helen's Restaurant. Went up to see Hadley Lake (just a glimpse, but very beautiful!), then back down to Machiasport and a long road that ended at the sea.

When we got home my brain was fried and the Mrs. let me sleep for a while, then nursed the baby and put her down to sleep, then went for errands. The baby never did fall asleep. I think she may be teething, or it's too hot upstairs (she has to wear long clothes all the time because she'll scratch endlessly otherwise), or she had her fill of sleeping in the car already. Now she's slowly crawling around the dining room, cooing and seeking out the electrical cords with an unerring precision. I can't explain how great it is to watch her these days.

It's amazingly hot for Maine -- somewhere in the mid-80s -- though the house is thankfully cool. The hot seems to have vanquished most of the mosquitos, finally. So we have been doing more and I am finally relaxing here, a little bit. We had some grumpiness on Friday, but we talked that through and would I feel better now, except that I finished Atonement, and I feel depressed as all hell.

Baby just rounded the corner into the kitchen. Guess that's my cue...

Comments

[librarygrrl.livejournal.com]

I've known people who swear by taking the baby for a drive when nothing else works. They usually say that they can get the baby out of the car and back into bed without waking, but that sounds pretty tricky to me.

OK, so you've seen Hadley Lake and it isn't a brakish swamp surrounded by shacks. That's good! (one never knows when renting off the innernet, but I've had good luck so far!) It will be August any minute now...

oh yeah, and please do continue to complain about the 85 degree weather. It isn't hot here in the megalopolis at all! (she said as she melted into a salty puddle on the floor...)

Re:

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Taking her for a drive definitely works. The problem is that often it then serves as a substitute for her "real" nap or sleep time, which is a) usually much longer, b) involves us doing something else besides driving, hopefully sleeping. Sometimes she stays asleep after the car ride, sometimes not -- it's chancy.

Hadley Lake looked really nice, and the houses too. Didn't get much more than a glimpse, though. Maine ponds are often hidden behind trees, but there aren't too many of them that are less than spectacular.

So did you notice what I was reading, huh, huh?

In the megalopolis I'm guessing you have this thing called air conditioning. Well, you know that up here 80 degrees is a heat wave. Really -- they talk on the radio about how old people need to stay indoors and suchlike.

Re:

[librarygrrl.livejournal.com]

Yes I noticed what you were reading. But you said it made you depressed. Didn't it also leave you slightly in awe? Or do you feel angry and manipulated? You don't like to be tugged around like that, hmmm?

Yes, we have some air conditioning, but we also are having brownouts, and I'll tell you it gets hot quick when the ceiling fans go off.

I think our directions to Hadley lake say that we are the second-to-last house on the point... or something like that. Sounds like you really meandered-- do you have any idea how long it really takes to get there from your place?

Re:

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

I didn't see any "point," but we were only on one side of the lake. From our place, driving time would probably be about an hour, maybe a little more. Which is "far" in Maine terms. The farthest we usually go to the west is Blue Hill or Bar Harbor (also about an hour), and we don't usually go to the east except on one of our annual excursions to Lubec/Quoddy Head.

In this part of Maine, everything is measured in terms of distance from Ellsworth (the nearest supermarket, strip malls, anything). We're about 40 minutes. You're probably 80-90 minutes, I think...

About Atonement, I don't really know what to think. It was good and vivid and realistic, if a little florid. But I saw the "twist" some ways off. It's like, if he's describing the war stuff in such detail, it can't really end well. Same thing as in Kavalier and Clay. I guess the other thing is that he never really explains why it would take her five years to change her mind, and since in a certain sense that's the crux of the story, I found that a little unsatisfying.

Still, it was the kind of thing that's hard to get out of one's mind, at least because it describes a certain kind of unnerving personal nightmare we all have. I probably need to think a little more to say anything meaningful about it.

Re:

[librarygrrl.livejournal.com]

well, I don't have anything meaningful to say about Atonement. I just really love to be pulled along like that, and it is all too rare...

Farting baby

[flw.livejournal.com]

My neighbors back in Pittsburgh used to take their baby for drives, then they discovered that sticking the baby in the car seat and putting it on the dryer with an uneven load had the same effect. The effect being it got the baby to fart and it immediately blinked out. I assume the baby liked the car seat and the humming sound too. Magic.

Re: Farting baby

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Nice new userpic -- is that you? Anyway, yes, the magical ending of the gas is a blessed event, though I don't think the car has much to do with it. There doesn't seem to be much one can do for it to begin with. She has gas relief drops, but if S. eats broccoli, watch out. Babies are not for the squeamish!