Adventures in Zurich: September 2013

Well, everyone is back home from the hospital and doing well. Sofia is doing great. She is growing by the day- PJs are already becoming too small- and she is growing more and more aware of the big new world she is now living in. This isn't to say life isn't without it's challenges anymore. Gina and I don't sleep a whole lot because Sofia prefers to nap during the day and contemplate whatever it is babies think about at night. This is my first extended experience operating on limited rest and it really sucks. Then of course there are issues surrounding waste management; Sofia poops a lot. Most of the time this is easily managed but sometimes she decides to make a successful diaper change difficult. The first few times both semi digested milk and stool were flowing freely I froze up, feeling completely overwhelmed with the quantity of fluids that had to be dealt with. But as with all things practice results in improvement, and due to Gina's well thought out baby changing preparations we are well equipped.

Really the most challenging aspect of having Sofia home is the attention she demands. Even when not feverishly changing soiled clothing, walking back and forth through the apartment at 3 am in a vain attempt to convince her to sleep, or feeding her, she still wants our time. Holding her, singing to her, talking to her, reading to her, rocking her, walking her... it all takes time. And the days fly by. Gina and I are attempting to complete a grant proposal to engage in a collaborative research project in Malawi by November. Needless to say Sofia has added to the challenge of meeting this deadline.

As tiring and demanding as Sofia is proving to be, she is also miraculous. Seeing her content, happy, full, observant- it all makes me happy. Seeing Gina holding our child, feeding her, talking to her, playing with her, are all wonderful to behold. So what else have we been up to since leaving Triemlispital??

A couple weeks ago Marisa came through town on her way to Africa and we decided to take a paddle steamer to the end of Lake Zurich. So we loaded up our stroller, wrapped Sofia up, and boarded the Stadt Zurich, in service since 1909. Off we went, heading south to Rapperswil, an old Catholic enclave famed for its rose gardens and bad ass castle. After two hours or so we began exploring this amazing little town. We began by eating lunch in one of Rapperswil's rose gardens, enjoying a quiet lunch in the sun. From there we hiked up the hill to the castle, an enormous structure built at the top of the city. This was my first castle experience and it was pretty sweet. What a shame firearms rendered them obsolete... All in all we had a fun, relaxed outing. Sofia did really well; she seems to fuss a lot less when in motion.

For the the past two weeks Diane and Steve have been visiting and they proved to be a huge help. The little sleep Gina and I have been able to get since bringing Sofia home was mostly due to their help. Although we didn't do much traveling we did enjoy lots of relaxed evenings just enjoying each others company. Gina surprised us with a scrabble set and we spent a few nights doing what all scrabble players spend most of their time doing do- arguing about the legitimacy of two, three and four letter words. All in all it was great to see family, and we already miss them.