Thai Iced Tea and the Hazards of Sleep, Interrupted

It is midnight. I haven't slept through the night in three weeks. Yet I sit here typing this wide-eyed. Since I gave up soda (almost entirely) nearly four years ago, I haven't had much caffeine. Not that I avoid it at all costs, but I generally just don't have much. Since Eli's birth, however, even small amounts of caffeine seem to be enough to totally rewire my sleep cycle. A Mountain Dew in the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday helped me stay awake during class, a meeting after class, dinner, TV, putting Eli to sleep, more TV, more TV, more TV...and tonight's Thai Iced Tea, consumed without considering the consequence, appears to be having the same effect. 

The last few days have been exciting as we've debuted Eli to the larger world of Madison. We ate lunch at the Memorial Union yesterday, swung by our lab in Research Park, brought Eli to cheer me on in a soccer game (which we won, despite being outclassed, go us!), and took Eli to the dog park with Triscuit. Eli is adapting well, if that includes sleeping contentedly. Apparently we are entering the treacherous, colic-zone where Eli becomes more alert to his surroundings at the risk of becoming fussier. Thus far, we've been spared. But it may be only a matter of time. 

We've also made the major (though possibly misguided) decision to bring Eli with us on our travels the rest of the year. This will include a MSN-ORD-DCA-MIA-ORD-MSN trip to two NIH meetings and one great-grandmother in November, as well as a trip to San Juan in December. Fortunately, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike will be accompanying us to Puerto Rico to help with baby sitting, since I am chairing the conference and Shelby is integral to its organization. One saving grace, at least at the moment, is that Eli loves being worn in a sling, which could potentially make the flying, if not easier, at least less awful than it otherwise would be. 

OK, I should...actually, one of the strange effects of caffeine on me is the tendency towards manic obsessiveness. Don't ask why I suddenly decided that I needed to recover my calendars going back until 2001 from old backups, but here we are.