Falling in love with Sydney

We loved Australia! Dylan once again proved to be a travel champ! He handled the long, 10 hour flights with ease,  charming everyone he could shine his light on. I'm so proud to be his Mom.We spent 2 afternoons taking the ferry back and forth to Manly Beach, we took a tour of the landmark Sydney Opera House (which I'm so grateful I got to  see the inside of), we spent the chunk of a day in the Royal Botantic Gardens, and of course we shopped! (Although it didn't take long for me to realize I can't really afford to shop in Sydney.) To get around, I took Dylan by ferry, by stroller and by Ergo carrier on public transportation (both subway and bus). Sydney has got to be one of the best walking cities I've encountered and I realized that I  haven't done that much walking in at least 2 years. By comparison, Chiang Mai has got to be one of the least walker friendly places I've encountered.We also ate delicious food! One of my favorites was a roasted pumpkin wrap with feta cheese, fresh spinach, walnuts & pesto. I also enjoyed a few curry chicken pies from the walk up shops with some gelato for dessert. To be honest, I fell in love with Sydney...it was such a soft landing (especially coming from Asia with the flight being only about 9 hours). There was no culture shock, no jet lag (with only a 3 hour time difference from CM), the people are incredibly friendly and everyone speaks English. 

Gratitude comes to mind...I had set my sights on traveling to Australia over 2 years ago and even started to think that I might not make it (at least not at this point in my life) and yet it happened. Thank you Fuad!  I feel so blessed to be your partner in this life...thank you for making this happen for our family and thank you for being such a joy to travel with...(Honestly, the fact that we travel so well together is part of what sealed the deal for us!) Although it's stressful at times, now we get to share our love of the world with our little person, which I view as an honor. Dylan turned 7 months old in Australia and has already acquired 3 stamps in that little passport. I can only dream of what the future holds for this little guy.

In other news I'm about to wrap up my first week as a working Mama! This should and will be its own blog post.

A little jet lag goes a long way...

4:30 am and wide awake.
Jet lag is difficult for adults, much less children...This trip back to Chiang Mai has been pretty hard on us. We are 12 hours ahead here in Chiang Mai, which makes Dylan's day's and night's feel reversed. The last 2 days there have been moments when he just can't stay awake during the day and moments (which last a little longer) at night when he can't close them.
 A little peak at the past 2 nights...
Night 1: down at 9:00 pm, up from 12:00-3:00 am, 6:00 am ready to start the day.
Night 2: down at 8:00 pm, up at 11:00 (brief), up at 2:00 am (feeding), up at 4:00 awake and ready to start the day. (Better than the first night, but not ideal.)

I've wrapped my head around the fact that it'll take about a week to recover, that's how long it takes for most adults as well...my concern is that 8 days from now we're taking another trip!
I know...
Fuad is going to Australia for his quarterly work meeting and Dylan & I are tagging along! It's just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Australia has been on our list of "must see" places while living in Asia. (More for me than Fuad, this will be his third trip there.)
Plus...
The last work trip Fuad took back in April, which was to Moscow, was one of the most difficult weeks Dylan & I have experienced in his short life so far. I gained a new appreciation for single mothers, after spending that very difficult week without Fuad, I really don't know how they do it.

So Dylan will recover and then we'll head to Sydney for a week. The good news is the time difference is only 3 hours!

Here's Dylan after waking from a massive nap the other day...just before we took the video he literally couldn't keep his eye lids up!