it's not spring yet!

As you can see, we were tricked!! Today, we were reminded that it is still winter in wisconsin. We are expecting snow!! Eli needed to wear his wool hat (thanks Liana!) and his bear suit so we could take Triscuit for a walk. It hasn't started snowing yet, but it will soon. We are looking forward to more 60 degree days in the coming weeks.

Oh, and Eli is getting more practice in the high chair. He just ate some apples and blueberries. He is not yet a fan of peas.....

The 12 Hour Intruder

Since returning from our trip last week, there has been one major, unexpected change to our daily routine. Shelby and I resolved that we would try to wean Eli from his erratic, short-burst sleeping patterns at night. We weren't quite sure how we would do this - we have read several books that offer conflicting and often simple advice (cloaked with a huge amount of filler necessary to make an entire salable book out of concepts like 'it is OK for your baby to cry himself to sleep). To begin, we established a few groundrules: (1) I would try to sooth Eli when he wakes before midnight, (2) Shelby would feed him at least once during the night, and (3) we consider one or more blocks of longer than 5 hours a success. But a funny thing happened on our way to implementing this plan. The first night, I soothed Eli when he woke around 11 and then let him cry himself to sleep. He was not happy about it, but he lived. He woke once or twice more that night, but it seemed like crying himself to sleep once taught him that this was a reasonable alternative to mom. The next night, he slept seven hours. We've been getting consistent blocks of 6-8 hours for the rest of the week, including one ten hour block a few days ago. Granted, he isn't sleeping the entire time - we know that he is waking up a soothing himself back to sleep. And we also need to start the process of going to bed at 6:30 in order to give him his 12 hours of total slumber. But...this has allowed us to reclaim our evenings after he goes to sleep. Shelby even got to work on a puzzle last night!

In other news, we've been scanning our old pictures for posterity. Amazing to see some of our old pictures (and how digital photography has improved over the years!). This took up a major chunk of the weekend, but we feel more comfortable knowing that many of our pictures will be archived.

And Eli is now signed up for another year of day care. We briefly entertained the idea of applying for a switch to full time care (that would give us more flexibility on Tuesdays and Thursdays), but decided that the temptation to work on those days would be too great. So we have another year of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday care.

Such are the mundane trivia that we now perceive as major events. Funny how Eli has that effect on us!

sittin'

Since we got back from our trip, Eli is now become part of the world of sitting! He got his first high-chair experience, and he can even sit up on the floor and play with his toys. He can't put himself into the sitting position yet, but if I put him there, he can stay sitting up for awhile. Sometimes, he gets too eager to grab for a toy, and PLOP, over he falls...

On the precipice

As I write this, we are about an hour away from starting the long journey home in earnest. We will leave for the airport around 7 AM local time, take a 10:40 flight to Miami, do all the things that you do when you land in the US, connect to Chicago at 8:00 PM, and finally arrive at O'Hare sometime near 11:00 PM tonight. If all goes well. Already, we are having a tenuous start. Eli slept better than me or Shelby last night. I always forget that taking migraine pills laced with caffeine before bed can be treacherous. I took two pills at 8PM. My headache went away, as did any ability to sleep for the next eight hours. I will have ample opportunity to sleep on the plane today, as long as Shelby and Eli are OK - but that is a major qualifier.

Since the last entry, we had a few quiet days at the beach. On Thursday, we played around in the water most of the day. Shelby and I made use of our newly purchased body board and Eli spent some time in the pool. I even built him a pathetic sand castle that he barely knocked down. Shelby and I both read our books. One interesting upshot - we learned that by 'double wrapping' Eli at night, we coaxed him into much better sleep than when we only wrapped him once.

Yesterday was our last day in Juquehy. We ate breakfast, brought Eli into the pool, body boarded for a bit, and then got ready to come back to Sao Paulo. Fortunately, we packed pretty lightly for this trip, so getting our gear together didn't take very long. One challenge - Shelby put some of our clothes out in the sun to dry, only to have them get soaked when a sudden rainstorm blew in right before we checked out of the hotel. We were able to dry the clothes in Sao Paulo, but it was still a bit of a wasted effort.

After being blessed with great, if somewhat hot, weather all week, the heavens opened up yesterday afternoon. Torrential rain squalls stretched all the way from Sao Paulo to Juquehy. We appreciated the obvious driving skill of 'Hot Rod' who carefully drove us to Esper's apartment. Upon arrival, we wanted to go to the store to buy chocolate and coffee for gifts, but the rain was too intense. Hopefully we will be able to stop on the way to the airport this morning.

Last night Esper hosted a lovely dinner with Ester (Dawn's host in Sao Paulo), Edecio, and a colleague from the Albert Einstein Hospital. We stayed up very late enjoying nice food and conversation. Though, as I mentioned above, I fear we will be paying for it later!

2 hours and 5 minutes

One of the great joys of traveling is a growing understanding of local custom. In Brazil, we've found that one such custom is the notion of time. Most intervals are expressed as either '5 minutes', which is a generic term for any time period of more than a minute and less than 30 minutes, or 2 hours, a similarly generic term meaning 'longer than 5 minutes'. So it was with some uncertainty that we left Sao Paulo on Saturday afternoon for Juquehy, a beach on Brazil's coast that is '2 hours away'. Before we left, we finished shopping with Malu, ate breakfast with her, and got a primer on the Brazilian coast. Malu owns a home not far (5 minutes) from Juquehy, so she gave us a list of beach and restaurant recommendations. She also graciously suggested we visit her home for a day to see a different beach. After that, Esper met us at Malu's house and escorted to his home for a light lunch and visit with his family. At his home, we met Rod, our driver to Juquehy. This was not our first meeting with Rod - he drove us to Paraty when we visited Brazil in 2007. Shelby nicknamed him 'Hot Rod' after that trip and was inwardly not too excited about reliving the experience. To sooth Shelby, Esper asked Rod to drive slowly. The ride to Juquehy was uneventful, but '2 hours' actually meant a shade over 3 hours this time. We arrived and almost made a big mistake. There is a Juquehy Beach Hotel and a Praia Juquehy Hotel - these are two different entities separated by more than a mile, despite nearly identical names that can be easily confused in translation. We went to the wrong one first. Fortunately, I realized it didn't look similar to the pictures and we eventually realized our mistake before Rod drove off. When we arrived at the right hotel, we were very impressed. Our room is modern and clean, with a nice patio and a portable crib for Eli. There are two pools, including one overlooking the beach. A large, shaded sitting area is adjacent to the pool and restaurant, allowing us to sit in the shade while Eli sits, reading our books as the ocean waves crash to shore about 20 feet away. We had an early dinner on Saturday night and I watched a soccer game on TV as Shelby put Eli to sleep. As it turns out, there is at least one soccer game on at all times. In fact, I'm watching one as I type this.

Sunday was a quiet day at the hotel. I rented a boogie board after breakfast. Shelby and I took turns watching Eli and playing in the ocean. We also discovered that Eli is a natural in the water - all the kicking and fussing that is challenging to deal with on land is an asset in the water. When he starts swim lessons in a few weeks, he will already be experienced! A constant challenge this week, though, is balancing our tendency to spend a lot of time outside and the importance of keeping Eli protected from the sun. But there is enough soccer on TV and books to read to keep us entertained. After our water time on Sunday, we walked down the street to a local market. We bought 8 liters of water and assorted dessert cookies. Enough to last us a few days. The cobblestone streets are difficult to navigate with our stroller, so we resolved to walk back along the beach next time. For dinner, we ordered a pizza from a local restaurant. Very tasty! Full from dinner, we all went to sleep very early (with a soccer game on in the background, of course!)

We opted for another quiet day on Monday. A tradition when Shelby and I go on vacation is to try at least one new activity each time. This time we tried a professional massage. I had a violent massage in Bangkok several years ago, but this was a much gentler activity. It was Shelby's first massage - but I think it will not be her last. We also took Eli into the pool again and played a little more in the ocean. The sun was hotter than on Sunday so we rationed our time outdoors accordingly. Once the sun set, we strolled down the beach to a restaurant for dinner. We shared a giant pot of shrimp and fish stew. Though the menu said it served two, I think it could have fed eight. Walking back to our hotel on the beach was very peaceful until Eli pierced the tranquility with his customary high pitched wail.

On Tuesday, we visited the beach house of Malu, our host in Sao Paulo. She (and several guests of the hotel) reccommended a restaurant located across the street from her beach house. We figured that we could go to her house, spend a few hours at the beach, and then have a late lunch or early dinner at the restaurant. One problem with this plan - this area is heavily geared towards weekend visitors from the city. The restaurant was not open. Instead, Malu's housekeeper at the beach went to he market and bought ingredients to make us lunch. Again, enough food to serve a small army, but it was all delicious. I think my favorite part was the desert of mangoes, ice cream, and hot chocolate sauce. We also spent time on the beach. It was bizarre to have a tent set up for us on the beach by the local staff. Shelby and Eli spent most of their time under the tent, while I braved the water. The surf was much stronger here than at our hotel, lending itself to body surfing. I didn't dare go too far out, though, as the undertow worried me. I hung close to three Brazilian teenagers who were much less clumsy in the water than me! At around 5 PM, we took a taxi back to our hotel and began the long preparation for bed. We detoured to have a brief dessert of fruit juice and mango at the hotel restaurant, but were once again in bed by about 7:30. Party animals, we are.

Today was great fun (for me). I took a surfing lesson! When I was much younger, my dad taught us how to balance on a 'balance board' in our basement. At first, I couldn't stay up for more than a second or two at a time. Eventually, I learned to balance for more than a minute...essentially until I got bored. Today I learned that the board simulated the motion of surfing. While the timing of catching a wave is still foreign, once I stood up I was able to keep my balance and ride the waves all the way into the shore. I don't think it is a pastime that I will do often enough to become proficient, but it was a great time to do it today. Shelby entertained the idea of taking a lesson, but the surf was too intimidating. She did say that she enjoyed boogie boarding, so we bought a boogie board at the local market this afternoon. It was cheaper to buy the board (and perhaps give it to friends in Sao Paulo) than to rent it for two days. Strange local economy. The walk to the market today deserves a mention. A brief, torrential storm hit the hotel right after my surf lesson. Unbenownst to us, this made the sand a lot less tractable than it had been earlier in the week. Trying to push the stroller through the sand was like pushing it through mud - we were both exhausted by the time we made it back to the hotel with the boogie board and more bottled water. Now we are resting up before dinner. I'm watching soccer with the hotel staff and Shelby and Eli are out for a walk. We thought we would order a pizza for dinner, but the pizza place may be closed. We don't expect our last two days at the hotel to be particularly eventful. We expect to continue relaxing, spending time in the ocean, and reading. And, tomorrow morning, about 48 hours before our flight, I expect Shelby to start worrying about the trip home.

Bom dia!

The last week has been interesting. Traveling with a not-quite-yet six month baby is equal parts rewarding, frustrating, and enlightening. The differences from our previous trips to Brazil are striking. Perhaps I should back up...

We left Chicago very early on Tuesday morning. Eli slept on most of the flight to Miami. We knew this would be the easiest part of the trip. After arriving in Miami a few minutes early, we scurried to the car rental station. In November, we had serious problems finding the road to Fort Lauderdale from Miami. This time, armed with a GPS, we found the right road easily. We made good time, much to the delight of great-grandma Roz. We had lunch with Roz and spent most of the afternoon playing with Eli. He was much more interactive than Roz remembered. At 4, we began the trek back to the airport. I got a Slurpee and we made it back to the airport much more quickly than I expected. Upon arriving, we met up with Dawn, a member of my lab who accompanied us to Sao Paulo. For the life of me, I can't understand why there are no sit-down restaurants in the Miami airport. We walked around for nearly twenty minutes looking for one, before retreating to our gate and a dinner of Pizza Hut and sandwiches.

The flight to Brazil was about what we expected. It was long. It was relatively uncomfortable. But, as I write this, it is over. Eli spent most of the flight on Shelby's lap. He slept for the first six hours, on and off, only fussing a lot in the last two hours of the trip. Shelby had more problems. The plane flew through thunderstorms over Haiti, resulting in significant turbulence. This did not make her happy. But again, we made it through the flight, arriving in Sao Paulo around 7 AM.

One unexpected bonus of travel with Eli is that he serves as a golden ticket in lines. We were waved immediately through customs, though we still needed to wait for the better part of an hour for our bags to arrive. We were then whisked right through the declarations. Two cars awaited us. Dawn was driven to our collaborator Ester's house and we were driven to our accommodations. We spent our time in Sao Paulo with Malu, a wonderful host who is just beginning to utilize her lovely home as a part-time bed and breakfast. We couldn't have dreamed of better accommodations. We had plenty of space for Eli and lots of help when needed. She even had a crib for Eli to sleep in!

Soon after arriving we had breakfast with Malu. She introduced us to the area and we learned about one another. She graciously offered to take us on a diaper and supplies shopping trip. By 11AM on Wednesday morning, we had the necessary provisions to take care of Eli in Brazil. Even though we were still full from breakfast, we cleaned up and had a quick lunch with Malu. Her driver took us to our collaborator Esper's class, held at a convention center 15-30 minutes from Malu's house - depending on Sao Paulo traffic. Shelby and I alternated listening to talks and watching Eli. It was not ideal, but it worked. After the talks ended on Wednesday, we visited Esper's lab for a few minutes while he did some paperwork. We then accompanied Esper to his apartment where we spent an hour with his family. Who knew Shelby was so proficient at Legos? One mistake we made that evening was thinking that Eli would fall asleep and allow us a civilized dinner. He ate and fell asleep around 8PM, but instead of staying asleep as though it were night, we woke up around 9PM, fussy and wanting to sleep more. Unfortunately, we were at a restaurant with Esper and other collaborators at that point. Once we realized that Eli needed to sleep in a crib, we excused ourselves from dinner, bought a sandwich and dessert at a cybercafe, and took a taxi to Malu's. We ate and then all slept fitfully.

Thursday morning arrived very quickly - everyone slept well. After another breakfast with Malu, we took a taxi to the convention center. I gave a presentation on DNA sequencing before lunch, then we went with the other speakers to an Italian restaurant for lunch. Though Shelby and I were ready for another battle with fussy Eli, he fell asleep on the walk to the restaurant and slept through most of the meal. Shelby had to feed him a little bit at the very end, but it was about as uneventful as we could hope for. After lunch, we met with two of our Brazilian colleagues to discuss a collaborative research project. Eli was a bit fussy, so Shelby and I took turns walking him around the second floor of the convention center. Trying to learn from our mistake the previous evening, we left the conference late in the afternoon and went back to Malu's house. Dawn joined us for dinner. After letting Eli take a nap and eat dinner, we tried to have our supper at a restaurant in the first floor of the Albert Einstein Hospital at Malu's suggestion. The food was good, but Eli fussed through most of the meal. A hospital is a good place for a fussy baby - he didn't look very much out of place.

Friday was our last full day in Sao Paulo. Breakfast with Malu was delightful. We took another taxi to the conference center. Shelby and I gave our lectures in the morning and both went well. We then drove with our collaborator Sabri to meet his wife Patrice for lunch. Sabri will hopefully be visiting us in Madison in May. Excitingly, Sabri's wife works at the snake institute in Sao Paulo, so after lunch we went and saw the snake museum. Who knew that 30,000 people get bitten by poisonous snakes in Brazil alone? All week long, locals complained about the oppressive summer heat. In the late afternoon, a storm took the edge off the heat. Patrice drove Shelby, Dawn, Eli, and me back to Malu's after we finished at the museum. We didn't know this when we arrived, but Malu also runs a store that sells women's clothing. We spent the late afternoon shopping for Shelby. Even Shelby, who hates shopping, enjoyed herself. More importantly, she bought several pieces of business formal clothing for future meetings. After we finished shopping, we had drinks on Malu's porch and waited for Esper and his family to arrive for dinner. We had a lovely late dinner, made even nicer by the fact that Eli slept through almost all of it in his room. We knew we would pay for the late night in the morning, but it was nice while it lasted!

The next post will describe our drive to the beach and our first few days here.